Tour companies that offer multi-day tours organize most of it for you: accommodation, sightseeing, food and transport. But group size, travel style and budget are among the issues travelers must evaluate before choosing a tour. Read on for tips.
Large or small group
Start your research by thinking about how many people you want to travel with and what your tolerance is for the social demands dictated by group size.
Smaller groups can move more nimbly and possibly see more. But they can also be more intensely social as you spend a lot of time with the same people touring and eating.
Larger groups tend to take longer to move around, but they can also offer more social variety — for example, you can change your lunch companions more easily.
“Large groups offer anonymity, allowing travelers to choose their level of interaction,” said Deborah Miller, travel consultant and owner of Edge of Wonder Travels Unlimited in San Francisco. “In contrast, smaller groups encourage intimacy between travelers, guides and the destination itself.”
Look for age-appropriate trips
Think about the demographics of your travel party and consider matching them with a tour company.
Operators often segment their trips by age, on the assumption that people of a similar age have more in common or prefer the same pace. Road Scholar, for example, caters to an intellectually curious 50-plus crowd.
At the other end of the spectrum, G Adventures offers a category of trips for 18- to 30-year-olds, and Intrepid Travel has trips for 18- to 35-year-olds.
With their inherent age ranges, families can be a difficult demographic to fit into larger departure groups, so companies tend to break up family offerings by age group.
Active tour company Backroads has three age divisions for families, including trips for those with children ages 4 to 19, those with older teens and younger adults up to 20, and those with children 20 and older.
“By definition, this creates somewhat of an age divide between parents,” said Tom Hale, founder, president and CEO of Backroads.
Go general or specific
A popular choice for first-time visitors, a general tour will hit the highlights of a destination, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre in Paris or major sites in Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan.
Beyond the general approach, there are many alternatives based on themes, travel styles or hobbies.
Themed trips include a culinary tour of Sicily, a deep dive into literary England, the battlefields of WWII Europe and how women live in India.
In addition to themes, trips often revolve around means of travel, such as going by train, on foot, or by boat (a category that can be further segmented by size, from cruise ship to barge or kayak).
Excursions can also allow you to pursue an interest such as swimming or knitting in a unique destination.
Analyze tour inclusions
Once you determine where and how you want to go, prices will range from budget to luxury.
“For travelers on a budget, large group tours tend to be best because they’re a great way to see major attractions at a lower price,” said Cheyenne Schriefer, travel consultant and owner of All Travel Matters in Golden Valley. The SW
But not all tours are built the same. To compare them, consider what they include.
For example, G Adventures has a 10-day hiking trip in Switzerland from $1,799 per person and a 10-day hiking trip in Portugal for $4,499. The latter is billed as a luxury trip, so accommodations are more expensive, but it also includes most meals, transportation, and activities. The Switzerland tour offers more basic accommodation, transfers, optional activities available for a fee and fewer meals.
“Sometimes fewer inclusions are better than more,” said Pauline Frommer, co-president of Frommer Media, which publishes Frommer’s Guides. He pointed out that bus-friendly restaurants probably don’t attract local traffic, and that self-guided sightseeing allows you to “wander around local neighborhoods to get a feel for local life.”
The expertise of the guide or tour guide can also make a difference in price and experience. You can expect to pay more for a tour led by an expert, such as an Egyptologist leading a group along the Nile.
Measure your level of independence
Prefer to stick to a strict schedule that frees you from having to find, say, a restaurant for dinner? Or do you appreciate some structure — like knowing your hotel reservations are covered — but also want free time to explore independently?
Tour companies manage the range. Before booking, read the schedules carefully to find out if the schedule is tight or loose. If this is not clear, call the company to ask.
For truly independent travelers, tours offered by companies such as Inntravel, Exodus Adventure Travels and Macs Adventure make your ground arrangements and provide an itinerary to follow. Popular in Europe, these itineraries tend to be inn-to-inn walking or cycling trips that involve carrying luggage.
“Self-guided travelers are independent, but they love the support that a trip has arranged for them and they don’t want to hike with a big backpack anymore,” said Jasper Verlaan, US sales manager for Macs Adventure.
Ask for recommendations
If you’re still unsure about depositing a deposit after doing your research, ask the tour operator if you can speak to a previous customer.
“Ask for references,” said Lynn Cutler, the senior vice president of travel at Smithsonian Enterprises, which runs the Smithsonian Journeys tour company. “We will find them a traveler who has made this trip before and put them in touch.”
For more travel tips, visit our collection of Travel 101 tips and hacks.
