My wife and I are ready to tour Europe for the first time. So many tour companies. Who's the best and reasonably priced? Interested in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Poland, etc

hi, wisia, I haven't used a tour company in many years, and the one I did use (which was great) is out of business now, unfortunately. I think best and reasonably priced are going to not work together that well--usually it's one or the other.

But, I was going to suggest that often tour companies specialize in particular areas, and a given tour is likely not to cover all the countries you mentioned. Poland, in particular, is probably going to be better from a company more devoted to that area of Europe (maybe with Germany, though, but perhaps with Czech Republic or on its own).

Some people like Trafalgar, Colette, Paul Laifer Tours is good for Central Europe (he might have Poland)
http://www.laifertours.com

I guess he doesn't have a lot of Poland, but a little.

There are lots of them, I'm sure others can recommend ones they like. Gate1travel is good and more moderate in cost, from what I've heard (only know a couple people who used them, but they seemed okay to me from what I heard).

We are going to Europe for the first time in July. We will be going with Grand Circle Tours www.gct.com so check out all the various European tours they offer. We are taking the Great Rivers of Europe, traveling from Amsterdam to Vienna by small boat (about 120-130 passengers) stopping along the way.

My suggestions are Globus and Trafalgar for your trips. Many happy returning customers and clients come back to these companies many times. Prices are reasonable and tour guides are excellent.

Best Regards,
Julia

Best is probably Tauck - good, centrally located hotels, reasonable food with several options at least and not TOO much mandatory shopping. They're also probably the most expensive.

The less you pay the more likely you are to run into hotels at the end of hell and gone, mediocre to poor food, very long days on a bus driving by "sights" and lots of time shopping for tschokes you probably don;t want.

Both Globus and Trafalgar offer multiple tours covering every area of Europe. We used Globus for Italy and the content/sites were very good. The hotels were mediocre. Last week we finished a tour of Germany with Trafalgar. The hotels are excellent, some not centrally located. But the trip content was not as well planned as Globus--too many 1 night stays, only one local guide, mediocre optional excursions. For Spain next year we may go back to Globus, but first I need to check out their hotels on the web.

When I toured with Globus in 1999, the London Hotel was actually in Hammersmith but, it was not far from the tube so we had not problem getting where we wanted to go anytime we were off on our own. In Paris, we were somewhere on the left bank with a metro station less than a block away. If you don't elect to do all the extras offered, you should have quite a bit of free time, if you travel with Globus and you certainly can see what hotels they use and find out where they are located. I never thought about it at THAT time. Anway, I really liked Globus, the tour director was wonderful and was GREAT at putting out fires. We only had a couple and it was amazing to watch her work.