xyz123 -

I have been on one guided and one escorted tour - the former because I didn't know any better and the latter because at the time is was the only way to get to Russia.

Both were supposed to be fairly upscale tours (one AmEx, the other a company no loner in business). I have also gotten input from family/friends who have been on tours - mostly older folks on their first trip - thinking they needed the help.

My POV is still that most people would have a much more positive and enjoyable experience unless they are either extremely naiave/timid and truly concerned about being abroad - or somewhat elderly/frail and really need the physical help with luggage.

nytraveler...

You're certainly entitled to your opinion but somehow trying to locate my hotel at 5 PM after a day on the road (if I could afford to rent a car and navigate the local highway system, motorways would be not a problem of course), stopping in small towns and looking for a car park, locking the car, hoping nothing is stolen yada yada yada might not (or it might) be a positive experience.

You can have a very very positive experience on the escorted tours. I believe Trafalger is an excellent company, I have done 3 tours with them, have not felt cheated for one second and seen lots of places that would have been well a pain to get to.

Did I miss things? Most likely of course...was I ever coerced to take an optional tour...no....could I go off and do my own thing of course...was I happy to have a td recommend places for lunch when stopping in strange cities off the motorways...yes...did I always know that by 5 pm I would be in a nice hotel room for the most part washing up for dinner...yes...was it great rolling my bone out of bed and carrying out my official wake up procedures at 6 AM most every morning, no....but once I got on the bus if I so desired and it was a motorway day, I could sleep it off on a nice comfortable air conditioned bus.

I mean again there are good things and bad things and to say most people would have a better time if they did it independently is as much a generalization as my original one.

And for orientation, well you know you do the tour the first time and then go back, it is a great introduction.

Once again we all are entitled to our opinions on these things and I don't think there is ever one answer for everybody.

Let me ask you a question and think about it...in the high tourist season, do you think it is wise to reserve hotels in advance? If not, aren't you taking a chance especially if arriving by train or other public carriage? So if you book everything in advance, how much less regimented is that as opposed to a Globus or Trfalger tour?

But again, it is not my intent to be argumentative and to put down those with different opinions.

I just think that everybody ultimately has to make their own decision based on facts that are correct.....

NY traveler - hope you're reading this, what is the difference between a guided tour and an escorted tour?

fainaagain; HI!
From what I think I know....
the guided tour is a larger group, in a bus with a guide.
the escorted is a smaller group on individual cars with driver and guide
it's more personal and $$$$. but very
popular in Russia. They cater you all he way...

I don't think that most people on their own simply roll into town without a hotel reservation.
I have never taken a tour, but have traveled lots. With my parents as a small child.... high schol trips with friends...., college solo adventures, and "family of six" travel.
The best experiences have been the unplanned and unexpected ones. Getting lost and finding an amazing park. Waiting for the best moment to take a photo. Pulling over in a tiny Italian village because my daughter got car sick...and then watching donkeys carry building materials up stairs. ( Ok, you HAD to be there to see the positive in this one!!)
Sometimes you want an extra hour to visit a museum in depth. Or watch the world go by from a cafe chair (hey kids, wantsome ice cream??). Travel is more of a see, touch, hear and taste experience than on and off a bus at a rapid pace. But that's for me. Other do enjoy a tour.
Sorry royal_1 that I've posted without answering your question.

Marti, no, your assumption is wrong. I always get on "escorted tours" which are larger groups like Globus, Cosmos, Trafalgar.

I am still trying to figure out what is a "guided tour". One-day? Small group? Specialized, like photo or hiking?

Somehow my first post didn't make it. Just wanted to say that in 1982 my wife and I took approx. the same tour you will be on...and it was a good overview of European sights. Yes, you do move almost every day as you are covering lots of ground. But then as we did you can revisit places you like over the years. Accomodations were modest smaller hotels and we did most of the options.

I think xyz123 makes a good case for Globus or other tours although many do prefer individual travel. We have felt that you will learn more with guides than being strictly on your own. We also read books (besides travel guides) that give us more on sights, history, culture, etc.

ozarksbill
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Guided tours are the ones in which the tour guide does not "escort" you the entire way. If you have say 3 cities there are 3 different guides - 1 in each city. They pick you up at the airport, take you to the hotel, give you a 1/2 day city tour and try to sell you extras. Then they give you a phone # to reach them - or may be at your hotel for an hour per day. At the end of the visit they put you on the plane or train to the next stop and you never seen them again.

This is repeatd in the next city.

This is the way they usually organize those tours that just do London, Paris and Rome - or London, Amsterdam and Paris - rather than the 12 stops in 14 days tours - when you have a single escort with you 24 hours per day throughout.

XYZ123 -

Yes - we book all hotels in advance - as well as rent our car. The difference is we pick the cities and the # of days in each as WE plan - so we get to see exactly what we want. We may spend longer in a small towm (3 days in Spa - not on any tour) and skip Brussels entirely.

Another major difference is that we never spend less than 3 nights anywhere and often spend a week in a major city - so we're not rushed, can relax and cafe sit and search out the unusual places as much as we want.

We also get to pick our own hotels - and can decide in each case how we're willing to balance cost versus location - and make sure it has the amenities we want (we MUST have AC in the summer - and always a room with mini fridge and siting area - other amenities are flexible).

And we may decide to get up at 8am (never before - it IS a vacation) if we feel like doing a lot that day or go out dancing and get up at 10 or 11 the next day.

On the two tours I've been on there was way too much time wasted waiting for the confused and/or inconsiderate, too many early starts for no reason, way too much opportunity for "shopping" (I hate it at home and don;t need piles of cheap tschokes) and the meals provided, including breakfast were mediocre at best. (And I'm not talking about Michelin stars - but there's a big difference between a prepackaged half mushy/half stale sandwich in a dump at the side of the highway and a beautiful freshly made sandwich in a charming cafe in a cute village.)

And I can;t bear it when the guide gives incorrect info - esp when reading it out of one of the standard guide books. (Of one escort and 3 guides only one was reasonably competent/knowledgeable - and these were upscale tours.)

Never mind the risk of last minute changes and substitutions. (I do admit that I have control issues.) But I'm much better at getting what I want than any tour guide I've met. I don;t know if it's because I want it more, I'm more persuasive/determined/demanding - or they just give me what I want to shut me up. In any case - it works - we got into our hotel room in London hours before the rest of the group - although it was still more than an hour after it was promised. We showered, unpacked, went out and had lunch, bought theater tickets and got back to the hotel to rest for dinner and the others were just getting their rooms - since the "guide" had disappeared.

You're right - it is much more work upfront - but we enjoy that almost as much as we do the trip. And - if something goes wrong - we have only ourselves to blame (and so far - in 60+ trips nothing unfixable - or even serious has gone wrong).

I understand that some people don;t want to - or can;t - do the work to organize it themselves. But I think they're missing a huge amount by just skimming the surface and keeping a "guide" between themselves and reality.

(Have you ever seen an Italian principessa getting married in the same Vatican grounds chapel in which Charlemagne seized the crown from the Pope and crowned himself first Holy Roman Emperor?

Have you ever spent an hour convincing a non-english speaking Spanish cop that he had to organize the rescue of a dog trapped at the base of a bridge?

Have you ever gone to a vaudeville show in St Pete for 75 cents - surrounded by packs of local matrons in bright sateen dresses and gallons of perfune and their tightly double breasted husbands?

Have you ever sat at breakfast when the room was invaded by a leathered motorcycle gang - having them all take off their helmets and Gruss Gott us - as well as the feather-hatted German matrons - very politely?

Have you ever danced at 3am on the banks of the Seine?

Hard to do any of these on a tour!)

nytraveler...

Good points...as I said much of the success or lack thereof of a tour is dependent on the tour director and perhaps I've been fortunate in that regard with at least the Trafalger guides and yes I could have danced along the Seine at 3 AM and yes when the others went shopping in Paris I went off on my own to Notre Dame and walked the left bank.

Breakfasts, again dependng on the tour, have been excellent on almost every tour I've been on (the first class tours especially)...we've been lucky in that lateness has not been a problem (it could be!) and yes I read the itineraries carefully....but again as I tried to emphasize to each his or her own and there are good points and bad points either way so I guess we will all have to make our own decisions n'est ce pas.

I have read a alot of very positive feedback about Globus tours and so I am expecting to really enjoy our upcoming Italian Globus tour. However I would not choose a tour; this was a gift. Decades I traveled alone from Florence to Rome by train after shipping my bicycle home at the end of a trip down the Rhine. I have vivid memories of Italy and of this adventurous time. I will miss the adventure.

The Globus price quoted for an airfare inclusive tour is ____. It does not basically change when I search different dates. Yet summer and fall are high season cost-wise. I do not understand how this works! I want to chose as low-cost a trip as possible as this is a gift from a family member. Yet I cannot go in the off-season as I teach school.

Took a Globus tour of Scandinavian Capitals and St. Petersburg this summer, the hotels were all nice, centrally located, and the tour guide, a capable and intelligent Dutch lady who knew how to tour Russia , all made for a well-organized vacation!! Do not even consider going with one of the school-lead tours, like through a high school. They are expensive, and we have been cheated out of some money by one. Won't name. Bad experience.