Tours vs Travelling on Our Own

You asked this same question about German speaking locations in the To The West section. First, I would only ask the question once, under the General Europe section. Second, my answer remains the same. Take a tour if you want that experience, but don't take a tour if the only issue is lack of language skills. Learn a few words of the local language and bring a phrase book/ dictionary.

One reason to take a tour is if you want the group camaraderie. The drawback of tours is that they often insulate you from interacting with locals. Language should not be an issue unless you're eager to have opportunities to speak with the locals, in which case I would forego a tour, although you might consider hiring individual guides. Also, if you want to speak the language, avoid renting apartments as that eliminates the opportunities to chat with the front desk people.

Steve, I provided some answers to this question in your other Thread, and my position is the same regarding tours in Italy. IMO, I think you'd find that a RS Italy tour was one of the most memorable and enjoyable trips you've ever taken. If you've never taken a RS tour, the only sure way to determine whether it's a good travel method for you is to take one. Like many of us here, you'll probably start thinking about the next one before you even get home! Cheers!

Thank you for taking time to respond. Your comments are really appreciated!

I agree with Andrea. Even if I don't speak language of the country I can still do the tour on my own. On the other hand if I speak a language of the country I would almost always do the country on my own. Generally I would take R.S. tour when logistics are more difficult, for example Turkey, or complex, for example Spain and Morocco.

Both options have their pros & cons. Tours are nice from the standpoint that you don't have to do all of the legwork & research that you have to do if you're doing it on your own. You don't have to worry about getting around, reading train & bus schedules, etc.; everything is taken care of for you. Tours also afford you an opportunity to get to know the other people in your group & form friendships. The downside is that you can't linger longer where & when you want. I like taking a tour if I'm visiting a new country and don't have my bearings or if I don't feel like spending time researching options, booking hotels, etc. If you've never taken an organized tour, it might be an interesting experience as I've heard the RS tours are really great.

Steve: You could just about take two European trips for the cost of one tour. If you're self sufficient, walk well and able to handle your luggage, do your trip on your own. Transport from city to city is best by train in Italy. Stay in one place for a few days, rent a car and do day trips. Then move to another city, stay another few days, and do more day trips. Tours have their place with new travelers, widows and older travelers. Tours would be much more pleasurable with close friends that are good travel partners. But, good travel partners are far and few between. Enjoy your stay. Sorry, Rick.

Easiest answer is if you have a good tour guide you may learn things you could have never learned on your own. In addition, You dont have to think about organization and where you will be staying. If you have the funds, it can be a great experience. You can do much of this yourself too with reading and learning about where you are going

Steve, We traveled to Italy twice on our own and enjoyed it very much. Then we took the Village Italy tour and it has been one of our favorite trips. We had one single traveler, no widows or old people who couldn't get around. Most of our fellow travelers had been to Europe multiple times. The guide was great, Lisa Anderson. We had free time to go out on our own,
and every one of the local guides that she had arranged were very good. The food was great and she gave us multiple choices at all of the group meals. Then on our own time we found more great food. We did interact with locals that we would not have met had we been traveling on our own. Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great trip!

Thank you all for your comments. As a result, we just signed up for the Village Italy tour in May. Thank you again!

Steve I am sure you will enjoy it too,, as I said on other thread, independent travel is great, but Rick Steves tours are fun and they are not like alot of other tours. I find often people comment on these tour threads have either never been on a tour, or have been on one, but it was not a RS one, and they can't concieve that a RS is any better or different from ones they have been on, or heard about. Having done both, I can recommmend both, independent travel and RS tours.

Steve, I wanted to let you know that you can't go wrong with the Village Italy tour! It was a perfect mix of larger and smaller cities/towns. It was my first RS tour and it was a nice mix of free time and group time, along with a great group of people. HAVE FUN!

TOURS DONT LET YOU MIX WITH THE LOCALS -really dont agree with that statement. Sometimes a tour actually connects you to the local people because the tour guide has so many personal connections. When you travel in a couple situation sometimes you just end up meeting other couples travelling too, at your hotel or out or dinner. I mean, when was the last time a local said, hey come look at my wine cantina. It happensbut not regularly. But on a guided trip you would definitely see a wine cantina, some great lunches and some cool interactions with the locals. The exception to this rule is if they are tours of like, 25 people. That isn`t a tour, that is purgatory. Am I biased yes. I am taking a group to the Cinque Terre this June 2012. I purposefully capped the limit to 10 any more and it is more like a circus than a great time. Yeah, you make less money but the participants have a better experience as they feel as if they are among friends, not the travelling circus!

@Bianca, "The exception to this rule is if they are tours of like, 25 people. That isn`t a tour, that is purgatory." I respectfully disagree! I've taken several Rick Steves Tours (group sizes of 20-28 maximum) and I haven't found that to be "purgatory" at all. In fact, the tours have been wonderful! The groups are still small enough to be flexible, and they DO visit small Wineries and other attractions. Hope you have a great time with your group! Ciao!

well having relatives in one Europeon country, and close friends in another, let me tell you something, vey few of you really connect with locals whether you are on a tour or not! They are busy, they are taking their kids to after school activities, they are taking care of elderly relatives, going to the dentist, picking up drycleaning, and trying to fit work and social life together ,, just like we ALL are,, come on,, how many of you meet tourists in your hometowns and take them home to dinner. HA, sure the bakery clerk may chat to you, or the hotel clerk may tell you about his kids, but seriously , do not go to Europe because you think you are going to form personal relationships with locals because you rented an apartment for a week or two instead of stayed in a hotel, or you travelled independently as opposed to took a tour. Go , enjoy , learn, see , but go as you are comfortable, there is no WRONG way to enjoy your vacation. Sure some travel snobs try and say "traveller " instead of "tourist" but its all a bit of baloney when we are talking about a two week trip. You really want to immerse yourself, go for months , in one spot, then please, tell us how you really intergrated with your neighbors,, its not so easy ,, you will be an outsider for a long time, so this naive " I rented an apartment for two weeks" is getting a bit much. Steve, enjoy the tour, enjoy meeting and chatting to locals, just like the independent travellers do , your waiter, your desk clerk , the guy standing next to you at a monument. you will NOT have less of an experience then us independent travellers, it may be different, but it will not be inferior.