Tours, guided
Sep 17th, 1999 | 10:52 AM
#2
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Roy, I suggest picking up ALL of the tour brouchures from the travel agent's and REALLY reading between the lines..If it's a smaller bus(18-25)it's more personal but also more expensive. If the tour says "see" it means a drive-by, if it says "visit" then you'll stop there. If it say's "perhaps enjoy a gondola ride" it means there's time to do it but at your cost. The costs range from bargains to steep. The brouchures when read THROUGHLY tell you quite a bit about the tour(s). ie How old are the people in the photos? How big is the bus? What standard of room do they use? How many meals are included? Are they three course or one? How many extras (ie gondola rides, gala nights) are included? How many one night stays are there? (If there's alot, it's a RUSH tour, which can be very tiring toward the end of it.) What are the previous customer comments like? Once you have it narrowed down to a few, then post here for more info on specific tours/operators, as it's rather difficult to address every tour, and critique it - it's better if it's narrowed down a bit more..I hope this helps. FYI - two of the "higher end" (caveat: this opinion is very subjective, depending on what you expect of a tour) are: Tauck, and Insight. Most often the tour guides earn their stripes on the cheaper tours and then move on to the more expensive tours, MOST guides are good, but it's again a personal opinion. I hope this helps, happy hunting! Rose
Sep 17th, 1999 | 01:03 PM
#4
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Roy, <BR>Consumer Reports publishes a monthly Travel Letter. In the past it has annually rated airlines, hotels, rental car companies and cruise lines, both domestic and foreign. I frankly don't recall seeing critiques of tour companies, but that may well be due to the fact that I travel independently. You might check your library's reference or periodicals section.
Sep 18th, 1999 | 07:57 AM
#5
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Roy, Rose has given you really, really sound advice about how to tackle reading the tour brochures. My only additional suggestion is to make a list of the hotels the tour companies use (some offer hotels in 3-4 different catagories ), and then search for them in travel guides (Fodor's, Frommer's, Cadogan's, Open Road, etc.) to see if they are recommended, then study their descriptions thoroughly, reading between the lines here as well. Note carefully the LOCATION. Is the hotel on the outskirts or within walking distance of major sites? In Venice, for example, does the tour company put you out in Mestre or in Venice proper? In Paris will you be in the 20th arrondissement or smack in the heart of things in the convenient 4th through 8th? (This is a common cost-cutting measure of an inexpensive tour). If your hotels are far removed from the center, you won't enjoy the full flavor of the cities you visit, plus you will have the extra expense of taxi fare or will need to spend valuable time on long subway rides. Once you've narrowed down your choices, you can do a specific hotel search on this forum. (Time consuming but well worth it!) If the tour company's hotels are well-reviewed by your fellow Fodorites, you'll be in great shape!
