i posted the same message under Europe, but thought it might be more appropriate hereThis is our situation. Recently retired i'm Rhonda 57 years old, my busband is 58. Never been to Europe. Have had a lot of fun, planning our own trips in the states. Concerned about traveling where i don't understand the language or logistics of getting around.
Have limited resources. After seeing what it will cost for a guided trip, I'm thinking we'd have enough $ to do 5 major trips at 15-17 k each over the next 10 years or so. Want to see as much as possible.
My thinking is, with a guided tour we would get much more time seeing what we want, rather than fumbling around with train and bus schedules etc...
I do love to do my own planning though, and would like to stretch our dollars. Not sure of just what resources to use, and the language barriers and logistics really concern me.

Answered on the Europe board - lots of good info there.

Welcome to Fodors martoon. >>i posted the same message under Europe, but thought it might be more appropriate here<<

Actually it is more appropriate on the Europe forum. This one is meant more for general questions like types of luggage, or electronics, etc.

100X more Fodorites will see/read/respond to your thread on the Europe board. You have received a TON of useful advice on that thread.

yes i have seen. Thank you so much

I would do hostels! Not just for the kids.
Hostelworld.com is a great resource for that.

Also, I would go to countries without the big names. Big name countries like France and Spain equal big money, and you can have just as much fun in lesser name places, but without the price tag.

Sounds like your going to have fun!

Any interest in places other than Europe? I can do Mexico trips for about half what I would spend going to Europe.

I'd also suggest you consider places other than Europe. Suze's suggestion of Mexico is a good one. Also consider Central and South America. My favorite area of the world in SE Asia - fascinating and prices are good.

One tip - take advantage of all the travel loyalty programs you can: airlines, hotels. Sign up for the program, get a credit card. You'll find that rewards from some programs add up quickly. You can often get a big bonus just for signing up for the credit card.

Portugal is less expensive than some European countries. English is spoken by nearly everyone. Beautiful place with beaches, 'mountains', wine country, historic cities.

How much does it cost to use a tour guide service? On a limited budget, I would skip the extra expense. It's really not that hard to do the planning and itinerary yourself.

Martoon,

You could join websites that keep up with the correct lowest flights, tours, hotels, etc. You can also find out which booking sites are easier for finding and comparing hotels, apartment rentals, etc.

I like Travelzoo.com. It is not a travel company. It simply directs you to whatever company is offering some good deals that week.

For home and apartment rentals, there is Vrbo, Airbnb (some like it, some do not), and others in European countries. I also like booking.com. Sometimes I look there, then book the hotel directly. I also look at all the trip reports on Fodors and asks for recs.

For cruises, if you may be interested, look at Vacationstogo, cruisecritic, cruisecon, etc.

I stay listed on websites to be notified of good airfares. Sometimes a flight will be cheap enough that you can go to some place you had not considered and have a cheap, but interesting experience.

Flights to Turkey are often a good buy from Washington DC. We did it for $800.00 RT. Don't know if they also offer them from NY. There are also some small airlines that pop up now and then and offer great airfares. Wow air was doing some $400.00 flights to four or five places in Europe from BWI. XLFrance does flights to Paris and Provence. Their Spring and Fall fares to/from NYC and Miami are often great buys. Currently, there are super cheap flights to the French Islands of Guadeloupe, as low as $50.00, direct from NY and BWI. Of course, some of these are not convenient for you, but things to look for.

If you do not have pets that would require expensive pet sitters, look into TransAtlantic (TA) transitioning cruises in Spring and Fall. They often are cheaper than airfare, go to a few interesting place and leave you off in some wonderful place. From there you can tour and get a flight home.

Since one way flights are expensive, if you plan ahead you can actually book a round trip from Europe that comes to the US in the Spring and returns to Europe in the Fall. That way, you could take a TA cruise from the US to Europe in the Spring and fly home. In the fall, you can fly to Europe and catch a cruise from Europe back to the US. Also, you do not have to stay on a cruise to the last port. You can often get off at any place in Europe that you want to tour or catch a cheaper flight home.

We were once on a cruise that ended in Rome. We got off in Naples and flew home on our round trip ticket from Europe. That fall we flew back to Italy on the return part of our ticket and caught a cheap inter Europe flight to our next country.

My favorite sites for looking at cruises is vacationstogo.com, cruisecritic.com, and cruisecon.com.

Just mentioning how creative you can get with travel if you have time to do a bit of research.

Have you investigated road scholar.com..formerly called Elderhostel..
They do have limited European trips..reasonable, hotels nice..not luxury,
I have used them in US many times...
EX: booked trips on their web site....the arranged for "pre" stay or after program over @ same hotels.Also back to back programs work well..Boston for 7 days, then took train to Philadelphia form another 7 day program.
I usually book my own Air by using my miles from 2 credit cards.
I use booking.com a lot because I have some health issues and this site has great cancellation policy.
If I were not traveling alone , I would use Airbnb...i DO NOT feel comfortable renting a room in someones house...I did rent a studio in Seattle, WA..worked very well mainly because I know that city well.

Thanks Sassafrass for telling me to check this post again. Wow , it sounds like you can really get creative with traveling TA. Good to know that booking.com has great cancellation policies, thanks traveler24. So happy to have found these forums. Thank you all for such great advice!!

Be careful with booking.com. It used to be that all, or almost all, their listings had free cancelation. That is no longer the case. Many listings have cheaper prices if you prepay, and others have early cancelation penalties. You MUST read carefully... There was a piece on NYT this weekend about additional hotel fees, including changes in cancelation policies.

Booking.com is just a booking website. Individual hotels set cancellation policy. Read the specs and policy for each hotel before booking. It has been that way since I have been using the website - several years now. There is usually at least some penalty for last minute cancellation everywhere.