RS Tours

Matt- I ran into the same RS tour in Germany in 2004 several times. We stayed at the same Pension in Bacharach. I was pretty impressed with the tour guide. He seemed very imformative. I think I saw him on one of Rick's TV shows too. I am still not a tour type traveler, but I think the RS tours are probably pretty mellow.

Thanks Tom. I was with another tour (Education First tours) and although it was very reasonably priced we stopped at lots of these places... I think five in all on a ten day trip. I really didn't want to do that with a RS tour. I figured since I'm paying more $$$ I could avoid this sort of stuff. I'm glad to hear your experiences were good.

Matt, it is obvious that you have not follow many of the Rick Steves' videos or travel programs. One of the hallmarks of his tours is that they do NOT shop at the tourist shops and his staff does NOT receive kick backs from shop owners. You can worry about other things but you don't have to worry that one.

Here is a quote from Rick Steve's 10 committments for his tours according to his website: "your guide is motivated to give you the best travel experience possible — not to earn extra income through shopping and "optional" excursions." I know from my experience on a RS tour last year, we never stopped on any shopping excursions as part of the tour. In fact, my wife, an avid shopper, was a little upset that we were always on the go, and in her opinion, could have used more time for shopping.

Matt, as Frank indicated this is NOT likely to every happen on a RS Tour! This is frequently mentioned in his TV shows, etc.

I believe Rick experienced this type of "tour experience" when he started out, where the Guide trys to get the group to as many shops as possible, so that he/she can get a 15% kickback. Rick's tours do not operate this way! I'll be taking my first RS Tour in a couple of weeks, so I'm sure I'll be able to confirm it at that time.

I've been on a bunch of RS tours. NO, they do not set up shopping. The only experience anything along that line was when we were in Venice we were given info about how to get to a glass-blowing demo. On one trip a local woman found us picnicking and invited us to her art studio. Our RS guides apologized to us afterward and assured us that they had nothing to do with the artist. If people want to shop, they can't be stopped, but nobody on RS tours takes you shopping.

Matt

I think you would be very pleased that those things do not happen on RS tours. The only shopping that I ever did with the group was in the gift shops of some of the places you visit (if you choose to shop). Another great thing, is that you do not tip your guide, bus driver, or any local guides like you are expected to on a lot of other tours or pay for "optionals". I am always amazed how little extra money I spend on his tours with everything that is included.

It is not like other tours, although there is a chance that someone might try to sell you something but it will be a very soft sell and combined with something more interesting.

On the Sicily trip, the only soft sell was at a winery where we had a tour of the winery, a tasting, and a lunch. Their wines were offered for sale but you really did not feel obligated.

On the Village Italy trip, there were 3 "sales" opportunities. We stopped in Deruta where they showed how they made the pottery. Again there was no pressure to buy and the guide suggested that those who did not want to buy go down after the demo to a local bar for a coffee. At a winery and lunch stop, there was an opportunity to buy wines we had tasted. At a frantoio after a demonstration of how olives were pressed, we tasted various varieties of olive oil and there was an opportunity to buy. But all were educational rather than sales pitches.

Thank you to all for your generous responses. I am glad you cleared this up for me. The brochures stated as such- but it's always good to hear first hand from tour travellers. Our 25th anniversary, and both our 50th b-days, are in 2009 and we are seriously considering the 21 day tour of Europe.

Thanks again for your responses.

Not only are you not expected to shop, you also have the freedom to not do all the activities available on the RS tour. I've opted out of something on almost every tour, usually from an illness, but once or twice because it was something I was not interested in.

Matt - Just so you know, the 21 day tour is FAST AND FURIOUS!! I returned from it a couple of weeks ago, and I think some people had the impression that they would get to see and do everything in all the cities! There really is not enough time - you're only in a city (including Paris & Rome) for ONE day (1 1/2 at the most), so you're in a city for a day, then every other day is a bus day. LOTS of time will be spent on the bus.

Keep that in mind when you're deciding what to do - if you want to see the most places in the least amount of time (basically a "sampler tour"), then go for it. Then research exactly what you want to do in each city. Obviously, the small towns aren't a big deal, but in Paris & Rome, pick out the sights you want to see & save up your energy! Plus you may have to depart from the group since 1/2 day will be spent doing group things.

So if you want to have time to relax and really get to know a culture, take a different tour that doesn't cover so much ground.

...And as far as the "sales" things go, we only encountered that on the 21 day tour 3 times.

1 - Venice - after a glassblowing demo, which everyone wanted to do, so our guide organized it.

2 - Bacharach - We go in this guy's shop & he plays the piano for us (I think he's in one of RS' DVDs playing the piano w/Rick). He's also a wood carver & painter, so most people bought things although you're not under any obligation to do so.

3 - Beaune - We did a wine tasting at Marche aux Vin (that was HORRIBLE, by the way! I hope they don't go there anymore!). Again, you were under no obligation to buy - and most people didn't, considering how horrible the tasting was! You were supposed to taste 15 wines - we got to taste 5 with nothing to cleanse the palate (or the tasting dish, for that matter). Just a sales pitch. Anyone who is into wine wouldn't like it. But going underground to the caves was cool. It just should've been free (it was for us, but the guides had to pay for the group).

In 8 Rick Steves tours, the only "shopping" stop I can recall is a stein shop in St. Goar, Germany. Demo was totally optional and there was no pressure to buy. The shop did offer a discount equal to the usual guide kickback if you wanted a stein. If you do a wine tasting, you often have the option but no obligation to buy. Rick prohibits his guides from accepting kickbacks (or tips), so hopefully that puts your mind at rest.