tour question
May 26th, 2006, 08:11 AM
#1
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tour question
im looking into doing a tour for maybe 2-3 weeks; does anybody have any experience with tours? i have only done a 2 week tour of france with my family and thought it was nice to have everything already planned. however, this time i would like to do a tour that goes to different countries in europe. i am going to do the tour by myself and don't know what kind of crowd i would like to be with. any advice on what tours?
May 26th, 2006, 08:14 AM
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What is your age? Some tours specialize for people under 35. Cosmos, Globus, Trafaglar are tour companies for everyone. I would recommend a tour that doesn't include too many dinners. I was on a tour last year with Cosmos and dinner was a frankfurter and fries. I would of rather found my own place.
May 26th, 2006, 08:30 AM
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Definitely look at Contiki. I went when I was 28. Lots of fun, all in the same age group. They have different lengths (I did 21 days), different types ( I did hotel, not camping) and are a good value for the money. Look also at the extras they offer when trying to price it out. Hotels were not high end, nor necessarily centrally located, but I didn't care. Breakass included, some dinners. Organized, but they also had some free time to wander.
Pick one or 2 country(s) and see, learn, enjoy. I am glad I did.
May 26th, 2006, 09:00 AM
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Tough call here...
Contikie tours get mixed reviews...those who are interested in the touring aspects are sometimes disappointed as they feel the clients look on it as a 2 week drinking and partying time sans their parents in foreign land and those actually interested in the sightseeings aspects of the tours sometimes and I emphasize sometimes feel a bit disappointed.
The standard tour companies, Trafalgar and Globus, have both first class tours and tourist class tours (cost savers on Trafalgar and cosmos on globus)...the tourist tours are somewhat cheaper in terms of central location of hotels and quality of included meals (although admitedly trafalgar and globus are hardly gourmet)...and chances are the average age on the first class tours will be a little higher than the tourist class (first class have more money)...on both sets of tours you will meet a varied group of people from other parts of the world (these tours are mostly Yankees, Canucks, Aussies, Kiwis and a smattering of "others"
...you won't feel left out by any means and some of them will let you see a hell of a lot more than possible on your own.
You might want to look at the Trafalgar tour called European Whirl...there is a similar tour on cost savers a couple of hundred dollars cheaper...you have a choice of paying a supplement for your own single room or having them assign you a roommate...
Take a look at the message boards at www.trafalgartours.com...the people there are more into tours than those here many of whom think tours a waste of money.
Contikie tours get mixed reviews...those who are interested in the touring aspects are sometimes disappointed as they feel the clients look on it as a 2 week drinking and partying time sans their parents in foreign land and those actually interested in the sightseeings aspects of the tours sometimes and I emphasize sometimes feel a bit disappointed.
The standard tour companies, Trafalgar and Globus, have both first class tours and tourist class tours (cost savers on Trafalgar and cosmos on globus)...the tourist tours are somewhat cheaper in terms of central location of hotels and quality of included meals (although admitedly trafalgar and globus are hardly gourmet)...and chances are the average age on the first class tours will be a little higher than the tourist class (first class have more money)...on both sets of tours you will meet a varied group of people from other parts of the world (these tours are mostly Yankees, Canucks, Aussies, Kiwis and a smattering of "others"
...you won't feel left out by any means and some of them will let you see a hell of a lot more than possible on your own.You might want to look at the Trafalgar tour called European Whirl...there is a similar tour on cost savers a couple of hundred dollars cheaper...you have a choice of paying a supplement for your own single room or having them assign you a roommate...
Take a look at the message boards at www.trafalgartours.com...the people there are more into tours than those here many of whom think tours a waste of money.
May 26th, 2006, 04:08 PM
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I don't think 20-year old should go on a tour. I may get flamed, but I'll give my reasons why.
Tours have to be organized. If it's not organized, it'll be chaos. So, a tour will bring you where to go, when to get back on the bus, etc. Now, 20-year old persons have very different from the Globus/Cosmos/Trafalgar clientel of people in their 50-60's. And if you go with a tour catered for younger people that doesn't mean it'll be fine either, as young people these days have varying interest.
If you want to meet people, you can actually meet more by doing it on your own. You'll meet them at your hostel or budget hotel, you'll meet them at sightseeing spots, restaurants, clubs, wherever. Instead of just those people on your bus.
Before the age of the internet, it's a lot harder to research for one's own trip, so it makes traveling a bit harder. But these days, most young people should have no problem finding info and in many cases booking transportation and lodging easily here.
Give you an example. My parents (71 and 62) go to Europe twice a year, sometimes with tours, sometimes on their own. They're going to the UK and Norway for 17 days next month. I did a little research and successfully planned their whole itinerary in about 4-5 days, including roundtrip airfare from US to UK. 2 nights of hotel outside London, 1 night in London, discount airline to Oslo, 3 nights of hotel in Oslo, Norway in a Nutshell tour package (including one night of hotel), 2 nights hotel in Bergen, overnight ferry to Newcastle, 2 night of hotels in York, train ticket York to Edinburgh, 3 night hotels in Edinburgh.
Really about 5 days is all I took, and I have never been to Norway myself. Just read some threads here, and ask a few questions. And even though I'm not going, I think I'm enjoying the trip myself already.
Tours have to be organized. If it's not organized, it'll be chaos. So, a tour will bring you where to go, when to get back on the bus, etc. Now, 20-year old persons have very different from the Globus/Cosmos/Trafalgar clientel of people in their 50-60's. And if you go with a tour catered for younger people that doesn't mean it'll be fine either, as young people these days have varying interest.
If you want to meet people, you can actually meet more by doing it on your own. You'll meet them at your hostel or budget hotel, you'll meet them at sightseeing spots, restaurants, clubs, wherever. Instead of just those people on your bus.
Before the age of the internet, it's a lot harder to research for one's own trip, so it makes traveling a bit harder. But these days, most young people should have no problem finding info and in many cases booking transportation and lodging easily here.
Give you an example. My parents (71 and 62) go to Europe twice a year, sometimes with tours, sometimes on their own. They're going to the UK and Norway for 17 days next month. I did a little research and successfully planned their whole itinerary in about 4-5 days, including roundtrip airfare from US to UK. 2 nights of hotel outside London, 1 night in London, discount airline to Oslo, 3 nights of hotel in Oslo, Norway in a Nutshell tour package (including one night of hotel), 2 nights hotel in Bergen, overnight ferry to Newcastle, 2 night of hotels in York, train ticket York to Edinburgh, 3 night hotels in Edinburgh.
Really about 5 days is all I took, and I have never been to Norway myself. Just read some threads here, and ask a few questions. And even though I'm not going, I think I'm enjoying the trip myself already.
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