Best of Europe in 21 days

Claire, Although I haven't taken that particular tour (yet), I'm assuming the "flagship" Best of Europe tour is similar to other RS tours so I doubt there are any "optional excursions". All RS tours include tours of local sights in most cities, with local Guides. These are included in the cost of the tour, but are "optional" to some extent as tour members don't have to participate in all of them (just be sure to let the Guide know). Since they're included in the tour cost, it makes sense to take the included tours, as you're paying for them. The local tours often only last a few hours, and are often paired with a "free afternoon" so that tour members can explore a bit on their own. The Guides can provide information on local sites of interest that aren't included in the tour. There's usually one or more "free days" as well, so that tour members can visit locations that are of specific interest for them. Of course, tour members are responsible for admission costs for any Museums or other places they visit that aren't part of the tour. If you haven't seen it yet, you may want to order the free tour DVD as that shows the Best of Europe tour and will provide you with a good idea of what it's like. Although the DVD is a few years old, it provides a good overview of what to expect on RS tours. Happy travels!

I took this tour a few years ago. There aren't any optional excursions sold by the RS tour company, although you have plenty of free time so if there was something you wanted to do with an outside company you could probably do it. Maybe if you post a bit more detail about what you're thinking in terms of optional excursions you could get some more focused answers.

At least a month before your scheduled tour you will receive a detailed itinerary. Free time is on that schedule. If there is something not in the RS itinerary that you want to do (do some homework first) you can make your own arrangements for that. I've been on tours where tour members went to Turkish baths, bull fights, other towns by public transportation, museums, etc. In my experience taking RS tours, the guides are helpful with assisting tour members in making their own optional plans.

While there are no optional excursions sold on RS tours, the guide will sometimes help organize an optional activity at cost. On my Best of Europe tour, there were 3 such activities I can recall: wine tasting in Bacharach, gondola ride in Venice and trip up to Schilthorn in Switzerland. For wine tasting and Schilthorn, the guide organized but we paid directly. The guide negotiated a discounted price and collected in advance for the gondola ride (to simplify payment to the gondaliers). Your guide will also be able to offer advice on activites during your free time, but then you'll be on your own to explore. The free time works well, as you can tailor activities to your personal interests or just use the time to relax. You'll make friends among your group, too, and may wind up planning some free time activities with them.

Tour descriptions are very clear on this website. Two optional excursions are listed here. (Click on daily itinerary.) Day 8: Italy's Incomparable Venice We'll take a scenic, all-day drive to Venice today, stopping en route for lunch together in a charming Italian-Tirolean village. In Venice we'll park our bus and board a vaporetto boat for a Grand Canal ride to our hotel in the historic heart of this seductive city. Tonight we'll take an alleys-and-canals orientation stroll to our first Italian dinner together. Afterward your guide will organize an optional gondola ride for anyone who would enjoy this unique Venetian experience. If the moon is out, it will hit your eye like a big pizza pie. Sleep in Venice (2 nights). Day 17: Free Day in the Alps The day is all yours to enjoy some of Europe's most dramatic scenery. You may want to join your guide for an optional mountain excursion that combines the local narrow-gauge railway, a gondola lift, and a spectacular Alpine walk above the tree line, surrounded by a panorama of cut-glass peaks...

Chip,, those are optional, and by that they mean truly optional. You can just opt out and not be missing a dinner after, and since hotels are central you can just wander off and do something else. Some tours put you out of town centers, so if you decide not to do the" optional" excursion,, you are stuck in the suburbs unless you want to handle ( IF available) public transport in the evenings or be stuck at hotel. The day in the Alps my daughter and I did not join the optional excursion, and btw, you do not PAY the guide an inflated extra charge for that, you just pay for the train ride, which the guide will try and get you a deal on if enough people go,. The guides happily told us about some great hikes to do on our own,, many on our group chose to do their own thing.
thats the one big plus for the RS tours,, you really can strike out on your own, and there are no cheesy folk nights you pay extra for.. in Switzerland we did have one of those horn players perform for us, but they just led us outside after dinner to watch him, those who did not want to come didn't , and dinner was not included, you could watch the show even if you just chose to have bread and cheese in your room that night. On my nephews tour you basically felt you had to pay and join all the extra tours or you would be left on your own in middle of nowhere.And on my MIL Globus tour a few years ago she couldn't believe how much extra she ended up paying for "extra tours" that she though were included.

I'm just trying to figure out how much money I should bring for extra (gondola ride in Venice, train ride in Switzerland). Claire

How much extra you spend on the trip is up to you, but keep in mind that 1/2 the dinners are on you. As well as all the lunches. And for the RS-paid dinners the drinks are not included, although on one or two dinners the restaurant did include wine. Also the RS tour gives you ample free time, but the expenses for the most part are yours while you're out and about (in Paris they gave us a museum pass. For the hiking in the Alps, our guide didn't charge anything but we had to pay for the railways on our own. You can probably find those prices on the web, or someone else who's been recently may supply them. Rather than bringing money, BTW, it is easier to bring an ATM card and withdraw money as you need it.

To anyone who went on the Best of Europe in 21 days tour: How many opportunities of doing laundry did you get??? I am a bit worried about having to wear some tops 2 or 3 times... Claire

On the 14 day tour there was laundry facilities available in a few of the hotels, BUT , not most, and since every tour stays in various hotels( my friend took exact same tour year after me and only stayed in about three of the same places we did) you can never be sure what will be available. You will have to sink wash undies , socks and maybe a top or two, I know I did. I found this easy to do , and always do it on the day you arrive at the hotel so they have the two nights to be dry. The other problem with doing laundry is you are using valuable free time ,, one fellow in our group got up very very early on our free day in Venice and did his families wash before breakfast( what a saint). Pack and plan carefully, most people on our tour did seem to wear same clothes once or twice, it was hard to tell sometimes as we all seemed to stick to basics,, and no one cared. Don't bother with fashion too much,, comfort and washabilty are key. I actually bought a nice top or two while on tour to brighten up my wardrobe, and those were my "souvenirs" .. I also threw out a tshirt that I never wanted to see again( which then made room in suitcase for new stuff!)

Claire, The laundry situation is much the same on any RS tours, and will vary to some extent in each location. As Pat suggested, you'll probably find it necessary to wash undergarments in the Hotel room sink at night, but you should have an opportunity to visit a laundromat during "free days". One point to mention regarding laundry in Hotel rooms. I've noticed on recent trips that a few Hotels expressly forbid doing laundry in the rooms. Laundromats in Europe tend to be a bit pricey, and operate slightly differently in each location. It's often necessary to pay at a central control box, and then which Washer or Dryer your clothes are in. In some towns, the only option will be a "service wash", where you'll drop the clothes off and the laundry facility will wash, dry and fold them. I've found that it helps to be somewhat "flexible", as there may be times when you'll have to wear clothing a bit past the point where it needs to be washed. I tend to use a lot of travel-friendly Tilley clothing when traveling. You might find it helpful to order a copy of their catalogue to see whether any of the products might work for you. Cheers!

Hi Claire: My husband and I recently returned from a 10 day RS tour (Venice, Florence & Rome). We spent about 500 additional euro total (on top of the tour cost). This paid for daily lunches, half the dinners, gelato each day, one night of hotel (we arrived the day prior to the start of the tour), cab fare to Rome airport from the city center, a couple of metro tickets and entracnces is Ostia Antica, alilaguna tickets in Venice, misc. water and soda, and a few very small gifts. We were pretty frugal but did not need to resort to fast food, which actually costs more than picking up a deli sandwhich or the like, and our budget didn't keep us from having a great trip. Our guide in Venice offered to organize a gondola trip that was outside the pre-paid tour activities, but there were no takers. Have a great trip!