An elderly old lady:

Well, I imagine the tour will give you more opportunity to take some "time out" while your daughter joins in the planned activities. I have taken several RS tours and have taken "time out" or even a "day out" from the planned itinerary. You just have to let the guide know - and your buddy.

I think with the tour, your daughter will be able to form other connections and not feel bound to take down time when you need to take a break.

I vote tour.

We did a RS of Rome. There was a gal about mid 80s with 2 adult children. The entire RS group enjoyed getting to know them and the mom did take a few breaks. It sure seemed like the 3 of them were having a grand time.

We've taken the Best of Paris tour and it was only of my favorites. We've done 9 RS tours. I'm sure your daughter will have a wonderful time on the days you decide to take time off. On our tour there were several solo women traveling and they all had bonded with each other and the entire group. I say go for it! You'll both have such wonderful memories to bring home!

Paris is very easy to do on your own but i will suggest the tour if possible. I have been to Paris on my own and for the Paris and HOF tour. The tour was more fun, informative and a richer experience. The guides really do such and fantastic job and make such a difference.

I vote for the RS Tour. It will be a much richer experience for your daughter, a good introduction to Paris, and she’ll learn skills for future Europe travel.

Is your daughter more social or more of the type to be happy doing things on her own? Is she nervous about being in a foreign country or is she more adventurous?

A social person, especially one who might want some help or guides would do great on a tour. If you take a day to rest, she won’t be alone and will have some structure on what to do.

Meanwhile, if your daughter is more like me, she’d be happy walking around, reading in cafes, and visiting museums or shopping on her own if you need to rest. Especially if she’s interested in figuring out what she wants to see (instead of being told the days plan by a guide). I personally don’t do tours because I get overwhelmed by too much group time and like wandering around exploring for hours, doing my own research to learn about what I see. But my sister loves tours and always tells me that you see more that way. Which is true.

So personality comes into play here. Paris is easy to do on your own if that’s the best option. But I’ve heard this tour is excellent (my sister took it) so if that’s more your/her style then I’m sure it will be great.

My suggestion is you ask your daughter which she would prefer. Let her look at this site, especially the tour page, and see if she likes the idea of a tour or doing it herself.

It's her first time in Europe, so take the tour. She is likely to be stressed figuring things out on her own. The tour will give her the tools to travel independently next time, as well as companionship and excellent guides.

Listen to Chani. She makes some very good points.

If you do it on your own and need to take some "time off" to rejuvenate, your daughter may feel obliged to do so with you. Or she may not feel comfortable striking out on her own. With the tour, you can have some down time if needed and she can still be with the group and not miss out on anything. Just food for thought.

I vote tour. It is important to remember that tours don't keep someone busy every minute of the day. There is usually a fair amount of free time as well, with a guide to help plan your free time if needed. Your daughter could do things with you, do things with the tour group, and do things independently. The tour gives lots of options.

I’m on board with the “take her on the tour” group. I was Grandma taking granddaughters on the Paris city tour and it didn’t take them long to make friends with the other tour members. They made free time plans with their new friends, leaving me to spend some time doing the things I wanted to do. The points being made by posters about a tour teaching her how to travel are well made. We all had a wonderful time.

My husband & I took this RS tour - Best of Paris in 2017 & loved it! If you want to rest your daughter would still have folks to travel with from the tour. There's also a good balance of group time & alone time. Our kind RS Paris guide made sure we were comfortable with taking out on our own & was available for questions.