Budgeting for My Way Tours

Go to Tours FAQ at the bottom of the page which will answer your questions about daily spending costs.
For the My Way tours, Rick suggests approximately $150 a day as you are responsible for your food and entertainment costs whereas on a fully guided tour, he suggests $50-$100 daily for food and activities in your free time. Obviously this depends on the country and city and the type of tour you are taking and your tastes. My Way France may be more costly than My Way Alpine Europe. Enjoy the My Way Alpine tour, it is one I have my eye on for the future.

Advanced research can help a lot in determining what any trip will cost. In the My Way tours all activities including your meals other than breakfast will be in addition to the cost of the tour. It is very helpful to refer to RS guide books where he gives you an idea about how the economy of different countries compares to here at home. The cost of a typical meal in Warsaw is much less costly than a meal in Paris. Another thing to consider is what kinds of things do you want to do while there. If you are someone that is looking forward hiking Alpine trails and packing a picnic lunch, your daily expense will be considerably less that if you ride the gondola to the top of the Schilthorn to have dinner at the revolving restaurant at the top. Since I have almost much fun dreaming of all the opportunities available as I do on the actual trip, I spend time researching my trip whether it is a guided tour or a My Way tour. On the guided tour I plan activities for our free time. On the My Way tour every day is free time all day, so there is more planning involved. As I said, I like to plan so do so leading up to the trip and also make reservations, purchase tickets online, and have scouted out places I think that I would enjoy ahead of time. This gives me a very good idea of what my expenses will be. This works for me, but there was a family with teenage children on a My Way tour with us who it appeared that they had done no preplanning. But they came armed with a RS guidebook and discussed there plans for the next destination while on the bus heading in to town. The tour manager was there to help them, so this worked for them. They also purchased grocery supplies and made up picnic meals along the way. It all comes down to where you will be traveling, planning ahead (or not) and what your idea of a European vacation looks like. No Matter what, it is an adventure that will be unique to you and your style. Go for it and have a wonderful time!

I have taken one My Way Tour with RS along with guided tours.

The most striking impression from the My Way tour was how often I had to reach into my wallet to pay for things: public transit tickets, museum tickets, dinners, entrance fees to historical sites, etc.

My personal opinion is that the guided tours are a better deal. Not cheaper, but a better deal compmared to the My Way tour I took. That's a value judgment on my part. Others may disagree.

Oh, the reason I took the My Way tour was that my traveling companion had little interest in museums and such. We had time to do either the Borghese in Rome or the Cat Sanctuary. She chose the sanctuary. Thankfully, I've been through the Borghese several times already. So off to the Cat Sanctuary we went. The trip was to introduce my daughter to oversees travel so I decided to give in and let her choose. The only time I refused was when she wanted to go to the death camp near Munich. Having seen one death camp, that's enough for me. It's burned into my memory.

Uh, there's a Uffizi in Rome? Did you mean Borghese?

Thanks Eric. i goofed. Yes it was the Borghese. There are uffizi in Roma, but they are ordinary offices where people work, not the museum in Firenze. I've corrected my post. She still chose the Cat Sanctuary. And I must admit it was an enjoyable if different experience of Italian culture.

Switzerland is more expensive than other European countries, especially food, so you may want to adjust accordingly. Also, you will want some form of the Swiss Travel Pass for the lifts/gondolas to the mountain tops, which are expensive. Some of the lifts are covered [Mt. Rigi outside of Lucerne], and some are just discounted. This does take a bit of research to determine which Swiss Travel Pass to buy: Full or Half Price, consecutive day or flexible day.
Safe and healthy travels in such a beautiful country!

I did the My Way Alpine tour in September 2017 and didn't spend much. For the most part, you are in areas without a lot of big-dollar sightseeing options. In Switzerland, for example, you just need money for meals and cable car tickets (if you don't hike everywhere). Same in the Dolomites and Chamonix. I wasn't trying to be frugal at all and had plenty of wine with meals, yet didn't come close to $100/day. Even in Salzburg where arrived a few days early and did several daytrips plus meals, I was under $100. I would happy to answer any other questions.