2023 Tours

Best answer would be from the RS office. In general they are usually released mid to late summer for the following year, although some early spring ones may be released earlier as their dates are firmed up.

I know I've read that 2023 tours will be announced this spring, but I can't find it now. I was surprised at how early they'll be announced.

See top of tour page.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours

Thanks, LIZinPA!

I got a reply from the company yesterday after I emailed to see if they could narrow the time frame of "spring" a bit since I'm trying to coordinate a RS tour with one from another company. The answer was "we do know it will be late spring."

As soon as they are announced, I plan to sign up for the Southern England tour. And, maybe Loire & South of France. I have some friends who recently retired and moved to Southwestern France 🇫🇷. They used the proceeds of the sale of their home in the US to purchase a dream home in France!

The answer was "we do know it will be late spring."

June 20 is the last day of Spring....

Judy B, we loved the South England tour. And we're on the Loire tour this spring, so I'll let you know!

"Late spring" probably means they'll come out while we're in Europe. I wonder if there will be any new tours? Probably not; it would have been difficult to scout new routes and sites the last two years.

Jane,
I can’t wait to read your trip report for the Loire and South of France tour! Did you write a report for the Southern England tour? I love the itinerary with the WWII sites along the coast, the Cathedral of Canterbury stuffed with history and the scenic places, too! A smorgasbord…I’m going on Rick’s Scandinavia tour this May! Woohoo, I’m so happy to be traveling again.

I might string the two tours together and then after the South of France tour somehow spend a few extra days around Nice visiting the places where the French Impressionists lived and painted and then visiting my friends for a couple days. It is so good to be dreaming of traveling again! We are so fortunate and my heart is full of gratitude.

Judy B, Just for you! Blast from the past, 2016: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/tour-report-villages-of-south-england

Edit to add: I just reread the report, and am surprised at how much detail I didn't include. My recent trip reports have gotten much longer! (Lol, as Pam would say.)

Thanks for the heads up. We want to take the Sicily tour followed by a week in Sorrento. Now we need to speed up our decision on whether to take it late March/early April or early June.

Allan, we did exactly that some years ago. We left home May 21, and returned June 10. We had a wonderful time, and loved Sorrento, and the weather was perfect. Although bear in mind our definition of "perfect" may differ from yours! Northeast Oklahoma can get pretty hot.

We really appreciate that tour dates seem to be released earlier every year. We mostly book with airline award miles and it makes finding availability much easier.

Although bear in mind our definition of "perfect" may differ from
yours! Northeast Oklahoma can get pretty hot.

Jane, perfect weather for us is the low to mid 70's and nothing more than a light jacket in the evening. We're thinking it might be a bit too cool still but weighing that against lesser crowds. However, it's a perfect time to get away as weather in Calgary can be miserable in April and May. While it should be Spring, we're so close to the mountains that we'll still get pockets of snow and the temperature can still drop below freezing overnight.

Hi Allan,
I took the Sicily tour several years ago, with the tour starting on April 9 or 10, and the weather was perfect--no hot days as I recall. Like you, I prefer mild temps, high 60s to mid-70s, and that was our experience. Maybe those of us who live in the northern climate just don't care for too much warmth. I can't comment on early June, but encourage you to consider an April start date. After the tour, we flew to Dubrovnik to take a motor yacht cruise along the Croatian coast ending in Split. Again, great weather and beautiful scenery. By the way, when we took the Sicily tour, there was a slightly different "off season" itinerary, which no longer exists. That tour went to Ragusa (inland) rather than Taormina, but we visited Taormina after the tour ended. Whenever you go, you'll enjoy the sights, history and, of course, the fabulous food.