We are Not seasoned travelers in Europe. We’ve only been to Ireland on a Globus bus tour. We’ve done some tropical vacations (Hawaii, Bermuda etc). That being said my husband would like the freedom of this My Way tour because we found our Ireland tour a bit frustrating. We wanted to spend more time than available at scenic places and have a little more time where we could make our own plans. I’m concerned about our lack of experience with getting around Europe and navigating public transit (if that’s even available in the areas this tour visits) to get around. Our alternative would be to do the GAS tour, however, 14 days is a little long for us, especially tacking on a day to arrive early. Does anyone have words of wisdom regarding doing a MyWay tour with little European experience. We will be traveling with our young adult kids.
Posted by
WesternNY
89 posts
Hi:
We took this tour in 2022. We don't use public transport at home, but have used it successfully before in London, Bath, Oxford & Paris. I took a look thru my photo book to refresh my memory. This is where we used public transport on the My Way Alpine Tour:
We flew into Vienna. Used underground system around Vienna, train to Salzburg where tour starts & public bus to tour hotel. I did a bit of research online, this forum & YouTube before leaving home to familiarize myself with what to do.
Tour Manager (TM) will be very helpful regarding use of any public transport on tour. I would always take notes to help me remember what to do.
Salzburg: walked all around Salzburg, but took public bus to visit Hellebrun Palace.
Fussen: We did not go to the Castles, but most other tour members did & TM showed where & how to catch the bus.
Alpe di Siusi: tour bus dropped us off at cable car & TM gave us instructions on how to take public bus back to hotel.
Lauterbrunnen Valley area: cable cars, bus & trains. instructions from TM & lots of videos on YouTube regarding the use of the various cable cars.
Chamonix: Cable Cars & cogwheel train. TM gave instructions.
I think this would be a good tour to take if inexperienced with public transport, Tour Manager was so helpful & gave us detailed instructions.
Tina
Posted by
Northwest Arkansas
714 posts
I’m concerned about our lack of experience with getting around Europe
and navigating public transit
I plan and do all of my own trips--no tours--to Europe. So, I thought I would take a look at your concern as it relates to the My Way Alpine Europe advertised on Rick's site.
Rick provides all the city-to-city transportation, hotel, breakfast, and a tour manager. Most of the places you will be visiting are smaller towns or villages without complex (or any) public transportation to navigatge. The largest, Salzburg, is relatively compact and very walkable. Looks like lots of opportunity to hike, bike, ride a gondola or take a train into the mountians. You may be able to pair-up with experienced travelers who know their way around and will take you along on a joint adventure. Lastly, you are paying for a tour manager who is there to help you plan you day and ensure that you get back to the hotel for dinner and on the bus the next morning,
Have fun...
Posted by
18 posts
We went on this tour this past summer and loved everything about it! There isn’t a need to navigate much on your own as far as transportation. We flew into Salzburg and got a taxi to the hotel. We then walked everywhere in Salzburg with no problem. For the Dolomites the tour bus dropped everyone off in the morning to hike and we individually took the public bus back to Bolzano when we were finished for the day. That wasn’t complicated but make sure to ask where exactly to get your bus back to town. It depends on what town your tour happens to be staying. In Fussen we rented e bikes to tour around and to go to the castles. Our tour manager asked who would be interested in renting e bikes and took all of us who were interested to the bike shop. That was a blast. I had never been on an e bike before. It was the perfect place to try that out. So many bike paths leading everywhere! In Switzerland it’s pretty straightforward taking the trains and gondolas to where you want to go. And in Chamonix there are gondolas to go on various hikes and also the incredible trip up the Aguille du Midi gondola. Definitely do that weather permitting. It was amazing and worth every penny. In summary, everything was straightforward and your tour manager will answer questions and do an orientation walk when you arrive in a new town. We pre booked the Mountain Drop Offs shared van service from
Chamonix to the Geneva airport. They picked us up right at the hotel. Nothing was complicated and like I said the tour manager is there to answer questions and to help. I highly recommend this tour. It’s a perfect balance of having some guidance along with having lots of freedom to do what you want. And you get to see so many beautiful places.
Posted by
Germany
210 posts
I think Ricks Tours are good way to explore Europe I would do a tour if there were some for the US offered by Rick.