Independently Plan or Purchase Tour

I guess I am wondering why you purchased air fare when you are maybe not sure about this tour? It doesn't appeal to me but I am not in the target demographic of 18-30 years of age. You've got essentially 13.5 days with the tour group (finishes after breakfast on the last day and has a meet up at some point on Day 1) so it's about $210/day. Dinners are covered half the time. Breakfasts every day, a couple of lunches.

If you have not traveled to Europe before you may not be able to plan this as efficiently as a tour company. Plus this itinerary is pretty exhausting with several one night stays covering a very long distance, so doing it alone may be difficult.

If money is not an issue and you have checked out this tour company and find good reviews, I would go with it.

I've been looking up some blogs and forums, I see how some people have been able to plan on their own. Money is not really an issue, however, in comparison to how others have travelled.....almost $3000 for a trip of two weeks doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And, there's also the idea that if I end up really liking a place and wanting to stay...I can do that if I'm not with a group. I think I just made up my mind. Thanks!

I would not recommend taking any TopDeck tours. They are for the 18-35 year old group if you want to be age-segregated ( I wouldn't) but it just isn't a good value. That is quite a bit of money to drop on a trip that is going to house you in sad, dinky rooms in dumpy hostels with a bunch of smelly people you don't know, 6 to a room. You won't be staying in real hotels with them, just cheap dumps. They provide breakfast daily but only two lunches and a handful of dinners plus- they are going to stick you for an extra "food share" fund which is required on top of your tour price. They don't include much sightseeing either- expect to buy a lot of stuff on your own. They do have these things available- at an added cost.

What I would suggest is to pay less by choosing a good tour from Go Ahead Tours or Collette tours which provide you with a real hotel room in nice places, take you to see the sites (at no additional cost), and offer good food with no secret food share collection that is mandatory.

(1) Go Ahead Tours www.goaheadtours.com/tours/europe
(2) Collette Tours www.gocollette.com

I stayed at a lot of hostels in my 20s. While many were inexpensive, I didn't find any of them to be "cheap dumps" nor did I find my roommates to be "smelly". I had a great time and met lots of wonderful and interesting people.

I know nothing about the tour company that you mention; however, it it difficult to cover as much ground in the same timeframe when you are traveling independently. If you travel on your own, plan to stay in fewer places and look into flights to cover long distances.

You can do it yourself for less money but perhaps not as efficiently. Sounds like if you do go with a tour, you should look for one that fits your style.

I would NEVER in a million years want to be stuck for 2 weeks with the same people traveling, eating and sightseeing all glued together at the hip and following somebody else's itinerary and staying in out of the way hotels/hostels. Smelly or not - just don't do it!

And yet, Tim, you do apparently like cruises, according to one of your other posts, even going on ship excursions.

Hi Jody, I guess you already made the decision to go it on your own. I don't know anything about Top Deck tours but I have taken tours with other companies. There are companies that appeal to different ages, types of people, level of activity, etc. You have to find the one that's right for you. I guess that's hard to do unless you try one of them for yourself.

I went on a Collette tour (Seattle-San Francisco in 2011) and did not like the experience at all. It was a bus tour with two busses full of 70-90 year old people. Every seat was filled and we had assigned seats for the 8 day trip. I went by myself and was stuck next to a crabby 75 year old lady who didn't change her clothes the entire time. In my opinion, the tour did not deliver what it promised. We did a lot of drive-bys as opposed to actually stopping at the sites. For example, we were at Mt. Hood in Oregon and the guide said we didn't have time to get near the site, we were just going to the gift shop (where I assume she got a kick back for the stuff everyone purchased). We stopped at every gift shop in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California! They used basic, chain hotels and all covered meals were buffets at the hotel. Side trips were offered for an extra cost. I was pretty miserable and wouldn't do another tour with that company. Other travelers may report different experiences with Collette, but that was my experience.

I have taken 5 Rick Steves tours in Europe, loved every one, and wouldn't consider going to Europe with any other company.

Going it on your own may work out fine but I wouldn't rule out a tour. You just have to find which company fits your needs. In my experience with the Rick Steves tours, you see so much more and really get your money's worth. The other travelers are great and they are determined to have a great vacation. Hope you have a great vacation too!

Well, I do love taking tours, but I am the age demographic of Rick's tours. In the tours I have enjoyed I have never felt joined at the hip with any other tour member but I also try to choose tours that have a component of free time.

My thought also was that if the OP wanted to do it on her own, that's great, but then perhaps a rough itinerary would have been worked out including costs of trains or buses and covering a shorter distance than Barcelona to Athens. To me the itinerary should drive the airline reservations, not the other way around and that is essentially where it is now. Tickets have been bought and now you have to build a trip to those start and end points.

So you are flying from home to Barcelona and from Athens back home? And you have 2 weeks between?

When? Your specific dates will affect any help or advice people can give, as will any changes to your flights.

Depending on your flight dates and number of days/nights on the ground, you could probably cobble together something close to their itinerary but you'd have to skip a couple of places. Doing your own travel between places takes more time than a bus tour which is why you'd have to give up some places but you could choose to spend more time in some places and less in others more to your interests.

You could do something like this:
Fly to Barcelona - 3 nights

Fly budget airline from there to Venice (skipping Nice and French Riviera) - 2 nights

Train to Florence - 2 nights

Train to Rome - 3 nights

Fly budget airline to Mykonos - 3 nights

Fly or ferry to Athens - 2 nights

Fly home from Athens

This is just a suggested itinerary that could be done in 15 nights but it is skimping a lot on some wonderful places. If you let us know your actual number of days/nights on the ground and what places you particularly wanted to see that drew you to this tour maybe we could help you with a more personal itinerary that you could do on your own.

I do enjoy traveling with Rick Steves' tours but I don't much like the itinerary of the tour that you were considering. The included sightseeing is minimal, doesn't go into any place that requires an entry fee, and emphasizes shopping for perfume, lace, leather, etc. Here's how I read their first few days:

Day 1: arrival day and meeting in Barcelona. Hope you came earlier to do sightseeing on your own.

Day 2: driving all day from Barcelona to Nice, 8-9 hours including restroom and lunch stops.

Day 3: free day to visit Nice, and surrounding towns

Day 4: Driving all day from Nice to Venice, drive time at least 6 hours, plus rest breaks and brief Verona visit

etc.

See also Rick's article on Bus Tour Self-Defense and Comparing Bus Tours.

If the trip is not scheduled immediately, then I'd go ahead to start with the independent planning. Rick's Best of Europe guidebook covers most of those stops, except the Greece destinations are in their own book.

Jody,

You don't say what age group you fall into, but it sound like the mid 20s group or there about. At that age I spent many a summer out of college bumming around mainland Europe and like someone else I spent most of my nights in youth hostels. I tried mainly to stay in ones run by members of the International Youth Hostels Assoc. and I never had any real complaints.

Youth hosteling is an experience I would not have missed for anything. The people you meet and the discussion you have in the evenings over a tea, coffee or a glass of wine, will almost certainly change your perspective on live.

Check the Rick Steves Tours page to see if any of his fit your agenda.

Hi Jody,

I took a Contiki tour years ago (ages 18-35) and I really liked it. It was perfect for my age in that I just wanted to check out some sights and have a good time in Europe. I've gone back since, and did a slower-paced, more learning type tour and loved it. However, if you want to go with friends your age and just see what s out there, then sure, try a tour company. However, I agree that price is rather high.

So, my suggestion is to do a little of both. Contiki offers a 10- day tour from Spain to Italy. Then, you could fly from Rome to Greece and spend the last 2-3 days in Greece before flying home. Contiki's price is much more reasonable, but it is probably similar in terms of hotel quality/ time visiting sites versus driving by sites to "see" them ,etc.

Here's the link to the Contiki tour, it's only about $1245 to start (a little higher in summer), which is much cheaper than the Top Deck one you mentioned. You didn't say when you are going, so hopefully the Contiki dates would work for you. :)

Of course, the link won't work now, but Google: Contiki Tours Mediterranean Quest

Good Luck!

Hi,

In my 20s I too did the hostel trips, 99% in France, Austria, and Germany, with a Pension added here and there., all part of HI, no independent private hostels back then. In Germany they were spartan and clean, and depending where, mostly German. As pointed out above, I would not have traded that experience either. Every city/town you went to visit, arrived at by train, you hit the hostel first...Hamburg, Kiel, Köln, Lübeck, Heidelberg, Göttingen, Bonn, Hannover, Aachen, Münster/Westfalen, etc.,etc.

There is a valid argument not to be stuck with the same bunch of 20 somethings for two weeks. I would rather be alone or have the chance of meeting new people. My recommendation is to pay your own way, tailor the trip as you like.

Thank you to all who have taken the time to reply. To answer when I am going: flying out on June 28th arriving in Spain early on the 29th. Flying out from Athens on July 16th. Reason for dates: celebrating my birthday. Fits the age group from both contiki and top deck, however not sold on the idea of sticking around with the same people.

Thanks again!

Jody,
It sounds like you're planning this trip by yourself? If you're comfortable doing that, then you're probably comfortable planning independently. It also sounds like the tour you are considering uses hostel-type accommodations. Trip Advisor and the RS guidebooks list accomodations in that range and you can see reviews/photos. Check out local tours-Runner Bean in Barcelona seems to get some good reviews. You may meet people you'd like to travel with.

Have a great trip!