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)