We're looking at doing a tour through Italy/France/Switzerland and Austria - are tours all they're cracked up to be? Or is it just a lot of sitting in a bus?

There are pros and cons to tours. As far as "is it a lot of sitting on a bus" it totally depends on the individual tour - they aren't all the same. Look vary carefully at the tour description, if you leave one place in the morning and the only activity until hotel check in is "see the beautiful countryside" then yes, you will be on the bus a lot. Look at how many nights you are in each place (I prefer at least 2 nights otherwise you don't have time to see much of anything). Check the location of the hotels used, you don't want to be out in the sticks on your free time (and yes there should be free time) you want to be able to DO something besides sit in the hotel; make sure the hotels are centrally located.

I'd recommend Collette Tours. We did their Italian Vistas tour last year and loved it so much we're doing it again this year. We're not normally "tour people" and had never done a tour like this before. It was not a lot of just sitting on the bus time. We stayed at great hotels, had a fabulous guide, saw tons and still had free time to do our own thing. When looking at tours, be sure to compare the types of hotels and what all is included. Collette includes things that are all extras and cost more with other tours. A plus of a tour is that you don't have to do a lot of thinking. You see and do more with no down time trying to decide what to do next, etc. Other companies I've heard are good are Globus, Insight and Trafalgar. There are more upscale tour companies like Tauck. I'd look at www.affordabletours.com they sell all different tour companies and offer discounts and have a great reputation. Melissa

Thanks for the advice! We haven't been to Europe before and have very limited time so it's a case of seeing as much as we can! - BC traveller (Beck!)

A while ago, I wrote a complete description of what goes on during one of these tours and yes indeed it is a trade off. There are some on this board (a few at least) who swear by these tours, more on this board swear at these tours. Let me give you some of the cons, understanding that I for the most part do indeed like tours.

Be aware that on a travel day, when going from A to B, youwill usually be told to be out of bed by around 0630, with your luggage outside your room by 0700 (but at least you don't have to schlep your luggage downstairs), breakfast at 0700 (quality of depends on location, kind of tour and customs of the country you're in), on the bus by 0745 and departure. You will stop every 2 hours or so for a snack, a washroom stop and depdning on whetehr you're on a motorway (autoroute, autobahn or autostrada) the stop might be in some city between A and B or at a motorway rest stop (autogrille in Italy etc.)...lunch sort of the same idea depdning on the itinerary you could be in a small town, told where the restaurants are and given an hour or two to do your own thing. Back on the bus with an afternoon bathroom and rest stop with an arrival at the next hotel around 1700....you're given your room assignment, your luggage is delivered to your room and you're set for the evening activities.

In smaller cities, the evening activity usually includes an included dinner...nothing to write home about but not totally junk food either...sort of middle of the road. In a big city, the evening activity will not include an included dinner but might include an optional dinner (which is extra) or you can have dinner on your own.

On a 2 night stand in one of the big cities, you know Rome, Vienna, Paris or whatever, the second day will include a sightseeing orientation tour with optional tours available. For example, a day spend in Paris will include a quick orientation tour of Paris, perhaps a visit to the 2nd floor of the Eifel Tower and then optional tours to places such as the Louvre or Versailles or whatever. If you don't take the optional tours, you will have free time to do whatever you want...usually you will be told where to pick up the bus for a ride back to the hotel and then an optional that evening.

A word on optionals...you will get a list of optional tours at the start of the tour...they are just that optional but you pay for them...they are pretty standard on each tour depending on city. Optional tours at night are usually some kind of dinner with unlimited drinks and sometimes some sort of entertainment.

You have to be understanding of tour brochure language. If you're on the bus and the itinerary says see such and such a castle, that means as you whiz along the motorway, the tour director will interupt your snooze or whatever by saying, "over to the right, you will see such and such a castle." There you've seen the castle although no stop will be made...independently when you see such and such a castle, if it strikes your fancy, you pull off the motorway and stop.

If the language says, why not visit Blarney Castle, that means you will stop in front of Blarney Castle, and be shown where the entrance is and on your own or with the TD on an optional you can visit Blarney Castle. If you don't want to pay the admission, that's fine. You go off and do your own thing.

The tour itinearary will clearly state what visits are included. Also, lunches are rarely included....you are, as noted on your own. My favorite lunch stop is Mickey D (McDonald's to those of you not aware of American vernacular); at least I know exactly what I'm getting, others like to try local cuisine. The TD will point you in the direction of some restaurants.

The tour will include some stops at factory stores or whatever where the TD and the driver have a deal, they get a piece of the action. In Lucerne, Bucherer will give you a brochure and tell you that if you just stop by the store, they will give you a free souvenir (it's a spoon)...you have to go to the top floor to collect it but they hope on the way you will buy...they will ask you the name of your tour because the TD gets a kickback...that's simplythe way it is. You are, of course, under no obligation to buy...some TD's are a little bit more honest and point you in the direction of cheaper alternatives.

One advantage of the tour is that upon arrival in the next city, your hotel will be ready and you don't have to worry about searching out for your hotel; some people like that and consider that a nice part of travel; I don't. I prefer certainty.

I think that covers the typical European bus tour. Whether the hotels are centrally located or not is a function of whether it is an economy tour, middle of the line tour, or a deluxe tour. For example the touring company Trafalgar has all 3...it has cost saver tours where the hotels in the big city are gnerally out in the sticks. As noted the first night, there will be an optional. Sometimes the TD and bus driver will be willing to drop you in town, in other cases they will explain how to use public transportation if you're not doing the optional. Trafalgar tours middle of the road are called believe it or not Trafalgar Tours...hotels are a little higher quality, more likely (but not guaranteed especially at the height of the tourist season) to be more centrally located and included meals are of a little better quality. Their deluxe tours are run by a company called Insight which is really simply Trafalgar Tours at a more deluxe level. Hotels are almost always centrally located, meals are much better and more things are included (but reflected in the price of the tour)....Cosmos Tours are operated by a company called Globus and are more or less equivalent to Trafalgar Cost Savers while Globus tours are more or less equivalent to Trafalgar.

Another advantage of the tours is you will meet people of many different nationalities. Assuming you are from North America, there will almost certainly be many Aussies, some Kiwis as well as other North Americans on the tour and it's fun to see how different nationalities react to different things....the tour group melds very quickly with a common goal.

Some TD's are, of course, better than others.

So is it worth it to do a tour? No easy answer...there are pros and cons. But don't let osme of the people, especially here on a forum geared to independent travel, turn you off with their doomsday scenarios. Tours can be very good, allow you to see a lot in a little bit of time, and take a lot of the worry and hassle out of travelling, especially but not necessarily just for first timers.

At least, I've done it both ways and feel competent to comment on the pros and cons of tours.

Thanks for the advice. I think we're going to go with a tour - the amount of time we have becomes an issue otherwise. Thanks again. Beck (BC Traveller)

Hi BC,

>We haven't been to Europe before and have very limited time so it's a case of seeing as much as we can! <

That is a very common first-timer mistake.

A tour that takes you to 4-5 countries in 1 week covers a lot of ground, but how much will you remember?

Slow down, smell the roses, drink the wine and beer, savor the country.

Europe will still be there a few years from now, when you go again.

Ira is SO correct. The more you travel on the road, the less you see. The faster the pace, the smaller the experience. When it comes to value for money, a tour offers the first-time-traveler a less-exhausting experience, companionship, and guidance that saves huge amounts of time. Later you can come back on your own. We did.

Seeing that it's your first time to Europe I think you should take a tour. It's a great relaxed way to get a taste of the countries and to learn the ropes. When you get home you can begin to plan your next trip to Europe. You'll know where you want to go and spend time, and where you want to avoid. Some people like tours for all their travel and others know they can be a perfect testing ground. Do lots of research.

We did a the Globus "Popular" for our first trip to europe. To echo what everyone has been saying, a tour like this is great for first timers or those not so independent. Thanks to this forum though, I planned all my "free days" on my own and had a great time in Amsterdam, London, Paris, and Rome. It is real easy to get around those cities with public transportation. There are also wonderful places to eat which I'm sure the "Fodorites" would be glad to help. My advice: sign up for the group tour but skip the optional excursions and see as much as you can on your own.

Rick Steves has some terrific tours for first time travelers.

We have a bunch of relatives and friends who all travel with Go Ahead Tours-from Prague/Vienna to all different Italy combinations, etc. They consistently report positive experiences, good tour directors and good lodging. I would definitely go with a tour the first time and would try to NOT see too many places in one trip.

In Western Europe I mostly travel independently, but I have done a couple of tours in Italy. The one with elderhostel in Sicily was dynamite.

I also have gone on tours in Russia and Chile with elderhostel--both excellent.

If you get a good TD, he/she can make the trip. The upscale tour companies give their TD's more training than the more budget ones.

Please note, if your tour is budget, you will end up probably paying for extras. The deluxe tours generally include all the extras. You can end up paying more for a budget tour if you buy too many extras. So, take a close look at the bottom line.

So long as your tour does not change hotels every day and cover too much ground, a tour can be a pleasant experience.

My preference is to travel on my own (plane and hotels). But I do see the beauty of arranging day tours in the cities you visit.

I'm a very independent traveler and I have also taken many escorted tours. There are many pros and cons to each. Just read the itineraries very, very carefully. One of the best travel times I ever had was on a tour. I took an archaeological tour of Sicily, a place I had been to many, many times and THOUGHT I knew very well. Pick the right tour and you will have a wonderful time.

Very good advice from all the posters!
I host small group tours to Austria and my clients like that it is "slow travel", which means we stay sometimes only in one city, sometimes in two or three or more, it depends. They also enjoy that everything is organized from A-Z and they are able to enjoy themselves and their company completely and do not have to take care for anything. They love my knowledge of the places we visit and we all have a great time discussing things. It is all very personal, since I usually include a Personal Chef dinner in a private home and they really get special treatment, it is not so much like being on a tour, but traveling with friends or family. We also design custom tours for clients and last November had a tour Salzburg-Linz-Vienna-Prague-Dresden, which was a great success, for two elderly ladies.
If you would like to have more information, please email me privately.
Anyways, try to get on a tour that is not too exhausting, but that gives you a chance to really get a feel for the places you visit, it will stay in your memory forever.
Servus,
Karin