Looking for a good tour company to guide us through England and Scotland. We are not adverse to riding on a bus. We have seen a couple of interesting tours provided by Cosmos and Gate1. Anyone used these companies or another good company before? Thanks kindly.
Posted by
winchester, ma, usa
13 posts
hi Laurie I did a Colette tour 2 years ago.....It was 12 days and a good time....45 people on a bus Next week trying CIE tour of Scotland...only 8 days Will report back
Laura
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32363 posts
Laurie, For tours of England and Scotland, I'd highly recommend: http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours/britain-ireland/england http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours/britain-ireland/scotland One option you could consider would be to take one of the above tours, and visit the other area on your own. That's very easy to plan with a good Guidebook. Cheers!
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2787 posts
How much time do you have to spend visiting England and Scotland? If your time is "lots" you could put together two RS tours - England (14 days) and Scotland (10 days) but that would cost about $7,000 each. Expensive? YES!
I have used RS tours 11 times and have been please on all of them. I have not connection to the RS organization. Happy travels.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
Yes, the Rick Steves tours will be on a bus, but will not be 40 people. Usually, it's 28 or fewer and so lots of room. Also, his tours very carefully spell out the but time, which I really appreciated when I took the Berlin Prague and Vienna tour. That said, it's really not hard to do these countries on your own. Or to do a combo of tours and your own time. Pam
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7168 posts
I've not used either of the two you name but I have taken several tours through Globus, which is the parent company for Cosmos. Their tours are basically the same itineraries but the Globus tours use higher starred, more centrally located hotels, higher end meals, and include more sites in the tour cost and thus are a little more expensive. However they are still priced well below the RS tours. I enjoyed all of the tours, they had great guides/drivers, pretty decent group meals, good itineraries. I didn't like the size of the groups or the lack of 'free' time on your own, which is why I now travel on my own. I've not taken a RS tour because the cost was out of my budget but I have heard wonderful things about them. With the RS tours, as with all tours, you get what you pay for: smaller groups, which makes for easier touring of sites; very centrally located hotels; a bit more 'free' time for exploring on your own, etc. Your budget will likely be your guide, but if you can swing it the smaller group tours are going to be the best choice. As others have said, England and Scotland are very easy to do on your own so it's something to think about.
Posted by
OP
Am Fork, UT, USA
84 posts
Thank you all for your kind advice. We have toured other parts of Europe on our own but this will be our first time to Britain and we are hooking it with a trip to Norway/Copenhagen which we know nothing about. I think we just want to relax and have someone else have the headaches this time. The Rick Steves tours were a little too long and expensive for our needs. We are looking at CIE, gate1 and Cosmos. So your help with telling us your experience with those companies is most beneficial.
Posted by
Central Florida
484 posts
Try Rabbie's Trailburners/Tours. I believe Rabbie's has tours in England. They certainly have tours in Scotland. Only 16 people in a comfortable, clean travel coach. Another option is find one tour company for England and another like Rabbie's for Scotland.
Cheers! ---Barb