November RS tours?

HI we have taken two tours in Nov. Both over Thanksgiving. Paris and London. Not sure if there are trips that week for next year. We loved it. Great time to travel to Europe and you saw some of the Christmas displays. Enjoy your trip.

I have done Venice, Florence, Rome in November, also the now defunct Venice in 7 days. It was chilly but magical, especially the snow in Venice. I like travelling in November and wish there were more of a selection.

After Venice, I headed to Bolzano and Munich for the Christmas markets; headed to Salzburg for same after VFR.

Speaking of defunct tours, our first RS tour was Best of Florence. Now, that was a wonderful tour. It may be my favorite of the 9 RS tours we have taken. Cecilia was our guide, and the experience was amazing.

Best of Sicily has 2 tours that begin after election day in November for $1,995pp

This page lets you sort available tours by month: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/all. November departures currently include Turkey, Sicily, Barcelona & Madrid, Venice/Florence/Rome, and Paris or Rome city tours.

Laura, thanks for the tip. One of the few complaints I had about the new catalogue is that there is no easy way to compare departure dates, or to choose tours by date. This link will help.

Jzboy, Sicily is actually the only RS tour we've taken twice! We repeated it this year because the itinerary had changed, and the price and timing were right. Highly recommended, by the way. Thanks for the help.

I like the idea of Barcelona/Madrid. Then head for Andalucia on your own or fly to Paris and enjoy the start of the Christmas season.

Chani, I like how you think - not for the first time! That's another tour that we have done, but wouldn't mind doing again. The last time we went to Granada post-tour, then came back to Madrid for several days. There were plenty of places on our "wish list" that we didn't get to. There's always a reason to return!

I was also intrigued by Laura's mention of Turkey. That's a place we've never been, and I've heard (here on the forum) that it is amazing. But the last Turkey tour starts Nov 7, the day before Election Day. Maybe they'll add another tour...

Of course, this is all still up in the air (so to speak.) We probably won't know for some time yet whether or not we'll be able to take a second trip in 2016. That is in our future plans, however, to start taking two European trips a year, in addition to travelling in the States. We usually take at least one camping trip a year here.

Chani, I like how you think - not for the first time! That's another tour that we have done, but wouldn't mind doing again. The last time we went to Granada post-tour, then came back to Madrid for several days. There were plenty of places on our "wish list" that we didn't get to. There's always a reason to return!

I was also intrigued by Laura's mention of Turkey. That's a place we've never been, and I've heard (here on the forum) that it is amazing. But the last Turkey tour starts Nov 7, the day before Election Day. Maybe they'll add another tour...

Of course, this is all still up in the air (so to speak.) We probably won't know for some time yet whether or not we'll be able to take a second trip in 2016. That is in our future plans, however, to start taking two European trips a year, in addition to travelling in the States. We usually take at least one camping trip a year here.

Jane, don't you have absentee voting in Oklahoma? The Turkey tour was my first RS (3 years ago) and I loved it. Mine started Oct. 26 and weather was mostly sunny, never really hot, some days were rather chilly, especially the mornings. It's pretty late in the year and it's not a top destination so I would not put much hope into RS adding another tour.

There aren't many choices for that late in the year. You've traveled a lot. Why not just go somewhere great on your own? Christmas markets from late November into December . . . Or simply Spain on your own unless there is enough on the Madrid/Barcelona tour to be worth your while. I've been to Spain twice in February for 3 weeks each time and loved it. I'm headed back in March for another 3 weeks.

I am glad that you asked the question. I had no idea there was a way to see tours by date.

Chani, we do have absentee voting here, but my husband is a true political junkie, and active in local politics. He wants to be here throughout the entire election process.

And you're right, of course, about independent travel. Our usual mode the last few years is to combine a RS tour - for the ease and convenience - with an equivalent amount of time on our own, for flexibility. At this point, we're just dreaming.

And I too am glad to find the tour list can be sorted, by a number of criteria evidently. What a good thing to know.

Jane, you can easily do Turkey on your own with lots of great advice from this website. I did and loved it.

Just a note on my trip during an election.... I am also very involved in politics but the opportunity came up to spend nov 2008 in England.... I voted early and went. Stayed up all nite watching election returns analyzed by Europeans ( not my usual crew). And I have to say it was a really amazing experience to witness the people of another country watch our elections so intently. The next day every newspaper had full front page images, and every Brit that we meet was so engaged with what happened. We were continually greeted with "aren't you so proud of your country?" A part of me wanted to be here but this was truly an insightful experience. Obviously my guy won....

Wow, sounds like a great experience. It was wonderful here, as well, almost surreal.

I took a Paris City tour in late February or early March one year. It was cold but I enjoyed it thoroughly. I made sure to have lots of layers, a thick scarf and mittens helped and I bought a lovely beret which I wore frequently!

Last year I spent 3 weeks in November in Paris with friends; mid-month, the Christmas market began on the Champs-Elysées. It was great! Mulled wine and some gift shops.

One year I took an early spring tour, Village Italy. I was surprised at how cold and damp late April was. Some hotels had turned off the heat for the year making nights cool; I was happy to have brought leggings that I often wore to sleep. I now have a very thin silk long sleeved T that is helpful with layering but is very light and easy to pack.

Have a great trip.

We did RS Paris in mid November the first year he started doing the 7 day city tours. It was great as there were only about 20 of us and without the crowds of summer it was easy to see things and get around. What was great was we all had a 1 week metro pass to get around on our free time. Our group was really great, some nights we did things together and some nights some of us would do things. We actually had good weather, mild and only one day of rain. We took the chunnel and spent a few extra days in London. Whatever you decide enjoy!