Favorite Tour of England Wales or Scotland

Well, if you want to see Cornwall, the only Rick tour that goes there is the Villages of Southern England. It also visits the English coast at Dover and the 7 Sisters from Beachyhead.

I've done all of his in UK - Best of England (which the guides call Best of Britain as it includes a few nights in Wales), Villages of Southern England and Best of Sccotland.

For reference, I've also done a few Road Scholar tours of Britain including one to "Celtic Wales", one just to Cornwall and a walking trip that covered the area around Salisbury and Bath.

I would say it was a tie between Best of England and Villages of Southern England with perhaps Best of England edging out by a hair. I guess I felt like there were 2 days on the Villages tour that were more about transportation between places than actually seeing sights. The Best of England, although we covered more territory, I did not feel that way so we must have stopped at more interesting sights on the way up to the Lake District which was the longest drive.

If you specifically want to visit Cornwall, the Road Scholar was excellent - 6 nights in Falmouth with day trips out to various location in Cornwall. I find their groups similar to Rick's groups.

Thank you Pam. That helps. How wonderful you've been able to travel extensively. I've actually been looking at Road Scholar as well, and have done a few Grandmother/grandson trips within USA.
Which Road Scholar trip did you do? I fear that one will not cover as much as Rick Steves. I need a comprehensive one as i probably will not be heading overseas again.

Well...I've done 11 Road Scholar tours, lol. AND 11 Rick Steves tours, more lol.

You may be hooked after you go on one so don't discount traveling again to Europe with either tour group. If you are traveling solo both groups welcome solo travelers and I've had wonderful times on all my trips. I do agree that if you want something more comprehensive, I'd go with the RS tour - Best of England being a bit more comprehensive than Villages of Southern England, although as mentioned it does not include Cornwall.

The international Road Scholar tours I've done are:
-Best of London (this was 2013 and they've changed this itinerary up a bit)
-Celtic Wales/Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire
-Walking Ancient Pathways and Iron Age forts in UK (this itinerary has changed as well)
-Brittany and Normandy
-Cornwall
-The Art of Living in Provence

Currently signed up for (because up until 12/31 Road Scholar had a guarantee of a full refund of the deposit if you cancel 90 days out from travel)
-SW France (October 2021-I doubt this one is going to happen)
-UK Gardens and the Chelsea Garden Show (May 2022)

I've done 5 activity based programs in the US including Hiking, birding and genealogy.

The Rick tours I've done are:
-Heart of Italy
-Best of Ireland
-21 Day Best of Europe
-Best of Paris
-Village Italy
-Best of England
-Paris and the Heart of France
-GAS
-Villages of Southern England
-Best of Scotland
-Belgium and Holland

Because I've done a lot of Rick's comprehensive ones I now kind of choose either tour company based solely on the tour itinerary. I've often done back to back tours, sometimes 2 of Ricks, sometimes 2 of Road Scholar, sometimes one of each, lol. Now I usually add in a few weeks before and after as well. For ANY European tour I recommend arriving at least 1 night ahead, 2 is better, a week is even better, lol. This means you are not picked up at the airport by Road Scholar but it's pretty easy to get to most starting points and if you are unsure folks here on the forum can give specific information.

For Best of England I did time in London before, then took the train out to Bath several nights ahead of the tour as I knew there was a Jane Austen Festival happening and I wanted to attend some of those events plus see people walking around Bath in costume. So much fun!

Thank you again! Your notes are a blessing plus inspiring for me - to read and gain through your experience. I love the idea of going early and seeing London before the Best of England trip which i am leaning toward.

With Covid i've been a bit home bound (although i did go to Atlanta and Florida where my family lives). Never the less i will find it fun, if challenging to maybe combine Best of England with a London tour. Thinking 2022 maybe the best shot.
Ta & Cheerio.. Carol

Oh yes, that is a great idea!

If your budget runs to it, consider going Rick's Best of London first and then the Best of England! The plus thing about the Rick tours over the Road Scholar tours is that the guides teach you local transport. I don't know about you but I've never lived in a city where there was public transport and it was quite intimidating to me. On my first 3 RS tours the guides taught me SO much about public transport in Italy and France and those skills transfer. I'm sure people who have always lived where they could use public transport will scoff at that but truly that was an intimidating factor for me.

I'll also say that London is pretty easy to get around. They "mostly" speak the same language, lol and I've found people very helpful when I've been turned around or needed some kind of assistance.

I'm glad you've gotten away a bit during this pandemic. I'm with you...counting more on 2022 travel than this year but that's not stopped me from planning and dreaming!

Hi Pam
Actually my response to your last note was already done but guess maybe not, as i cannot find it now. Yes, for myself i need all the help available for getting around.
Am trying to gather info on the tours we discussed; but now there is a challenge.
My sister and her husband would like to go also. My bro-in-law gets very sick on
buses. I wonder if this will put him out of going. Did you bus a lot on your tours? Best of England? I did call Rod Sch.and ask about their Cornwall trip. If i remember right, it starts with 4 hour bus trip. It's a job gathering all this info to make final decisions. It's worth it bc i want to get the trip booked. Thinking June or Sept 2022. Thank you Pam!