My wife, nine year old daughter, and myself are planning on visiting England and Scotland in Aug 2001. Any opinions on which is the better way of going, Tour Company versus on your own? <BR> <BR>Any advice is greatly appreciated.

As long as you do your research, and know where you are going and what you want to see, my vote would be for self tour. To me, the research and planning is part of the fun. This board is a great place to start. So many savy travelers. If on the other hand you don't have time, or you don't enjoy the research, a tour maybe better for you and this time.

Karl, whether or not you will enjoy a tour vs independant travel depends a great deal on you. How confident do you feel in your ability to change money, book hotels, handle logistics, etc. Doing those things does take time, effort and mistakes can happen. Having said that I would cast my vote for independant travel any day of the week!!! First of all, you can come and go as you please, linger over the sights that have personal meaning to YOU and not slosh along with the crowd, waiting for a "head count" before boarding the bus, rushing through breakfast at some "tour bus" filled hotel on the outskirts of town to get to a sight and shuffle through to get to the next one. Travel, for me, is so intimate, so personal and profound, I would be terribly upset having to spend my vacation interacting with people from the USA and missing out on meeting locals and exchanging culture and ideas! No doubt you will get other opinions, but IMO you should plan to go independantly, then perhaps plan a few day trips here and there to get overviews. I think once you go by yourselves you will realize how easy it is (especially England and Scotland since there is no language problem) but this is my opinion, have a great trip regardless.

The tour vs non-tour has been dicussed many times on this Forum. The majority of people who post regularly, including myself, are non-tour people. My personal opinion is that you would be much better off not taking a tour (again, my opinion only). England and Scotland are very easy to navigate on your own, there are no language problems and just about everything you would want to know about anyplace is on the Web these days. I would suggest getting some good travel books, either from the Library or bookstore, sitting down with a map and planning out what you are interested in, including your daughter in the planning. Let her pick some places of interest too (it will avoid the "this is soooooo boring" days later on! I do not think a tour would be an advantage with a child, most of the people on tours tend to be older and I doubt if there would be any other kids along. Tours make you get up early (bags outside the door at 6, and on the bus at 7) so it does not allow for much spontaneous sightseeing. Meals are usually in hotel dining rooms, again not a lot of adventure there. Sightseeing may (or may not) be comprehensive depending on the company but remember you will ALWAYS be taken to shops that the tour company gets cut from the purchases. Free time may also be limited, those "1/2 day free time" may in actuality be a hour or two. <BR> <BR>That said, I'd opt for do it yourself. I'm very familiar with England and have been many times. Assuming you want to spend some time in London start from there. Hit all the big sights of course (including writing for tickets to The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London .. not be be missed locking up of the tower done nightly about 9:30). Use London for a base and plan some day trips via train. It's easy to get to Canterbury, Bath, Cambridge, Windsor, Hampton Court, etc etc. Endless possibilities! I'd then take a train to Scotland and do the sightseeing bit there, possibly renting a car. Train travel in the UK is marvelous and your daughter may enjoy it too. You could, as an alternative rent a car (outside of London) for touring about on your own. We've done it several times that way (as well as trains) and it's great because you can stop wherever and whenever you want to. I cannot say enough for the freedom of exploring on your own. <BR> <BR>I would start by prioritizing my interests tho, not everyone is thrilled with museums, castles, battlefields, or cathedrals, etc. Whatever you decide to see/do you will probably see more of it then you would on a tour. Granted a tour may take you to more places, but more is not necessarily better. It's nice to actually 'see' and enjoy where you are. You can take "guided day tours" via companies like Evans Evans or Frame's in England if that appealed to you, they have 1 day or several day tours. That might be an option if you did not want to do everything on your own. I just don't think a tour would be any thrill for a 9 yr old, there is just too much to see and explore on your own to be tied to a tour schedule.

The lengthy pros and cons of both are simple to cut through here. I have been on tours where the majority of people are adults and there are a couple children. These tours are not generally intended for them at all, and from what I saw, the kids did not enjoy them. I'm with Lori - travel on your own.

The only tour I took was as a teenager (college graduation gift). Only one other teenager on the tour, and one 10-year old girl. Absolutely nothing was geared for the younguns. Fortunately, one of the couples on the tour - who'd left their college-aged kids at home - took it upon themselves to ask at the hotel in Amsterdam where it would be ok for the teenagers to go for an evening out. I still bless their kind Canadian hearts! Come to think of it, Canadians always seem to be around when I need them, but I digress... <BR> <BR>Planning your own trip is a lot of time and work, albeit enjoyable (if you're up for it). In the early stages of trip planning, you start with 'I want to go...here', with a lot of reasons why. First things first, narrow down the whys. You can't see everything. If you don't like cities, don't go to London. If you find art museums tedious, don't go to the Tate. Don't do anything just because 'you're supposed to'. Does your daughter love dolls and dollhouses? There are museums and displays throughout every country (you probably won't go to them on a tour). Has she studied the American Revolution? A trip to a military museum with displays of the "Redcoats" uniforms would be a start. Does your wife do needlework? There are often exhibits of various schools' work. Antiques? Flea markets? Classic cars? Rather than focus exclusively on the 'musts' of a country, include some places that would be special to you. <BR> <BR>Borrow every guidebook from the library; get a good map; decide if you want to drive, go by train, or a combo of both. Contact the tourist offices of both countries (don't forget the offices of the individual areas) for brochures and calendars of upcoming events. All those big envelopes (or the little yellow notice from the post office "pick up your package at the Longlines station"), crammed with gorgeous pictures and glorious descriptions of the country, make opening the mailbox an adventure. <BR> <BR>Finally, don't try to do too much. Traveling is stressful; packing up every day and trying to see everything in an hour just adds to it. Hunker down in one spot for a few days, then just do day trips. Take a day off for swimming, or an amusement park, or just a leisurely walk through the countryside. This is from a woman who plans an itinerary down to the hour, and whose traveling companions usually toss it to one side along about day four. <BR> <BR>The best part about a do-it-yourself tour? The unexpected...your daughter flying kites with some kids in the park, or finding your family name on a street sign, or discovering that surrealist art is hysterically funny... <BR> <BR>Enjoy your planning - have we all convinced you to do it on your own??