My sister & I are planning a 2 week trip to England, Ireland and Scotland in about a year and are trying to get all our ducks in a row. Can anyone help me with some questions? <BR> <BR>1. Would it be better to take a tour our try and do it on our own the first time? <BR> <BR>2. Is there a specific type of tour we need to look for, for first time travelers to Europe? <BR> <BR>I can think up 100 more questions but I would appreciate some advice from veterans! Any advice would be welcome. <BR> <BR>Thanks, <BR> <BR>Nancy Scott <BR>Tallahassee

hi nancy, <BR> <BR>i'm an american currently working/studying in scotland. here's what i'd say, based on my own experiences anyway. when i first came to the uk, i was very uneasy about what to do etc. you may want to book a one day tour...say in london for example. it will break the ice for you and your sister to go venture out on your own. certainly, the tour will only orient you with the sites that you will then have to go see yourself in order to do it any justice. after this orientation tour, i generally felt confident enough to go venture out on my own taking trips everywhere. getting a nice guide like the baedeckers guides are good in my opinion because they offer information that tour guides would yet you are allow your own sense of freedom to come and go as your please rather than being stuck in a group with screaming children or something. if you have any more questions, please feel free to email.

If you're going only in a year, there's plenty of time to read up the guidebooks. I would say, Go on your own. It's more memorable that way. Read up, research and decide what you want to do. It's not hard, really!

I think it's difficult to advise you because one can't <BR>tell how resourceful you and your sister are. Some <BR>people should not be trusted alone visiting a US <BR>city for a couple days because they are not good <BR>with maps, directions, common sense, etc. So, it's <BR>hard to say. Visiting English-speaking countries <BR>does make it very easy, however, so if you are <BR>pretty good with following directions, basic sense, <BR>etc. you could do this on your own. On the other <BR>hand, a good tour makes it easy, especially with <BR>planning the minute trivia (daily transportation and <BR>lugging luggage around to various cities) and often <BR>they will have very good guides for basic tours <BR>that will probably be better than you can do on your <BR>own (i.e., knowledge of art history, etc.). It's also <BR>nice to have a local guide who knows the area who <BR>can give you tips on places to see, how to get <BR>around, best restaurants, etc. So, having been on <BR>a tour of those 3 places myself (a TWA Getaway <BR>tour which was excellent but I don't think they offer <BR>that itinerary anymore), I'd say these are the things <BR>to look for in a good tour: 1) reputable, established <BR>company; 2) most important--make sure they are <BR>going to the main cities you most want to see and <BR>that the time spent there matches what you want; <BR>3) plenty of free time to see other sites, wander <BR>around, visit local restaurants, etc. on your own; <BR>4) small group sizes (30 or less); 5) good hotels in <BR>fairly central locations that will make it easy for <BR>you to see things on your own--many cheap tours <BR>put you up in hotels way outside the city; <BR>6) try to get a feel for the type of people usually on <BR>their tours (age range/interests)--some tours and <BR>companies cater more to retirees, some to very <BR>young people, some to a variety of ages, etc.--find <BR>a congenial group--TWA for example, being mid-range <BR>in price, caters to a good wide variety of ages; <BR>7) to get a feel for the price, usually take the number <BR>of days advertised for the tour, subtract two probably <BR>(the first and last days of advertised tours are almost <BR>invariably entirely plane travel and don't really <BR>count as part of the tour, IMO) and then divide the <BR>cost of the land portion of the tour by that number to <BR>see how much you are spending per day. This <BR>should give you an idea how much it's costing you <BR>versus doing it on your own and to compare value <BR>across various tours. Maybe you have some prior <BR>travel experience to compare to--I make no value <BR>judgments about doing it on your own vs. tours, and <BR>would not blithely take someone's advice to just <BR>do it on your own because it's so easy. It's not <BR>that easy to plan hotels, figure out how to get around <BR>and what local transportation you may need, plan <BR>a good itinerary that will get you to the major sites <BR>you want, figure out how to get from city to city and <BR>then how to get from train station or whatever to <BR>your hotel and how to deal with luggage, etc. if <BR>you are not used to or experienced with that kind <BR>of thing. I good tour can be very enjoyable and make <BR>a very good trip that you may love, whereas you <BR>could miss a lot, get frazzled/tired/stressed out, <BR>not see as much, and actually spend more for <BR>inferior rooms, etc. if you do it on your own if you <BR>are not good with that kind of thing. Or, you could <BR>get a bad tour that is a rip-off and doesn't allow you <BR>pleasant experiences if you choose badly. <BR>It's hard to say. <BR>

Nancy, Lots of good advice has been given, however, here is my two cents worth based on numerious trip to the UK. On our first trip many years ago we were unsure of ourselves and somewhat nervious. After the first two days we started to feel like old hands. Therefore I would stronly recommend that you do the trip on your own. Do lots of reading and planning, book everything on your own. I would recommend purchasing a rail pass good for travel in the places you want to visit. Trains are frequent and fun. You will meet the local people on the trains which can led to long lasting friendships which in my opinion is far better than being restricted to the people on a tour. In each major city they have bus tours that will give you a good over view and perhaps a day tour of the surounding areas. If you want an opinion or recommendation of places to see or a general plan just ask the readers here and I bet you will receive tons of good information.