ginger

Years ago we took a Globus tour through Europe. It was fine for what we wanted at the time -- an introduction to a city, then leave you on your own to explore. Then off to another city etc. <BR>Now we're considering doing this with children (10&14 boys) in tow. Am looking at a tour that begins in Rome, to Florence, Venice and back to Rome (8 days); or Greece: Athens, tour along the way to Nauplia, to Olympia, to Delphi, through the Meteora area and back to Athens (8 days). <BR> <BR>Has anyone taken a Globus tour recently? Have you taken one of these tours? How would you rate the tour? The hotels? Have there been children on board and how did they react to the "cultural" aspects (not everything is Disney!) of the tour? <BR>Any advice is appreciated! Thanks in advance. <BR>

Anita

Ginger, <BR> <BR>I took a Globus tour to Italy 3 years ago and a great time and I am going on a Globus Paris and Provence next week. I found that their hotels were very centrally located and the guides were quite good. I don't know how it would be travelling with two children, but, if they are well behaved I'm sure you will do fine. Have a great trip.

Katie

Hi Ginger! You should also check out the Trafalgar Tours. I have done both Globus and Trafalgar in the past, and they are very similar. I compare their itineraries and pricing, then choose between the two. Good luck & have a great trip!

MHS

We took the Globus Rome, Florence & Venice tour 4 years ago and were, in the words of my travel agent, "burned". The Venice hotel turned out -- and we asked at booking & at final payment time -- when documents came in about 1 week before leaving -- to be over an hour's drive outside Venice. And, the Globus representative my agent spoke to then let slip that this hotel had been booked by Globus 1 year in advance. They knew at the time the brochure was printed & at the time we booked and at the time we paid that we would NOT be staying overnight in Venice. At that time Perillo was not offering that city combo tour. Had done several cruises and, of course, many many ½day tours in England, France & Holland -- thought Globus with it's ½ day of free time would be very much like those experiences combined -- some dinners with group, morning group tour and then on our own. What a false impression that was! <BR> <BR>Some points for you to be aware of & perhaps it will help you have a better experience: <BR>1) All included Globus meals are in the hotels -- don't expect to have the great Italian food you read about on these forums. Also, meals are heavy on the red meat (poorly cooked). <BR>2) Globus Hotels are located for ease of access by a large tour bus -- that means NOT near the center of the historical cities. And none were easily accessible by public transportation, which we enjoy using as part of the experience of Europe. Use taxies. Just because the brochure & agent "swear" the Venice hotel is IN Venice -- don't expect it to be closer than 1hr away! <BR>4) Globus hotels themselves were part of an American chain & you could be anywhere, USA. <BR>5) Change $ before join the tour -- one trick to keep everyone in line is to provide $ changing time only toward end of tour -- and then at their "selected" store -- no lira, no freedom to hire that taxi, etc. We had gotten several hundred in lira before we left and were very happy to have local money in our pockets. <BR>6) Some of the local guides were very good. Several were not. -- The driver was great, the driving was safe & he was very accommodating. As some previous posters have stated, the driver & driving was the best thing about the tour. The tour director was very nasty if you wanted to "do your own thing" during the limited free time she allowed. <BR>6) Globus optional meals and activities are pushed VERY HARD. Only good one was the Sistine Chapel tour. If your tour does Florence, suggest you skip the optional "Beef" dinner -- it's bad pot roast, not what non-tour diners were served, although the drive out in the countryside was nice. <BR> <BR>There were primarily mature adults on our trip -- I really doubt that the guide would have either enjoyed having teenagers along or made any accommodation for them. <BR> <BR>On the plus side, we did stop at places we really enjoyed such as Pisa & Verona but would not have done had we been traveling by train. And we did not have the hassle of driving a car. <BR> <BR>Two years a co-worker did the trip with Perillo, who had reinstated basically the same tour, and had a very positive experience with Perillo and their tour director. <BR> <BR>Trefalgar and Brendan are basically the same as Globus. <BR>Good luck. <BR>PS: during part of our drive through Italy, she played Irish ballads and Irish jokes -- in the land of Pavarotti, etal!

RCS

I have to disagree with MHS. <BR>We did a Scandinavia tour with Globus in June and it was outstanding. <BR>Hotels in the major cities (Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo) couldn't have been more centrally located. Most of the hotels we stayed in were definitely not American chain.The tour director was outstanding and couldn't have been more helpful.As far as changing money, she gave us money changing advice at the very first meeting, not at the end of the tour. I would suggest skipping the Globus optional dinners - we didn't do any of them but went out on our own. Optional dinners were way overpriced and didn't sound that great. Overall it was a most enjoyable trip. Good luck.

Julie

I took a Trafalgar tour twice with my child. on both tours, the tour guides went out of his way to accomodate my child and tell me what to expect at the next stop. On the first tour, another couple had a 12 year old son and a 15 year old daughter. The kids seemed to love the tour but got annoyed with each other on a few occasions. <BR> <BR>We had a triple room but this family had two double rooms. Men in one room, ladies in the other. I don't think (but not sure)they would allow the kids to have a room separate from their parents. On a few occasions the rooms connected, so exceptions were probably made. <BR> <BR>On the second tour there were no other kids. <BR> <BR>I am sure that when I first walked on the bus with a child people were disgusted but everyone was cordial and as time went on they realized that kids love touring and behave on trips. Everyone on both bus tours was nice to us. Each tour was around 2 weeks long. <BR> <BR>Since people are saying that Globus and Trafalgar are the same, I would think that you should expect this same type of treatment. <BR> <BR>I was very pleased with both tours and I am going to take another Trafalgar tour next Feb with my child.

Ginger

Thanks for your input. As I mentioned, we did Globus years ago (Before Kids) and it was fine for our needs. <BR>Our tour director also did not want us to "explore" on our own and kept trying to discourage it because she wanted to sell us her own "additional" tours. We prefered to be on our own in the afternoons and meet and greet the locals, which we did. In fact, two other couples who felt uncomfortable about roaming around European cities joined us and we formed our own mini-tour group. (Which, again, our tour director did not like.) <BR> <BR>Has anyone taken a Globus (or other company's) tour of Greece? I've heard about the Italian tour and wonder how Greece would be during the February or April school vacations? <BR>Thanks.

Carmen

Wow- what a difference of opinion! <BR> <BR>We went on the Thames to the Tiber tour in July, 2001. There was a good mix of ages on the tour. There were four families with kids. Most of them were preteens, although I think two were 17 or 18. They were ALL well behaved, except for one child who was nine or ten. <BR> <BR>They all did well with the cultural experiences (except for the one kid.) <BR> <BR>Our tour guide was excellent. We let him know that we were on our honeymoon, and he never pressured us to join the group. In fact, when we were in Venice, he had the drive drop us off while the rest of them went out to dinner. <BR> <BR>In Venice, we did stay in Meastra, which was about twenty minutes away, but we knew about this is advance. The rest of our hotels were excellent. Only three dinners were included in our trip, so we were on our own for most of it. <BR> <BR>I thought our Globus tour was excellent! <BR>Our pictures are posted below: <BR>http://www.carmzav.com

PJ

Hi Ginger! I have been on two Globus escorted tours. The first was with my husband for 10 days in Greece. I believe the Globus part was a week and we added a couple of days in Athens. The escorted portion was a day or so in Athens and then a cruise. The ship was nice with lots of great food. We went in May and the weather did not allow any sunny days on the deck. It was cool. The tour moved fast--sometimes 2 islands in one day. We were up eating breakfast at 5 am in order to get small boats to the islands. We saw a great deal and the islands are absolutely gorgeous. This was somewhat different then other escorted bus trips I have been on-as when on a large ship with so many people, you do not get to know the tour group as well. Great way to see the islands for the first time, tho. <BR>I traveled with my parents and two children (14,17) on a 2 week escorted bus trip thru Europe. It began in London and went thru Amsterdam, Germany, Venice,Lucerne, Paris, etc. The driver (Italian) was WONDERFUL, the tour guide was fantastic and you really bond with many passengers spending so much time together. We had a nice mix of time on our own and time with the group and NEVER felt pressure to do optional activities. When we did, they were well worth it. The food at dinners was not always the best ever, but the experiences with fellow travelers and the guides made them exceptional. I still communicate with some of them. A couple of the hotels were located out of city center which was less convenient..but others were better. After the bus tour, we spent a week with family in Monaco. My children enjoyed the bus trip MORE! They were the center of attention on the bus, and it has been an experience they will not soon forget. I have traveled by car and train as well as on escorted tours and each has its advantages and disadvantages. PJ

Judy

Several years ago we took our first (or atleast my husband's first) tour of Europe with Globus and it was for the most part a great experience. Our guide warned us on the first day that we were in for a strenuous trip and definitely NOT a vacation (we were doing the 30 countries in 30 days type of trip- not really but you get the idea) The guide was very knowledgable, the bus comfortable and the hotels very good and fairly close to the city centers. Food, yes, served most often in the hotel of the night, was good if not gourmet and service was excellent. <BR> <BR> Having your hotel card on your person comes highly recommended in case you get turned around as we did once coming out of the Paris Metro. A lovely lady could then read it and point us in the right direction. <BR> <BR>We did add on a second four day tour of England (thinking that this was a once in a lifetime trip) and there the guide must have been in training. "The building you just passed was..." did not impress us. All in all however, I have yet to find ground tours that surpass those offered by Globus and highly recommend them

hmh

In Nov. 1997, we took two Globus tours in Greece--one was 10 days, and included a 7 day cruise--the ship was not the greatest, but we were on the last one of the season and the ship had been "downgraded" due to lack of passengers. This was followed by a land tour, which was about 7 days. We were quite pleased with the 1st tour's hotel in Athens, Divani Palace Acropolis--this could be because we could see the Parthenon from our balcony. The room was pretty nice too. The land tour was quite fast, but we saw wonderful histoical sites--our tour guide was so knowledgable about her country that we felt we were fortunate to have her. There was not a lot of free time on this tour but everything worth seeing was included. (IMO) We have taken both Globus and Trafalgar tours. Usually there is little difference, slight itinerary changes, cost, etc. We have always been lucky to have the hotels listed and have been able to determine their location prior to our trip. It is inconvenient to have to use public transportation at times, but if you "scout it out" before your trip, you can handle it. I know that many people think taking a tour isn't a great idea. We've traveled both ways and now add days when we can, to see extra things, but find that tours are very enjoyable too.