Can anyone recommend a travel service that brings a Rick Steves-like touring experience to seeing the sights of America?
We had such a wonderful time with the Rick Steves organization in Europe (and will be going again) and are wondering if the Steves organization has recommendations of good US touring companies, or if the community has suggestions?
Perhaps Road Scholar tours? There have been many positive comments on this forum about them. It really depends on what you're looking for and which region of the US - whether historical tours, or national parks, or physical/adventure tours.
https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-adventure
I've done several Road Scholar programs. 4 International ones and 4 in the US. Of the US ones, 2 were genealogy related, 1 was birding in SW Arizona and 1 was hiking in Yellowstone. I've got two more scheduled with them - I'm going to Cornwall in October and birding in FL in the winter.
The educational level they provide is equal to Rick's in my opinion and the guides are on par with Rick's. The people on the tours are often well-traveled and interesting. Road Scholar does not have a No Grumps policy and I think that kind of makes a difference in expectation. Road Scholar will meet you at the airport if you arrange travel thru them (I do my own) and usually handles your bags from bus to hotel room and back so there is a higher expectation of being waited on. Often there are more meals provided but I actually prefer to have more on my own as Rick's programs do.
As to European travel, I try to do Rick's tours as my first choice but sometimes Road Scholar offers an itinerary that Rick doesn't offer. That's what I did for this spring. Road Scholar offered an excellent itinerary for Brittany which Rick does not cover in his tours. It was awesome.
I'd suggest if you are interested you see if there is one near your home that would be easy to get to and you could give this company a try. I did that for my first one which was hiking in Yellowstone. I had been to Yellowstone MANY times and decided I would see what this company was like. I also figured if I didn't enjoy it I could bail and just see the park on my own, as usual. The program was wonderful and I learned SO much. I also saw so many more animals than I had been seeing on my own. Both the leader (the person who does the paperwork, handles the group, etc) and the Instructor (responsible for course content) AND the bus driver all had scopes so we had a lot of opportunity to view thru them.
I am also happy to answer any questions you might have.
Thanks for the tip on Roads Scholar, friends! We will check it out!
What do you want to see in the USA?
Many European tourists go to big cities like New York City, Boston, San Francisco, LA and Miami.
Those places are fine, but suggest visiting other places or cities. For the South or Mid Atlantic Annapolis, MD, Washington, DC, Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, St. Augustine, FLA, and Key West are great places to visit. New Orleans and San Antonio, Texas are good as well as St. Louis,MO.
For those that wish to visit National Parks and the great outdoors, there are many tour options in the West.
Many inexpensive bus tours to national parks operate out of San Francisco or LA.
Alaska and Hawaii are special. For Alaska, a seven day cruise out of Vancouver, BC is great.
Th
nks for the suggestions!
