Tours vs On Your Own

The thing I like about Rick's tours is they are a mix of group and on my own activities. I often skip a planned dinner or activity and go off on my own. You just need to let the guide & your "buddy," who you choose at the introduction meeting, you will not be attending the planned activity or dinner. The only exception, of course, is if the activity is one scheduled during your bus trip to your next destination.

I think taking these tours will work well for you. In our experience, the guides try to book non-chain restaurants that feature local food, for the group dinners. That often includes local beer and wine, either available or included with the meal. And as you noted, there is free time in the evening, and generally each day, to venture out and explore.

You can indeed opt out of group activities, as long as you keep your tour guide and your buddy informed. Also you'd need to be scrupulous about returning on time so that the tour guide is not having to hunt you down. And if you missed a bus departure, you'd be on your own to catch up of course.

I've not been on either of those tours, but have done independent and tour travel, sometimes covering places I've been with both. I like the RS tours (if the itinerary suits you) because you don't have to handle logistics, and they/re more efficient as far as managing time. So I see and experience more things with the tour. Some people object to being on someone else's schedule (especially the morning) and seeing the same people every day, so that's the compromise. I think there's plenty of free time to work with.

Yes you can opt out of scheduled activities as long as they know, and you know how to get around.

Just a quick comment about your "buddy" referred to above, lest you think you will be attached to some stranger. RS guides don't count their groups. Whenever you get on the bus (and occasionally elsewhere, when relocating), the guide will ask everyone to do a "buddy check". All this means is that you let the guide know if your buddy is missing. You have no responsibility for keeping up with where he or she might be.

I am not a tour person but have taken two RS tours (one two months ago) because I found trying to replicate the offered itinerary on my own would be much too difficult.

You can always opt out of scheduled events so one as you advise the tour director and your "buddy." For example, if you are in Munich for two days, you can skip all tour events and do as you please. (It would lessen the value of the tour, but you can do it.)

You can always add days before and after the tour to do what you want.

My husband and I have just taken our first organised holiday - a river cruise.
We loved the ship aspects of the trip - meeting people, meals etc.
However, it did make us realise how much we enjoy wandering around on our own, sitting in bars and watching the world go by.
We found having to be somewhere at a fixed time quite stressful.
From what you say, I'd keep doing my own thing.

I agree with all the above, including the convenience of the "buddy" system. You and your buddy are supposed to make eye contact whenever the guide calls for a "buddy check," usually just before the bus leaves someplace. That's a quick way to identify anyone who isn't there, much faster and simpler than the guide counting people and then trying to figure out who's missing.

I've done only three RS tours but I've enjoyed them greatly, with excellent guides, enjoyable and interesting companions, and a good amount of free time on the schedule. You definitely can opt out of something if you let the guide and your buddy know, but of course you mustn't delay the group. About half the dinners are on your own, and you can opt out of others if you want. The only other European tours I've taken were with Road Scholar, which were good but involved more "hand holding" and group dinners in hotels.

I like to spend a few days, or even a week, before and after the tour on my own, exploring the starting and ending cities or nearby. RS tells you enough about what the tour covers that you won't duplicate experiences. I like to go at my own pace (usually faster than the tour), but it's also nice to have good company and prearranged logistics in the middle of my trip. From what you've posted, I think you'd like this pattern too, plenty of beer opportunties before and after, and some during as well. Give it a try!

Two years ago, we went to southern Italy for a month. That trip included the then 11-day Rick Steves Tour of Sicily. (Now it’s up to 12).

I think the responses so far have focused more on the “buddy system” than I would to address your questions about free-time opportunities.

If our one RS Sicily tour is a good example of the RS approach, I’d say that RS tours are pretty fast-paced in terms of multiple opportunities to see special sights, with good local specialty guides who add perspectives and local information that you may not easily get by traveling independently. And we never had to stand in line to get tickets.

As for free time, we had half of our dinners on our own and perhaps bit more than half of our lunches on our own. The one meal regularly provided was breakfast, but you probably don’t want beer with breakfast, anyway.

We often had a few hours during the day on our own. And you could certainly let your buddy and your main guide know that you won’t be with them for whatever group activity you plan to miss.

At times, you may choose to have one of those meals on-your-own or free-time eves or afternoons with another person or group on the tour. Like, hey does anyone want to join me/us for whatever tonight. Or not.

As for the “buddy system,” the buddy is not your travel partner. It is someone new you pair up with on the first day so the Guide can make sure no individual or no couple gets left behind, without running a risk of miscounting 24 people who are milling around. My wife and I each had separate buddies. Whether you and your “buddy” get close is up to each of you. Seems to be a good system that works well.

At the end our 30-day trip, we posted a Trip Report that compared our “three ways to travel” - the RS Tour, a “self-guided” bike tour, and more traditional travel on our own. That report might be useful to you. See, https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/southern-italy-30-days-three-ways-to-travel

The only other thing I would add is that you should look at particular itineraries with an eye to how much bus time is involved on each travel day and how that bus time may be broken up by a sight or activity along the way.