Our travel group is planning on touring Greece in May '07. We are looking at two different tours and will appreciate help with our comparisons. Has anyone done either Rick Steves "Best of Athens & the Heart of Greece in 14 Days", or Grand European Tours "Grand Tour of Greece"? Would love to hear your pros and cons!

The Rick Steves' tour looks much better. You'll get a better feel for Greece plus you'll visit the lovely island of Hydra.
Also, friends of mine have taken several of his tours and were very pleased.

Hi!

Has anyone done a Rick Steves tour to Italy? I am considering one next Fall.

Yes. The tour groups are smaller than most of the others. The deciding factor should be where the tour goes.

Good Morning Barbara in CT:
In regard to Rick Steves....I was considering either the Village Italy in 14 days or the Best of Italy in 17. What was your overall experience with the Rick Steves tours? Would you do another one? From what I have read from the Fodor's board....either people love them or they hate them.

Barbara from CT:
It's me again....the 14 day tour begins in Padua and ends in Lake Orta...small towns.. off the beaten track places, the 17 day tour begins in Varenna and ends in Rome...a bit more variety for the extra days..and does more large cities, as well as small. What is the overall flow of his tours? Do you have any down time to smell the roses?

I've never read of anyone who hated Rick Steves organized tours here.

Yes people make fun of HIM and some of his mannerisms or ideas or travel style, but I've never heard complaints from people who participated in the tours.

To me the beauty of his method is you are in smaller groups, in vans, rather than a huge tour bus. I also believe he does not participate in the 'forced shopping' stops or 'drive bys' of sites and sights.