I am planning a multi-city vacation (including Zurich and Rome) for this January and would like to know if it is easier (and not much more expensive than booking myself) to book the whole trip with an agency? What is your feeling on this topic? Can you recommend an agency (if this what you suggest)? Thanks in advance,

Kurt

Packages are usually better if you are going to a single destination or if you are going to a very typical itinerary (Rome-Florence-Venice). In these cases, you'll often do better with a package monetarily, though you'll usually end up in very bland, tourist-group hotels. Given today's cheap intra-Europe airfares, it's usually better if you do your booking yourself if you're doing a multi-city, multi-country itinerary. Travel agents aren't going to book you on Wizzair or Germanwings, for example. But booking yourself assumes you have the time and fortitude to do the necessary research to get yourself a good deal.

This is probably not the best forum to ask this particular question. Nearly everyone on here are "do it your selfers" & you can surely (if you have sufficient time) do a better job & spend less money. This IS however, a great place to start planning the trip yourself...

You won't get a fair answer here imo, because you are asking a forum of (i'm guessing at least 90%) die-hard self-planners.

That's true, even for folks who say they definitely want a tour and have specific reasons, people still tell them to do it themselves even when they don't want to and haven't asked. Anyway, just using an agency isn't really the same as a package, though, so those are two different things.

I don't know a good agency, but I think you are asking for a company, not a travel agency? I was just talking to someone at a party on Saturday who did a 10 day tour of PRovence with go-ahead.com and she thought it was a good tour. I was amazed at how much she actually covered in that time, it sounded well-done for those things. I was actually surprised she did a package as I think she's lived in France (at least for a bit as a student), speaks French fluently and teaches AP French in a HS here. But, I think she is a little timid about traveling alone, as she asked me a lot of questions about how I did it when I told here I'd been to all those places myself on my own.

I think she did the "walking through Provence" 10-day tour. So, that's not much of a recommendation as I don't know a lot about them myself, but I know their prices are good.

I thin if you have specific places you wnat to see, it may not be that easy to find a package that includes it (Zurich with Rome).

sorry, that URL is the wrong company, this is the tour group

http://www.goaheadtours.com

Tour companies can get special cheap rates on hotels, and coach and plane travel can be cheaper with them too than you'd pay if you booked yourself. It is a matter of checking tours with peace of mind but restrictions as to where you go compared to doing it yourself. Some people like the company of fellow travellers on a tour.

It will be hard to find a package tour including Zurich and Rome. While we've always planned our overseas vacations on our own, I've started to look at packages purely as a way to possibly save on airfare and part of the trip cost. Say you want to travel to Rome and Tuscany and you plan on spending 3 nights in Rome. You can probably find an 8 day tour for Rome that's cheaper than self planning for the airfare and 3 nights hotel. So buy the tour for the flights and Rome and blow off 5 nights of the tour to do your own thing in Tuscany.

The 1st overseas trip we ever took was 4 days in London, Eurostar to Paris and 4 days there. We booked packages with American Express travel called city stays. You could look into those. I have to admit, that after doing this we figured out how really easy it is to do all the booking ourselves. Of course it helps that I LOVE to research our travel options and find out about each place we're visiting to the point of a deja vu feeling when we finally get there! My biggest problem with agencies like Go-Ahead is it all looks so much better and cheaper when you're just shopping. When you get down to the real planning, there are lots of extra costs and the flights are sometimes very poorly timed. I have read on this site that the hotels are good and the tours offered are informative. But, the main thing is using just a few travel web sites and a few guide books, you can do just as good with flights, hotels an itineraries as any package when you add it all up. Or, at least I think you can!

Wow, thanks everyone! I have been going thru the packages and have learned that the hotels they offer are usually not too nice. Airfare seems ludicrous for Xmas-NY day! I am getting a little dejected... There are so many BS restrictions with air fare specials..almost like bait and switch. At this point it looks like I'll end up in Phoenix!!! Again I think you all and if I find something I'll let you know.

Regards

Kurt

...but the holidays would be an exception to winter airfares, so you should expect them to be higher for those days.
It is easier to book a package or a tour; planning an extensive trip (while fun to do) takes a lot of time. Some tours use nicer hotels than I would pay for independently (high 3* or 4*s); I usually book 2-3* if paying individually for hotels. So packages/tours might 'save' some money if you were going to book that level of hotels anyway, but for me, it doesn't save money. The GoToday packages use low-end and non-central hotels - you have to choose wisely, and they have the loophole of moving you as they see fit. GoAhead Vacations use nicer hotels.

The thing about tours is they rarely include Zurich, instead stopping in Lucerne (which is lovely) but Zurich is a nice town to visit, too.

Thanks TN!!!!

My mother in law does package tours and loves them, she's done a couple with trafalgar - normally she will do 'a best of' tour which seem quite extensive. I'm surprised actually at how much she does get to see. Some friends of mine have done package and do it yourself tours. Their last trip to Europe combined both.

Well here's an honest answer (at least I think it's honest). No doubt it's easier to book with an agency. A package booking could be cheaper. And I would never do it.

I have booked packages twice with www.gotoday.com. These packages included air fare and hotels only. There is a choice of hotels ranging from budget to expensive, and I selected based on price, location and reviews, just as I do when I book the hotels myself. These packages are specific to the hotels selected and do not have the option of moving you to other hotels as far as I could determine. It's not like a tour where the brochure specifies a hotel "or comparable hotel".

You haven't given your reasons for why you are thinking about this. Is it to save time, to get no-surprises hotels, combination of both, or...?

Knowing your feelings and needs might help those attempting to answer.

That said, if I wanted something almost as convenient to book as a package I'd consider booking chain hotels. These too tend to be uniform and bland, but often offer good value, especially as there is usually a brand name to fit every budget. I'd hazard a guess that when you book such hotels yourself, you are less likely to be 'walked' to a different hotel than when a third party does the booking. The point Travelnut made about loopholes is a sound one. If you go with an agency, accept that phrases such as 'hotels as stated <i> or similar </i> may mean you wind up with hotels that you would not necessarily agree were of a similar standard or as well located.

HI M,

I have not yet found a package that would give me the same quality of accomodations for the same or less than if I do it myself.

Dave_in_Paris... beautifully said! That is exactly how I feel about it.

I have done both and it really depends where you are going and what time of year. My family is travelling to London the day after Christmas, and we have booked a go-today.com package because it was a lot cheaper than trying to book it myself (the airfares that week are a killer!).

The Go-Today website states:
<i>&quot;..Please note, due to our low prices space is limited so second and third choices for hotels and/or travel dates is highly recommended. Should the dates or hotel requested not be available our best is done to offer the nearest available alternate.
...&quot;</i>