SugarPlum

My daughter's choir will be attending a children's music festival next July and will be performing in venues in Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague. The tour is organized for 12 days, with the first and last days consumed by travel (out of Atlanta). The cost for the choir members is approximately $3000, which includes air fare, hotels, and meals. The children will have somewhat limited touring time, due to rehearsals, but will have organized tours of each city and a few other attractions. None of the flights or hotels have been identified yet -- they will be confirmed later this fall.

Parents and siblings have the option of participating in a "shadow" tour through the same company, again for approximately $3000. During the choir rehearsal times, the shadow group will participate in more extended touring of other attractions as a group.

My question is: Have any of you participated in this type of tour? Good or bad experience?

My husband and I have traveled to England, Scotland, and France, but have never done an organized tour. In truth, we prefer to have a few activities planned for a day, with plenty of time allowed for wandering and discovering when we travel. I'm worried that the organized tour will be too restrictive, and I will be constantly dragging my husband out of a pub or away from a venue in order to catch the bus...

I'm trying to calculate whether we would be better off arranging our own trip, to coincide with my daughter's trip in terms of dates in the respective cities, but not as part of the organized tour. Would you estimate this to be more cost effective than the organized tour? I'm looking at 10 nights in hotels, air fare to/from Vienna from Atlanta, meals, transportation between Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague, plus entertainment.

I apologize for the lengthy post. Thanks in advance for any advice!

djkbooks

The only way to really calculate this is by determining what all that would cost if you booked it on your own.

Since you have plenty of time, you should probably wait until the hotels are identified to determine if they are to your liking and conveniently located. And, you never know about the quality of the included meals.

If the tour price is considerably more favorable, versus booking on your own, and you can reasonably conveniently get to the places you want to visit while in each of these destinations, along with the performances, you can always pick and choose which "organized" activities you'll include or skip. Then, you won't have to drag your husband out of a pub or away from a venue if he can get himself back to the hotel later on.

If, due to the hotel locations, you will be dependent upon sticking with the group for meals and transportation, you'll have to make up your own mind which way you'd prefer to go.

Merseyheart

SugarPlum, I haven't done this kind of a tour. But I'm willing to bet it will be cheaper in the long run to do the shadow tour they have already organized. You can always opt not to do a daily activity with the other families. But you'll be at the same hotels, and in the same transit from city to city. You can still wander off on your own during the day, but if you do the shadow tour, you will probably have an easier time rendevouzing with your daughter for meals and such.

Underhill

In 1987 we participated in the San Diego Master Chorale's tour of Austria and Switzerland--quite a few spouses and friends of members were in the group. Most of the activities were shared, although we had free time to explore on our one during rehearsals. The highlight was being, by chance, in Salzburg for the funeral of Herbert van Karajan, with a high mass at the cathedral featuring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus.

We had a wonderful time on the tour, and the emphasis on music enhanced everything we saw and did.

Underhill

Please make that "on our own."

I forget to say that my husband and I except for that one occasion travel on our own. However, being in a group setting wasn't all that bad. I don't think we'd choose to travel that way in the future, but it made for an easy trip that one time.

Sue_xx_yy

Hello SugarPlum

You will receive lots of advice here on going to those places on your own. My own advice applies to the Austrian section as I haven't been to Prague.

As you have gone on your own to places before, you will have some idea of what to expect vis-a-vis prices. Hotel and food prices in Austria should be cheaper than either London/England or Paris. You are doubtless already aware that you can save money doing it on your own. Quite a bit, actually.

It is easy to secure a flight into (or out of) Munich followed by an approximate 90 minute train to Salzburg; my guess is that Prague is your other gateway.

Public transit is very good in both Vienna and Salzburg, and there are regular fast trains between the two. There's also a fast train Vienna-Prague. No question that your own arrangements here would probably be superior.

You could try shadowing the shadow tour, and book either the same hotels or hotels very close by. This would keep you somewhat in touch with the other parents, yet give you your independence.

On the side of taking the tour, I note it spends 10 nights in just 3 locations, which is fairly relaxed for a bus tour. On the minus side you haven't mentioned the company or outfit in charge of handling the arrangements, and much of the success of the tour will depend on their competence.

Good luck with your decision.

travelbunny

..I have had specific experience with a choir tour but as a chaperone and not as a "shadow". The children had such a busy schedule (they had about 2 hour of rehersal a day plus a service plus sight seeing) that the parents were welcome to be at a service, welcome to take their child out to dinner once (pre-arranged only), but were NOT encouraged to "hang around" otherwise. The reason was quite simple..too disruptive to the "work" the kids were doing, it sometimes made the child homesick (rare), but sometimes made children whose parents couldnt come homesick (occasionally)...Really I guess what I am saying is have you checked to see how much time you will have with ypour child? Will your child resent being taken away from his/her friends while you do a family thing? If the choir director is clear that your child will have lots of freetime, then you might want to consider the shadow tour..Otherwise, plot your vacation to make sure that it intersects your child's performance. The parents who had children in the choir that I chaperoned did this easily as the times and dates of services were set well in advance. Hope this helps.

SusieQQ

How old is the child? I would be inclined to allow the child to go and have a good time without you.

SugarPlum

Thanks to all for your thoughtful replies.

A few more bits of info -- my daughter will be 12 at the time of the tour, and her chorale has kids from 10-14. We have to sign up both the singer and those participating in the shadow tour by the end of August, putting down a rather hefty, and non-refundable, deposit.

Travelbunny, you made an excellent point. My daughter's choir director does not encourage contact home during tours because of the homesickness factor -- and she has made it clear that there will not be alot of free time during this tour.

You all have given me food for thought. I'm still gathering price information, but because I have to make my decision about shadowing before I have info about the tour's specific hotels and locations it is harder to make a fully informed decision.

I know my daughter will have a wonderful tour whether or not we accompany her. I didn't travel to Europe until I was in my thirties, and I'm thrilled that she has this opportunity at a much younger age.

ira

Hi SP,

>...a "shadow" tour through the same company, again for approximately $3000. <

That's $6000. Assuming about $700 pp for air fare leaves $4600 for 10 days. If you pay $150 per day for a hotel, that's $310 per day for meals and incidentals.

I think you can do it yourself for less.

SugarPlum

Thank you, Ira.

Is $700 reasonable pp for rt air fare for July 2005 between Atlanta and Vienna?

I realize that you don't have a crystal ball, but my previous journeys have been off-season so I don't have a personal base for comparison.

ira

Hi SP,

I'm pretty sure that you could do it for no more than $800.

It's still early for the discount tickets to come out for July.

I use http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm

They are offering RT from Atlanta via Paris for $735 (total) in Sept.

clevelandbrown

This tour sounds like a team effort, and I think you should either decide to be part of the team, or not. If not, I would suggest you fully disassociate yourselves from the tour, to prevent your daughter being put in a position where she would have to choose between you and her teammates.

I am pretty certain the director will want to have an emergency contact for each child, so if you are on a separate but similar tour, that will be complicated.

TopMan

The earliest you can know about costs of air will be 330 days ahead of the dates. If you wait for a sale you'll have to get one that includes July of next year and since that is a peak travel time to Europe from the US you may, or may not, find many values..although if you are very flexible and willing to go in seats the airlines otherwise cannot move you could get fortunate.

I would caution you about the advice about re the "competence" of the group putting the arrangements together. Whereas I agree that this has a significant impact on the overall resultant quality..so does your own competence, or lack thereof.

It very well could be more economical for you to book your own arrangements in the long run since you could somewhat tailor them to your own tastes, etc. But if you do so then I think in fairness to your child's potential experience which comes with being part of the group I would be VERY careful with the temptation of tearing her away so that she could experience things with you.

I was a member of a choir tour which lasted for 8 weeks in Europe back in 1970 and it was my first trip abroad. It was, and still is unforgettable. Personally, I think it was a mistake, and probably economically-driven even to OFFER this "shadow tour" option.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

SugarPlum

Thank you for your help, Ira, Topman, and Cleveland Brown.

If we choose not to participate in the shadow tour, I will plan a separate trip for my husband and myself that would position us so that we can attend my daughter's choir performances only, with the rest of our time spent on our (husband/self) tourist activities.

I don't want to interfere with my daughter's tour experience -- I think that it is important that she participate fully with her choir. Because of their performance and rehearsal schedules, I wouldn't have much time with her even if we were a part of the shadow group. I'm most interested in seeing her perform with her choir in the magnificent venues that are planned.

I am a little stressed because I will have to make a decision this month about the shadow tour before I can accurately cost out our individual trip. However, based on my research here and at other sites, I think I can arrange a trip for us that will better fit our travel style, likes & dislikes, etc. for a better price than $3000 pp.

kybourbon

It might be helpful if you tell what company is arranging the tour as there may be people that have had good/bad experiences with the company.

djkbooks

I, personally, would not book ANY tour without knowing the hotels and that the tour company in question does not have a habit of "substitutions". The quality of the hotels and their locations are essential to know before booking a tour.

SugarPlum

The tour is being arranged by Classical Movements, Inc., a company that specializes in music and performance group tours. Does anyone have any previous experience with this company?

They will not have flight or hotel information until later this fall, according to the company representative.

djkbooks

I would recommend posting a new Inquiry with "Classical Movements, Inc." in the subject line.