Looking for Travel Agent to Layout 2-3 Week Multi country Trip

I dont know an agent for the Prague Vienna Budapest leg of the trip. If you want to try and do it with the fourm help I know you will get good help in Vienna and Budapest. We have members here who live in Vienna and Budpaest and we have members here who have make many, many trips to Vienna and Budapest. Prague, not as much but a lot of us have been at least once or twice so we can figure it out. Here is a start if you have 16 days (scroll down a bit): https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/2-week-itinerary-help-962f2192-a096-4931-9ef2-6f7375ee5619

You will need guidebooks too. Ricks of course and for Budapest the DK Eyewitness Guide as well. There are also some videos and some ofther information on my profile page (yes, I am one of the Budapest geeks ... but not the only one).

I suggest you read the posts for the three cities. You will find the hotels, the restaurants, how the metro systems work, suggestions for multiple days and from time to time entire daily schedule have been created.

To get the most ouf of the forum the more information the better. Critical is exact dates. Age help, interests and things that bother you. Maybe places and things you have enjoyed in the past. Some want to go rafting and some are museum hounds.

If you do get an agent, post their plan here for comment. LOL, it will be fun.

You might call the Rick Steves' office in Seattle to see if they offer travel agent service. I think ....... that they did this for an hourly fee but don't know if they still do. Call 'em.. Most of the posters here are pretty independent travel oriented with good info for specific questions but hard to plan a trip for you without a lot of personal information as to likes and dislikes. You are asking a lot.

We’ve used the Rick Steves office for travel advice, they charged by the hour and they do not make any arrangements, just offered advice and recommendations. Might be a place for you to start after you have more specifics on where you want to go and what your interests will be.

They really don’t do that (serve as a travel agent), and AFAIK never did. What they used to do was offer “consultant” services (required pre booking a consultant, and charged by the hour). - but they never actually booked things (except their tours, of course). I believe the “consultants” went away with COVID, and never came back.

As I recall, what they used to do when asked for “travel agent” services was to refer customers to a local travel agent who had an actual brick ‘n mortar shop just down the street (Elizabeth Holmes - which seems to have moved about 10 years ago, and is no longer in Edmonds). Don’t know who/if they recommend anyone these days.

Worth noting: These days the RSE HQ in Edmonds is only open on Saturdays (another post-COVID artifact).

Honestly, “travel agents” are a bit of an anachronism, made largely obsolete by the internet and restructuring of commissions (how they used to make money). There are still some around (though some of those who survived may not be very knowledgeable - we see people tell hair-raising stories here of “travel agents” who seem pretty clueless, so caveat emptor). There’s a small number of travel agents that specialize in very high end clients, but it’s a tough business model. Frankly, for most people, the best travel agent they’re going to find is going to be the person they see when they look in a mirror.

Hope some of that is helpful. Good luck.

Do you beloing to AAA? They have a large travel department. We have used them to arrange our tours in Egypt and Turkey, and other family members have used their services to arrange travel to Iceland and Costa Rica.

We’ve used KimKim.com twice for trips to South America - and my sister-in-law used them for a trip to Europe. They basically do what a travel agent would do - including hotels and tours and transportation between cities. They did not arrange travel to / from the start / end of our trip but did everything else. They ask lots of questions about the types of things you like and the budget, and then you get a plan - which you can then modify as you like.

We found them easy to work with and it was relaxing having lots of the details handled.

It sounds from your description that what you are looking for is not a “travel agent” but a “travel planner.” Most travel planners will plan a trip from soup to nuts for clients and arrange for flights. intercity transportation, and reserve hotels, attraction admissions and entertainment according to your criteria.

Because of the high level of service and time involved, a professional travel planner usually works for affluent clients and the fees associated with their services are quite substantial. For a three-week itinerary, fees often range between $5,000-$7000. EuroTravelCoach is one company specializing in European travel planning.

I know travel planners who work solely within organizations for members within the organization. Others may have personal experience with independent travel planners who can be hired by individuals,

Good luck to you.

While you are looking for the the magical travel agent, you can do a bit of planning on your own.
Your trip has 2 parts,
1. Amsterdam to Bastogne
2. Prague to Vienna and on to Budapest.

Since Luxembourg to Prague is a 12 hour train trip, you might want to fly. Luxair has a direct flight several times per week for 1 1/2 hours in the air.

Prague to Vienna to Budapest is a straight forward easy plan with frequent rail service. Your only decision is picking hotels and what you want to do and see while in these cities. Plan 4 nights each so you 3 full days in each.

That leaves Amsterdam to Bastogne. What other places do you want to see along the way? You could do Amsterdam to Brussels to Luxembourg. You can do all of these by train. In Luxembourg, rent a car to go to Bastogne, then return it to Luxembourg airport for a flight to Prague.

We have friends who have used Audley Travel for 10 trips. They highly recommend, but are not inexpensive.

I found 2 companies for our trip to Japan on line. I read their websites, studied their itineraries, and asked a few questions via email.
I then asked here about each company and got a few responses here.
They asked us our wants and wishes with regard to cities and activities and sites. They came back with an itinerary. With said yes or no to items, asked about adding a few and finally settled. We received a printed booklet with detailed info and vouchers for a few activities. Upon arrival at our first hotel we received actual tickets such as local train passes and high speed train tickets etc. We also had a contact name if needed.
Same scenario with our Egypt, Jordan, Israel trip in 2023.
I’m sure there is a company out there that does this for Europe. You just have to do a little digging and research.

The toughest part may be finding the right tour guide for the Bastogne part of the trip. You will need someone with knowledge of the battle and experience visiting that huge area over which the battle took place. Even for the overwhelming number on this forum who do not use travel agents (except for booking cruises), an expert tour guide in Belgium makes sense.

Mr. E (who is a veteran contributor on these forums) could chart the Central Europe segment, which at a minimum should be 10 days and probably should be longer because of the travel time involved.

RJ, you are most correct about the Bastogne part of the trip. Thats a trip a Trip Planer is made for. One with experience in the topic would add so much to the journey.

Yes, happy to help with Central Europe. I have helped enough with other over the years. We all "work" here for no fee, but do read my profile page. And not just me. We have great people that know Prague, Vienna and Budapest. So everyone gets a pretty broad spectrum of opinions.

Because of the high level of service and time involved, a professional
travel planner usually works for affluent clients and the fees
associated with their services are quite substantial. For a three-week
itinerary, fees often range between $5,000-$7000. EuroTravelCoach is
one company specializing in European travel planning.

The $5000 to $7000 and the concept that Trip Planners are for the affluent I think are two mistaken perceptions. Even the company listed above wont charge you that much on a typical service trip.

The Trip Planner I use in the Balkans is maybe 10% of that range and I am po-folk, not affluent (yes, I use one because the Balkans are still in a state of early-tourism, and the return on the investment is 10x) .

I also know an old lady that does trip planning for small groups of similar old ladies and her profit is mostly in that she gets to travel with them for free and a little cash, but certainly not $7000 in value. Oh and they sure arent affluent.

And I have a group of frineds who do a wild exotic holiday for about three weeks once every 18 months. They have done it for over 10 years now, each time with the same trip planner. I asked about 5 years ago what the cost of the planner was and it was about $1.000 for 6 travelers / three weeks. So maybe its $3,000 now. Also not affluent.

Of course my problem might be that being poo and unedgetated I am just not running in the right circles to know what fancy folk do and pay.

Vienna to Budapest to Prague to Munich, was my very first trip to Europe. It is not a hard trip to plan. May I suggest you go to your library and pick up the Rick Steves guides, spend a few hours with them and then come here and you and the folks here could plan the trip, saving a ton of money, and planning a trip tailored for you.

As Sam says, the best way to get from Belgium to Vienna is to fly. From there, you can travel by train between the cities. Easy, Its also easy to get from the airports to city center, either by public transportation or taxi. These are popular cities, so you will get many hotel recommendations. You would need to let people know your price range.

These are great cities, it will be a wonderful trip!

I think Sam described your trip best. You have two trips. One is the Amsterdam area and Bastogne and the other is Prague, Vienna and Budapest.

Getting from Amsterdam to Bastogne is not easy as Bastogne does not have train service. You will have to travel to Brussels and take other transportation from Brussels like a bus or rent a car to Bastogne. Then you have to return to Brussels to get a direct flight to Prague to start the second leg of your trip.

You can spend 4 days each in Prague, Vienna and Budapest and have a very enjoyable time. You can fly home from Budapest.

With all this said, to answer your direct question, travel agents are few and far between anymore because people can now book their own flights and hotels directly online. Also, I am not sure how many hotels and airlines still offer travel agents commissions. As was said, some travel planners or agents now charge the clients and their fees can be considerably high.

If you have booked trips online for US vacations, planning and booking for a trip to Europe isn't much different. Don't be overwhelmed by the 3 week length. Break it down city by city/day by day and it will all come together. The folks on this forum have plenty of travel experience to all these cities to answer questions. Combined much more so than any travel agent.

Good luck.

As Sam says, the best way to get from Belgium to Vienna is to fly. From there, you can travel by train between the cities. 

Except Prague is 5 hours north and Budapest 2.6 hours south of Vienna. So, no. But, yes getting to the start of the Central Europe tour will be interesting, but ceartinly doable.

Depending how much tie the OP has there are several ways of doing it. Close to ideal is the 16 day trip on the link I posted above. Its the classic tour and you could do it in either direction.

The shortest travel time tour is Prague > fly to Budapest nonstop on Wizz > train to Vienna in either direction. You can do this pretty okay in 11 or 12 days.

The most politically correct is Prague > train to Vienna > train to Budapest in either direction. You can do this pretty okay in 11 or 12 days.

With 10 days i would do Prague and fly to Budapest and just do an overnight visit to Vienna OR Prague and train to Vienna with just an overnight trip to Budapest. You can always return if the overnight trip moves you. But 10 days is tight to do all 3 justice.

It's my understanding that Sarah Murdock does this type of planning for individuals as well as her small group trips. She's a former Rick Steves guide. I've not done either so this is not a recommendation, but you could check her out.

https://www.worldwar2tours.com

I think in theory, Mr. E is absolutely correct. These are great cities and there is much to see, but most do not have the time to spend many days in a specific city. I will admit to being less of a day trip person than others on the forum. I love to see a city in the morning and night. I would just keep the itinerary simple. Use Mr. E's suggestion to fly to Prague. Then, just train between the cities, don't stress to "do justice" to each city. Flying can save time, but also can be a time suck. Airports are generally farther out of town, have to get there at least one hour early, etc. We did a night train between Budapest and Prague which was fun and a time saver. Three or four days (allocate days based on interest) would make a very nice trip.

And the biggest issue is whether the OP wants a travel agent/travel planner because he believes he needs one, or because he simply does not have or does not want to spend the time to plan the trip and is willing to pay for someone else to do it. If the latter, so be it. I am not passing judgment. As we know, nearly all contributing to these forums actually enjoy the trip-planning aspects of travel . But not everyone does and not everyone has the time to do it right.

And I just did a quick Google search for Battle of the Bulge tour guides. A name that came up was Reg Jans. His website can be checked out. Note that I am not recommending or vouching for Jans--I have had no experience with him and have no idea about the services he offers other than what appears on his website. But given what the OP wants to do in Belgium, he may need this type of guide.

I have a neighbor who several years ago wanted to learn as much as possible about his father's involvement in the Normandy invasion. He guided a local guide whose expertise was the D-Day invasion, and before his trip, he provided the guide with as much information as he had about what his father did and what unit he was in.

I agree that its ok to use the services of a travel planner. My only concern is how to find one with the expertise to tailor a trip. IMO, people on the forum have far more knowledge than most travel agents/planners.

Jules is correct ....... Of course, we are because we have been there and done that. In the past we have had some posters who try to fake their travel experiences because they were good at reading guide books and internet searches. However, they didn't last long because the experience level here is pretty deep and accurate. If it is only your 50th, you are pretty young so you could do a lot of the planning on your own. Hit you local library and check out some travel DVDs and guide books to build a little background for yourself. Then get a very tentative plan and explore it here. You have time. I think the possibility of river cruise in the middle might work well. Our big issue is that we don't know what you like and dislike. There are options. Are you carry-on bag type or do you need 29" suitcase? Are you willing to set in a sidewalk for a few hours and do you need to be constantly moving? Eating habits? Drinking -- wine, beer, scotch??? You can do it and we can help.

How did your Portugal trip go? Any problems?

jules m, I've timed all tge issues on the scenario with the flight and door to door it saves several hours, but the flights aren't every day and if memory serves me correctly a couple of days during the week the flight times are sort of late and not worth it. Never toss out a tool till you have first tested it.

50th wedding anniversary!

Wow! Congratulations!

WW II vet in the family? Bastogne? Great way to commemorate their service with a visit!

My wife whose father was WW II navy vet wanted to visit places he was in both Europe and the Pacific. (Her sister made it to Okinawa.) But we haven't been yet. (My wife who is younger than me always wants me to add that her father was getting up there in years when she was born. My father was Korean War.)

Hope you find a way to make this happen!

Happy travels.

David's post is the one the forum should br most proud of.

I am thinking about a European trip starting in Amsterdam and visiting some neighboring areas culminating in a visit to Bastogne

What are you considering "some neighboring areas" ?

With what I can make of what/where you want, I think you should be looking at/closer to 3 weeks vs 2.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to respond

I really think the biggest take away we’re:

1.) that I should plan two sequential trips - one to the Amsterdam/ Belgium/ Bastogne area then the other to the Prague/Vienna/Budapet;

2.) study each of those areas through travel guides etc;

3.) then come back to the forum for more focused questions on individual towns/ hotels/ travel arrangements;

It was very instructive to be placed on the right “path” and encouraging to know the support and knowledge that exists on this forum

Thank you and see u again

Tom Sheridan

Time is not on our side. We were in Hawaii for Pearl Harbor's 75th (2016). They said there were 9 living survivors and seven were able to make the return for the 75th. Today there are none with the last one having left us last year. I am of the VNam era and at 83 my group is shrinking and has never received the recognition that they should have. Veterans' Day is around the corner and we need to spending more time recognizing the value of the military and encouraging our grandsons and grand daughters that military service is an honorable profession. I look at the British tradition and recognize that the princes could never have avoiding military service. Simply unacceptable. I am of the draft army and will admit to not being very happy when I received the invitation for an extended, all expense paid government holiday in far away lands. So go find your neighbors who served and buy them a couple of beers in two weeks. They will appreciate it.

Tom, it sounds like you're on the right track but I'll throw this out just in case you're still looking for a planner for all or some pieces of your trip? Take a look at Ron Phillips.

https://ronphillipstravel.com

A little background....
Ron lived in Rome at one point and had a great website called "Ron in Rome" that some of us who've been around travels forums for a number of years were likely familiar with. I used some of his material when planning my own forays to the Eternal City. He was also a helpful contributor to the RS forum. Well, he moved on from Rome to some other locations abroad (see "About" in the website linked above) and now is a planner based in the US.

I've not used his professional services myself, as our trips so far have been reasonably easy to put together ourselves, but from the standpoint of assistance from someone who has had "boots on the ground" I'd trust his judgement. Price? No clue but as he references himself as a "luxury travel consultant" I'll assume upper versus lower end. :O)

According to the local tourism website (Visit Wallonia) the way to Bastogne by public transport is train to Libramont (from Amsterdam change at Bruxelles Midi) then an hourly bus shuttle #6 which takes about 30 minutes.
Then hire a local guide.

The above website links to the Maison du Tourisme for Bastogne.

Interestingly Bastogne is the end of the 1146 km long Liberty Way, from Normandy. This route opened in 1947 to mark the route of the Allied Forces from Utah Beach, with a stone marker every km.

You could undoubtedly spend the whole time just following the Liberty Way
which would be quite some trip on its own.