Table of Contents
Tour companies that offer multi-day trips will arrange almost everything for you: accommodation, sightseeing, food and transportation. But group size, travel style and budget are some considerations travelers should make before choosing a tour. Read on for tips.
Large group or small
Start your research by thinking about how many people you want to travel with and your tolerance for the social demands that group size brings.
Smaller groups can move more nimbly and potentially see more, but they can also be more intensely social, as you spend a lot of time with the same people, traveling and dining.
Larger groups usually require more time to walk around, but also offer more social variety. For example, you can more easily swap with other lunch partners.
“Large groups offer anonymity, allowing travelers to choose their level of interaction,” says Deborah Miller, travel consultant and owner of Edge of Wonder Travels Unlimited in San Francisco. “In contrast, smaller groups promote intimacy between travelers, guides and the destination itself.”
Find age-appropriate trips
Think about the demographics of your travel group and consider connecting them with a tour operator.
Tour operators often segment their trips based on age, assuming that people of the same age have more in common or prefer the same pace. Scholarfor example, is aimed at an intellectually curious audience aged 50 and over.
On the other end of the spectrum, G Adventures offers a category of trips for ’18 to 30-plussers’ and Fearless travel has trips for 18 to 35 year olds.
Families are a difficult target group to group into a larger travel group due to their age differences. That is why companies often split their family offers by age category.
The active travel group Back roads has three age categories for families, including trips for those with children ages 4 to 19, trips for older teens and young adults up to their 20s, and trips for those with children in their 20s and older.
“By definition, that also creates some age segmentation among parents,” said Tom Hale, founder, president and CEO of Backroads.
Go general or specific
A general tour is a popular option for first-time travelers, taking in the highlights of a destination, such as the Eiffel Tower and Louvre in Paris or major landmarks in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan.
Besides the general approach, there are countless alternatives based on themes, travel styles and hobbies.
Theme tours include a culinary tour through Sicilya deep dive into literary englandEurope’s Battlefields of World War II and how women live in India.
In addition to topics, travel often also revolves around the mode of travel, such as traveling by car. trainon foot or by boat (a category that can be further subdivided by size, from a cruise ship to a bin or a kayak).
Tours can also allow you to develop an interest, such as swimming or to knit in a unique destination.
Analyze the tour inclusions
Once you’ve decided where and how you want to go, prices range from budget to luxury.
“For travelers on a budget, group tours are often the best because they are a great way to see major attractions for a lower price,” says Cheyenne Schriefer, travel advisor and owner of All travel matters in Golden Valley, ND
But not all tours are the same. To compare them, take a look at what they include.
For example, G Adventures has a 10-day hiking tour in Switzerland from $1,799 per person and a 10-day hiking tour in Portugal for $4,499. The latter is billed as a luxury tour, so accommodations are more expensive, but most meals, transfers, and activities are also included. The Swiss tour offers more basic accommodations, transfers, optional activities for a fee, and fewer meals.
“Sometimes fewer inclusions are better than more,” says Pauline Frommer, co-president of Frommer Media, which Frommer’s Travel GuidesShe pointed out that restaurants that accommodate busloads are unlikely to attract local traffic and that independent sightseeing allows you to “wander through local neighborhoods to get a feel for local life.”
The expertise of the guide or tour leader can also affect the price and experience. You can expect to pay more for a tour led by a specialist, such as a Egyptologist guiding a group along the Nile.
Measure your level of independence
Do you prefer to stick to a strict schedule, so you don’t have to hunt for a restaurant for dinner, for example? Or do you appreciate some structure — like knowing your hotel reservations are covered — but also want free time to explore independently?
Tour companies vary in size. Read the itineraries carefully before booking to find out if the schedule is tight or loose. If that is not clear, call the company and ask.
For truly independent travelers, there are self-guided tours offered by companies such as Inntravel, Exodus Adventure Travel And Mac’s adventure make your ground arrangements and provide an itinerary to follow. These routes are popular in Europe and are usually inn-to-inn walking or cycling tours, including luggage transport.
“Independent travelers are independent, but they like to have a trip organized for them and they no longer want to travel with a big backpack,” says Jasper Verlaan, the American sales director of Macs Adventure.
Ask for recommendations
If after your research you are still unsure about making a deposit, ask the travel agent if you can speak to a former customer.
“Ask for references,” says Lynn Cutler, the senior vice president of travel for Smithsonian Enterprises, which runs the travel company Smithsonian Travel“We find a traveler for them who has made this journey before and put them in touch with each other.”
For more travel advice, visit our collection of Travel 101 tips and tricks.
