Can I Ask This Question?

I have never been on an official RS tour but I am an avid RS independent traveler with 20+ trips under my belt following his guidebooks, videos and general philosophy. I think 9 countries in 14 days is very aggressive and probably why you don't see an itinerary from RS that covers that much ground. I have found his guidebooks and suggested itineraries to be pretty accurate and well thought out. My best advice is to consider this Europe trip like a trip to an "all you can eat buffet" but with only one plate. You can only put so much food on the plate. Sometimes tough choices have to be made and bucket list sites or cities have to be eliminated. Hopefully you will be able to make another trip back and see what you missed. Good luck an I hope you have a great trip!!

I agree with Charles , this is too much for your allotted time frame . While I travel independently , and have no interest in taking tours , what you are attempting might just be appropriate for a river cruise . I would look into that as a possibility , there is a wide selection of such cruises and one might be a good alternative for you

The RS Best of Europe in 21 days covers many of the places you would like to see but it may be too much as your husband was wanting a tour between 14-17 days. The other Best of Europe tour covers France, Germany and Italy in 14 days and isn’t quite as strenuous. I’ve only been on one RS tour (Heart of Italy, 9 days) and I will say, his company packs a lot of sites in a short period of time. His guides are fabulous.

Steven has an excellent suggestion for a river cruise. I’m considering one on the Danube with my cousin.

For some reason I've ended up on Odyssey Unlimited's mailing list. I've never taken one of their tours but I believe they have a good reputation. Have you looked into them?

Have you ever considered a Viking River Cruise? There is one that is a "Grand European Tour", 15 days, Amsterdam to Budapest. I have only done one river cruise, we'll do more when we are less able to do independent travel. You stay put for the entire cruise. They handle the baggage. You could add days to travel on your own at the beginning and the end. The extensions can be done thru Viking or you can do it on your own. With a cruise or a tour like a RS tour, I'd highly recommend arriving a few days before the start to acclimate and get over get lag.

If you can narrow your country/city wish list to 2-3 /3-4, then Rick Steves, or similar (odysseys unlimited, Road scholar, etc.) would have options for you with some in depth exploration of your selected sites. If you would be willing to have a more “sampler “ experience ( no time for in depth exploration) but cover more countries, ( and probably travel with larger tour groups,) then one of the more “main stream“ tour companies (AAA Vacations, Insight, Trafalgar, etc.) have itineraries close to what you wish for (note most of them would involve moving hotels every night!) Alternatively, if this is your one and only big splash in Europe, and you have the budget, why not use a travel agent (possibly a rail specialist?) to create the exact itinerary you want!

You may also be able to back to back European river cruise with Italian coastal ocean cruise, (more sampler in nature) or Italian land tour (more in depth). Check out Viking river and ocean cruise itineraries.
Or ocean cruise start/end in “London “, across to Amsterdam/Belgium, around Spain and into the Mediterranean, to include Italian ports for Florence, Rome, Venice. Again more of a sampler experience.

Check out Rick Steves Europe through the back door, best of Europe, and Mediterranean and northern European cruise port guide books (look for them in your library first) to narrow down what exact experience you want.
All of the above suggestions assumes you don’t want to do the planning yourself, but if you’re up for it, then go for it! (do you have a lot of airline miles and hotel points which could be used for a self planned trip? ) Happy travels!
Disclaimer: I have been on several Rick Steves tours and Viking cruises. I have not traveled yet with the other companies that I mentioned, although I like to get and look through all of their catalogs!

You may want to look at OAT (Overseas Adventure Tours). I have taken several trips with them. They are similar (not the same) to RS tours but they have a maximum of 16 tour members for land tours and they do handle your luggage. They also have coastal cruises. The suggestion of river cruises is a good option.

If you don’t want to walk or carry luggage then cross out RS tours. Not a match.

Honestly if you don’t want to walk very much or see museums and cathedrals, then cross out just about any organized tour groups. Touring Europe in a group = walking.

If you want someone else to handle logistics, that pretty much leaves River Cruises (where you really will feel young) or a traditional cruise. With these you unpack once and you can choose how active you are in port stops or what types of excursions you go on.

Charla, I think you've been give some really good advice. Without having taken one myself, Rick's tours are not for you if you don't want to do a lot of walking or manage your own bags. As someone said above, just about any escorted tour is going to involve a lot of walking and often visits to a fair amount of museums, churches, historic buildings, etc. As well, It is not unusual for historic centers to be largely pedestrian only, and some of them can be quite hilly.

Has anyone traveled with Bookingmundi.com?

Never heard of it and upon poking at the website, this jumped out at me on the Legal and Contracting Parties pages:

Bookmundi is not a party to the contract between you as a customer and
the supplier of the Product and therefore has not responsibility or
liability to you in respect of the terms of that contract whether
directly or indirectly.

All bookings are made with the supplier offering the Product in
question, not with Bookmundi. Bookmundi only facilitates the making of
the reservations with the suppliers of Products. Bookmundi is not a
party to the contract between you as a customer and the supplier of
the Product and therefore has not responsibility or liability to you
in respect of the terms of that contract whether directly or
indirectly.

This means that they are a 3rd-party clearing house that does not book or operate their own tours. Nope, not a service I'd use.

IMHO, given your situation the suggestion to look at river cruises is a really good one. You'd unpack once and would not have to deal with your luggage on a daily basis aside from getting to/departing from the ship (some will assist you with transfers). You do not have to take any of the included walking tours if you don't wish to, or may choose to leave them partway through if they're too much...although you would have to find your own way back to the ship. The same would be true in you decided to sightsee completely on your own. You likely will be able to navigate around the vessel without many stairs, unlike some European hotel rooms in old, historic-center structures, and enjoy a variety of scenery from the decks as you glide by.

LOL, both Rhine day-trip cruises I've done in Germany were overcast, windy and a bit wet but still scenic! You can't control Mother Nature, eh? As well, the boats only travel waterways that can accommodate them to begin with, and recent periods of drought have caused some to have to move their passengers from certain points to others via bus when parts of the rivers were too shallow. But all that aside, river cruises are as close as you're likely to get to type of trip you're looking for. Take a look at some of them?

Another suggestion for Overseas Adventure Travel or Grand Circle Travel (they are the same company). They have some great deals going on right now. We've done 2 small ship cruises and a land tour. As stated, with a cruise you get to stay put for the majority of the tour, and they handle your luggage transfers and can make your airfare arrangements. You can also opt out of any of the activities or tours and stay on ship or do your own thing as long as you discuss with the guide. We have friends who are big fans of Viking as well, and have done river and coastal cruises with them. Another friend likes Road Scholar. Rick Steves tours are also great, but you are handling your luggage, and it's a lot of walking (although you can opt out of some activities there as well).

But I am pretty sure none of the tour companies cover as much ground as you are listing - plus it would be exhausting, which is not usually fun, and fun is the thing. Another suggestion, if you go with a tour company and your husband is OK with discreetly sharing his medical status, it might be good to let the company know. There may be other accommodations they can make for you.

Would you consider a cruise on a large cruise ship?

I have taken 8 cruises with Norwegian and working on the 9th one. Two cruises sailed Europe and this one will be the 3rd European cruise.

You could take a transatlantic from NYC and then take another one from the port that you arrive at in Europe although together it might be longer than 17 days.

Or you can fly to Europe and take a cruise or even take B2B cruises which is taking one cruise and then staying on the ship to continue on for the next cruise.

While I sail Norwegian, I would suggest Celebrity or Princess which is a little more upscale. Viking Cruise Lines is one of the best lines but I myself can not afford Viking. Perhaps you can.

Regent and Silver Seas are very expensive but they are considered the best or among the best.

You can purchase the more upscale cabins where you get the white glove treatment and then purchase excursions through the ship or third party companies.

You can also buy Spa services.

There's no wrong answer as long as it works for you but the reason I would lean to recommending river versus a large, sea or ocean-going ship is the distance from the cities and other areas of interest they often have to dock. For instance, the large ships are having to port miles from Venice these days, necessitating time-consuming and (for new travelers) confusing transfers from, say, a port in Ravenna or Trieste to Venice by train and/or bus without much help from the cruise companies. That, of course, is just one example but Rome's port is also many miles from the city as is Florence's. Barcelona also just banned the large ships from the city-center docks.

River cruises generally can port much closer to the action, and no tender ports (that I'm aware of). Depends on the traveler, of course, but the scenery far from land may not be of interest to everyone either.

You would not want to go on one of Rick's tours-you have to carry your own luggage up steps in hotels. Other tour companies use hotels with elevators and take care of one piece of luggage per person.

If money is not an object, Tauck Tours might be your best bet. But any tour where you spend time in cities means a lot of walking and stairs. As said, you can't cover that much ground in the time you have allotted.

I like the river cruise idea, as it means unpacking only once, and they handle your bags for you. Limited time at your destinations but most cruising is at night so it's efficient time wise. Our Viking cruise always had an optional bus for slow walkers on excursions, which was less stressful.

Just to give you a little hope, my uncle had Parkinson’s and he never let it stop him from traveling. Adjustments were made, small group tours vs independent. He traveled to South America and China while in his early 70’s, mainly with his granddaughter who loved to travel. I understand that each individual case is different, but I’m just saying this doesn’t necessarily have to be your one and only trip.
Like most of us on the forum who have various health issues, my husband has a defibrillator, we just take it one trip at a time.

I highly recommend Odysseys Unlimited for tours. We are independent travelers but have taken two of their tours which were excellent.

Charla, I have Parkinson’s and though I understand every person with Parkinson’s is different, I thought I’d share some of my travel experiences. I am currently 75 and entering my sixth year with Parkinson’s. So far, we’ve been to Sicily (very active tour) and Southern England, and Portugal on Rick Steves tours. In addition we traveled to France independently during Covid. Plus two stateside long distance weddings.

This year, we’re planing a low key independent trip to northern France. I confess I was pretty tired out after the England tour so we’re planning less active travel and yes, looking into a riverboat cruise.

Trying to stay as active as you can is one of the best things for Parkinson’s.

Mary

My cousin took a river cruise with Mayflower Tours. She raves about it to this day. It's a smaller ship so easier to get around on board. She also found the day excursions to be very nice. I sort of recall hers was the 12 day Gems of the Danube with Prague tour.

https://www.mayflowercruisesandtours.com/tours/river-cruising

Disclaimer: I have not toured with this company and even though I'm absolutely not a water/boat person my cousin has me nearly talked into an 8 day river tour given her phenomenal tour review.

Wow! You guys helped greatly. I sound like a snot, lol...not wanting to walk or carry my luggage - go to cathedrals or museums. I'm really in fine shape, just lazy I guess. I think the rub is that hubby wants to see Italy w/the Sistine Chapel, Pisa, etc., and I want to walk the streets and see the beauty of old Europe. I guess I'm just not that keen on Italy (though I AM Italian). I love the idea of a River Cruise, but it's getting him to Italy that's the issue... I'll keep looking. I suppose RS' Best of Europe 14 day tour is pretty good, with the Alps, Germany, France, Italy...I'm just being difficult as I don't want to "hike the Alps" or go to the concentration camp.

In any event. THANK YOU ALL :) So great that all of you can travel as much as you do. Hopefully, we'll get the 'bug' as well. Cheers!

Hi charla, I agree with those recommending a river cruise. We did a Viking Rhine river cruise a few years ago and enjoyed it very much. It can be an active or relaxed vacation, your choice. We jumped off the ship as soon as it docked and ran around all day. Others were content to sit on their balcony and enjoy the scenery. You can book your air and transfers through Viking or do them yourself. Check out their website and itineraries https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/.

If you decide to look at river cruises, consider Uniworld. It's a much smaller company than Viking , but is more inclusive (e.g., no tipping, drinks at any time, etc.) and is somewhat more upscale. I thought of this because you mentioned the appeal of a tips included provider.

don't forget that if you are on a Rick Steves tour you can always easily opt out of any particular activity, such as Dachau or walking in the Alps, and something else - you just need to tell the guide and your buddy.

Although I have never been on a RS tour, I have been on others. You can always opt out of an activity in which you are uninterested. You just need to let the guide know.

And as for “hiking the Alps”, most places you would ride a gondola up the mountain, enjoy the view, eat at a hut/restaurant and either hike down the mountain (halfway or all the way) or simply ride the gondola back down. So don’t let the daunting physical nature of “hiking the Alps” stop you from enjoying the views.

I'll just add that if you do the 14 day tour you'll want to arrive a day or 2 ahead of your tour start so that will be more than 14 days.

Please, please, please read the research from Kathy about bookingmundi. Do NOT go with a 3rd party online travel agency.

No one has mentioned Road Scholar. www.roadscholar.org I've done 13 Road Scholar tours and 12 Rick Steves tours. They are slightly less active than the Rick tours. They advertise that they porter your bags but to be honest, the last one I did in 2022 the hotels did not have staff to provide that service so we wound up having to get bags to/from the bus. That doesn't bother me as I pack light and handle my own bags anyway but it did bother people who had overpacked. Tips are included with the Road Scholar tours as well Neither Rick nor Road Scholar has "shopping stops" where the guides get a kickback from merchants for taking you to their stores.

Rick's 14 day (or 21 day tour if you can talk hubby in to being gone that long) gets your husband his Italy highlights including the Sistine Chapel. The excellent thing is that you don't have to do the arrangements or get yourself tickets or guides to the big sights.

I agree with others that you can opt out of any experience you don't want on a non-transit day. The walk in the Alps is usually Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg with is flat, wide, fine for regular athletic shoes, non-taxing and jaw-droppingly beautiful! There are always people who opt out of concentration camps as being too intense for them.

Edited to correct the website fir Road Scholar.

Hi Carla,
I know you mentioned that this will most likely be your "on and only trip to Europe," but I hope you have been encouraged by the response you've received. And once your tour is over, you might just feel that other trips might be in your future.
I just wanted to add that I agree with Pam's suggestion of considering a Road Scholar Tour. They are a non-profit organization with multiple tours in Europe. When you go on their website and find a tour of interest to you, you'll find a detailed itinerary as well as a review of the hotels for that particular tour, unlike Rick Steves, which initially only gives you the names of the first and last hotel.
My husband and I have taken both Rick Steves AND Road Scholar tours. One of the significant differences between both companies is that Rick Steves' tours tend to move to a different hotel and city every couple of nights, whereas Road Scholar tours usually have multiple night stays in a hotel (with elevators) and then take day trips from that location.
Many have suggested a cruise. You could do a Road Scholar tour AND then add on a river cruise after that. Just sit back and relax!
Good luck!

@cat…you are entirely correct. I’ll edit my post. Thank you!

We took his 21 best of Europe tour and loved it. We took only carryon so our suitcases were light. You will have two places to have laundry done so I would not worry about taking a lot of clothes.
One mom and daughter brought a ton of suitcases. People did helped them.
The hike in the Alps is flat. A friend with us took the train to the gondola to return to the bus because of mobility issues.

Opting out of sites is definitely not an issue. Your afternoons are free so you can rest at a cafe for a while or go back to your hotel.
We took a river cruise once and there was a lot of walking.

Charla:

Have you looked at the my way https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/my-way-italy trip . They provide the transportation, and hotels, but you are free to decide what to do in each place. You will have to port your luggage, but there have only been a few times on the 11 RIck Steves tours I have taken where it was a challenge to get my luggage to my room. Over the years I have honed my luggage to the minimum and what is easy to carry.

Hopes this helps.

I just want to pipe in on the walking involved in a tour. I've been on exactly one RS tour (Rome) and one Viking River Cruise (Rhine river). There was a whole lot more walking on the RS tour than on the Viking Cruise. I believe the Viking Cruise also provided some options for people that were less able to do more intensive sight seeing.

Charla, I really hope you find something that meets your needs and travel wishes and that you will report back after your trip.

Thank you all! After much searching, we're seriously looking at a Globus European Tapestry tour. It's 16 days in 7 countries, with planes, trains, automobiles, and boats. It seems like a nice sampling of each of the countries, with tours in the morning, free-time in the afternoon/evening - with optional excursions. It checked off most of what was on hubby's list. There's MUCH out there, that's for sure! Again, thank you for your feedback and suggestions. Happy traveling!