Looking for a UK coach tour company for seniors
 

Hello everyone
Our mother in Law will be visiting us in the UK from Canada in November. We are looking for coach tour companies that offer slower paced tours for seniors. She's interested in a 2-3 day Scotland tour (maybe Edinburgh) and a 2-3 day England tour (maybe Oxford, bath etc.). Not picky about where as she's only been to London and Cambridge.
thanks in advance

http://www.aarptourproviders.com/ful...ted_tours.html

Some to consider I guess.

UK based coach tour companies might be the way to go for the shorter trips you want - I think they're mostly aimed at older people.

This website gives some suggestions:

http://www.coachholidays.com/

Yeh would be more of a 'trip' to be with British OPAs than Americans perhaps!

I don't like large coach tours so have a look at Mad Max tours out of Bath. They have several offerings and Bath is a nice place to spend a couple of days and is a short train ride from London. Rabbies do tours of England and are limited to 16 passengers and while they're not specifically oriented to older passengers, I have done a number of tours with them where there have been travelers in their 80's, so they ( Rabbies ) do adapt to senior members. www.rabbies.com

Just checked and Rabbies have a two day tour of Bath, Oxford and the Cotswolds departing from London. I do know that they have several 2/3 day tour departing from Edinburgh.

Rabbies as mentioned above.

But there are UK tour groups who you could look at. Obvious one is Saga Holidays. They do a whole range of UK tours - some special interest, eg art tours in different regions or garden tours in different regions.

My 80 year old sister travels a lot with Saga, although mostly to Europe.

Pal: "British OPAs"

I think you mean OAP's

Rabbies, Mad Max are both GREAT. And others offer all sorts of smaller group tours. By November though some of their offerings are cut back a bit. Some itineraries are offered less frequently or not all in winter.

There is a tour company that does trips from London to the Cotswolds - train to Moreton-in-Marsh and then mini bus from there - that a couple of Fodorites have highly recommended but the tour company name escapes me. Maybe one of them will see your thread.

The co janisj's talking about is Secret Cottage (www.cotswoldtourismtours.co.uk )

This "coach tours for seniors" nonsense is just closet ageism. We're every bit as capable of getting ourselves onto trains and walking to attractions as the bigoted young oafs who churn the nonsense out. Actually more able, because few of us had the misfortune to grow up with over-indulgent, car-owning, parents. And, growing up in the Golden Age of frugality, we're not going to waste money paying for unnecessary hand-holding.

What's more in our day, we knew how to use guide books. And we still keep our library tickets.

The great thing about Secret Cottage is it doesn't require its clients to check in their self-reliance. From all accounts (I'm far too old to be seen dead on any guide-led tour, so I'm going on what customers have told me), it's the tour company for people too sensible to take tours.

"We're every bit as capable of getting ourselves onto trains and walking to attractions as the bigoted young oafs who churn the nonsense out."

Speak for yourself. It's not clear how fit the OP's MIL is, but right now I am quite incapable of keeping up with a standard tour or traveling independently. I needed a wheelchair the last time I flew. Be thankful you don't.

thanks everyone for your suggestions. She's definitely interested in UK based ones. We looked at viators a little but the age group was unclear.

flanneruk I wouldn't be looking for a seniors tour if she was physically capable. I am glad you are still fit and capable. Unfortunately she can't walk too far due to various health issues so would definitely need a very slow pace and not a lot of walking. She's 75 and has not traveled a lot in the past so is not comfortable reading her own guide books and doing things on her own. In this case all your assumptions about her lifestyle and ours (the next generation) are very incorrect. I don't remember this forum getting so hostile in the past.

Just so you know...Viatour is a reseller, they don't run their own tours.

ah ok, good to know thanks!

Has anyone taken the secret cottage tour, or would know of a fodorite who has? Playing with the idea of a U.K. trip next year, and that's something I considered last time.

Flanneruk- you are indeed lucky you're still fit both mentally and physically. Currently trying to convince my mother to consider a tour-- even walking across an airport or train station is a concern at this point, and we think she would certainly benefit from the social aspect as well. She's very independent but the "hand holding" would not be at all unnecessary. She cannot simultaneously use a walker and pull a suitcase. When people say stuff like what you've written, all it does is discourage the folks who really could use a senior tour- so either they don't travel at all, or they run the risk of injuring themselves if they try to go alone.

"She cannot simultaneously use a walker and pull a suitcase."

One makes allowances and stays in places where they do the lugging upstairs, uses taxis instead of the tube, orders a wheel chair in the airports, etc. The pace of most guided tours -- even though 'they handle the luggage' can be very fast paced.

Traveling on one's own - with maybe some group day tours - let's you slow down when you want/need to. Or even stay longer in a place and have inactive days. On a coach tour you do not have that option.

Certainly one can make allowances- but the management of logistics are an enormous stressor for mom. Not sure why. When she was younger, she wasn't a tour person at all, but now we've noticed that she enjoys traveling much more when someone else handles the arrangements and she has some kind of structured itinerary to keep her on track. We could do it (and have) but she would feel like she's holding us back. She likes the social atmosphere of like minded group outings and she enjoys the touristy stuff that tours tend to hit much more than other family members do. If someone else handles the nitty gritty stuff, she can put all of her energy into enjoying the trip. Seniors tours take into account age and mobility concerns, and that is something we're still trying to master from a planning perspective. Traveling with a wheelchair or walker is whole different beast than without.

So I don't know. I think for many seniors a tour isn't the best option and I can see where flanneruk (and you) are coming from. My father is of the same mindset. But I wanted to point out that it's never one size fits all and for some people, I think a seniors tour would definitely enhance their experience even if it's not an outright necessity. It's not particularly useful to reject the idea outright just because it isn't an option that would work for you.

Just to recap, there have been several possibilities suggested for tours for a senior. I mentioned Rabbies, Mad Max and flanneruk has suggested Secret Cottage. Have a look at these and note that Viatour is not really an option. The coach holidays website looks like another reseller. Personally, I'd avoid these like the plague. A smaller tour company is likely to be your best bet.

Sometimes the UK sense of humour doesn't translate across the pond, flanner.

Perhaps you should be searching for "coach tours for people with mobility issues" rather than coach tours for seniors. I entered that search string in Google and got lots of hits.