I came across a Gate 1 tour that looks interesting. I have not traveled with them before, but in the past have traveled with Road Scholar and Rick Steves' company. I think they have larger groups. I know gratuities are generally not included for Tour Managers, drivers, or local guides. Any recommendations on how much I should budget for this? Any firsthand experience would be appreciated.
Posted by
California
190 posts
I did that tour with Gate 1 just as things were opening up after Covid, so there were only about 24 on the bus (same as Road Scholar.) The trip started in Copenhagen and ended in Bergen. It was a lot like a Road Scholar trip but no classroom lectures, you got history, etc. while riding on the bus. Before you leave you get info from Gate 1 about how much to tip a day ($10 - $15?) Scandinavia is expensive so budget more for your own meals than in France or Germany. It was a good trip!
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
9554 posts
I haven’t done Scandinavia, I have done 3 other Gate 1 tours and 5 Rick Steves tours so I have a pretty good idea of how both operate. I’m going to start by saying I have been quite satisfied with my experiences with both tour companies. Looking ahead, I have one Gate 1 tour booked and one Rick Steves tour booked.
Tour size: Largest group I have had on Rick Steves is 26. Largest group I have had on Gate 1 is 34. My observation is that with the right tour mates, there isn’t too much of a difference in how the tour feels. No matter what the size of the tour, the couple that takes 5 minutes to get off the bus or waits until the last possible second for everything, is going to drag the group down. Gate 1 does have “discovery tours” which cap numbers at mid 20’s.
Pricing: Rick Steves includes tips and there are no optional tours or transfers. Gate 1 has a lower price, but tips, and the occasional optional tours are on you. When I did my Turkey tour, I did every optional except the Hot Air balloon ride (also optional on RS) and came out quite a bit less than RS pricing even with tips. Gate 1 gives a suggested amount of tip depending on the country and role (driver, guide, etc). There are two sides to the whole optional add on idea. It is nice that everything is included upfront on a RS tour. However, if there is an activity you want to opt out of, you have paid for it anyway. Optional activities gives you a little more control over what you are paying for.
Counting Tour days: RS tours start counting on the day the group has its first orientation meeting. Gate 1 starts counting on the day before as a transit day. This is because Gate 1 has the option to arrange airfare as part of their tour. You can choose their airfare arrangements or do your own.
Hotels: Hotels have been a bit more modern/upscale on Gate1, but I haven’t been disappointed with RS except once in Cornwall and they no longer use that hotel. RS may win an edge on consistently being in a central location, but almost all Gate 1 hotels have been well located or there was a good reason for the shift.
Bus/Coach: These have been great on both tour companies with quality drivers.
Tips: This can vary, but Gate 1 will give tour specific guidance in their travel documents. I think last tour it was tour manager $12 day, driver $7 day, local guide $2.
If you like the itinerary, I wouldn’t hesitate to go with Gate 1 if the tour meets your requirements.
Posted by
Minnesota
658 posts
Gate 1 “Discovery” tours (small group) are more expensive, but are limited to 22 people. Their other tours (classic, etc.) potentially have as many as 40 people. There is no way to know how large the group is until you arrive on the tour. I prefer smaller groups so I stick with Discovery tours.
I recently took their Discovery tour in the Baltics and it was very good. There is a lot of expected tipping - tour manager, driver, local guides. Gate 1 gave recommendations in their tour documents for the amount to tip. On this 13-day tour, I ended up spending about $200-250 in tips (if there are two of you, double that). I really dislike the whole tipping thing, in particular finding it very strange and awkward to hand cash to the local guides each day. I much prefer Rick Steve’s’ and Road Scholar’s policy of including all tips so you don’t have to do that. But this is the way most companies do things, so I go along, not wanting to penalize the guides, etc. because of my preferences.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
3378 posts
Carol and Renee covered the main difference between the RS and Gate 1. I took a Gate 1 tour in SE Asia, which at the time had three separate segments. The first had two people, the second had five, and the third had 40. Tipping was encouraged for every local guide, the main guide, and the bus driver regardless of quality. As I recall the company recommended amounts in US dollar equivalent, but you should tip in local currency. My guides were good to excellent.
Unlike Carol's experience, all of my SE Asia hotels were business style and not very well situated to the tourist sites. In one case a hotel was so off the track many people didn't leave the hotel (it was very hot and walking was unpleasant). I believe you can see a list of their hotels when you look at the specific page for the tour you are interested in, if that's a dealbreaker for you..
That said, if the itinerary and price suit you, go for it. I would though recommend the small group tours if you can, the group of 40 was too big for my taste (they didn't offer small group for the time and location I traveled).