Next RS Adventure ~ Trying to Decide on Which Tour

Here is a suggestion.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/eastern-europe/central-europe-tour

I second the central Europe tour to cover a lot of ground (but not go very deep). Also Turkey in 13 days is a good way to see a lot of a huge and interesting country in a short period of time.

Our one and only tour so far was Loire to the South of France. It hit a number of places that we probably wouldn't have gone on our own, plus it gave us inspiration for our return to the Dordogne region for a longer stay last Fall, and a future trip for a month-long stay in Nice sometime in the future.

I haven't done any organized tours, but Turkey is definitely a country I would consider seeing this way. It's huge, and I know very little about it. RS doesn't cover it, but Morocco is another one that I would be inclined to use a tour company.

I think Turkey is a great idea, as is Rome where ticket acquisition and logistics can be difficult.

Our favorite tours (out of 21!) have been Village Italy and Eastern France. These tours take you places that you might have trouble getting to on your own if, like us, you rely on public transportation. But the best part is the experiences you have on the tour that you would likely miss on your own: a truffle hunt, followed by a wonderful meal; a cooking class at an organic farm; a visit to a French chateau that has been in the owner's family for 8 generations; a tour of a vineyard and winery, followed by an incredible meal.....

I could go on, but these are just a few of the incredible experiences you'll have. Believe me, there are many more. In fact, when I asked Stan which tour he wanted to take next year, he didn't even hesitate: "Let's do Village Italy again!" And so, we are.

What do YOU want to see and do? Everyone has favorites or bucket lists.
Since I'm older and don't want to drive, I choose tours that take me to places I can't easily go to on public transportation. My favorites are South of England, South France/Loire, South of Italy and Village Italy (is there a theme here?). Major cities are solo trips with easy to do food tours, museum tours, walking tours and city tours to see the sights. RS Tours offer more and varied experiences that may not be available on your own. I also have done the Berlin, Prague and Vienna tour, mainly because I wanted to return to Berlin after 50 years and visit Vienna; the 20th century history was the selling point. I usually sandwich independent travel on either side of the RS tour for a month trip.

People choose RS tours for different reasons. But one suggestion is to consider RS tours that have an itinerary (1) you really like and (2) you would have difficulty replicating on your own.

An example is the Central Europe tour--five different countries, four different currencies, long distances between overnight stops in a region not known for public transportation. Consider on your own traveling from Prague to Krakow, Krakow to Budapest, Budapest to the Plitvice Lakes Park in Crotia, Plitvice to Rovinz, and Rovinz to Bled in Slovenia. Other tours like some in Italy and France, especially the Eastern France tour that goes from Reims to Provence; and Greece are logistically challenging.

For example, with the Central Europe tour, I suspect our resident Central Europe expert Mr. E would recommend flights between some of these destinations. But using train and bus, this is what you would be looking at: Prague to Krakow, train for over 6 hours with 1 change; Krakow to Budapest, train for almost 9 hours; Budapest to Plitvice, train for 8 hours with 1 change; Plitvice to Rovinj, bus for over 7 hours; and Rovinj to Bled, train and bus for 5 hours. Traveling by bus on a RS tour is certainly more comfortable, exponentially more convenient, and surely in some, if not most or all, cases faster.

The big two reasons I decide to take a tour as opposed to going on my own are that I don’t want to figure out and drive the route myself, and the public transit options aren’t great. I took both the Greece and Turkey tours for these reasons. They both cover a fair bit of ground, and go into a lot of sights that would have taken me a lot of planning to figure out on my own.

I took the 7 day Ireland trip a few years ago and loved it. I think it was a great use of having guides and transportation to help get around Ireland which would have been more difficult on my own. Would recommend adding a few days in Dublin at the end to see sites like Newgrange.

Although I have not taken the 21 Day Best of Europe Tour, a few observations can be deducted from it.....a number of European countires, diverse cultural and linguistic opportunities and a lot of time on the bus. Italy and France seem to have had special connections for you as your revisits suggest.
How about an RS tour with a focus on one country with very little "bus time" although quite active in walking? Cultural diversity, modern and antique, and it is a tour offered as early as Feburary - long before the travel crunch of summer. To add to the attraction - this tour is hosted by some of the very finest guides currently working with Rick.
My recommendation.....Best of Barcelona and Madrid.
And....if the Iberian magic captivates you, a second RS pairing might tempt you. Maybe the "RS Basque Tour" or the RS "Best of Portugal Tour". Either would be excellent additions.

I second the suggestion to consider Ireland. We took the 14 day tour several years ago and just loved it. Ireland was full of charm and great adventures (castles! hawks! so much beer! craic!) and we were very, very glad we weren't trying to drive all those small roads on the left side. This was our first RS tour ever, which added to our travel skills and inspired us to do more travel, both via RS and on our own.

I would suggest the Rick Steves tour of Scandinavia, a part of Europe not easily accessible on your own but RS manages the logistics of seeing 3 fascinating countries with knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides. I learned so much about this part of Europe and enjoyed the beautiful scenery too. I have places i want to see again.
Rick Steves does an excellent tour of Turkey which I went on in 2018. My other favorite tours are Paris and the Heart of France, the 17 Days Best of Italy and the South England tour, all Rick Steves. This summer I went on the delightful Best of Switzerland tour. There are many surprises on these itineraries, you will not be disappointed no matter which one you choose!

Hi, my recommendation is to check out the scrapbooks submitted for the last few years. See which photos & itinerary interest you the most. Have fun choosing!

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scrapbooks

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scrapbooks/tour-alum-scrapbooks

Turkey, Bulgaria, Scandinvia, Ireland, Spain, Portugal tours.

RJ you almost guessed me correctly I say after flying Budapest to Bosnia two days ago.

For some reason RS doesn't do a good Central European tour: Krakow, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, Gyor, Budapest. The Balkans are a different topic and should be Slovenia, Croatia, BiH, Montenegro and maybe Albania.

You miss too much on the 8 day Prague and Budspest your and the 15 day central Europe tour is too ambitious and ends by leaving you isolated in Slovenia

Do all of these in your own and find another RS tour, .any are well done.

You miss too much on the 8 day Prague and Budspest your and the 15 day central Europe tour is too ambitious and ends by leaving you isolated in Slovenia.

Most RS tours are ambitious. Unless it is a week in one city. The reason I suggested the Central Europe tour is there is such a nice blend of five different countries. Also, I have been to Lake Bled and it is by far not isolated. You can train to Vienna in about 5.5 hours and Vienna was not on the BOE tour so the OP can enjoy Vienna for a few days and perhaps fly from home from there.

I can recommend GAS, Best of Central Europe, and Greece. I haven't been on the Turkey tour, but would definitely use RS to go to that country rather than on my own.

We’ve done Best of Europe in 14 days (not 21 like OP) and Best of Central Europe. I would say both tours had similar pacing and long distances. Both were a great intro to places that should be revisited at some point. With both it would be very difficult to replicate yourself in the same amount of time. So I feel like that makes for a good value.
We’ve also taken the Best of Spain tour, and while the distances weren’t as great, it included some special experiences that we wouldn’t have been able to do on our own, and that’s probably true of any tour.

My wife and a couple friends went on the RS Central Europe tour.

Outstanding! Incredible time! Amazing content. Amazing guide- Peter (from Hungary.)

You can't go wrong with that tour!!!

Happy travels.

When I retired, I decided to do the more active tours and the tours with the most travel difficulty first. I'm generally a solo traveler so I've only taken 2 RS tours so far. (Covid canceled two other tours I had planned.) I'm a former art history major so I picked Greece as my first one. It would have taken me forever to get to all those wonderful places by public transportation. It was a great tour! This was in 2017 and I feel it was still the best choice. This year I took Paris and the Heart of France tour, which was a fun tour, but totally different than Greece. I didn't think, in the end, that Greece was strenuous. I was very tired on night 8 on PHOF. I am 8 years older though so... In between these two tours, I traveled solo or with my H.

I would suggest Greece, although you may have no interest in Greece (but you should! LOL), so you need to consider your interests and then look at the logistics of each tour to pick the most active and/or the most difficult regarding transportation. IMO.

Of the RS tours we’ve taken, I think the GAS would be difficult to diy, or the “my way” Alpine Europe cousin. Next year we are taking the Best of Adriatic tour because going to all those places on our own would be impossible.

Mr. E, you know how much I follow and respect your views on travel (though on college football a tad less), but I shortly will have a first-hand opinion on the Central Europe tour.

I think the itinerary on paper looks fabulous. I have visited Vienna in the past and did not enjoy it as much as many do, so its absence on the tour is not a drawback for me. On my own, I would probably not be visiting Slovenia, or coupling Krakow and Croatia with Prague and Budapest. My only criticism of the itinerary is that it spends only three nights in Budapest. The tour begins in Prague, so many will be visiting that city on their own before the tour begins.

And yes, the tour ends in Bled where travel connections are limited. But from Bled, Salzburg and Venice are only a few hours away. It's a good reason not to rush home and to spend another week traveling!

My favorite of the 15 I've taken is the Central Europe one (it was called Eastern Europe back when I took it).