My husband and I interested in touring Italy and Spain. We don't know if it's best to do a guided tour or just go on our own. We are new to traveling and have never been out of the US. Would you recommend a guided tour or do you know of a really good travel agent that can assist us?
Thanks,
Ashley
Dallas, TX
As one Dallasite to another I can advise you since I have traveled independently for over 20 years and visited 50 countries.
Most experienced travelers on this page suggest that you, as a first time visitor, use a travel agent to help you plan your first trip. Doing so will avoid your making some mistakes.
Taking a guided tour is also a popular suggestion. Some travelers will plan to return to the same area later to see other things on their own.
I'd advise going on a guided tour. A tour will help smooth over the 101 things that are different when you travel abroad, make the reservations for hotels, etc. And you'll have someone to turn right there with you to ask questions. As you learn how things are done you'll be ready to do it on your own.
You of course CAN do it on your own, but it will take a fair amount of preparation. I'd recommend starting with Rick's book,
"Europe Thru the Back Door".
I have traveled independently and on guided tours. I am a fan of Rick Steves' tours. They give you some independence within the small tour group along with taking care of all the details which can be very time consuming and exhausting even if you plan to the nth degree. You also get extras with the tour group. Once you experience travel within a foreign country or two, you will feel more comfortable on your own. Have fun!
Ashley
Good advice from both carl & mike. I would add that a lot depends on how much effort you want to put into planning and how self reliant you are. Planning a trip to Europe has become relatively easy compared to the old, pre-internet 'dark ages'; but tours do most of the planning work for you. You need to do some research and decide where you want to go for how long and what you want to see while you are there. If you can find a tour that fits those criteria and appears to be a good value go for it.
On the other hand, with a tour you pay someone else for something you can do yourself, and you are subject to their schedule, not yours. With a good guidebook and the web (and forums like this where you can get input from people who have been there) most anyone can plan a successful trip.
Either way, get a knowledgeable travel agent whom you trust to help.
My first time out of the US was in 2005 and we went to Italy. My first instinct was to go with a guide. But with a lot of research, I was able to plan and execute the trip on my own. I think the things you should consider is 1) whether you have the time to research 2) whether you enjoy doing the research/planning and 3)how important is it to you to pick and choose your own points of interest vs having someone else tell you what is interesting. At any given time, I have 5 imaginary tours planning in my head for trips I would like to take and I love reading about what I could do in each area. If you enjoy that and are willing to do the reading - planning and executing the trip is easy.
From the way you asked the question: would you recommend a guided tour or do you know a really good travel agent that can assist us" says to me that you probably don't want to plan this trip on your own.
My suggestion the is to take a tour. You'll get your feet wet in Europe, see how easy it is to travel around, and come back with a renewed confidence to start planning your own trip.
Or you might come back loving the tour and continue to travel that way in the future.
When choosing a tour, first figure out where you want to go and then how you want to travel? Do you want to be able to bring large suitcases, have bellman service and have a hotel with extra amenities, or do you follow the Rick Steves way of travel of packing light, carrying your own bags, and staying in basic, yet centrally located clean hotels?
Ashley, lots of good suggestions so far! Frank provided an excellent analysis of the pros & cons of self guided travel vs. guided tours.
One aspect of your decision that none of us have knowledge of, is what kind of a budget are you working with? That will have some bearing on which method to choose. However, I suspect there won't be a huge cost difference between travel methods; either you or the tour firm will be paying for everything in Euros, and the exchange rate will be the same in both cases.
Given the fact that this is your first trip outside the U.S., you might start by reading Europe Through The Back Door. That will give you a good idea on the realities of travel in Europe, and the difference you'll encounter there.
In "reading between the lines", I suspect that a guided tour would be the best choice for you on this first trip to Europe. I'd highly recommend the Rick Steves tours, as they're a lot of fun and an incredibly efficient way to see a lot of country in a limited time. The Guides and Drivers are awesome! Check the tours link on the home page of this site for further info.
There's no RS tour that covers both Spain and Italy. There's a very good selection of tours in Italy (one of the most popular destinations!) and several in Spain. If you want a slightly broader exposure to Europe, you could have a look at the Best of Europe 14-day tour.
If you have some time free on the weekend of Mar. 7th, you might plan a trip to Seattle to attend the Travel Festival at Rick's "headquarters" in Edmonds. It would be a good "fact finding mission", and you'll be able to speak with Guides and experts on European travel (including the tour department). There will be seminars on various travel topics and European countries, and all the Guidebooks and other travel gear are usually discounted that day. Check the link on the homepage of this site.
Good luck with your decision!
I think it depends a lot on personality. I've found that Type-A people who are really gregarious tend to like going on tours, where you're pretty much guaranteed a certain trip and you have a group that you travel with the whole time.
My BF and I are introverts and can find amusement in just about everything, so we always travel on our own. I even find B&Bs to be tiring on a vacation since there's such a high level of likely or required chit-chat. I don't like feeling obligated to make small talk when I'm on my own time, so I prefer more standard hotels. Of course, I learned this after listening to the travel tips of people with different tastes and spending some unpleasant time in B&Bs, so YMMV.
Personally, I'm willing to just go on an adventure. Not everything is going to go right, but I tend to plan a few things that I don't want to miss but I leave the rest of my time unstructured. To me, a lot of the 'Must see' places that tours frequent are the most boring, touristy places in the world. My favorite memories of travel are of having something go wrong and the journey out of it. They're of being freezing cold in Prague in December and finding the most wonderful cafe to spend hours in, drinking mulled wine and watching the trolleys go by.
The point of all this rambling is that you should evaluate what you really like in trips you've taken in the US and apply this strategy to overseas. It really isn't that difficult to get by just about anywhere in Europe even if you don't know the language, and as long as you're willing to laugh off the goofs you'll be just fine. What do you like to do here, and what have you always dreamed about doing there?
