cdwinell

Thank you all!

aliced

Ditto on above, we have not used a travel agent except for one group tour w/ friends through Grand Circle, one cruise through Celebrity. Our other ten-plus trips to Europe have been on our own, including private chateaux in the northwest of France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland. Back in the day (20 years plus, before Internet) the travel agents would have experts in certain regions. I think now their market is much, much smaller and they put you into a tour which is easy for them and gives them the commissions they want with their partnered venues. Like, for the itinerary you mention, they'll come back with a total cost of $xxxx for 'everything' -- they will not tell you how much each night at such hotel is costing because they partner with certain chains. I recently investigated a two-week tour that was $xxxx and looked at the hotels they chose, as well as tours they booked. Well, the end of the story, we are roughly following their itinerary, same hotels they picked, adding a week at the end over to Provence for several thousand dollars less which will pay for our car, the tours we wish, and half of the dinners they were not including. Read a few guidebooks, check out 6-10 hotels mentioned in your price range, get their ratings on Trip Advisor, then book them on booking.com (fully refundable till about 2 days before arrival). The 'tour' would have been a great trip with this Provider, but we want more time to meander through more villages and don't want to set our alarm clocks to get our bags outside our doors so they can be loaded onto the bus. Some day we will go that way, but now like to use our own brains and delve deeper into what we want. And those river cruises places you at destinations along the river (DUH!) only, with lengthy bus excursions to the cities everyone wants to see -- no thanks -- better tolerated with friends along, however. It's not that hard to pack a bag and catch a train, believe me. All the info can easily be downloaded on your smartphone or iPad. This Fodors Forum is INVALUABLE for these details. You can do it, and the researching is my favorite winter pastime with a glass of wine and roaring fireplace.