If you've been on 5+ RS tours, which was your favorite and why?

Getting ready to leave for our 10th RS tour. Our favorite tour was Village Italy. We totally enjoyed this tour due to the towns we visited, the activities, tour mates, the bus driver and one of the best tour guides. Neither my husband or myself care for the big cities in any country including the United States. I have read reviews on the Village Italy tour where people didn't care for the small towns on the tour and prefer the big cities like Rome. Florence and Naples which we have been to also. Our Village Italy tour ended at Lake Orta which we both found charming and peaceful but I have read reviews where people didn’t care for it.

Also, getting ready for 10th Rick tour and also Village Italy is my favorite. We had a great guide, the group really meshed and I loved not going to big cities. However, I also liked Sicily, we had Alfio as the tour guide & he is tremendous. I'd never thought of going there and was surprised how much I liked it. Next favorite would be Ireland. Again, we had a great guide, Dara. He loved music and every time we transited to a new county he would play traditional and modern music for that area. It was also interesting to see Northern Ireland. Next April I'm going on the Eastern France tour and look forward to another tour focused on wine areas like Village Italy. I've always found something to like on every tour, but I do think the guide you get can really make a difference. My least favorite was 14 day England. It may be because I knew more about the places we visited than the guide did. He had started with Rick as a bus driver and obviously had no background in British history. He had a script he read from, but couldn't answer questions. Also this was post pandemic (2022) and he did not follow the companies Covid protocols. He and the bus driver never wore their masks and he even told us near the end of the tour you didn't need to disclose if you had Covid since he wouldn't be making you leave. I did like the itinerary for that tour and felt it covered many different & wonderful parts of the Island. I haven't been to Spain or Portugal, but they look like tours I'd really enjoy also.

We have only done four RS tours, but My Way Alpine was my favorite. I liked all the destinations and the group meshed so well.

Village Italy was my 2nd favorite. Lots of great tour members and one that kept things very interesting, lovely destinations, and a variety of activities.

Eastern France - another great guide, but although I thought I'd love the wine tasting theme, it got old for me and others. I actually was going to put this tour 4th, but thinking back on it, it probably is a tie with Adriatic. The visit and walk to the hilltop winery was my favorite day.

Adriatic was nice, too. I especially loved Bosnia and the guide was fabulous. For me it was nice, but was lacking memorable experiences.

You might find the responses here helpful:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/those-who-have-been-on-5-rs-tours-which-is-your-favorite-and-why-least-favorite

How would the village tours be if one is not into wine?

We are about to go on Village Italy for a second time, as I loved it so much the first time. For whatever it’s worth, we drink very little wine, but loved the wineries for the gorgeous scenery, and often fabulous lunches, as well as hearing about how they made olive oil. Absolutely my favorite tour out of five!

Thanks, Carrie, looks like that thread was still going in April.

I've been on 9 tours and my favorites were the Eastern France (especially for wine lovers) and Heart of France because of Mont St Michel and the WW2 historical sites. But honestly they were all excellent, including Best of Switzerland and Best of Germany tours as well as the Adriatic tour.

I've done 11. It's hard to say just one....favorites are 21 Day Best of Europe, Best of England, Paris and Heart of France, Best of Paris and Belgium and Holland.

The tour that has been most helpful for continued independent travel was Best of Paris. Honestly, Rolinka, the awesome guide, still sits on my shoulder when I am in the Metro. I can hear her say ..... Look at the way that person is lining up to get on the train. They are going to make the Parisians angry and they are blocking the door.

I have done RS Turkey, the Adriatic, Eastern France, Sicily, South Italy, Ireland and Scotland which were all two week trips except for Sicily (10 days). I would be hard pressed to say which was my favorite. They were all great. Choose whichever one strikes a special chord with you. Take a look at the itineraries. The tour scrapbooks on this site will give you a good overview of the varioustours. You can always choose a different one for another year. Whichever tour you choose will be great.

How would the village tours be if one is not into wine?

Fine. There were a lot of opportunities to drink wine, but I only recall one tasting and it was worth it for the view or Orvieto.

My ranking comes from these 5: GAS-Germany, Austria, Switzerland; 17-day Best of Italy, 1-week Paris; Adriatic; 1-week Prague/Budapest.

My favorite was the 17-day Best of Italy. Every place was a “wow” for me. We went back to every place on subsequent independent trips, except busy Cinque Terre, along with lots of new cities. I know I would love the Village Italy tour, too, but I’ve already been to those locations independently so haven’t considered it.

2nd place would go to the GAS tour.

I honestly felt a bit uncomfortable as a non drinker on the Village Italy tour but it could just have been our particular guide. She was excellent in most ways but she called a bit too much attention to the fact that I don’t drink alcohol even when I said it was for health reasons

Thanks, everyone! These were really helpful to read.

9 RS tours so far. Tied for best: Greece (history and scenery) and Adriatic ( scenery/coast and Pltvice Lakes/really superb tour guide team who are all natives of Slovenia, Croatia, or Bosnia, not expats)

Thanks for the input about wine. Thank you, especially SAF, for your comment.

I don’t recall there being so much wine offered on the Village Italy tour. Actually none of the tours have seemed heavy on wine consumption or any other alcoholic beverage. I am not a big drinker of alcohol and find it very easy to just say no thank you and no one on a RS tour has ever made me feel uncomfortable about it. My husband is a drinker so lots of times I just say yes and give it to him to drink. Village Italy tour has so much to offer that wine being offered would not hinder my decision to go. Lots of the food (group dinners) on the 9 RS tours we have been on are not to my liking but that is my issue and has nothing to do with the tour. Again if nothing works for me I order what my husband likes. I do try to taste things I don’t like just in case but usually just pass it to my husband. We are going on the Best of Eastern France starting August 23rd. Reading the itinerary it appears we will have the opportunity to taste champagne several times. Wineries are usually so beautifully landscaped and the process of making wine or champagne is all different and interesting. Just visiting these places is a learning experience and usually calming because of the landscape and the beautiful architecture of the buildings. I do like champs but we chose this tour because of the towns we visit.

My five: VFR, GAS, P&HOF, Sicily, Ireland.

Of those, Sicily was the best. I wasn't expecting much, but the food, hotels and culture were great. And the bus rides were short, so there were a lot of extras included. And it's short enough that you can easily add extra days either there or on the way.

I totally get it jacq. I am the same way usually. I just say no thanks and that’s the end of it. But my tour guide for Village Italy kept sort of “pressing the issue” for some reason. So I finally told her I don’t drink because of a medical issue and I figured that would be the end of it. But she still kept calling attention to the fact that I don’t drink. Like I was “no fun” because of it or something It was odd. I wish she had just stopped talking about it haha. I could sense she would be offended if I mentioned it even more directly so I just didn’t bother. And there was lots and lots of wine on that trip. Not just at the wine tasting but also at the olive oil tasting and the balsamic tasting and at all group meals. I let it go. But it was a bit off putting. I’ve been on two other RS tours and it wasn’t an issue at all. Not a huge deal for me but since someone asked I figured I would share my experience.

I've never thought it's anyone's business why I don't drink alcohol and I'm sorry that your guide didn't just accept it and move on.

saf,
I agree with pscd. Whether a person drinks alcohol or not is of no concern to anyone else. I am sorry this happened to you and you could not enjoy this wonderful tour to the fullest extent. Do hope you keep taking tours and enjoy them.

About to take my 11th Rick Steves tour and I would say Village Italy is right up there at the top, there are a few runners up very close behind but that one really stuck with me so much that I'm taking the Best of Tuscany next month!!

The small hilltop towns are gorgeous and it is such a beautiful area and if you love wine.....perfect!!

Great question. I’m scheduled for my 11th this October and I’ve done some euro travel early on but when I did my first RS tour it was the Best of Europe in 21 days. #1 best. Also did the Heart of Italy with my two sons who have never travelled before and it was great. The Basque tour was amazing. My wife loved the GAS tour and wants to repeat. Last year we did a “back-to-back” Best of Switzerland and My Way Alpine Europe which repeated a couple of places but was totally memorable. Funny thing on the previous comments are the many people that said Village Italy was their favorite and that is the one we’re going on in October so it makes me excited for the experience ahead. “Happy Travels “.

My husband and I just took our 7th RS tour in June, and we've enjoyed all of them. However, we both would rank Best of Italy in 17 Days as our favorite. We took the Best of Eastern Europe trip in 2022, and that was tracking to be #1 or #2 until my husband got Covid and we had to leave the trip. Our guide was from Czech Republic and all the experiences she shared about her life before and during the Velvet Revolution were so valuable to hear. Since we missed the 2nd part of that trip, we decided to take the Best of the Adriatic tour last year, and that is now my second favorite. Again, the personal experiences shared by all of the guides just made that trip so special.

I'm happy to hear that so many of you have listed Sicily as one of your favorites, because on a whim, we signed up for that trip for next year just a couple of weeks ago!

We have been on over 10 tours. Our first was Spain and Morocco (sadly no more Morocco).
I think my favorite is still Eastern France (great experiences and great guide).
I loved Turkey and would repeat that one easily, maybe adding Istanbul with it.
I enjoyed our England tour, ( great guide), though think it ended rather abruptly—would recommend an extra day in London.
Honestly, we’ve never had a bad tour, though our Scotland tour was only 10 days and I felt like the group didn’t gel as much as the slightly longer tours.

This is like having to pick you favorite pet! LOL I have been on VFR, Ireland 14 days, Scotland 8 day, Southern Italy, Barcelona/Madrid, Village Italy. Loved all of them for different reasons. Guides have been fantastic. I think Southern Italy might be my favorite, but the fact that I would do them all again should tell you something! Going on Portugal in two months and Tuscany is booked for 2027! And no worries if you don't drink, in my experience no one cares - and some will offer to enjoy your share!