My husband and I, both over 60 but in excellent health, want to go to Hawaii this spring. Which would you recommend, a tour such as Tauck, or going it on our own?

Traveling in Hawaii on your own is the same as traveling elsewhere in the US on your own.

The only reason to take a tour would be that you prefer that kind of travel.

Not sure where you're starting from or which island you're headed to, but we have gone through both Apple Vacations and GoGo Vacations and had great luck. They booked our hotel, flights and rental car. We own a timeshare on Maui now, so I now just do our own flights and car rentals, but when we wanted the whole package, our travel agent got us booked through each of these companies a couple of times. What we liked about it then was that the company was there to "back us up" in terms of not missing flight connections, making sure the rental car was correct, our rooms were what we had paid for, etc. Kind of an insurance package, and when you plan such an extensive trip, it's nice to have a fall-back, just in case. Also, you can get better prices on airfare, room and car rental. Have a wonderful trip!

Go on your own. All of the islands are easy to explore.

You can get a package deal which includes air, hotel & car for the islands(s) you want to visit.

Lots of info including sites with free brochures for all islands:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34812564

Go on your own. I can't see any reason for a tour on Hawaii unless you don't drive. And even then there are some itineraries (Oahu) that can be done w/out rental car.

Get a pile of guidebooks from the library and start reading about the different islands. See which 1-2 appeal most to you. We can help you from there (if you have a general budget, timeframe, and idea of which islands you want to see).

Agree with the poster who said touring Hawaii is like touring anywhere else.

In fact, it's easier because each island is so small.

The only reason to go on a packaged tour is if you like packaged tours in general.

I may have misunderstood with my first response here. I would do it alone, once you get to the islands. I personally wouldn't want to be "scheduled" every day there. I realize tours include "free time" but once you get there you'll want to explore or just relax and may not want to be constrained by a schedule. That said, however, I would still recommend that you book air, hotel and rental car as a package deal. Then just enjoy!

Lucyis,

I think that a lot of us here are not organized tour types, so we may not be the most impartial group to ask. However, I join with everyone else in recommending you go yourselves. My husband & I are 70+ and are going back again in a couple of weeks for what is our 9th or 10th time (kinda lost track) of doing it on our own. We always find new places to poke around and love to travel everywhere with the freedom to come and go as we feel like it. There's nothing at all complex about travelling in Hawaii-- do some reading, check some trip reports here and feel free to ask specific questions here to help make your plans. We'll all be glad to help.

If you are the type who prefers tours, maybe you can do half and half. For example, be an independent traveler but book tours on certain days. Roberts Hawaii (www.robertshawaii.com) is pretty good & reasonable, as is E Noa (www.enoa.com)--KC from E Noa is THE best tour guide I've ever met, hands down. That way you can dictate your free time and control what tours you take.

I often book tours like this when I travel, it's just not possible to research EVERY nook & cranny and sometimes tours can give you more current insider information that you can't get combing though books.

My parents are in their late sixties and in excellent health. They signed up for a tour of Oahu, Kauai, and Maui to simply their vacation -- but wound up dropping off the tour a few days into their trip. They complained that they'd spent the first few days zooming past gorgeous beaches that they would've liked to explore and passing great restaurants that they would've stopped at.

Hawaii is incredibly easy to navigate on your own, and there's so much to explore -- I think you'd probably have more fun going at your own pace and seeing the things that interest you.

"They complained that they'd spent the first few days zooming past gorgeous beaches that they would've liked to explore and passing great restaurants that they would've stopped at."

My thoughts exactly about tours.