Hi - I'm looking for thoughts from folks who have taken one or both of the tours in the subject line - trying to decide between the two. The itinerary looks great for both. The cities would be all new for my hubby and almost all new for me (I've done Prague on my own years ago and loved it). We love being outside. Love the orientation tours and cultural learning. We're not big art museum goers but do like it some. We don't drink wine... is that big focus of the Loire tour? A winery or two is fun to visit even though we don't drink it. We've relatively active so that wouldn't be an issue. Other considerations? The reviews for both seem excellent, but that's sort of the case for all the RS tours. We'd go late spring next year. Thank you for your thoughts.
Posted by
SF Bay Area
10 posts
I went on the BPV tour in the fall of 2022, which was the first of three RS tours I’ve taken. I liked the tour but was frustrated by the fact that the time allotted to each one of these cities didn’t seem adequate. We’d generally roll in late afternoon, have our orientation walk and dinner, and then have 2 full days in the city. I ran around like a mad woman during my free time trying to see everything, which of course was futile because there was so much to see. My next two RS tours were Best of Andalusia and Best of Southern Italy. I liked these much better because they were focused on smaller cities/towns. In a lot of these towns one day was plenty. I found that we saw the main sight(s) in the morning and there were some secondary sights but I could also just opt to sit in a piazza or square with a glass of wine, and people watch without FOMO of some major cultural site. After the Andalusia tour, I took a bullet train to Madrid and camped out there on my own for 6 days. There was much to see but I could enjoy this great city at a relaxed pace. So my philosophy is to do the smaller cities/country on a tour, then go solo and establish home bases in big cities. Hope this helps
Posted by
Richmond, VA
301 posts
I took the Loire tour summer before last and loved it. I am a wine drinker, but don't love winery tours (I actually posted a question just today about this regarding the Eastern France tour) and I didn't think it was too wine-oriented. There was a wine tasting at the hotel in Chinon, led by the owners, and we stopped for a delicious lunch at a winery in Provence en route to, I believe, Arles. The Chinon tasting is easily skipped if you're not interested. Unless I'm forgetting something, I think that's the extent of the specifically wine-oriented activities.
I haven't done the B/P/V tour, so I can't compare, but I have been to all of those cities. I think you'll be happy either way, but they're going to be very different experiences. The pace of the Loire tour is a bit more relaxed than a city-oriented tour would be (very relaxed during the Dordogne days) and there's more, and more frequent, bus time.
Hmmm, rereading this, I'm not sure how helpful it'll be. ;) But certainly don't shy away from the Loire tour because of the wine factor and have a great time regardless of your pick! Feel free to PM me with any other questions about the Loire tour.
Caroline
Posted by
Phoenix🌵
3099 posts
Melanie, Welcome to the forum.
I have been on both tours; SofF Sept 2022 and B/P/V June 2023. They are very different tours. I took the SofF tour to see castles and meander through France. The B/P/V was to see Berlin again after 54 years and visit Vienna. I traveled solo on both with independent time pre- and post-tours: London, Paris and Venice in September and Munich, extra days in Vienna and Salzburg in June. Both RS tour guides, Linda and Jana, were excellent, knowledgeable and caring.
South of France is more lighthearted and easy going. The castle visits are not intense museum tours; most we did on our own so you can wander at your own pace. There was only one winery which also provided lunch. No one will care if you don't drink; wine was not the focus of the tour. The Roman history at Pont du Gard and Arles was very interesting as were the prehistoric cave drawings. I loved the tour. Great group of fun loving people.
Berlin, Prague and Vienna is intense due to the history of the region. If you are interested in 20th Century history, World War 1 and 2, Nazi and Iron Curtain, it's a worthwhile tour. I love history but at times found it overwhelming. If you don't drink beer, no one will care if you skip the beer tasting, just don't skip the lunch that goes with it. It is a great tour but I would not call it fun loving. The group was more introverted personalities, nice but not as outgoing; maybe that was my group instead of a tour generality.
Both tours are excellent. It just depends on what you want to experience and see. If you like concerts, there are many in Prague and Vienna.
My trip reports are long and inclusive of all that I did., but may be of interest to you.
South of France: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/finally-trip-report-8-31-7-28-22-london-paris-rs-tour-venice
Berlin, Prague & Vienna: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/give-me-time-to-post-multi-segment-report
Feel free to PM me if you have questions.
Kathy
Posted by
Carmichaels PA
35 posts
Hi Melanie,
I’ve taken both tours-quite a while ago now- the Loire to the south of France tour in 2015 and the Berlin to Vienna tour in 2018.
Both tours are good, both had good tour guides (Jana H from Prague was excellent) and I enjoyed both but I felt that the South of France tour was exceptional.
This could be because I love to drink wine 😊, but it wasn’t a huge focus on this tour. Market days in both Amboise and Sarlat are amazing.
Cheryl
Posted by
OP
6 posts
Thank you all for the thoughtful replies so far! My husband does like WWII history. I'd prefer something a bit lighter in content, I think. So it's likely a win/win for one or both us no matter what we pick. :)