We are registering for the RS Adriatic tour in Oct 2019. This will be the first time we've booked a tour of any kind. We enjoy travel planning, part of the excitement for us. We are an active couple in our early 70s. The tour appeals to us for several reasons. We would appreciate hearing from those who have "converted " from solo travel to tour travel experiences. Also any comments about this particular tour.
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
We took this trip in Oct of 2016. I loved the itinerary of Rick's tours. Lots of free time for your own solo travel experiences. So I would suggest looking at the itinerary carefully and researching where you will be when free time is offered. I am a GOT fan, and took a great tour the afternoon is Split. Also highly recommend spending time people watching in Split.
I also recommend arriving in country a day or two early and self exploring. We arrived in Ljubljana early and booked a food tour, and a day trip to the caves, horse farms. Also spent our free afternoon exploring the large cemetery.
We have not "converted" to only tour travel. This year we had 2 very long adventures... on our own thru out portugal, northern spain and france, and then another trip on our own to Ireland, Scotland and Belgium. We had that one trip with Rick's tours, and had a great tour in Bulgaria and Romania with Roads Scholars. This next year we are going with OAT to Turkey. We actually like going for 3-4 weeks somewhere and incorporating all ways of travel. One of our best trips was 5 days in Paris, then joining a river cruise and ending in Provence ( on our own).
My only advice for joining a tour would be this.... you can choose the tour, but you can not choose the other members of the tour. After many hours day after day together you will see the true nature of your other tour members.
Thanks for your reply. I think we will go to Budapest for a few days before joining the tour. Like you, we like a variety of travel experiences and enjoy being on our own at least part of the trip.
I've now done 5 RS tours, after traveling independently for many years. They fit my needs very well.
Since this is your first RS tour, take note of the almost daily "free time" noted on the itinerary. It's helpful to read up on the place you will be so that you have some ideas for what you might want to do/see there.