Small Group Tours Similar To RS Tours

The RS tours for 2016 are not full, they haven't been released yet. They are usually announced sometime in August, so you can sign up for your preferred dates then.

I've never traveled with them, but they seem to get good reviews and have interesting itineraries: Backroads Touring UK.

(Note: this is a British-based company not the American Backroads known for cycling, hiking, etc.)

Thank you for your suggestions. I understand that RS tours thru Italy are mostly in the peak tourist season, therefore no breaks on airfare. He does have some in Sept/Oct. I may have to "jiggle" the schedule to meet his availability. Thank you once again.

When published in a couple of months, Rick Steves' Tours 2016 schedule should be similar to this year's offerings. You can see the summer/fall 2015 list if you click to "view all," such as at http://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/village-italy#all, but not spring dates already departed. I don't think that travelers this year are finding much off-season discount on their airfares (but I still hold out hope for my October travel).

For nearly every itinerary, May and September tend to have the most departures. Options in April and October are more limited for the specific itineraries you mentioned, which just don't run as often as others (although 14-day Ireland did start in late April and runs more summer departures due to weather there). For further off-season travel, look at Sicily.

My husband and I have been on 6 TAUCK tours. We did the 14 day Tour Ireland, three years ago. Some of the TAUCK tours have small groups, others have 38 people. When we went to Japan or Australia/New Zealand, we had 38 people. We can't stop thinking or talking about Ireland. We stayed at beautiful hotels and had fabulous meals. Ireland is absolutely fantastic. The people are the kindest you will ever meet. Our tour guide was outstanding. We even got to spend two nights at the Ashford Castle. That was the previous summer home for the Guinness Beer Family. We want to go back there and spend more than two days. You get what you pay for with TAUCK tours. They never do any advertising. It is all by word of mouth. TAUCK is a family run business. TAUCK was the original/first group tour company.

Check out Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). Groups of 10-16 people, no single supplement. Prices for tours are broken down into cost per day so you can better evaluate whether it makes sense for your budget. They have a Tuscany/Umbria trip and a Baltic/St Petersburg trip that look similar to RS. They also offer add-ons for before or after the tour. (for example, an add-on of Moscow to the Baltic tour). We have not used them but know people who have done several of their tours and rave about the experiences provided, the quality of the food/hotels/guides and the relative value. They will also do airfare for you as well as airport transfers. Lowest rates are much cheaper than RS. Their Baltic tour is about $200 a day per person. Our RS "Baltic" tour was about $350 a person per day. Looks like some good sales are going on if you wanted to go this fall. We have not used OAT because family circumstances prevent us from being out of country for more than 12 days, and most of the OAT tours are longer than that.

Hello. In 2008 or 2009, I travelled with Back Roads Touring (UK) for a short West of Ireland trip. The group consisted of me and 4 Australians, plus the driver/guide. It was intimate because of the group size and the size of the van. I got the impression (and this may not be true) that we were able to go places larger coaches could not.

This particular tour differed from RS in that the days were packed and on-the-go. We got back to Galway each day minutes before the local shops closed. I found myself without a book to read in the evenings and no time to find one. Also, while we stopped for lunch along the way and the lunches were good, in the evening, we ate at the hotel. Since I had Saw Doctors tickets for 2 of the nights (woohoo!), I ate only one of those meals, and I would venture to say we could have done better on our own. The staff, however, obligingly made me sandwiches to take to the concerts.

I always look at the Back Roads tours. Last year, I saw one of their vans in Amboise, France. I also saw vans belonging to the US Back Roads bike group. I guess Amboise is popular.

If I were to take another Back Roads tour, I would ask about discretionary time and the opportunities for eating outside the group. I must say, I did enjoy my time touring and the concerts! Back Roads has several Christmas Market and other winter tours. I believe the Swiss winter tour uses train transportation. Could be interesting. Check them out.

Debbie