Best tours for 50+

have you looked into Elderhostel (educational but pricey)or Rick's tours (about $280 per day)?
both require active people. price may be a consideration however.
to me the others like Brendan, Trafalgar, Cosmo are too regimented w/ lots of shopping stops and big grps.

I was also going to suggest the Rick Steves tours, they have everything going for them but price. I know you pay a premium for going with a smaller group, it just is such a shame that his tours are not within many peoples budgets, and I do mean people who can actually afford a Europeon vacation, but not at over 500 dollars a day for a couople , NOT including airfare.
I am not saying the tours are not worth it , I am just saying I wish they were just a bit cheaper!

I used to get brochures from Circle tours. I've never taken one but I've always kept the name in mind because the trips they offered didn't have a lot of moves & included good chunks of unscheduled time. I did take an Elderhostel walking trip in Italy a few years back. It was a lot of walking mostly uphill. If you want activity, they offer lots of tours with various levels of activity.

My husband and I are in our 50's. We would recommend Elderhostel trips, with the caveat that you look at the tour description where level of activity is indicated (scale 1-4) We went on a trip that was a 1 because we liked the subject matter but found that the low level of physical activity meant a lot of participants were physically but certainly not medically handicapped. Since we are much more active we chalked this up to a learning experience and will pay closer attention to the activity rating. However, the tour was great & we hope to do one where folks barge by night and bike by day. We've also gone on a RS tour, which was very enjoyable and had lots of folks our age in the group, including some singles.

You might want to check with 'Uniworld' tours. These are on rivers. My cousin and her husband (early 60's) and another couple, took the Vienna to Amterdam tour last year and really enjoyed it. They stayed on the 'river boat' but were able to take land tours and then meet the boat farther 'down' or 'up' the river depending on the situation. However, they also took an Egypt tour this spring from the same company and did not particularly like it. A little more 'cultural' shock than they wanted to experience. This was also one of the first tours on the Nile that Uniworld had put together, so they may have 'refined' things by now.

Sounds like a Rick Steves tour would be perfect for you. Small active groups with couples and singles.

There are a number of companies who cater to small groups and adventure style tours. Many of these are based out of the UK and vary as to age appropriateness. We did an Explore trip and the 15 passengers were aged 50 to 70. On an Intrepid trip to E. Europe, there were several singles and they weren't weird (aged 30-60s)! Most travellers were from the UK, South Africa, Canada and Australia--didn't meet any Americans. Try a google search for Explore, Exodus, GAP, Intrepid and see which offers the type of trip you're interested in.

Hi CC...
I'm 56, single, and just returned from Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door in 14 Days Tour...it was fabulous and I'd HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is at least moderately active...there is a lot of walking and stair climbing.
About half the group were older than me. Ages ranges from early 20s to later 60s. I enjoyed having the range of ages.

I know that if I'd tried to go all the places and events we did plus all the great meals, etc., on my own it would have cost a LOT more than the tour did.

(See my response to Europe in 14 Days post.) Let me know if you have any questions.

YMT vacations. Took the Northwest passage Alaska cruise with them. Did not realize until after we met up with the "group" that we were the youngest participants. We were in our late 40's. The youngest menber after us was: 70"s!

Thank you all...
You the info has been a great help...