Looking for a good tour group to Prague, Vienna & Salzburg and/or Budapest. Traveling single so would like planned itinerary. Thanks!

I know Paul Laifer specializes in central europe (www.laifertours.com, I think). There is an interesting-looking singles tour group also that might have something: www.osolomio.com

A small group (custom, but not necessarily) tour might be a lot more affordable than you might suppose - - and can avoid "the big bus". There are a number of people on this web site knowledgeable about such things. <BR> <BR>What month do you have in mind? <BR>

Check out www.smartours.net. They have a full itinerary for Eastern Europe. We travelled with them to India/Nepal two years ago and the price was exceptional, a wonderful value for the cost. We would certainly travel again with Smartours and know the price would be the best available.

There are some people running businesses on this web site as you can see who may try to recruit you. xxx is Rex BTW, if you haven't run into him, he runs tour groups, he is trying to hide who he is by not using his name but I recognize his language.

I have no such business. I am a hobby traveler. I've said it before, and I will say it again. A thousand times. <BR> <BR>I give advice. I plan and lead tours. When I post anonymously, it is often with the (attemoted) motive to make it clear that I am not "soliciting" anyone's "business" here, or anywhere else. Many people on this web site are knowledgeable about how to put a trip together for a small group, and many have cited their experience doing so. Many would do it again - - seeking others to participate, or upon request. <BR> <BR>This includes me. <BR> <BR>Rex Bickers <BR>Westerville, Ohio <BR>

I too have been looking for a singles tour to E. Europe and ran across the O Solo Mio tours on the internet. They have a trip leaving on August 4 thru 14th round tripping from Munich, going to Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, cruising the Danube. Includes 15 meals. I have posted on several BB's asking if anyone know's of them, but have not gotten one reponse. (I posted on this site several days ago.) Also, this trip is for those who are in their mid 30's and 40's and on up. They stress they are NOT a dating service. More women go than men. <BR> <BR>On their website they give a list of references...the travel agency they are affiliated with checks out with the BBB. But, have found nothing about O Solo anywhere else. <BR> <BR>Trafalgar has almost the same trip for not too much more and there are many dates to choose from. My problem is I don't want to be around too many couples. <BR> <BR>I have heard that it is hot in Prague and Budapest in August (40C). I went to a weather site that had an average temp of 21C. I am not sure what to believe as of yet. Does anyone know? <BR> <BR>I am going to keep looking and checking! <BR> <BR>Feel free to email me if you'd like. <BR> <BR>Happy trails!

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I really don't work for the man, but I do talk up his company quite a bit, cause I've enjoyed the tours. I speak of Rick Steves' Europe Through The Backdoor.During recent travels I've combined solo travel with a tour. Check out their website at ETBD.com or Rick Steves. The tours are not cheap but a good value. You will certainly have fellow solo travelers on the trip, probably women. And the groups are limited to 24 which I was grateful for everytime I saw a packed Trafalgar tour stream by in large cities. The tours are a great combination of big cities and small villages. The company just started offering a tour of Central/Eastern Europe that includes the cities you mention except Salzburg. Finally, they are 3 weeks long, and are not for those who intend to stay in luxury, want lots of shoppping stops or who aren't physically fit.

Rex, <BR> <BR>Do you have any information to offer about a two-week tour to Italy for next spring? I have noticed several occasions where you mention it is easy to put together a small tour group as opposed to going on the "Big bus" tours, but can you expand on this a little? I took a two-week tour of France last year with one of the "Big Bus" companies, and had a really nice time. But I'm interested to hear more of what you have in mind. Thanks, <BR> <BR>Sandi Maier <BR>

Thee are a ton of possible answers as to how to put together the trip. I am not so knowledgeable about how to put together the GROUP, as virtually all of my experience has been with a "nucleus" of people who already know that they want to take a trip together. <BR> <BR>If you are interested (or if you prefer), you can write to me directly, or tell me that I have permission to write to you directly. I do not write to anyone unsolicited about group travel otherwise. <BR> <BR>We can also make this the first "experiment" (though by no means the first attempt) to assemble a group of fodorites here on the board who would like to travel together. I have nothing to hide. My goal in doing such trips - - at no financial gain to myself - - is to build on my experience and expertise in doing group trips. I get inquiries from family and friends with some regularity, but I am eager to see how well I can plan and lead a trip for people that I do not know at all. <BR> <BR>It is inevitable that someone is the "lead dog" in the planning process. This is the person whose interests, likes and dislikes shape the itinerary the most. It is not (necessarily, nor even probably) the person that makes decisions, makes inquiries and applies experience about what will work best (which I assume might be me). <BR> <BR>It is not too early even now to seek quotes from airlines for spring 2002. There are numerous advantages to working through the "group desk" - - the greatest of which are flexibility in payment, flexibility with the names of the travelers (which is NEVER possible anymore with "regular" air travel tickets), and a modest discount. <BR> <BR>Is this the kind of square one information you would like to know more about? Would you like to continue this here on the forum? or through e-mails? <BR> <BR>I feel like these two messages are on thin ice, nearly begging for criticism from someone about a "commercial" dialogue. It is not. This is about a group self-assembling here on this forum. It is something I would love to see happen. I don't know about the Fodors editorial staff, nor the rest of the "community". <BR> <BR>And I realize that this has strayed way off the original question posed by Marilyn (perhaps it needs own new header and thread); but back to the that, I feel remiss that I did not previously agree with Christina - - the Paul Laifer organization is (as far as I know) one of the foremost, in experience and reputation for an itinerary such as the one she mentioned. <BR>

Last year I toured the Dordogne with a wonderful company called Cross-Culture tours. The group had 20 congenial professional folks in it, mostly women (although returnees said many of their tours had lots of couples); the accommodations were charming and comfortable, the guide great and the food was absolutely exceptional. They provide most meals and carefully select excellent local restaurants in lovely settings. The cost, including airfare, was about $2800 with the single supplement. I plan to go on many more trips with them, although I am often a solo traveller. Their website is http://www.gorp.com/crossculture/tours.html

Marilyn--it was a 9-day tour.

It seems to me that I read somewhere that a person who puts together group travel receives free transportation and lodging from the airlines et al. Rex, is this true? And if so, is this the reason why you do this? One thing, I really don't care one way or the other, but wondered if this is why you do it.

So what if Rex does get free transportation and lodging? He obviously loves traveling and organizing groups would be a lot of work and responsibility.When you work you get paid.I really do not understand at all the critism.We are all on here because we love travel.

I don't think I can answer "why do i do it" in the space of one of these boxes. It doesn't make any sense to do what I have done (so far) for money in any way, though I did make some money one time. I have reiterated over and over here, that I do not seek to make money from anyone from this board. <BR> <BR>It is true that there is typically about a 15% discount for purchasing 10 tickets or more. This is the minimum number necessary to go through the group desk (a few airlines insist on 20). Even when I have gone with the biggest group ever (16, for me), I just barely had 10 who would agree to "buy in on" the same itinerary - - (some wanted to do FF upgrades, 2 wanted to do free seats, using FF miles - - they have to be excluded). <BR> <BR>So, I can go along as group "mother hen" (leader) without costing my fellow travelers (baby chicks) any money for my travel, and keep my air travel out of the overall budget for myself. I have rarely done this, and I am skeptical that a "Fodorites trip" will ever get "up to" ten people on the same (outbound trans-atlantic) flight together, in the same fare class. It is NOT necessary to all be on the same connecting flights (intra-US, to get to the gateway city), nor to all fly home together - - not even on the same date. <BR> <BR>Maybe in a separate post, I will ramble on, as to why playing mother hen is the most enjoyable form of travel for me, at this stage in my life. I do think that I am good it -- for the same reason that I am (sometimes) good at answering questions (when my pointed tongue and ego don't get in the way). I know Europe well, I know languages well, and I have a good head for planning, logistics and value hunting. <BR> <BR>I do wonder if I have a part-time side career in my future, but in the meantime, I am eager to travel whenever, wherever someone would like to go; I want to continue to build on my expertise and experience as a planner and leader, and not let what I already know fall fallow. <BR> <BR>I hope that this is not a betrayal of confidence: Sandi has chosen to write to me off the board. I think there is some preliminary "dialoguing" that need to happen. She is equally interested in advice about one of the strongest commercial tour companies who go to Italy, and she might welcome a travel companion, if a Fodorites trip is not a realistic possibility. I have my fingers crossed that she will be interested in being a "lead dog" traveler for a customized trip to Italy, and that I can eventually come back here and share details about it. <BR> <BR>Remains to be seen. <BR>

Rex, just shut up for a while, huh?

Your anonymous and cowardly post(s) will always be words of encouragement to me. <BR>

Marilyn, one company that I've considered for myself is General Tours (www.generaltours.com) No, I can't recommend them because I haven't used them, but their tours are guarenteed to include never more than 20 travellers and they specialize in Central Europe. They also have "hosted tours" which are semi-independent.

check out show of the month club tours in boston ma. we just returned yesterday from toour of prague and budapest. have the one you want later this spring. we usually do not do tuurs but this was very acceptaable. gave 1/2 day tour of each city then you had 1 1/2 to 2 days on your own. accomodations were good. they made a reasonable effort to be attentive and we had no major hitches. you amy want to get the literature and deside for yoourselk.