After a year of basically sheltering in place for over a year with my spouse and kids, I need a short break from them/need to give them a break from me, but I really prefer group travel to solo travel and am looking for a group tour of some kind. Rick Steves tours are listed for 2022, but I'm kind of eager to do something this year....
Thanks in advance for suggestions!
A quick look on the Internet shows any group tours planning for 2021 are planning for fall. I didn’t check summer dates for river cruises; I’m not sure if that would interest you? Anyway, I checked Odysseys Unlimited and GoAhead Tours and both are showing fall dates. I’ve done an Odysseys Unlimited and enjoyed it, but never a GoAhead. I think I’m correct in saying that GoAhead is made up of solo travelers who’d like to be part of a group. As always, check things out.
Road Scholar is running fall tours and has some openings. I was under the impression that Odysseys Unlimited was running tours as well but my sister spoke with someone there Friday and they said that, although they are taking reservations, they won’t run a tour unless a country is at Level 2 and many countries in Europe are Level 3 right now.
So if you reach out to Odysseys ask them if that’s true and, if it is, I’d book with someone else.
We put the same question to Road Scholar and they said they do not require a country to be Level 2.
I've done 11 tours with Road Scholar and find them to be similar to Rick's tours. Here is a link that I think takes you to the tours that are available in 2021. I'm doing one to SW France in October and another forum member is doing the same tour the week ahead of me.
https://www.roadscholar.org/collections/2021/
To me, the guides are generally the same high caliber with Road Scholar as with Rick Steves. They don't spend much time teaching ways to travel independently which Rick's tour guides do. I do find some travelers on those tours are a little bit needier. Most of the Road Scholar tours I've taken recently tend to spend more nights in one location and do day trips from there. I did a program in Provence in October 2019 that was wonderful - 6 nights in Aix and 5 in Arles. I generally add on time at the beginning and the end. If you book airfare thru them they will usually pick up up from the airport and transport to the first hotel. I book my own airfare and just take the train to the start (which...laughing...I learned from taking Rick's tours!!).
Now I generally choose the trip based on the itinerary. Sometimes Rick goes where I'm in the mood to go...sometimes Road Scholar does, lol!!
As of last week, Odysseys was running their Iceland tours.
Adventures with Sarah is running some tours this autumn. She is a former RS guide. I am signed up for some offerings next spring, but I believe there are still fall slots open.
I keep getting emails from Peter Sommers Travels (a British company) about their 2021 tours. They specialize in archeological, cultural and gastronomic tours and many, but not all, involve small sailing ships (gulets). September offerings include Italy (including Sicily), Croatia (including Dalmatian coast), Greece (including Crete) and Turkey.
https://www.petersommer.com/gulet-cruises
Sicily and Rome land-based tours:
https://www.petersommer.com/italy/tours
Since they are aimed at Brits, I don’t know what extra hoops you would have in terms of covid-based entry requirements.
Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) is doing Fall tours. We're going with them to Sicily during October, 2021. We've traveled with them for at least the last 6 years and have loved all our trips. They steep you in the culture, small groups, often off the beaten path and usually no single supplement. Their tour leaders are the best in the industry.
Thanks, these are all great suggestions!
I spoke with someone from Odysseys today because we have a trip to Portugal and Spain with them in October. Both countries are at Level 3. The rep said that they don’t have a rigid policy on the levels, but look to the situation in the country to make a decision. As of now, my tour is on (but that could change if conditions get worse.)
@va from va - That's interesting since they told my sister they're canceling Level 3. Anyone else have contact with them who has additional info?
My sister booked Road Scholar instead as it seemed more likely to be a GO.
