9 people touring Europe for 2 weeks - Do it on own or some sort of private tour guide

Yeah you have to decide where you are going first before people can refer you to specific private tour guide services

But in concept, with 9 people a private guide, or guides can be a good value. I would hire a guide at each stop; one in Prague, then you guys take the train to Veins where the next guide picks you up, then train to Budapest and guide no.3.

With a private guide you can tailor for your own tastes and interests, and you dont have to hire the guide full time every day: have a few free days worked in.

Have you looked at the RS, or other, tours? RS tours use a 50 person bus, but limit tour groups to 28 travelers. Other tour companies 'pack the bus'.

I suspect a dedicated driver with van will be in the neighborhood of $500 per day, and you still have to pay for lodging, meals and admissions to sites.

If you have the funds I suspect there is someone out there, where ever 'there' happens to be.

Toursbylocals.com has guides with minivans. Just input the city you are visiting and read the descriptions. When you click on the tour it usually tells you the type of transportation they use. We are 9 women going to Cuba and we found a guide through this company. I have used them in Ireland, Scotland, Croatia, and Belgium.

Aspi- what ever you do , do not agree to be the “ leader “ of this trip .

I did this inadvertently two years ago - 8 of us - aged 19-54 , and I hated it ! It was a huge headache , as the most experienced traveler I volunteered ideas etc and next thing I knew I was doing all the bookings and forwarding email confirmations to other folks who never bothered to read or print them off even ( well one other person did ) and every day I heard “ so what’s the plan today “ or “ so where should we go “ or “ what time is our train/ plane “ , on and on , just don’t to it lol !!

Honestly if you have to do it - pick a simple itinerary- three stops max - and just book some daytours in each city with a private tour company - many have mini van tours , whether they can take 6 or 10 depends on size of van .

Most relaxing would be a Rick Steve’s tour - as noted they do not pack the buses and groups are 24/26 max .

About half the time I go someplace new I book a guide and if the itinerary demands it, a car and driver ... sometimes the guide is the driver. In Montenegro the guide, driver and Audi cost about 200 euro a day. In Bulgaria a tad more. In Budapest it would be closer to the 400 euro mark if you went that way, but Budapest, like Prague and Vienna the car isnt necessary so figure about 200 to 225 euro a day for a full time guide that knows what they are doing. But even then you might only want to do that 3 out of 4 days, so it's a lot less expensive than it sounds, but "cheap" is a relative term. Nothing worse than a bad guide too. So Interview them for weeks prior to hiring them. So far I have done well and still keep in touch with a few of them. With 9, if it's in the budget I would do it. I tour people around Budapest from time to time and its exhausting, even with me knowing the town pretty good.

Hi Aspi,
In case you are looking for options for Vienna - Prague transportation, check this forum post https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/please-advise-on-vienna-prague-train-option
The community was kind enough to advise me with the options :)

Just train between cities and hire a private guide for each city for how every many days you prefer.

To have a driver for 2 weeks will cost a fortune and you would still have to have a guide in each city as it is doubtful you can find a driver that can also be a good guide in so many different cities. Consider all of their hotel and meals are on your dime with a driver, plus the rental and the fuel.

Lots of opinions, very little hard to go on

So, here.

This guy is a good guide for Budapest and will even pick you up in Vienna. http://www.guideinbudapest.com. I've known him and used him and recommended him for almost 15 years.

This guy is a driver only. Yes, I suspect he could meet you in Prague and do the entire trip with you. Understand that means him driving from Budapest to Prague to meet you. That alone will cost you 500 euro. But the guy is a real gentleman. I've used him on and off for going on 10 years: http://silverwings.hu

Hiring a private guide, driver would be very expensive.

The better solution is to plan your trip and if you want to go on tours, buy local tours. One good source for both day tours or multi-day tours is Viator. Check it out.

Either Spain or your other options can easily be done by train. However, you can compare prices if you find a vehicle that can handle 9 persons with luggage.

If you do (c) you would likely spend about 4 days in Paris and have no need for a vehicle. If you go with (c), skip Brussels for Brugges. Also, suggest eliminating Lux since you only have 9 days.
9 days is not enough to see Spain, but you might be able to see Madrid (day trips to Toledo and Segovia) as well as Seville. If you select (b) you could probably do it in 9 days, 3 days for each city.