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My Way Alpine Europe tour

Hi, next summer my teen wants to hang glide in the alps. I usually plan my own tours, but he's into action and adventure and not museums/walking around towns. I figured this would be a good tour since it's 2-3 nights in each place and he won't get bored. My question is, for anyone that has done my way tours, do there tend to be teenagers in the group? That's another reason for this, I'm hoping there's another teen that we can join up with their family for some activities.

My husband is hesitant because we went to Germany/Austria already and he doesn't want to duplicate, but we only stayed 2 nights each stop that trip and there was plenty left to do that we didn't get to so I'm hoping to convince him.

I love the my way concept since we like to plan our own things and pick our own restaurants. We'd be packing in the adventure for this one and my son is into WWII so getting some of that in too with pre-tour in Munich. I'm thinking a walking WWII tour in Munich, Eagle Nest/Salt mine and the fortress in Salzburg, Alpine coaster, paragliding in Fussen, hang gliding, Jungfrau, and Trummelbach falls in Switzerland, and the Glacier in Chamonix.

Is there anything else a 16 year old boy would love?

Posted by
670 posts

We did this tour with my sister and her husband about 2 years ago; no teens on it, but that could be because we went in September. We all loved the my way concept, particularly on this tour since it is not centered on museums and history. We did day hikes at our stops in Italy, Switzerland and France. Then we stopped back in Innsbruck for 2 nights and hiked again. There are many hiking options at each stop. Italy was particularly fun as about 10 of us from the tour ended up hiking together and having lunch at a "hut" that is really a complete restaurant with fabulous food. To get to the hike we took gondolas and ski lifts == lots of fun. We toured the Eagle's Nest before the My Way tour started, using the tour RS recommends and it was fabulous. I recommend the tour as your son will get so much more information about everything then just going on your own. We visited Dachau when we arrived in Munich and, again, I would recommend it. It has a great deal of information that would be fine for your son; it is thought-provoking and enlightening.

Posted by
8346 posts

I guess I am wondering what you will gain from being on the My Way Tour. Someone else will select your hotels and someone else will transport you from place to place. Will these benefits outweigh the significantly higher costs of the tour vs. doing these things yourselves? Perhaps I am missing the added value of a tour coordinator to make suggestions about your time?

Posted by
15579 posts

CArol - The benefit to this tour is the door-to-door bus. These are fairly inaccessible places. To get from one to another on your own would require multiple means of transportation. Plus having a tour escort means there's someone to help you plan the activities for each day.

Kerri - I took the tour in early June 3 years ago. There was a family with 3 grade school kids (8-9) and 2 sisters who were late teens and early twenties. Everyone else was 40s or older. I would describe this tour as alternating days of activity and rest (much of it on relatively long bus drives).

Posted by
375 posts

We’ve traveled on RS tours and also independently. The My Way Alpine Tour we went on was an ideal way to go for this itinerary. Transportation on our own would have been challenging to get to the various destinations as we prefer to go by train rather than drive. The hotels selected were well located and the hotel in Hallstatt was absolutely gorgeous. The tour manager was very helpful with information so persons of variable abilities could choose the right hike for them. One person did hang gliding. While we were on our own for lunch and dinner, our tour manager arranged for a group dinner our last night. It was a nice ending. The people on the tour were friendly.

Posted by
1225 posts

I took this tour about 3 years ago. I remember watching (and envying) people rafting down the river in Chamonix. The river went right past our hotel where a bunch of us were relaxing on the lawn. I did not know about it in advance, or I would have planned better. There is also the Aiguille du Midi cable car to Italy. Again, some folks on our tour did this. And, I am pretty sure it is at the top of Mont Blanc that there is a small extreme sport museum. Correct me if I am wrong, other posters, pls.

This was one of my favorite tours, and I am considering doing a repeat. I got over my fear of cable cars on this trip! Our group bonded really well. Not sure there were teens on this particular trip, but there have been on other RS trips I have taken.

Enjoy.