I've never - ever - been interested in an escorted tour. Independent travel has been ideal. But that could change. Does anyone have any experience/opinion on Caravan? www.caravan.com

Thanks!

Anyone????

Try Google. I just did and, although, I didn't read the reviews, it got very high marks from several sources. Google is often a better research tool than Fodor's especially when no one on this site may have experience with a particular company.

I agree with Historytraveler. You will not find many tour folks on here. I used a tour group for Europe this past June. They were wonderful. No regrets. I would check into tripadvisor.com for reviews. This looks like it is in the U.S mostly. I don't know about any for in the U.S.

I would recommend Grand Circle Travel for escorted tours, and not just for older folks. But certainly Caravan and Tauck and Trafalgar as well as Caravan have established records. And we did a Europe tour with Globus that was fine.

There are pros and cons about tours vs. independent travel. In the U. S. we have been on our own with many camping and exploration trips while overseas mostly with a tour group where you gain more knowledge about what you see.

Everyone has there own opinions based on individual needs. That is why they make vanilla chocolate and strawberry ice cream. What works for one does not work for another for varying reasons.

We have been to areas in Europe that our young family members have also been and they have not seen or they saw and knew nothing of the history of what they saw since they did independent planning. I agree with Ozarkbill I prefer to hear the histoy and gain knowledge of what I have seen. Henceforth the tours work for us. I agree Grand cirle is a good company up for consideration.

I have several friends who have been on a couple tours with Caravan and they were very pleased. It is not a luxury operation. Grand Circle is a bit of a higher level and Tauck is better than both of the others.

Thanks, all. And thanks to you, john, for topping.