We are looking for a tour company for touring England /London. We have done all our traveling on our own in the past but London might be more stressful then I want to handle. Our last two trips were hampered by train strikes also. I would look at full itinerary's and also some with several free time days. Have never done a tour so Im looking for some help. Any suggestions or thoughts on pros and cons? Thank you for your help.
Posted by
UK
740 posts
Have a look at that forum favourite, Rabbies. They do small-group tours of varying lengths, from one day to ten days - so you could potentially put a few together with days off in between. https://www.rabbies.com/en/en
Posted by
Twin Cities, Minnesota
2003 posts
Have you looked on this website at Rick Steves' Best of London in 7 days tour? I haven't taken that one, but I have been on 10 of his other tours and enjoyed them all. I would also suggest you look at London Walks which has a wide selection of walking tours that you might enjoy. Have you purchased Rick's London tour guide which will give you a lot of information and recommendations. I always start by studying his "At a Glance" pages where he rates the most popular places to visit. Finally, have you checked out Rick's videos on various parts of England here under Watch, Read, Listen page? Most of us on the Travel Forum don't use travel agents, but you might call the office in Edmonton, WA and ask if they can recommend a travel agent/planner.
Posted by
Twin Cities, Minnesota
2003 posts
Also, I agree. Rabbies is great. I haven't taken one of their multi-day tours, but the full day tour I took in Scotland was very good.
Posted by
Huntington Beach CA
1162 posts
We spent 4 weeks in the UK last May and took 3 different Rabbies tours. It was a great way to see the country without having to worry about transportation. They provide a driver/guide who will give you info about the stops. They will then drop you off and you’ll be on your own so you still need to do research on what you would want to do at the stop. Some stops they’ll give you a printed guide for sights and restaurant suggestions. It would have been nice to have written info for all the stops and that’s feedback I gave them. Inspite of this, I would still recommend Rabbies. It was really nice not to have to figure out how to get from one town to the other. You’re in a small bus with a max of 16 people.
Posted by
Nashville, TN, USA
3878 posts
Another thumbs up for Rabbies!
Browse their website to choose from many lengths of tours....
Another company giving great tours is the London Walks company. They do day trips out of London to some great places; Canterbury, Winchester, Salisbury, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, and more. Your guide meets you at the train station in London, rides the train with your group to your destination, gives you a walking tour around the town, then escorts you back to London on your return train trip.
You don't say how long you have for your trip, but we enjoyed this tour: Rick's Best of England tour.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/england/best-england-tour
You get a taste of England (and Wales) without having to plan the transportation yourself.
Rick's Southern England tour is excellent also. Highlights include Canterbury, Dover, Stonehenge and much more:
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/england/southern-england
You can ask more questions by private message, if you wish, of most longtime forum members. Most are friendly and will answer with lots of conversation and answers. A few are cool and brush you off, but that's only about 1% of posters.
Wishing you a great trip!! Planning's half the fun. :)
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8065 posts
It's worth mentioning that Rabbies is having a Black Friday sale right now that is good on all tours up through August 31, 2025. https://www.rabbies.com/en/black-friday-travel-deals-2024