Most disappointing experience on a Rick Steves tour?

The disappointing tours I've had have all been related to the experience with those particular guides so there is no way to know how that is going to work out.

All the itineraries have been as stated. I do a lot of research so I don't have surprises, lol.

I'm not much affected by weather, I've got rain gear and I'm ready to go, hahaha.

I will say that, for myself, I've found that if I do back to back tours I need to have a change of culture between the two. I've done 2 UK tours back to back (Southern England and Scotland) and was pretty burned out on seeing castle ruins by the end, lol. I've also done an England tour and a France tour back to back and really enjoyed the differences in culture and food.

Our biggest disappointment is when we book our return trip home for the day the tour ends. Every tour we’ve been on has deserved at least one extra day in that last city.

The most disappointing experience on a Rick Steves' tour? That it ended.

One experience that was very disappointing to me happened probably 10ish years ago. I won’t name the tour because my disappointment is not related to any of the sites visited, hotels, food, transportation, weather, or fellow tour mates. In fact it was one of my favorite tours ever! The day before the last full day of the tour, our guide notified us that no final farewell dinner would be taking place. The guide's rationale was that some people have early flights the next morning and it would be unfair to have a long goodbye dinner and force them to stay up late. Anyway, most tour participants were not happy with that surprise announcement. I felt that we did not get any “closure” to the tour with a proper goodbye that usually happens during the last group dinner. Why couldn’t the guide arrange to have our final farewell dinner the night before?

"The day before the last full day of the tour, our guide notified us that no final farewell dinner would be taking place."

Mary, that is really bizarre. It must have been code words for "the guide has an early flight"....(eyeroll emoji).

With another tour company I was on a tour that had the "farewell dinner" at lunch. That was quite odd and left people at sort of loose ends that evening. Most of us met in the hotel lounge for a farewell drink but it was unsatisfying. AND...I'm not one that really enjoys late meals!

Not a Rick Steves tour....but....the farewell dinner on one tour was canceled just hours before it was to take place. We were told by the hotel it would be served in our rooms.

I wasn't told why it was canceled but a letter was delivered along with dinner. It said the tour director and half the people on the tour tested positive for Covid. It was back when you had to take a Covid test before flying back to the US.

I have taken three Rick Steves tours and a few from other companies. They were all very good. What I learned was I'm not a multi-day tour type person.

• My wife almost going into anaphylactic shock in Paris due to the fact the "peanut-free" entree was, in fact, made with peanuts.

• My "buddy" going missing in a Belgian WW1 cemetery and me missing the fact when we all got on the bus to leave. I have a problem recognizing faces, so I mistook another tour member as her. Luckily, my wife caught my mistake at the last moment. I dread to think what would happen had I not discovered my oversight until we got to Amsterdam.

I consider neither of these the fault of the tour guide or the tour itself. They were Something That Happened. The first was the fault of the restaurant, who switched my wife's dish for something else and then lied about it not being made with peanuts. The second was obviously my fault.

That said, I would wholly and without reservation (and, in fact, actively do) recommend Rick Steves' tours to anyone and everyone.

Everyone except for me.

For me, the tours were TOO good.

I took the 'Best of Paris' tour because it was my first trip overseas and I thought there was no way I could navigate the wilds of Paris without a guide. I quickly discovered otherwise. My second tour, the Best of Belgium and the Netherlands, I took because I felt there was no way I could navigate the wilds of Europe without a guide. I quickly discovered otherwise again. Now, with the skills the tours taught me, I just plan my own trips. Not to say I didn't get an amazing amount of value out of my two tours, and not to say they weren't fantastic, but I'd just rather do it on my own now that I know how.

That said, if someone threw a free RS tour at me, I'd take it in an instant!

-- Mike Beebe

I did not particularly care for the Aran island day on the 14 day Ireland tour and wished I would have been able to see more of Galway. Loved the tour and understand that Rick is a fan of the island, but I was not a fan. And the lunch that day on the island was blah too. YMMV

Question for Mike:

Am I understanding the bus actually left the site with your "assigned buddy" missing? How far did the bus get before the error was discovered? Five minutes down the road or an hour? Does the tour guide not ALSO count the number of people on the bus vs. just leaving it to fellow tour members to see their "buddies"? I always thought the buddy thing was a "back up" -- sort of a second layer of "counting chickens."

It's been many years now since our two Rick Steves' tours, but I really do think our guides "counted" people on the bus, too.

Am I understanding the bus actually left the site with your "assigned buddy" missing? How far did the bus get before the error was discovered? Five minutes down the road or an hour? Does the tour guide not ALSO count the number of people on the bus vs. just leaving it to fellow tour members to see their "buddies"? I always thought the buddy thing was a "back up" -- sort of a second layer of "counting chickens."

Maggie,

Fortunately, the bus driver was just turning the key when my wife asked where my buddy was. I'm sure had we gone any distance before this discovery was made, the remainder of the tour would have been a lot less fun for myself as I would have been transformed into "that guy".

As far as I can recall, no counting was done by our tour guide. Perhaps an oversight on his part.

-- Mike Beebe

"Does the tour guide not ALSO count the number of people on the bus vs. just leaving it to fellow tour members to see their "buddies"?"

No, the tour guide does not count and that is generally made crystal clear up front. I've made friends with solo folks on tours who asked me to double check to make sure they were present since they did not think their buddy would be up to the task.

On one tour 3 people were late and the guide was going to go on but the tour members asked him to delay. These 3 had never been late and were very reliable folks. They phoned the guide a few minutes later and said they'd gotten lost. He figured out where they were and arranged a 2nd meeting point down the road that was closer for them and in the direction the bus was going.

So far no one has really answered your question with specifics, and I think this is why: if something on a tour was sub-par for me, it probably was for others, and we probably gave that feedback on our questionnaire.

I was going to tell you about staying too long in one boring little town and not enough in another, way more interesting, place on a particular tour. But lo and behold, this year's tour plan has been adjusted to address that.

I think your best bet may be to comb through your possible tour itineraries, asking yourself what you are dying to see the most/spend the most time at, and be sure the tour gives you that. So - your question is not impossible, but nearly so!

Thank you all for your interesting anecdotes, only one of which kinda answered the question (thanks, Steph, I've actually read other people's nitpicks about the Ireland tour elsewhere on the forum, so your experience keeps it squarely off the list).

Alas, I knew this might be an impossible question to answer because, to be honest, I don't know that I could answer it myself even among the many tours I've taken. But I still find everyone's responses useful, if not entertaining. Thanks and back to drawing board about simply figuring out where I really want to go next.

Ok, I’ll bite. It’s been over ten years now but we did the Loire & South of France tour. It was the last tour of the season and heavily discounted (should have sent a bell off). Our guide was suppose to be on her way home after a long season but was asked at the last minute to fill in for a sick guide and was a tad disappointed that she wouldn’t see her family for a couple of more weeks and which made for an interesting first group meeting. Chartres was wonderful but then it went down hill. The gardens of the chateaus that are famous for being so beautiful during the summer were awaiting gardeners to tear out all the dead plants. The canal boat ride had stopped for the season the day before we were to take it, the guide finding this out when we got there. The Mistral Wind decided to blow the day we visited Les Baux. There was something else we were suppose to do in Arles that had to be substituted at the last minute but I can’t remember what. The quaint hotel the group normally stayed in Nice wasn’t available and we were put up in a large business type one where we had to take mass transit into town. I won’t mention how some of our small group handled these “hiccups” because people will be people. We laugh about it now, how one tour could have so many “hiccups” but we have had eleven trips since that have been wonderful. Would I recommend the tour? Only if you take it before October :-)

It ended and we had to go home

Out of 3 RS tours, one hotel was subpar. (They no longer stay there.) Did it ruin anything about the tour, NO! Were we grumps about it, NO! I'm trying to think of a disappointing experience...that's all I got!

My "buddy" going missing in a Belgian WW1 cemetery and me missing the
fact when we all got on the bus to leave. I have a problem recognizing
faces, so I mistook another tour member as her. Luckily, my wife
caught my mistake at the last moment. I dread to think what would
happen had I not discovered my oversight until we got to Amsterdam.

Mike, this nearly happened on my Turkey tour as well. One of our tourmates never (EVER) checked for her buddy who happened to be a solo traveler. She had gone off with another solo traveler who thankfully had a buddy checking for her. Her buddy declared that person missing, but it was only luck that the non-accounted for person was with her, otherwise she'd still be at a rest area in the middle of the country. It became the running joke/not joke for all the solo travelers to verbally check for that person from then on - as we also didn't want to be left behind!

As for the OP's original question, I can only think of a couple of things that might be considered "disappointing" - one or two not-my-jam roommate pairings (most were just fine though) and a couple of hotels that I probably wouldn't have picked for myself or return to. My Ireland guide didn't have the most inventive approach to food, so most of our group meals we were were basically the exact same thing (maybe that was just Ireland....not sure). By and large you are correct with the three things that make a tour great or meh - guide, tourmates, weather. Those things you simply can't control ahead of time. So I'll end with my usual advice to those who can't pick a tour - put all your options on pieces of paper, put in a jar, pick one and save the rest for the next round.

Lori, I will give a specific comment that is something I learned about myself during the last RS I did a couple of years ago. In the future, I will be looking very carefully at how much total bus time there is during a tour. When I took the Best of the Adriatic tour, everything was exactly as stated in the website. I just didn’t realize how much the multiple long bus days would feel to me. The guide had breaks, such as a nice wine-tasting lunch or quick breaks in a town along the way that were nice. I am looking at the Prague/Budapest tour for 2026 because it only has one bus day, so that’s something I learned about my personal decisions for future tours.

The buddy system question is one I have a question about. (I've taken the tours.)

What if I'm down the street from the bus, still on time, and the bus pulls away early because everyone is thought to be on board. (My buddy was busy putting away her souvenirs so she didn't even realize there was a buddy call.).

After driving for a while someone realizes I am not on the coach. I now have to make my way to the next city/town to catch up with the coach. I may even miss a planned event.

Who pays for my expenses? Is it just my bad luck? Does RS pay? Does RS force the "buddy" to pay?

Before you say they don't leave early, I've been on one or two that left early because everyone was back early.

While I haven’t personally had a bad experience on tour, I’m sure they happen. And I never had an issue with the buddy system leaving someone behind so I haven’t confronted the liability question. If one is concerned about the liability question, I would suspect the best folks to address it would be the RS staff. I’d speculate that they leave the lost buddy behind and sell the missing folks to slavers who harvest their organs since rumor has some tour companies secretly are part of an underground kidney smuggling ring. (Maybe that bit was just part of dream I had— I do watch too many scary movies! )

Happy travels.

General question from one who has never taken a multi day tour with any company:

Is this “buddy system” common? I am horrified that the driver or guide doesn’t also do a head count. Seems like a basic responsibility to me.

I have taken day tours, several continents, several companies. My experiences of guide/driver duties are different. Two examples from last month in the UK.

Scottish Lowlands, one traveler was noted as missing by the guide and the tour members were able to identify who and quickly problem solve as to where she was. (Cafe - she hadn’t wanted to go on the “scenic walk”.)

A different day tour, different company in Yorkshire, the driver dropped us at a parking lot just outside of town. Lots of places to explore near the drop off, but also a short walk to town where he showed us a second pick-up spot. He asked those who walked into town to wave as we passed by him so he knew numbers to expect in town at that pick-up. (And with simple subtraction, those expected at the outside of town drop-off/pick-up)

I thought RS and other multiple day tour companies would feel the same “duty of care” - obviously I’m naive. (???). Thanks for perspectives.

Like Jean above, I've thought of a few experiences that have made me more attuned to what I should pay attention to while picking out subsequent tours to sign for up.

First, I would say the Portugal tour was my least favorite of the many I've taken, not only because we had unexpectedly cold/rainy weather and the guide didn't know when to stop talking, but also because we visited SO. MANY. CHURCHES. I thought I would lose it by the 7th church we stepped into. Perhaps this was exacerbated by the fact that the guide(s) droned on for what felt like hours (probably just minutes) about this or at. I realized on this tour that I don't like church or religious art-heavy tours! This has helped me narrow the field for future tours.

Another experience with inadequate/nonexistent air conditioning on hotels during warmer months has also made me keen to sign up for the first tour of the season, no matter which country, north or south.

Lastly, I guess a "disappointing" experience that in no way could have been anticipated—but perhaps worth sharing because of how unexpected it was—were the rest stops on the Scandinavia tour (which I adored, btw). Whereas public toilets in towns and cities all across Scandinavia are pristine, unlike Italy or Germany with their gorgeous and well-appointed rest stops, rest stops were more often than not a bunch of port-o-potties. No food or amenities. Our fabulous guide did once host a picnic at a port-o-potty rest stop, which was lovely. But still...

Every time we've had a glitch (entry time not right, local guide no-show, major exhibit closed), the RS tour leader was able to come up with a work around.

ORDTraveler, we've been on four RS tours, and a couple with other companies. The buddy system has always worked, a few times identifying people who were missing. As adults, not school kids on a field trip, I understood the responsibility to be on each member to be at the designated location at a specific time. It was made clear that failure to be on time made it the late person's responsibility to catch up if they were stranded. Schedules are important, so they wont wait forever. I didnt think it was unreasonable and being someone's buddy was not a burden. It helps identity the individual who's missing by name rather than the tour leader having to memorize everyone's faces and guess who's not there.

Is this “buddy system” common? I am horrified that the driver or guide doesn’t also do a head count. Seems like a basic responsibility to me.

No, the buddy system is not common. I worked as a tour director many years ago and one of the basic things I learned was how to do a quick count as I was responsible if someone was left unintentionally. I dont believe any other tour company uses the buddy system.

I usually had my count done before everyone was even seated.

As for comment that the guide doesn't have to know faces....isn't it important that your "guide" get to know you.

I heard the buddy system was invented by Enrico Fermi, Nobel prize winning physicist and inventor of both the nuclear reactor and the Oxford comma. Apparently back in the day, when physicists would travel to conferences and take tours of laboratories, they were always losing things-- like electrons, photons and other physicists. So Enrico came up with solution of pairing up folks in something he called "the uncertainty and buddy system '. Rick Steves heard about it and dropped the "uncertainty' bit and history was made.

After tens of thousands of travelers, they've only lost 50 or 60 tour members but most of that was due to gluten issues on Italian tours and shark attacks in the lochs of Scotland so, yeah, the buddy system mostly works pretty well.

Happy travels.

^^^^ Thanks Frank. That was my observation on last month's trip where I took 4 day tours with 4 different driver/guides, 3 different companies. The guide was counting us as we entered the bus. The one time short count was noted and discussed and solved before our stated departure time - everyone was early.

edit - Thanks Dave - what insight!!!!

I certainly feel that it is my responsibility to be on time. The "buddy system" would make me feel like grade school kiddie. Again, perspectives welcome.

Frank II, they all did, eventually, but trying to guess which face was missing out of 24? Especially if you opted out of "the name game".

"I certainly feel that it is my responsibility to be on time. The "buddy system" would make me feel like grade school kiddie. Again, perspectives welcome."

I feel like this is more of a bonding event than grade school. I am still FB friends with my "buddy" from my first RS tour in 2013. You are specifically told not to pick a buddy you might hang out. As a solo traveler I like to know that someone is looking for me. I had a buddy not show back at the bus on a lunch stop. Fortunately on that tour we had an assistant guide who went looking for her. She was frantic having turned the wrong way coming out of the restaurant.

To me, the only time I've seen this NOT work was when the guide did not fully explain the system to the newbies at the first meeting.

I agree with Frank that this is the only tour company that uses that method. I've traveled a lot with Road Scholar where there is LOTS of counting by the guide. The Seymour Travels tours I've taken are very small group (5-10 people) so that Mark either knows everyone before the group starts (lots of previous tour members), lol, or he and the assistant know everyone by the end of the first meal.

I do think it is essential that a tour guide/leader make the effort to know everyone's name on a multi-day tour.

Thanks, Pam. Your perspective is very helpful.

Replying to Pam about back-to-back tours. We did a Tuscany tour, and on the day it ended flew to Paris to start the Best of France tour that same day. Don't do that! You need some down time between tours, but unfortunately the tour schedules are not something you can control.

The buddy system is only reliable if you have a reliable buddy. I think the tour director should count. I have not been on a RS tour but the tours I have been on, the tour director always counted. It's his/her job; it is not the buddy's job.

I had a teenage buddy - enjoyed meeting him! He liked to wear headphones & I realized very quickly to ask another person to also check that I was on the bus after not receiving the acknowledgement nod during our buddy checks. ; )

And for a little humor though not funny at the time, during one of our early RS tours when the guide had an assistant, the assistant was accidentally left at the concentration camp we visited! Our guide & bus driver had to skip lunch and go back to retrieve her!

I’ve only taken two RS tours (Poland and Greece) so my sample size isn’t very large. But one thing I disliked about the Greece tour was the early start times. On the Greece tour, the average start time was 8:00 AM, with two days starting at 7:30 AM (and on two days we had the option of having our luggage carried to the bus/boat, but it needed to be outside the hotel at 7:00 AM). On the Poland tour, the average start time was closer to 9:00 AM. The dinners on the Greece tour also seemed to run later than Poland.

It may not look like much of a difference, but my mental health was not at its best heading into the Greece tour and loosing that hour or two of sleep each night made things worse. Most people probably don’t have this problem, but it's something to consider if you need more sleep than the typical person.

Travel is my Passion and I am most happy when on Rick Steves tours. Going on my 12th to Switzerland this Sept. They were all fabulous, different in many ways depending on the tour members, the guides and the weather. So many fun interesting people & feel like the people really make the trips!!! I keep in touch with many friends I made over the years. The BEST tour was Village Italy, I could do that one again. Istanbul is another favorite. Happy Travels

• The "buddy system" would make me feel like grade school kiddie. Again, perspectives welcome.*

I like the buddy system. It definitely gets you connected to at least one other person right away. I also agree that it can be a good bond building activity. Every guide but one also did a count while asking for buddy checks.

I can’t come up with anything disappointing on the four tours I’ve taken. Number five coming up in September.

I’ve been on 6 RS tours—four of those solo. I don’t recall any buddy system issues. The process worked well. Most of the tours were city tours—I suppose the tours with a higher percentage of bus time are more apt to run into potential buddy errors?!

No complaints—all good guides and good travel mates. My least favorite tour was due to a “clique” of friends/neighbors traveling together who didn’t mix with the rest of the group not the tour itself.

I agree with you that your a, b, c are key. We are fortunate that we've loved all 6 tours/guides we've had. While we've had rain we've never been on a rained out tour.

Someone above mentioned early start times. On our last tour which was Sicily April 2024 the start times seemed a bit earlier than usual. In the 8s rather than 9. Our guide told us the earlier start times were to beat the crowds.

There have been a few hotels that we thought weren't up to RS standard but were not terrible. On average, with each tour, the hotels seem to be getting better.

Our guide in Sicily was hospitalized sometime after dinner the first night and left the tour and RS managed to get an excellent replacement guide in place by the next afternoon. In the meantime, we continued on with the bus driver caring and local guides caring for us. (Our new guide let us do the buddy system but she always counted herself too).

The "buddy system" would make me feel like grade school kiddie. Again, perspectives welcome.*

Actually, in my experience with 9 RS tours the buddy system makes the participants feel like responsible adults who are willing and able to look after each other and not depend on a kindergarten teacher to count them. It distributes a responsibility among 28 people instead of heaping it upon on a leader who has many more things to think about than counting.

As others have mentioned it has turned out to be a real bonding experience for many people. I've stayed friends for years with several of my buddies. One in particular was like me an artist/art historian and we had a great time in Italy. We've corresponded and met once again later. We were unaware of my last buddy taking photos of me and my husband and she surprised us with them a month after the tour. They turned out to be such nice candid shots. We seldom find anyone who volunteers to take our photo together and we've stopped asking. My husband was once paired with a single woman from Windsor, Canada and we've met up a few times since. The last time was at the DIA Van Gogh retrospective.

Actually, in my experience with 9 RS tours the buddy system makes the participants feel like responsible adults who are willing and able to look after each other and not depend on a kindergarten teacher to count them.

Well said, I agree! I think having the Buddy Check reinforces the importance of being on time, and building community with the group. (I’ve been on two tours).

We have taken two RS tours - My Way: Best of Europe in 2013 and, a few years later, My Way: France.

BOE was fantastic. Great guide, great tour mates, some with whom we still keep in touch. I don't know why they no longer offer this (maybe the long bus times?) as it was a great experience for us as an intro to international travel. We took our daughter who had just graduated from high school and there were other families on the trip with similarly aged kids and everyone just had the best time.
The France tour not so much. The others on the tour were not particularly friendly and the tour manager forgot it was a My Way tour (sarcasm) and talked incessantly on the bus. The itinerary of the tour was great (loved seeing that part of France), except for our final hotel in Nice which was a DIVE.

It really can be a crapshoot, depending on the human element of the group.

I do agree that the buddy system is great. It makes sure nobody gets lost on role call. It's better than wearing a pin button of your tour company on your shirt.

My guide in the Best of Paris tour didn't explain the buddy system at all. He wasn't that great. That was the second of back to back tours (Ven-Fl-Rome) and the other, the guide did explain it.

This was my first and only tours just before Covid. Health problems, which look to be easing, stopped further travel.

My biggest "disappointing experience" didn't have anything to do with the tour/people. At the end of my first tour I stayed a few days before flying up for the next tour. Then it hit me, I was in a country where I didn't speak the language and nobody there cared if I...

A surprising unsettling experience.

The same hit me when I stayed some days after the second tour. It won't stop me traveling but it was something I didn't expect. It will be interesting to see if/how it's different where I do speak the language such as Ireland or the UK.

How does buddy system work for couples? My buddy is my wife. I know where she is, or not. Do we then also have to watch others? What if your buddy is of the constantly late type?
I am in agreement with several previous posters. The guide should do a head count. It’s easy on a bus. I have been on many walking tours where the guide does a periodic head count and that in busy city streets and squares.

How does buddy system work for couples? My buddy is my wife. I know where she is, or not. Do we then also have to watch others?

You have a buddy who is not your wife. Let’s pretend your buddy is Joe. When the guide says, ”Is everyone’s buddy here?”, you look to see if Joe is there and Joe checks to see if you are there. If you don’t see Joe, you tell the guide ”Joe’s not here.”. That is all you have to do. You don’t have to hang out with Joe. It is just a quick way to figure out who is missing.

You are supposed to choose someone who did not come with you. If you and your wife are late, hopefully your buddy will identify that you are missing and your wife’s buddy will identify that she is missing.

"How does the buddy system work for couples? "

Your spouse can't be your buddy, so it works great!

So far in all the rick Steves tours we've taken, I've only lost my wife six times but that was because I gave her my Harry Potter approved invisibility cloak!

Happy travels!

You don't have to spend any time with your RS buddy, or watch them, or even talk to them.
You simply have to make eye contact with them when a buddy check is called, and let the guide know if they aren't there. Nothing else. It helps move things along.

In defense of the 14 day Ireland Tour: Don't sleep on this tour! Ireland is beautiful and I enjoyed 99% of the tour. And if you want to skip something on a day (I actually skipped the island day and spent the day in Gallway), you are more than welcome to opt out. Naturally, you have to go on the bus if you're not spending the night in the same place.

As to the food, we did have some days where lunch was a group stop with sandwiches. I think there were two. And those were in addition to our planned group dinners. Otherwise, I found lots of variety wherever we were. The guide was always happy to give multiple options for food when there wasn't a group event.

Our guide did speak some while we were on the bus. Had I wanted to ignore what they were saying, I could have. But I was interested in what they were saying. It gave a nice perspective as to local life that you can't get from a book. What family life is like, how is it maybe different from what I'd find at home, and how it is very similar to what I'd find at home. I loved it. Maybe I just had a spectacular guide.

When it came to the buddy checks, we were given clear instructions to make eye contact with our buddy. I didn't notice any counting or issues during the trip and we never left anyone behind. We might have had a careful and prompt group, as well. We had a few people leave the tour, and the guide would assign new buddies as needed.

”My biggest "disappointing experience" didn't have anything to do with the tour/people. At the end of my first tour I stayed a few days before flying up for the next tour. Then it hit me, I was in a country where I didn't speak the language and nobody there cared if I...
A surprising unsettling experience.”

This comment makes me sad. The RS guidebooks have a page of words to help, and even better, there are a lot of excellent YouTube videos for learning tourist words to use in a specific language - and very helpful to hear their pronunciations. All of that is before you travel.

During your travel time with the tour, take the opportunity to become familiar using any words, especially during your free time. Even during my breakfasts at our first RS Slovenia hotel (I stayed two days previous to the tour, also) I would ask one of the friendly young workers about a word or sentence, she would say it, and the next morning I would use it which made her smile.

Lots of YouTube or internet info can help you know how to ride the trains, etc. And your guides will show you how to use the metro in cities. By the end of the tour, the basics can become familiar enough to enjoy your extra days there.

One note - I always stay at small hotels or B&B’s when traveling alone. The staff there can be a help, if needed. You don’t need to feel completely alone.

Robert H....For the first six months of this year, I'll be visiting different countries with seven different languages. Most I don't know.

What I found is.....many people in Europe, especially younger ones and in larger cities, speak some English. When they don't, or I'm trying to decipher a menu or a label, I've become attached to Google Translate. It can help me communicate, read things, decipher lots. It's not perfect but close enough.

Is it really the language that is a problem or do you feel lonely, scared, or worried about interacting?

re: Robert H's comment -
I've experienced that feeling of emptiness and low level fear a time or two when traveling alone. For me, it was when I had lost the feeling of wonder and curiosity at being in a new place to explore. I realized I was over-stimulated, and needed to spend a little time doing familiar, non-touristy things to recharge. I ended up finding a familiar book and reading in my room for about 4 hours. By dinner time I was ready to venture out. I do learn a few words of the local language in order to connect with the locals, and it's true that most locals also speak a little English. But for me, the feeling of profound aloneness simply had to do with being away from home too long.

I mentioned it but it wasn't a big deal. It was just surprising (to me) since it didn't happen at all while the tour group was still "together" but I still went off roaming on my own in our free time.

Very puzzling to run into that at the end of the first tour (and the end of the second).

As for language difficulties, I didn't have a problem in the three places (V-F-R) in Italy. And only a few problems in Paris. Mostly* because it was my first trip overseas, I was on my own in a lot of the problematic situations, and my brain just locked-up/declared abort-halt-retry/etc when I would be struggling to order a sandwich.

No big deal. Just surprising, to me.

*edit: Also mostly because I minimized all contact with local people. :(

I didn't have the opportunity for social encounters and I was always conscious of making some waiter/salesperson's job harder... and the people in the line behind me.

It was also surprising how much could be conveyed by gestures.

Kind of a buddy story. We were on a RS tour and it was our first night in Rome. On the way back to our hotel from our group meal we stopped at Trevi fountain. It was dark, crowded and our guide had us keep our audio units on. She gave us clear directions where to meet up after we spent as much time as we wanted.

We were ready to head back to the hotel and we were missing two tour members, and I believe they were buddies, this was 7 years ago so I don't remember for sure. Our guide went back to the fountain and over our audio units we could hear her say their names and told them to raise their hands if they were still at the fountain. No one raised their hands. She came back to the group and know one saw where they went.

Our guide was going to go look for them and I volunteered to go look too. I had a feeling where they might have went. Our meeting spot was the first alley way past the fountain, but around the corner from the fountain. I thought they might have missed the turn and kept going straight. After walking a little way i saw the two of them huddled in a corner with apprehensive faces which turned to relief when I came up to them.

I'm not sure what they would have done had we not found them. First night in Rome, dark, crowded it could have been bad. So, probably a good idea to have a buddy and why it is not a good idea to have your spouse/partner/relative your buddy.

lol...

Our first night in Rome. Guide takes us all on a hike down from the Hotel to the Trevi Fountain then down some alleys and we ended up at the Pantheon.

We split up there. It was dark and I got lost walking back to the hotel. I remember walking increasingly empty streets as I finally convinced myself this isn't the way back as I tried to get light on the little paper map given out at the hotel.

Kept walking past a lot of dark big buildings and eventually ran into a collection of hotels. Stopped in one and asked if they could show me on my map where I was. Turns out I'd walked off the edge of it on one side. No wonder none of the buildings/streets matched.

Goes to show that not every experience is for every person ... but that doesn't make a tour good or bad. For me the key has always been get a glass of wine, consider all the options, another glass, start laughing about it no matter how dire (picture me in Kyiv a few months ago when the sirens began), then calmly pick a direction, move on and keep laughing. It always works out. In my case reality kicks in a few days later and I respond appropriately. Oh, if you meet me on a RS tour, and they try and make us buddies, demand a change. You'll find a greater sense of security that way.

My complaint is for Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna in 8 days. It is great but they should add another night in Munich, another night in Salzburg, and another night in Vienna.

I had two disappointments on the 17-day Best of Italy tour May 4-20, 2025. First, we hit the Dolomites for hiking a week before anything except one restaurant was open. No lifts to hiking trails were open yet, not even the tourist information office was open. We weren’t able to do the Alpe de Suisi hike we wanted (drizzly/foggy weather was also a factor).

Second, at Lake Como we stayed in the town of Cernobbio, which is a 2.5 hour one way ferry ride from Varenna-Bellagio. And not all the return ferries stopped in Cernobbio, you had to either come back by 4:30 pm or go past the town to Como, change boats, and backtrack. It wasn’t made clear that the high-speed hydrofoil was only €4 more with our included ferry pass, and that you should buy your ticket for the afternoon in the morning, because they sell out. We barely saw Varenna and didn’t have time to see anything else. Spent almost all of our time on the ferry (which got incredibly boring).

I found the stop in Eger, Hungary, on the Eastern Europe tour to be much less interesting than Rick finds it. Given that time is spent in Budapest, I think it would be nicer to break up that long bus ride from Krakow with a stop in Slovakia. Instead that country is just a drive-through. But overall I loved the tour and learned a lot.

Time on the bus was greater than expected, and I wish trains could have been used. Leaving early from one location, sit on a bus for several hours, stop for a few hours around lunch (usually with short tour), then arriving late at destination made it feel like I had less time to enjoy towns on the itinerary. That was a suggestion for improvement. Clearly not a horrible thing because I’m going on my 2nd tour in Sept. If you can sleep on the bus, that could help, I just don’t have that skill set.

Buddy system was great. My buddy became my friend, and we’re still in touch. Met wonderful people, but my buddy and her husband will be lifelong friends.

I'll give another vote for the buddy system. As an introvert, I appreciated that I had one person that I was connected with where I couldn't chicken out of talking to them! It really helped break the ice for me and I hope all the RS tours we go on will do it. (We booked our second for next year)

I took a tour and thankfully the "buddy system" was never used. Most tour members got to know each other and we could tell who was or wasn't there. And our tour guide did multiple checks before we got on the bus and after.

The "buddy system" always sounds like those school field trips in elementary school where you had to hold your partners hand.

As my guide put it-You are all adults and know how to tell time. You know where the bus is and when it leaves, I won't treat you like children.

No buddy system and there was only one time where we had to wait for a woman who had to purchase a souvenir. It also became apparent that whomever got on the bus first got the choice seats.

The "buddy system" always sounds like those school field trips in elementary school where you had to hold your partners hand.

Thankfully, it is nothing like that. :)

The "buddy system" always sounds like those school field trips in elementary school where you had to hold your partners hand.

Not like that at all. You’re not ‘partnered up’ or anything. At the meetup time, when the group is moving on, the guide calls for a ‘Buddy Check’. You simply make ‘meaningful eye contact’ with your buddy and confirm that they’re present. It was stressed to us that the eye contact is important, not just seeing the back of someone’s head. If they’re not there, you speak up. There is no hand holding or forced partner activities. Whether or not you become friends with your buddy is up to you.

You haven’t gotten many answers to your original question, but since you have taken 11 tours perhaps you could list the ones you are considering and ask for pros and cons.

I just finished my 10th tour (Ireland). It was a really nice tour and the only disappointment was my own fault. I injured my knee and needed to make a side trip to an urgent care center where I ended up with a knee brace and crutches. Initially, I thought I would need to leave the tour and fly home. The knee brace and ibuprofen reduced the pain. I was able to work around by skipping the activities that required 2 good knees (e.g., I skipped the Aran Islands visit, took the shuttle bus to the Giant’s Causeway, etc). So the disappointment was that I was unable to do all the activities that I had hoped to do and missed a number of the sights. The tour guide (Pascal) was fantastic and encouraged me to stick it out and I am glad I was able to continue without impacting the group. I would not dismiss Ireland. It is really beautiful and if you enjoy tours with great scenery, small towns, and music, it could be a good fit. The food on our tour was reasonably varied too and I was satisfied with the group meals.

My most disappointing trip was also Portugal. I went in Sept 2022. It was hot and crowded and might have been a little too much sensory overload coming out of the pandemic. I also am not a big fan of religious sites and found myself tuning out during some of the monastery visits.

Turkey and Village Italy have been my favorite tours, but I took them in 1991 and 2006, respectively.

@Laura, those were indeed big disappointments in Ireland and Portugal. I hope your knee is better now!

To answer your question, these are the tours I've done in chronological order: GAS My Way (back when it was called this), Spain My Way, Sicily, Turkey, Greece, Adriatic, Portugal, South England, Scandinavia, Village Italy, and Best of England.

I finally settled on and signed up for Poland a few days ago, but the RS tour office told me there's no single supplement availability for my selected dates nor other dates right around then. I need to travel during a particular window between April and early May so Poland is now off my list, sadly. I'm now deciding between my runner-up tours: Ireland in 14 Days and Eastern France. So... pros and cons of each?

My biggest concern about the Ireland trip is rain. I know I'm just supposed to embrace the Irish rain—it's what make the country so green—but multiple heavy rain days on my Portugal and Village Italy tours made them less enjoyable/less comfortable than if the weather had been kinder. I am also not a fan of later group dinners (I am not used to eating late and I have difficulty winding down to fall asleep afterwards), which I imagine the France tour would involve. Late dinners paired with early next-day departures are tough!

Lori, have you thought about South of France tour? It’s one of my favorites, my first solo trip after the pandemic.

Lori, have you seen this post?

Share a Room

My biggest concern about the Ireland trip is rain. I know I'm just supposed to embrace the Irish rain—it's what make the country so green—but multiple heavy rain days on my Portugal and Village Italy tours made them less enjoyable/less comfortable than if the weather had been kinder. I am also not a fan of later group dinners (I am not used to eating late and I have difficulty winding down to fall asleep afterwards), which I imagine the France tour would involve. Late dinners paired with early next-day departures are tough!

I’ve taken both the Ireland trip (just completed) and Eastern France (in 2011) tours. The Eastern France itinerary has changed slightly since I took it as it now ends in Aix.

Eastern France - I really enjoyed this trip. I recall it seemed to be pretty laid back with a good amount of free time and there seemed to be less bus time than on some of the tours I have taken. I don’t recall dinner timing, but I rarely have dinner before 7pm at home so late night dining is a non-issue for me. Perhaps someone who has taken this trip recently can answer. If you enjoy wine, this is a ”pro” as there are lots of opportunities for wine tasting (e.g., champagne in Reims, tastings in Beaune during free time, lunch at a winery, etc.). If you don’t like wine, this might be a ”con”. There are some charming villages and spectacular Alpine scenery. There will likely be less rain than Ireland.

Ireland - Due to my injury, I had to sit out some of the activities, so I can’t fully judge the tour. I missed all of the activities in Kinsale (some people said this was the town they enjoyed the most), the walking tour in Dingle, the walking tour in Galway, and the Aran island visit. I find the history and music of Ireland to be very interesting so these were a highlight for me. We had two different performances by local musicians during our tour. I also enjoyed a concert at a church in Dublin and at a pub in Westport during my free time. One downside was that music in the pubs often doesn’t start until after 9pm. Weather was a factor. On my trip it rained during the Rock of Cashel visit, on our free day in Dingle, and the day of the Aran Island visit (which I skipped). The rope bridge was also closed due to high winds. However, weather is always unpredictable. Ireland had unseasonably dry weather earlier in the month this year. The scenery throughout the trip was really beautiful and I thought all the local guides were great storytellers. One of my favorite activities was the hawk walk. I’m a backyard birdwatcher and the opportunity to see a Harris Hawk up close was amazing; it is something I would have never done as an independent traveler. If you do take this tour, I’d suggest reading the book ”Say Nothing” and watching ”Derry Girls” on netflix. I had read ”Say Nothing” twice before my trip and it really helped to put the history of the ”troubles” in context during my visit.

I know this is a bit of a rambling response but I don’t think you can make a mistake with either tour. I’d just go with the one that sounds more appealing to you. Have you looked at the scrapbooks? I often find those helpful.

I and my travel partners were underwhelmed by the Blasket Centre on the Heart of Ireland tour. We fell asleep watching the movie, but I wouldn't call it a deal breaker. The other experience also happened in Ireland. In Dingle, an optional musical performance was offered for the evening, and tickets were needed to be purchased in advance if interested, as it often sells out. I went, and one of the trio was late, almost drunk, and when he finally arrived, was more interested in talking than playing traditional music. Once they got started on the music, it was better. The pub crawl with the guide was much more fun. I wouldn't hesitate to return to Ireland, as the rest of the trip was spectacular.

Patti and Laura, these tips are great. I happen to not drink and I realize that both tours can be wine and pub-centric, which I actually don't mind. But TBH, I'm not that much of a folk music fan and on past recent tours (England, South England) have often wished I was tucking into bed rather than staying up late to hear that one last encore performance of a musical group. That said, I loved the flamenco dance performances in Spain and could have stayed up all night for those.

I have no doubt that either tour I take—Ireland or Eastern France—will be amazing. I've not yet been truly disappointed by any RS tour, as I keep coming back every year for yet another. I might as well just flip a coin a this point.

Oh, and jeanm, regarding the Poland roommate request: There's no way I could share a room with a stranger. I can barely sleep in peace by myself! ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks all for your insights and suggestions!

I liked all three of my past Rick Steve’s tours but I got tired of schlepping my bag and I wanted a little more upscale hotel experience. I just returned from a tour of Sicily with Odysseys Unlimited and I was very happy with this company. They only do small groups (mine was 24 people) and all tips are included except for the tour manager who is with you throughout the trip. The tour manager and local guides were all excellent, my fellow travelers were friendly and were interested in the history and culture of the country, and I enjoyed the accommodations.

My disappointing experience had to do with the timing of the tour. We took the Greece tour back in April 2022. Our dates coincided with two holidays- Greek Easter and Labor Day. It was very special to experience Greek Easter but our poor guide had to scramble to make sure we hit all the sites on the Athens itinerary. Because sites were closed Easter Sunday, tours were rearranged that made us miss the cog wheel train ride up to Kalavyrta. I was bummed because I was really looking forward to that. Then got to Napflio, our one full day there landed on Labor Day which meant all the sites were closed again. We still had great day but can’t help but wish that we could’ve visited the closed sites. The tour was otherwise amazing. But note to self- next time I sign up for a tour keep an eye out for holidays that can impact the itinerary. Next RS tour booked is Turkey!

My biggest "disappointing experience" didn't have anything to do with the tour/people. At the end of my first tour I stayed a few days before flying up for the next tour. Then it hit me, I was in a country where I didn't speak the language and nobody there cared if I...A surprising unsettling experience.The same hit me when I stayed some days after the second tour. It won't stop me traveling but it was something I didn't expect. It will be interesting to see if/how it's different where I do speak the language such as Ireland or the UK.

Google Translate is your friend and speaks many languages :-)

"Google Translate is your friend and speaks many languages :-)"

This was a while ago, Google Translate wasn't so helpful and the people in the line behind me wouldn't have appreciated me fumbling with it.

Never mind. I enjoyed both trips. As limited as they were. And will go again. Just surprised at the reaction.

I am reading comments about the buddy system. My first Rick Steves tour was in 2004. My "buddy" became a friend and we traveled on 17 trips together over the next 20 years. What a great find!

I've only been on one so the sample size is small, and I'm not sure I can consider it a disappointment as I suspected heading into the tour that I wasn't going to enjoy it. The 2-3 hour group meals were as painful as I feared. I'm an eat over the sink and get moving kind of guy and to having to sit still was too much.

I also wish the meals would have offered other beverage choices. I was stuck with water for every meal because the only other included choice was wine. It was made clear at the beginning of the tour that if you wanted something besides wine you had to pay for it yourself. I tried that once but it created confusion with the staff and having to check with our guide on how to handle it, so I didn't bother again.

Allen, I'm sorry the tour turned out to be not your thing.
For other pre-tour people, I'll add that I don't recall any of my many group meals that didn't allow for an off menu beverage choice, be it beer or soft drink. The server then collected the cost at the end of the meal. Your experience was definitely strange.

I also wish the meals would have offered other beverage choices. I was stuck with water for every meal because the only other included choice was wine.

There are only a handful of tours where wine is included because it is very cheap. On the majority of tours, no drinks (other than water) are included. I suspect you just got a restaurant where the staff didn’t know what to do. I just finished the Ireland tour and in just about every restaurant the wait staff took individual orders for drinks and came around with a handheld machine to collect the charge.

Also, as far as the long dinners, that also varies by country. For example, meals were much quicker in Ireland than they were on Italy tours. I found the same thing when dining independently.

On our tours, the dinner was not a forced socializing event (except the final dinner). Many people including myself will just get up and leave when we'd had enough. As long as you can get back to the hotel on your own and tell the leader (and your buddy) it's not an issue.

Drink choices and the pace of the meal are a function of local custom, not tour-directed. My usual choice, ice tea is not a thing in most places so I dont even try.

Allen, I'm sorry the tour turned out to be not your thing.

Liz, the entire tour wasn't my thing, just the meals. We did Loire to the south of France in 2019 and loved it. Getting out of the meals isn't an option because the socializing aspect of the meals was her favourite thing. There was a couple of times where I disappeared early along with a few others knowing my wife was in her element. We will eventually do another tour, likely Sicily, but not for a few years.

The long dinners might be a specifically Italian thing. The Southern Italy tour I was on last year had a few meals like that. There were really long breaks between courses, so leaving early wasn't a good option.

My 'Best of Italy 17 days' tour was a lot of fun; except that we had a few members who gave frequent loud guffaws. Our last group dinner took place in an underground 'cave' restaurant; it got so loud from all the non-stop guffaws and its echoes I had to insert tissues in my ears :p

My husband and I have been on two RS tours: My Way Spain and My Way Italy. Our Spain tour was fantastic! The guide was so personable and helpful, and all the other participants were a lot of fun. The only negative was that we had bus trouble and had to wait for a replacement bus at a rest stop for a few hours. That type of unforeseen mechanical trouble could happen at any time, and it didn't affect our trip at all.

Our second RS tour was to Italy, right after the Covid restrictions had been lifted. It was a completely different experience. All the participants were friendly and fun, but our guide was negative and unhelpful. When we asked for recommendations or had other questions, he would sarcastically tell us we were on a My Way tour and maybe we should have signed up for a fully guided tour. Additionally, the Italian bus driver kept hitting on all the single female travelers! It was such inappropriate behavior.

After that experience, we took a break from RS tours for a few years. However, we just signed up for an Ireland tour in 2026, and we’re hoping it will be a positive experience like our tour to Spain.