Most Annoying Tour Paticipants

I don't know if it was a fluke or not,, I have only been on one actual tour,, but, everyone on my Rick Steves Family tour last year was great.
We honestly had no one complain about anything,( getting up early, late dinners, the heat) no one was smelly, lazy or spoke loudly. And the children/teens were all so well behaved. I mean it, not one bratty child, all 14 of them were delightful, got along well with each other, older ones hung out with the younger ones, they were really just an amazing group!

I think alot of credit goes to RS , it is made clear what sort of person should go ont their tours, "no grumps" is clearly spelt out. It is clearly explained that this is a "no divas" tour,, not luxurious, no one will baby you,, etc. Carry your own bags, and be on time,, and we all did and were!

Laura, Your item #1 made me both cringe and chuckle at the same time, as I've also encountered that situation. Like you, I don't mind helping someone that needs it, but other solo travellers need to realize that someone on their own doesn't necessarily "want company". Your description of "oblivious to hints" was also spot on!

Frank, I'd be interested in reading your book, as I bet you've got some incredible stories. You've hinted at some of them in your Posts here on the Helpline.

Norm, I've also encountered fellow tourists with the "it's not like this at home" mentality. I'm sorry to say a few of them were Canadians. I've been so tempted to tell them "if you like it so much at home, you should bloody well stay there"! It never fails to amaze me to find people who are travelling to see a different culture and people, and then complain because it's different than at home.

Another interesting discussion, perhaps another "four pager".

Because my stay in Vienna was short, I took a sightseeing bus tour. There was a little boy about 4 yr. old. He was shouting that he had to pee. His Dad told the driver to stop and find a toilet. This tour was on a strict schedule, and the driver refused to find a place for the kid to go. It's tricky because I know the kid had to pee, but there were about 50 people on the bus tour, and stopping would have delayed us. There was a toilet on the bus that didn't work, so that's the company's fault. The kid used the broken toilet. What else could he do? But there is more with this same little boy. He was always screaming about something. When we were visiting the castles, he was screaming inside, and boy, did it ever sound really loud! It was so loud in the castle, that the family with the child were thrown out because no one could hear the tour guide.
It must be so hard to travel with a young child. Even though this was annoying, I still felt sorry for the family.

I've had plenty of the "compared to home" or "why don't they do it here like they do it at home" complainers. And they come from all areas of the globe.

Tour groups are strange animals. I've had groups that were terrific, they listened, had a great time, and it was fun for everyone.

And there are those tours where you get one or two people who are just in their own zone and need to be corralled the entire trip.

There are, however, little tricks that almost all tour directors use, to keep the pax in line. (Sorry, I can't reveal them.)

Catacombs in Rome: There was one, incredibly loud, pompous woman with a really thick Southern accent kept asking long, RIDICULOUS questions of the guide that had nothing to do with the tour and then would roll her eyes and make comments about how stupid the guide was in English to the rest of us (as if the guide who had just spoken English to her couldn't understand English) when ANY of her frequent questions went answered...even though none of us (including her husband) wanted any association with her.

Not really a tour, but on one of the water taxis in Venice, there was a really young boy who was obviously terrified of water was crying. To "entice" him to stop, his genius parents kept telling him they were going to throw him overboard if he didn't stop. When this turned his crying into loud screams, they started motioning with their hands and holding like they were actually going to throw him over. Needless to say, it didn't calm his fears (or screams).

I have never been on a proper tour, but I have been on short coach holidays etc. My most annoying tour members are:

1) The needy, lonely person who is desperate to latch onto anyone. I generally travel alone. I am completely open to making new friends, but only if they are on my wavelength. The problem with being a lone traveller is that other lone travellers who are desperate to not be alone assume you feel the same. I once had a woman literally follow me around like a shadow telling me her endless personal problems and complaining that she didn't want to look at the things I wanted to look at. I also attracted the attentions of a strange bloke who seemed incapable of doing anything on his own. He would even stand waiting in the entrance to the ladies loos for me and just expected me to make all the decisions! I eventually sneaked out of the back entrance of some public toilets in desperation! I hope I don't sound harsh. Believe me, I am only too willing to help out a fellow solo traveller who is not as comfortable on their own as I am. It's just people who permantly attach themselves to you who annoy me because they can spoil a whole trip and seem oblivious to hints.

2) The "I know more than the tour guide" person. I once went on an archaeology coach trip and there was a woman who spent the whole time telling everyone she already knew everything the guide was telling us. You could also see she was desperate for the tour guide to make a mistake. The friend she had brought with her looked like she wanted to disown her at the first opportunity!

P.S.

3) No offence to any of you nice Americans on here, but can I also nominate Americans who overuse the word "quaint". I once went on a 3 hour walking tour of Bath and one American lady used the word "quaint" about a gazillion times. She even used the word to describe people which annoyed some of us Brits who feel that we are living, breathing modern people not museum pieces!

How about this one, from a non-tour traveler: the large tour group that arrives at the destination/restaurant just before you!

In response to this question, I could write a book. Someday I might.

I would need pages and pages to tell some of the worst stories, but all I can say is I've had many pax come up to me and say: "I wouldn't want your job."

Most annoying participants . . . well, here we go.

The one who always makes the rest of the tour wait while she (usually a she) finishes her shopping.

The couple on a Baltic tour in 2004 who disregarded the guide's admonition to NOT take photos at the border crossing, who were then taken off the bus, grilled by the border guards for about 30 minutes, while we all waited on the bus, and returned to the bus with no apology. I am glad to say that their camera was confiscated, which gave us all pleasure.

The woman at the Sistine Chapel, who, in spite of the requests for silence in every language known to man, kept yelling at her husband, "MEL ! MEL ! I'm over here "

The woman on a tour of Iran who, though we had been told we must wear a long dark coat & headscarf, wore instead a short, white lab coat and a bright headscarf. So disrespectful.

More to come.

Tom, that is a good one,, I have spend considerable energy trying to bypass tour groups in places like Versailles, where 40 people are gathered around their guide,, listening to whatever speil they are giving,, in a room that would normally only fit 20 people, as that your actually expected to just sift through ,, not stop in a blob,, blocking the view of whatever is in behind the roped off area,, and making it difficult to even pass behind to get to next room!

There is a way to get past tour groups who have the same right to be there as you and paid the same....just say "Excuse me, may I get past."

Or, just hang out around the back of the group and get a free guided tour.

Ok...at the risk of getting flamed....the tour member who keeps saying "They don't make these like they do back home," "The food doesn't taste like it does back home," "The hotels aren't like the ones we have back home,"....you get my drift.

Yes, Frank, that would work,, if they all understood english. They often do not speak english, or french, and do not move easily out of the way as they are not really paying attention to their sprawl. Even on our RS tour our guide was very conscious of our group staying tight, and not taking up everyone elses space,, and we did in fact witness tours that had no such consideration at all for others, some from non english speaking countries, and some from english speaking countries.

"There's nowhere to sit down on this walking tour!"

The most annoying by far are high school excursions anywhere in the world. In Europe in March 2006 it was a real effort dodging them, and I was sometimes going through places quickly to stay ahead of them. I like to think I was better behaved at their age, but unfortunately I doubt it.

The most annoying I had was with another tour group. Most of the tour participants tried to avoid him. At first when the tour guide was talking on the bus, he would talk - until we shhhshd him enough. Then as soon as the tour guide stopped talking he would start to talk (he was single but traveled with two friends).

He was one of those know it alls who had been there a million times and knew everything. We'd drive by a church and he'd go - there's a church. He'd repeat exactly what the tour guide had just said.

Finally an older woman who was one of the first women who got Ph.D. in Psychology at the University she went too, told him "you like to hear yourself talk don't you?". The rest of us tried not to laugh.

He was horrible but he was the talk of the rest of the tour members.

I've never had problems with anyone on the Rick Steves tours I have taken though.

The thing I always loved was while giving commentary on tour. If we passed a sight that was notable, and I started telling them about it, the passengers would get their video cameras out...and point them at me.

I'd have to remind them it would be best to get the audio of me and the video of what I'm talking about.

In unison, every camera would turn. It was funny.

I've used what I believe a great line when loud, incessant, people on tours, in museums, in theatres, need to get a clue.

In a polite but firm manner I ask, "Do you talk during sex as well."

The silence that follows is wonderful!

We were on a tour of Rome at the Catacombs.The passageways are narrow and one woman kept stopping when told to keep up.The guide finished talking in a narrow area and then said follow me.The people ahead of the woman followed and she stopped again and no one including us could get thru.When she finally moved she got to a T and looked right and left and saw no one.She didnt have a clue which way to go and neither did the rest of us.Someone told her to go left and we would go right which she didnt do.The guide returned in a few minutes to find us and said that if we had gone left we would have been there a while which I think is what the person who told her to go left had in mind.

I think in Europe it was the high school Italian kid at the Rosetta Stone in his fedora up front and center with his paper on the glass copying what was on the stone (obviously some school assignment). I really wanted to just knock him out of the way and point out that people have already made copies of it if he went to the gift shop.

Of course, as a fifth grade teacher, I've been to DC 7 times with students and parents. I hate the parents who are there for themselves and not the kids. These are the ones who make us almost miss our flight so she can go to the bathroom before we leave the Smithsonian even though we were standing outside waiting for her for 30 minutes before she came out the first time!

Not sure which is more annoying, the dawdler who constantly makes everyone wait, or the know it all. Why do people go on tours where they already know everything? I was touring the cathedral here, and only one other guy was with me. He said he had been on this tour a number of times. The entire tour, he kept telling the guide all this stuff about the cathedral and questioning specific dates, and just making a pain of himself. He really took away any enjoyment of the tour. It is fun when the tour guide starts rolling their eyes! You just know this kind of person wants some kind of acknowledgement from the guide that they really know their stuff. A WOW, you sure are smart!

I once encountered an annoying, but funny couple on a tour. They were obviously very much in lurrrrveee and spent the whole time cuddling each other and holding hands. The annoying/funny bit was that it got them in some awkard situations. For example we were all climbing up hundreds of steps up to the top of a cathedral tower. The stairs were winding, uneven and extremely narrow. They insisted on climbing up with their arms around each other which meant they had to walk sideaways and they kept slipping. I wouldn't have minded them killing themselves, but I was concerned about the people they were going to fall on top of!

I have encountered a couple of tour LEADERS who were rather annoying, too. One was an independent group leader for a tour of the south of France. He did not have a map of France with him (I lent him mine) and neither he nor his driver could find their way to Aigues Mortes. This was a man who fancied himself an expert in travel in France. He also insisted on telling really corny jokes all the time.

The other was a young woman from former Yugoslavia who was a tour leader with Cosmos. She had a complete meltdown when we arrived at the hotel in Capri because she herself was being billeted in another hotel. She screamed & cried & carried on in front of all of us, to our complete mortification.