Imprint Tours? The RS of elsewhere?

Had not heard of Imprint until now.

Reading their site seems to be the "RS Tours", of where RS does not go.

Will be interested in comments by those that have taken an Imprint tour.

I haven’t been on one yet. I have heard of imprint. I enjoy watching Sarah and Reid on Facebook groups.

Maybe someday we will go.

I have a fellow tour member who took a trip to Iceland with them and enjoyed it

Kim

Some friends who are used to traveling independently had Reid as the guide on RS Greece tour and are still raving about him. I need to check out Imprint as Jordan is on my list....

I have been on a Imprint tour, Vietnam and a 4 day extension of the tour to Cambodia. The tours are run almost exactly as a RS tour in just about every way.

OK, I don't know how I missed this before, so sorry for the redundancy: review of Imprint Tours.

Wray, I traveled with Imprint to Southern Africa in 2018. I've never been on a Rick Steves tour, but I've certainly read a ton about them here on this forum. I picked Imprint because I wanted a Rick Steves-like tour, and as near as I could tell, Reid runs his tours pretty much exactly like Rick does. It was a great experience. In fact, while we were on the tour, we signed up for Imprint's New Zealand tour in 2019. It was a joint venture with Mondumo Small Group Tours which is run by Colin Mairs, another Rick Steves tour guide. In fact, Colin was the tour guide for this one. I liked him just as much as Reid. I know Sarah does a lot of tours for Imprint; I would love to try a tour with her someday.

I'm not sure what details you are looking for. The groups are small, there are no grumps, the tours are well organized and paced, you get a decent amount of free time, you have to carry your own luggage, the accomodations are Rick Steves types of accomodations, etc. Please let me know if you have any specific questions.

Wray,

I double checked my links on my computer. It was Steve Bertrand who my friends went to Iceland with ( not imprint). He is out of Chicago.

For others who want small tour groups besides RS

1) Colin Maris ( as stated above by another poster)

2). IGOT2Travel ( RS guide James Macletchie)

3) Seymour tour ( RS guide Mark Seymour)

They should/maybe listed in RS market place for RS guides.

Thanks everyone for your input. I am not anticipating an international trip any time this year or even next, but it is always fun to plan. If I am wrong, and covid settles down, then I can get a trip going in no time.

Just fyi, but I got am email today from Reid at Imprint. He seems optimistic that some of his tours will run in the Fall. He said he hopes to know in the May-June timeframe.

I haven't taken a tour for about 5 years since the arrival of my first grandchild so I don't know if Imprint tours has had to change their approach due to very rapid growth of their tour offerings.
Imprint tours are run almost exactly like RS tours. My first RS tour was with Reid Coen as our guide. I raved about both. Have taken subsequent tours with both. RS wrote an endorsement to help Imprint get off the ground. They use some of the same guides. They do not compete in the same locations with one exception. Imprint runs a riverboat tour down the Danube. OK with RS because he is anticruise. He prefers more "active" tours. But he realized that his clientele was getting older and many enjoyed cruising. You really can't compare a riverboat cruise with 130 people with a floating hotel with thousands of people. I would highly recommend it.
Imprint started in Southeast Asia, I believe. Reid would survey RS alumni as to where they would like to travel and then have a tour within a year or so. I'm very impressed with the speed at which Imprint has grown.
Both have a concept where you can do as much or as little as you want at a moderate price. They get you to the "head of the line" at must see tourist sites and also give you time to explore on your own and do what interests you. If you haven't taken a riverboat tour, I would highly recommend it. It is just like a land tour except you get to different locations by boat instead of bus. You travel at night and only unpack once, although the time on the boat is one week. Usually, part of the tour is also by land. It's relaxing, uncrowded, quiet, smooth, and the food is exceptional. If you want the local experience and sit in a small cafe and watch the world go by, you can. You get off the boat every day for a tour and have free time. The land part is exactly the same as a tour with buses.
This my take on the two tour companies. Hope it helps.

ron.h.

OK with RS because he is anticruise.

I dont think that's true. He has done at least one very positive TV special on big boat cruises, and a guidebook on European cruise ports. Its just not the niche he competes in. His take is to go beyond the short shore excursions that the cruise lines offer.

Yeah, I agree. "Anti cruise" was a poor choice of words.

Ron, Thanks for the information. I think I will ultimately try them out.