Hello - we are taking a multi-country (Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France) tour with Trafalgar. Our tour is such that in each city we should have at least half a day on our own.

We would love to know your experience with them and any advice on how to make the most of the tour.

Thanks in advance!

This is the wrong place to ask this question...most of the people on this board think they know everything and will tell you tours are garbage and brag how much better it is to travel independently and to look on such things as beibng unable to find hotels, missed travel connections, unexpected road detours as part of the fun.....

You want real information from people who have been there? go to the trafalgar tours bulletin board:

http://trafbb.com/groupee

There you will probably be able to find people who have done this tour and fair criticisms and commendations about their tours.

I will say this though....I've been on several Trafalgar tours and they're a lot of fun...you will get an opportunity to meet people of all ages from all parts of the English speaking world and for the most part the tour directors are outstanding.

They are a very good company.

Thank you xyz. I did post this with a little trepidation but good I did it, as I already have some good data points from you. Thanks again!

It has been quite a few years since I was on a Trafalgar tour but I thought they were quite good. The hotels aren't always in terribly convenient locations but if they were the price would be quite a bit higher. The tour guides ranged from very good to terrific. They do a good job of educating their clients about the sights and the culture and the history. All in all, Trafalgar is one of the better tour companies in their price category, I think.
Have fun!
Judy

I'm glad you asked this here - I've always wondered about them, and some of their tour packages sound so interesting.....

We used Trafalgar once and were very pleased. (Now I book everything myself.)

Do check locations of the hotels. You may want to figure out how to get to/from before/after your free time ahead of time.

I did a 13 day Trafalgar Tour of Italy. Our tour guide was fantastic. Over and above the call of duty, IMHO. She had a great sense of humour and filled our drives between places with wonderful anecdotal tales.

The standard of our hotels generally were very good. The standard of hotel food generally, was pretty bad. Edible but nothing to write home about.

Sometimes, some people have no option but to take a tour and this was our position when we did this tour in 2005. However, it has given me the confidence to go and book my next trip in November this year, myself. I have made all the arrangements for myself and three girlfriends and I'm pretty pleased with the result. However, I have received a lot of help in this site.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a guided tour, if that is your best option. We were very happy with ours.

We did Globus, 12 day tour of Italy & it was great. From what I've been told & read, Trafalger is about the same. We just liked the Globus itinerary. You can see so much more because the bus takes you right to the front door of all the sites. You learn so much more because the guides are so knowledgable.

Globus used the Whispers headset for site tours. These are great! You can hear the guide from long distances, so you can explore rather than huddle around the guide.

We loved the group mix. Our tour was 2 years ago & we are still in touch with some folks - great time.

Go to affordabletours.com & get a discount on your tour (legit company & no problems with them).

Also on affordabletours.com there is a forum feature for each country & each tour company. Good info there.

Have fun, Julie