Two seniors planning this trip for late Aug. for up to 4 weeks. Prague, Wrocław(Poland), Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin. We are experienced travelers trying to figure out if we should use a tour company to set this trip up for us. Preliminary plans are completed with a good idea what we would like to see but we are not familiar with custom tour companies in Europe. Is Rick Steves a good choice? If not, are there any recommendations? We do not want a packaged tour and need assistance with city locations, day tours, travels between cities, etc.
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
2050 posts
I personally would not use a tour company. We did one trip that included Prague, Leipzig and Dresden and it was very easy to do ourselves. We had a rental car for while in Dresden and to Leipzig, but took the train to Prague.
Posted by
Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico
1750 posts
I did almost that exact trip in 2019. I used JayWay Travel (https://jaywaytravel.com/). They handled all the arrangements, made train reservations, gave me many options for lodging to choose from and then did all the bookings, arranged local tours in each city, and provided transportation between train stations and hotels. I've done three tours with them. You have complete flexibility on the itinerary as far as adding or subtracting days in each location, and you can pick and choose from various options for walking tours and sightseeing in each city. They provide a SIM card in each country, and they're on call 24/7 if you need them for any reason.
If you want to make all your own arrangements, you really don't need them, but I think it's a reasonable compromise between completely independent travel and going on a group tour.