I'm with Carol. There are tours, and then there are...tours. I've done hiking trips with so-called "adventure travel" companies that specialize in active vacations for small groups. These are more expensive than the bus tours, and I've met wonderful people. They're ideal for me as a divorced woman - most of my friends can't travel when I can or are married, and, while I usually add a few independent days onto my group trips, I don't really enjoy vacationing alone. These group trips are a godsend for me.

What about the independant travelers who are too cheap to hire a guide so they sneak into an escorted tour group in the middle of the tour?<BR>

If by "snaeking into" a tour group, you mean simply listening to the guide explain the items in an arceological site or cathedral or other place of interest, thqt is hardly sneaking. If a group is blocking the path, and the guide is speaking above a whisper, their presence can interfere with the independent travelers' enjoyment of the place. It is absolutely reasonable and ethical for the independent traveler to stop and listen to the guide and even follow the group along if the explanation sem intereting and worthwhile.

The tour guide might be private domain, but a museum or other attraction, especially one that makes everyone pay admission, is public domain. Tours and tour guides can't claim ownership of the public domain.<BR><BR>But I don't blame Teresa for feeling a little ticked off. This thread, while now very old, is typical of the 'leading question' which purports to ask for information but is actually an opinion in disguise. "Why pay someone for something you can do yourself" is not a request for others to assist the questioner to understand, but rather a demand that those others accept, unconditionally, Richard's own position on this subject. The phrases 'locked in', 'half the fun' 'guidebooks aplenty' indicates that Richard was already pretty 'locked in' himself - to his views and position on the subject. Sad proof that travel doesn't necessarily foster tolerance or breadth of mind.

I have taken tours, and I have just bummed around Paris for a week with friends. Both kinds of trips have their pros and cons. <BR><BR>When I take a tour, providing the itinerary is good, I like having all the arrangements made for me. At home I am the one making all the arrangements, making sure everyone is going where they need to be and carrying what they need to have with them. <BR><BR>I don't take a tour until I can afford to go with a really good one, and then it is payback time for me. The luxury of having everything presented to me ready to go for my enjoyment is worth it. Not all tours are herding onto buses and mediocre meals, you know. And getting to walk past a line of 200+ people travelling independently waiting in the hot sun to get into the Schoennbrunn (sp?) Palace outside Vienna so I can walk right in with my tour group is always worth it.

I agree with the above poster...<BR><BR>one of the few worthwhile things about a tour is that you can skip lines.. plus you sometimes get a discount on entrence fees.... I admit I have taken ciry tours just for this perpose...<BR>then again it can go against you especialy in poor countries.. you can easaly hire a local for $5 a day and get just about the same service a hotel tour would give...

Has anyone had any experience with GoAhead Vacations? They are supposed to be an "educational" tour company. Found a great walking tour of Provence. I know we could do it on our own, but I prefer someone else to plan the little details.