Companies Other Than Rick's

I really like OAT and also have recently enjoyed two Road Scholar trips. I’m part of “team checked bag”, using a fairly small backpack as my carry on. I’ve never lost a checked bag, just had one delayed a few hours once. What I like about it: the freedom of not having to lug one or two heavier bags around the airport; not having to worry about finding overhead space, especially on domestic or intraeurope flights, as my pack fits under the seat if necessary; no worries ever about passing a “bag sizer” test or being forced to gate check; not stressing about boarding as early as possible so my carry on has space; no worries about taking my useful Swiss Army knife or other things that you can’t carry on. While I pack fairly light, and my checked bag is not a big one, when considering enough travel clothes not to have to do laundry all the time, winter or other seasonal clothing if needed, toiletries kit, and an extra pair of shoes as my feet just can’t take wearing only one pair the whole time while traveling, it’s more than I want to try to carry on. And I do take a change of clothes in my backpack so I’ll be ok for a day or two if there is a checked bag problem. I do respect the “carry on only” school though, as long as they aren’t clearly abusing the rules, which unfortunately sometimes they are.

I check a next size up from carryon bag, too, for many of the same reasons as slate. It works for me.
Rick Steves is still the company that meets my requirements best, but I do travel with other companies. Odysseys Unlimited is probably the next choice, though there always seems to be an entitled/annoying participant on the tour. RoadScholar varies a lot, because tours are actually run by local groups. They tend to have little free time, and nearly all the meals are provided. Not a plus for me. You need to read the itinerary and other info carefully.
This fall I will be taking my first OAT tour, hopefully it will be great!

I found the ratio of included meals v. lunch or dinner “on your own” to be about the same between the longer Road Scholar tour I did (Romania) and OAT. It also varies a bit between destinations— it’s understandable, and welcome, than in a place like Egypt (OAT) or Cuba (Road Scholar) the percentage of “included meals” tends to be higher, as finding good safe food elsewhere can be more challenging (plus in Cuba there are some bureaucratic limitations on what sort of places you’re supposed to be patronizing). And anything that includes cruising (OAT Egypt again) will have more included meals. Similar with free time — and it is often possible to skip a tour activity, but normally I don’t as they’re good quality and I’ve paid for them. I really like the Rick Steves ethos and would like to do one of his tours sometime, but I think a reason I haven’t is that for the most part they are limited to Western and Central Europe where I’m comfortable and experienced traveling on my own, as opposed to a company like OAT with worldwide tours to places harder to do that, such as Africa, and I’m trying to do more of those further away “bucket list” trips while I’m still relatively younger and healthier than may be the case in future years.

I'm also a carry on only traveler. When I took tours with Odysseys Unilimited, quite often I wouldn't bother with the bell service and just grabbed my own bag. (I would let the tour director know.)

I too would be asked by my fellow tour members as to the whereabouts of my "main" bag. They couldn't believe I just had a wheeled carry on and a small backpack.

While those of us who do carry on only realize that laundry must be done, most people on tour don't want to do laundry so they bring enough clothes for the entire trip.

Thanks to all who've responded! I've learned large suitcases don't equate to high maintenance or guaranteed "entitled grumps" as the majority of those on the tour. They fo appreciate those bags being delivered to their rooms, though, while like Frank it's easier for me to just grab mine from the underbelly of the bus.
I'll add that almost everyone on the Odysseys and Inrepid tours have traveled globally and extensively. I mean EVERYwhere. And not always with a tour.
I'll also add that with a favorable exchange rate (unlike the euro or GBP) for the very first time for $6 USD I paid to have my blue jeans washed (after 6 wearings including 4 planes). This will be a game changer for packing light on 3 week trips in more affordable countries.

Bon Voyage, What tour are you currently doing with Odysseys?

I got the impression that Gate1 is more of a budget tour company than the others you mentioned....maybe I'm wrong, though...

I've seen Tauck tour people in a couple of high-end hotels, but many of them also seemed to be wearing the Costco/Eddie Bauer style...

My cousin raves about Tauck but I know nothing about them except that they are expensive. Do you know what you get for their price..is it only high-end hotels, or do they have smaller groups? Better guides???

Are there any Uk companies inline with what you are looking for?? I checked Butterfield and Robinson and they certainly stay in very, very luxurious hotels in Sicily, which ice the tour I checked just now....

I should say that I've never taken a tour, so am only asking to learn..

Laura, I am on their Patagonia Explorer and added the Easter Island pre- tour (unbelievable experience). They also have an itinerary that includes a boat tour farther south- our tours literally crossed in the parking lot yesterday morning.
Escrunchy, I took a brief look at both high end tours you mentioned. The emphasis I have experienced with both Intrepid and Odysseys on really excellent local guides and learning about history and culture is very similar to RS. Also, there's been zero shopping.
I read the itineraries very carefully. Some higher end Patagonia tours listed what seemed way too many wine tasting lunches in vineyards!

Thanks BonVoyage. I was just researching various tour companies this morning for future trips and had looked at what Odysseys offers. It is great to get some input on a specific tour.

I haven’t traveled with Gate 1, but my impressions (especially from seeing them in action in various places my OAT tours also stayed: they’re fine, but a bit more mass market. Their tours tend to move a bit faster and have more optional (pay extra) activities. While OAT’s travelers are almost all American, Gate 1’s tend to be more internationally diverse. That can have pluses or minuses. Gate 1 has larger or smaller groups , you pay more for the latter, probably worth it. My in-laws took Tauck tours. Very expensive and very high end. If you want every whim catered to and champagne toasts, they’re for you. But I got the impression that some people travel with Tauck because they don’t want to mix with anyone who can’t afford Tauck. That’s not for me. While I could afford a Tauck tour, I like the people who travel with OAT and Road Scholar.

I have traveled with Odysseys (Smithsonian) and OAT. I have had good experience with both and would travel with them again. Both have had excellent tour guides and accommodations, as well as experienced and adventurous travelers. With both companies, folks have tended to pack considerably more heavily than I do (and I am not a super light packer).

One of the things I appreciated about OAT was the opportunities for local experiences such as home hosted dinners and spur-of -the moment stops. Our tour guide in Morocco also worked for Gate1, and he was telling me that OAT allows a lot more flexibility for the tour guides. If a guide sees something interesting that is not on the itinerary, he has permission (and is encouraged) to let us stop and explore. In Tunisia, we stopped at an elementary school, a mule drawn olive press, a roadside sandwich maker, and more. With Gate1, guides are only allowed to do exactly what's on the itinerary -- nothing more and nothing less.

A lot of people like Gate1, but, as others have said, it seems a little more mass market than I prefer.

We have done 5 tours with Gate 1 Travel and 1 with Road Scholar.
Both are fantastic tours.
Road Scholar is more expensive.
Gate 1. provides a quality product, great tours, quality lodgings and the price is hard to beat.
We have two more Gate 1 tours this year.

Love this conversation! Until two years ago, we always traveled on our own, but we tried our first tour group trip to Ireland with Vagabond. They are a small local company with small groups, and they took us to some lovely places in southwest Ireland that are hard to reach without a car. My wife really enjoyed the group interaction in the evenings, which was a nice change from traveling independently.

That experience led us to try our first Rick Steves tour in Sicily, which we found very well planned, with good food, comfortable hotels, and nice travel companions. It felt like good value for money. Next, we’ll be traveling with Gate 1 ( Discovery -Small Tour group) to Thailand next week, chosen mainly for the itinerary and timing, which dovetails with a solo trip to Hong Kong. I’m a bit apprehensive about Gate 1 but feel reassured by the feedback on this thread. I’ll also look into some of the other companies mentioned here. Thanks!

We haven't traveled with an RS tour as we go on our own in Europe. However we really loved some tours we have taken:
Insight Tours: Wonders of Turkey or Treasures of Turkey...I can't remember which...Excellent guide...A+++...everything we had hoped for...had always been my #l wish...dream fulfilled in an excellent manner!
Trafalgar Tours: Wonders of Ancient Egypt...Cairo, then seven day Nile cruise with optional flight and visit to Abu Simbel, then more Cairo...guide was a college professor wghoi knew his stuff backward and forward...well-run also
Lion World Travel (out of Canada): Kenya one week safari...best guide ever!...don't confuse with Chinese tour group Lion Travel....problem with British Air losing our luggage and not getting it until halfway through our tour (delivered by helicopter finally, but to wrong safari camp...guide drove to pick it up for us)... BA lost luggage on return as well, but got it next day. In spite of the luggage problem, I will remember this trip as one of the best of my life. Never again British Air however.
China...Don 't remember the name...arranged through a travel company here in the LA area. Good tour, hitting all we wanted to see...good value...guides good but not outstanding as they were in Turkey, Egypt and Kenya.

P.S., now that I am older I will probably look for a guided tour in Sicily that is a bit less "rugged" than RS. Back issues and some stamina issues have to be considered in my case. Also, maybe leave the driving to others, at least in Italy!

Correction...Egypt had been my #1. But both trips were outstanding!

A couple of things that people don’t realize when comparing tours: tipping and optional tours. Tipping your tour guides and bus driver can really add up if your tour is two weeks or more. Most people don’t realize how much optional excursions add to the overall price of a tour. I have had friends that think having optional excursions is a big plus because they can just plan what they want to do on their own while everyone else is on the optional tour. I had other friends get very frustrated when their tour mates return from an optional tour and rave about what they just saw. They then get buyer’s remorse for not spending the money to go on the optional tour. It is just the opposite of having a grump on the tour. Everyone excited and you become the grump for missing out on all the fun.

Judy, OAT has a Sicily trip that I’m doing in a few weeks. The itinerary is fairly similar to Rick’s at least with respect to the major sites that virtually all tours there will include, but I think OAT is a bit more full service (for example, their tours include air and they handle those arrangements, unless you choose to opt out of that). Also no single supplement with OAT (although there is a limited number of single spaces). My mother did this trip some years ago and loved it. A friend of mine really liked Road Scholar’s Sicily trip, as well.

The only group tour I have taken is with Blue Roads- a British company. I liked that it was truly small group. The Mercedes bus held a maximum of 18. When I took the 2018 tour of Andalusia and a few days in Portugal- Evora and ended in Lisbon, the group was about 13 people - mostly couples and a few singles like me. Excellent guide and driver. For the big sights of the Al Hambra and La Mezquita they engaged local guides - both were excellent.
I would guess the hotels we stayed in would be considered 4 star.
I liked that most of the overnights stays were 2 or more days. I think there may have only been one 1 day overnight stay in Ronda.
I don't know how it is now but making the down payment and remainder of the tour payment was convoluted.

For Group Tours, I’ve used only one company - Road Scholar - 6 times on 3 continents. I stick to cities, not scenery, safaris, seafaring so far.

What I like and what I’ve chosen:

The guides and group leaders- only 2 out of 10 have been less than A+.
The hotels and their locations.
The people-20-30 per group.
The destinations-not many stops, no long bus rides.
The no tipping, no shopping, no optional excursions.
The trip length-under 12 days.
The fact that I don’t have to arrange all activities and meals.
The free time-whether on a typical trip or an independent one.
The casual attire.
The special experiences I could not obtain on our own-lectures, concerts.

We also have done trips with private guides and trips on our own. And still will.

But I always like learning about additional resources and companies. And I appreciate “steer clear” warnings from others.

Luggage doesn’t faze me: happy to roll my own carry-on which I now check ( ease, no upper body strength ) and do sink laundry often. Thank you. I appreciate that YMMV.

My two Road Scholar trips (Romania and their short 4 night Havana) each had about 20 people, which was good. OAT’s are limited to 16, except for their cruise tours, which is even better. Agree that a good point about Road Scholar is their much wider selection, especially of shorter tours plus US domestic tours which OAT doesn’t do, but I think they sometimes get stretched a bit thin with their subcontracting which can result in quality inconsistency, although both of mine were excellent. OAT is seeing the market for shorter tours and they’re introducing a range of “Immersion” tours to some of their most popular destinations which are about 10 days rather than their usual 2-3 weeks.

Slate, Thanks for the info re Oat tours. I have been looking at different tours for Sicily but have to get Hubby to commit to the trip. 2027 I hope, March or April. Trying to get him to Quebec City and Montreal this fall. He is always happy when we go somewhere, but getting that first commitment is challenging. Oh well, what a first world problem to have! The older we get the more things I have to take into consideration....82 and 83....decent health with our engines in good shape, but with a not-so-great chassis!

I've been on two Gate 1 trips and think they are an excellent value. I guess they are budget level, since many of the participants are teachers.

Thank you for all these reviews and recommendations! I learned about a few companies I hadn't previously been aware of for travel beyond Europe.
It's got me thinking about the accuracy of extrapolating the overall "vibe" (subjective) vs the price and itinerary (at least, theoretically more objective) to a particular company. The point about optional excursions not being included, or tipping, etc. The mix (or not) of group touring vs independent time built into the daily itinerary.
As an introverted, older solo traveler it's been a tradeoff for me- giving up some freedom/space for the safety of someone knowing where I am especially if there are language barriers for an emergency. I also have tricky dietary restrictions and having the guide aware to assist with translation and speaking to restaurant staff is important for my health away from home.
There was a communication glitch at the very start of this current group tour with Odysseys. It was interesting to later learn that only the 3 of us new to the company were concerned about it and making calls to the contact number- all the others, with multiple positive experiences, had confidence all would be well, which it was!
Both this Odysseys tour and the Intrepid tour I took last year (Morocco) were entirely comprised of retirees (or semi retirees) since it is/was January- with no school or work schedules and enough income to afford the trip (presumably!). These folks have travelled to an inspirational number of places, from the far Pacific Islands, throughout Asia and to Africa multiple times for myriad safaris, Central America, Galapogos and on and on and on.
The Gate1 tour (Scotland) was quite different. Most participants were new or fairly new to overseas travel. I don't know if this was an anomaly, and also an unpleasant tour leader and only a couple very brief although competent local guides. What I didn't like at all was the lack of curiosity and enthusiasm on the part of the group as a whole. They shuffled as told on and off the bus and seemed more to enjoy the group meals! Again, this may have been a one-off experience but I won't use them again. It's a good point about "value" being their focus. It was mentioned often.
I used Road Scholar about 15 years ago for Cuba. At the time I was the very youngest of the group. I appreciated the emphasis on learning and cultural exchange. My hesitation now is that their use of "sub-contractors" vs their own guides that could significantly impact the experience. Intrepid, Odysseys and Rick have their own established guides and relationships with the tour infrastructure - bus, hotels, etc.
I'm interested to try OAT with the solo options.
Safe and happy travels!

"I used Road Scholar about 15 years ago for Cuba. At the time I was the very youngest of the group. I appreciated the emphasis on learning and cultural exchange. My hesitation now is that their use of "sub-contractors" vs their own guides that could significantly impact the experience."

Road Scholar has always used sub-contractors. They have never had their own group of guides even back when my exMIL was doing them in the 1980's. They started out using Adult Education/Lifelong Learning departments from universities.

I will add that yes, this is a risk you take with Road Scholar. I had a bad experience with a very poor subcontractor in Belgium/Netherlands in 2022, just as we were coming out of Covid. I have not taken a Road Scholar tour since then but it's because I have gone to a smaller group tour company for UK and France. (Seymour Travels - Mark Seymour was previously a Rick Steves guide.) I would take another program with Road Scholar as the 12 programs previous to the last one were excellent. In fact I am toying with the idea of signing up for a tour next January that is activity based and I want to get a single room which are usually in short supply.

There are a couple of FB pages for Road Scholar that have some fairly good information although many on there tend to gloss over any difficulties. IF you read the pages long enough you can tell who is giving you the straight scoop and who is too "rah-rah", lol.