Scheduling free time on a tour

Check with the RS tour office, they can give you the best info. After numerous tours, I believe we have always received the itinerary of our tour along with the hotels and tour members list, a month before the start date but even then the itinerary is very similar to what you find online now. I can tell you that things happen, be it weather, traffic, sick local guides, etc., times change…no tour runs exactly on schedule.

You are always free to opt out of a RS activity. The RS guide is working around museum closed days and local situational issues.
Have a great trip!

I realize I can opt out of activities but I would like to avoid that. I realize tours have a lot of moving parts and everything is not timed down to the minute. I was just looking for more advice along the lines of schedule a tour or activity after 5pm, etc. Good advice to reach out to RS office. Thanks

Just to add, if the itinerary said free afternoon, most likely we would be free by 1 but again, no guarantee. The itinerary will tell you if there is a group activity or dinner planned for the evening. I like to find good restaurants on free nights and have depended on that info. Again, calling their tour office is your most reliable source of info.

I have taken 11 Rick Steves tours, but not the Best of Europe. The itinerary that is posted in your tour account does not get any more detailed closer to the tour. However, the RS staff will attempt to give you more information by phone, keeping in mind that the tour guide has a certain amount of autonomy and may adjust the itinerary “on the ground.” I have found that the guides are very good about posting a daily schedule (usually the night before) and giving detailed information verbally as the tour proceeds. They also give a lot of guidance about free time, giving the group lots of suggestions and helping individuals with logistics. Sometimes they even organize an extra activity for those in the group who are interested.

I rarely plan anything specific in advance of the tour, with the exception of something like the Anne Frank museum that must be booked in advance. I I look at guidebooks and internet resources for ideas and simply make a list of things I might like to do. Once I’m actually on the tour and have a clearer idea about the pace and schedule of the tour, I have this list as a reference to plan my time on the go.

Since the BOE starts in Amsterdam, I would highly recommend that you add a couple days before the tour. This will give you the opportunity to schedule an Anne Frank visit, as well as other highly popular sites. (Arriving early also provides some protection from travel disruptions and gives you a chance to recover from a long flight.) An extra day or two at the end of the tour in Paris would also be wise. I know this already a long tour, but I have never regretted having extra time before or after the tour. If you can’t swing that, I would schedule something like Anne Frank as late as possible on a “free” afternoon/evening. Typically, Rick Steves tours have organized tours in the morning, sometimes a lunch, and then lets you loose in the early or mid-afternoon.

One last thing to keep in mind: RS tours can be quite fast-paced, and the BOE is most likely one of the fastest. Sometimes I find that I really just want free time to be ….well, free! Rather than being overly scheduled, an afternoon of just wandering a bit, or having a leisurely meal, or even doing laundry is just the ticket. By planning sparingly in advance for free time, I can make choices based on my mood, my energy, the weather, the guide’s suggestions, other travelers’ ideas, and more.

Though the schedule can be subject to change, here we are talking about the first full day of your tour. And the best information before the tour regarding periods of free time is the listed itinerary, which says for each day what the tour group will be doing and whether mornings. afternoons and evenings are free.

Regarding your visit to the Anne Frank museum, you seem to have three options. First, arrive in Amsterdam before the first day of your tour and visit the musem. Second, your tour begins at 3 pm--go that morning. Third, on the second day of your tour, there is an art museum visit, and then the rest of the day is free. I would think that you would be safe scheduling a visit to the Anne Frank musem anytime after 3:45 (and you can always skip the art museum visit or leave early).

And sometimes what’s listed on the itinerary isn’t exactly as described but not necessarily in a bad way. Specific example from the Paris tour: when I took the tour the guide handed us our Seine cruise tickets and said, “Go whenever you want this week.” One of my tour mates and I walked to the river and took the cruise on the second evening because we’d assumed that’s when we’d be going as a group per the itinerary. Honestly, it was good to chat with him and going as a group of 23 people wouldn’t have added to the experience. But this is an example where we pretty much ended up with a free evening with no advance notice.

I think this example is rare and may depend on the guide, but it can happen.

Since the BOE starts in Amsterdam, I would highly recommend that you
add a couple days before the tour. This will give you the opportunity
to schedule an Anne Frank visit, as well as other highly popular
sites. (Arriving early also provides some protection from travel
disruptions and gives you a chance to recover from a long flight.)

I second this suggestion, as it's good to have at least one day to get your jet lag situated so you can hit the ground running on the tour. Also, do a search in the forum about the process to successfully get Anne Frank tickets ahead of time. There's a strict timeline to follow and occasional glitches that people have worked through. It is a not-to-miss thing, I'd definitely go early to make sure you can see it.

As noted by others, there's some give in the printed schedule to give the guide flexibility. My experience after 5 RS tours is you almost always get to do what is on the printed schedule, but maybe not in the same order. And each guide operates differently. On my best of Eastern (now Central) Europe tour, our guide gave us a detailed printed itinerary with his plans, and we didn't get too far from that schedule except for an unexpected traffic delay situation. On my Turkey tour, our guide made a lot of changes to the schedule and we found out about them day by day.

Regardless, if you have a thing you want to pre-plan/buy tickets for, a check in with the RS office may help you narrow down an appropriate time frame. If they can't do that so far ahead of time, then make your best guess and talk to the guide early in the tour (like on the first day) and explain your situation. They're generally very accommodating unless it would disrupt the travel plans of the whole group.

I have taken this tour but it was in 2014 so things have changed slightly since then. We wound up with really no free time except for about 15 minutes after the Rijksmuseum but in those days they were able to take the whole group into the Anne Frank house. I know that many places restrict group visits now and the Anne Frank house is very tight inside as well as being very popular to visit. I DO remember we walked 10 miles that day, hahaha!

I am with the others who recommend you arrive a couple of days ahead of time and book the Anne Frank house in on one of those days if your schedule and budget allow.

Definitely call the office to ask about the timings. They will have booked a timed entry for the Rijks museum and the tour takes 1.5-2 hours. You'd have to allow time to get from there to the Jordaan area. If you walk it it's about a 26 minute walk according to google maps and that seems about right. I'd want to allow 45 just for getting lost and not having to go at top speed.

I would not want to miss the Rijksmusuem guided tour. It is just an awesome museum and it helps to have someone give you a quick highlights tour.

I think it's a plus that Salzburg has been added to the mix. To me that is a much more interesting, rich and authentic site than Neuschwanstein.

Have a wonderful, wonderful trip! This tour remains one of my very favorites! SO MUCH to see! Wow.

Thank you all!! This is exactly what kind of feedback I was looking for. I will definitely try not to overplan my free time except for the can’t miss experiences.

Update: I went back into my tour account yesterday and they had added some not included sightseeing suggestions and the times during the tour to book. Ex: day 7 after 2pm will be your free time. Very helpful for pre-planning ten months out!