Tour Companies

I'll assume you've looked at the Rick Steves tour.

Try this sight: https://www.tourradar.com/g/europe-tour-operators

I've used Globus, Trafalgar, Cosmos, Taulk, Gate 1, Caravan, Collette, BiblicalIsraelitours, Insight and at least one more that I'm not remembering. They've all been good in their own way. In some ways you get what you pay for. But some of the "budget tours" have been quite good comparing nicely to their more expensive competitors. Good luck.

Take a look at Odysses Unlimited. They do small group tours, stay in very nice hotels, include a lot of meals, and they will handle everything if you want them to.

Read the tour descriptions. If they say "see" a sight it means you will see it from the window. If it says "visit" it means you will go inside.

Both the companies you mention are good tour companies with Tauck being much higher end. They will take upeards of 50 people on a tour.

For sights in London, you can take more in depth day tours. Check out London Walks.

Of the other tour companies listed, Globus and Cosmos are the same company with Cosmos being the budget division. A little secret.....by the time you add up all the optionals on Cosmos, you could take a similar Globus tour for the same or even less.

Trafalgar is similar to Globus. Insight has now decreased the number of people on their tours and have taken out seats on their coaches to offer more legroom. They've also become a bit higher end.

If you want to consider a highly regarded British company look at Rabbies

https://www.rabbies.com/en/england-tours/from-london

I’ve done Rick’s Best of England which is 14 days and includes England and Wales. I’d not want to try and get Scotland into that mix with that short of a time frame.

You might also look at Road Scholar tours. I’ve done 9 of Rick’s and 10 Road Scholar which included both US and European destinations.

Both of these companies are very specific about which sites you actually see. In general if it’s listed you go in.

I second the recommendation of London Walks if you're going to be in London independently of a tour group.

http://www.walks.com/

You show up at the appointed place/time, hand the guide 10GBP, and you're off. No prebooking necessary. I've done many of their walks over the last 20 years or so, and have never been ripped off or disappointed. I was very happy to have done their guided tour of Westminster Abbey a couple of years ago, obviously it costs more than 10GBP but it includes admission to the Abbey at a discount, and they handle getting the tickets etc.

For the Tower of London, just get a ticket and be there at opening time. Go straight back to the Crown Jewels exhibit (it will get an astonishingly long line for entry so get there first), then tour the rest of the place at leisure. There are Beefeater (Yeoman Warder, officially) tours to join, all part of the admission. Lots to explore. I could be wrong but I don't think that traipsing around the Tower of London in a big private tour group would be better.

Another vote for Rick Steves or Odysseys Unlimited. You get what you pay for. We also just did a tour of Cambodia and Vietnam with Scenic USA which is another excellent company.