RS Tours vs, RS Advice

Hi Mike,

It’s interesting that you say Rick’s guidebook emphasize staying longer in locations. From the guidebooks of his I have thoroughly read (and I read them cover-to-cover 10 years ago), they always had a suggested itinerary in the front that said for a 2-week trip, go to X number of cities, if you have an extra five days, add these two extra cities, etc. I still have his France guidebook. Let me check…. Yes, it’s showing lots of 1-2 night stops with Nice being a 3-night stop. Even my normal quick rate of moving through cities, and I made Nice a 5-night stop!

The short stays at each city are probably due to our typical amount of vacation time for Americans. I know back when we took our RS tours, we were carefully planning our year’s work vacation days to make it possible.

I think I have to disagree that people who take RS tours have little or no travel experience. Some of the people who attend my local RS group in Coeur d’Alene have a lot of travel experience. Their preference is his tours. Same with our former neighbor in Washington state. They loved to travel; they didn’t like to travel plan. They took numerous RS tours. My personal preference is traveling independently, but I still take the occasional RS tour. (Just signed up for a 2026 one.). And I have been to Europe over 20 times.

”….don't do the 1 night here 2 nights there check-things-off-the-list dance. Stay long enough to appreciate the location and culture…”. Statements like this honestly frustrate me. I have done so many 1-2 nights stops by choice. I do a ton of pre planning, travel solo often which opens up many more opportunities, and I study to be sensitive to other cultures. I attend events where I am more likely to be around locals, and all of these smaller, nontouristy cities (I’ve enjoyed some backdoor gems not in any guidebooks) also provide a lot more vs. staying weeks in a larger city. Please, everyone do your own preference regarding number of days. There’s no wrong answer here. : )

And, I hope that I can continue to reflect the purpose of the People-to-People Ambassador’s mission - my first travel experience to Europe in 1975. Rick’s goals line up well with it.

We definitely agree, Mike, that Rick runs a well-done tour company. There’s a solid reason why he is so successful!

Mike, I think the slower and backdoor philosophy is more reflected in his public statements, videos, and blogs than in his travel books. There are not many backdoors in his tours either, and a substantial number of the hotels he uses are large 4-star corporate hotels. Even i understand that necessity when moving large groups around.

Why the disconnect between the advice and the tours?

Profit. He knows how to package what sells. The tours are the best available for a certain demographic. Thats why he is stinking rich ... G-d Bless Him.

I would love to find a tour company that limits to 12, uses the trains and does nights in villages AND long stays in important cities and is done as well as a RS tour. Never found it.

I agree with Jean. Rick's suggested itineraries are not for slow, long term travel. They are usually no more than 1-3 nights in any place.

Rick is in the tour business. That's his main business. Everything he does is to promote his tours.

The guidebooks were originally written to accompany his tour participants. But others found them useful and they have become big sellers. But you'll notice many of his suggested itineraries mimic his tours. He hopes that some people will start planning their own but take his tour instead to make it easier on them.

His TV shows were developed to help promote his company. Unlike other TV producers, he gave the shows to PBS stations free of charge. ( I worked for a couple of PBS stations in my early days and believe me, if you wanted to give us free quality programming, we took it.)

I first heard of Rick Steves in 1991. I've read numerous intervieews over the years an learned all of the above about him and his company.

As Jean also pointed out, most Americans don't have a lot of time for vacation. They may not have a lot of time to plan. So a tour is perfect for them. And they want to see as much as possible in that time period. After all, how many fist time travelers come to this board with their itinerary of 18 cities in 14 days. They want to see everything.

I travel slowly. So I don't use Rick's suggested itinerary timetables. I use his information about the places but leave the itineraries to my own planning.

Honestly, most of the average tours that American book are like this. My tour to Mexico had 3 nights in Oaxaca, one night in Puebla and 2 nights in Mexico City.

Usually people who like slow travel know not to take tours. Most tourists who take tours just want a chance to see a fair amount of cities in a short timeframe with someone else doing the planning. And honestly there is no shame in that. I found that I hate the regiment, same people, and busy schedules of tours. But everyone is different.

Rick is a business man first off and is going to sell what is popular and what works for him as a revenue generator.

Are the books for the D-I-Y folks and the tours for everyone else?

DIY folks may one day take a tour. Until they do, the guidebooks help build trust in the Rick Steves brand, along with the TV shows, articles and personal appearances.

After years of using the Rick Steves guidebooks to plan my own trips (generally doubling their length of stays) when I didn't want to do the planning myself for a particular destination, I started my tour research with, and signed up for, a Rick Steves tour.

Trust in a brand is hugely important, as my Mom (who has watched his shows for years) will attest. She is hugely comforted when I am traveling with a Rick Steves tour.

I would love to find a tour company that limits to 12, uses the trains and does nights in villages AND long stays in important cities and is done as well as a RS tour. Never found it.

The number of people who could afford that kind of tour is so small that it is not a viable business model

What I would call a 'village' is a place too small to have train service

Mr E- a company who come very close to meeting your specs are Ffestiniog Travel of Porthmadog, Wales.
They are a part of the Ffestiniog Railway/ Welsh Highland Railway. Group sizes will never be larger than RS, more typically in the 12 to 20 size. But they have done smaller. RTW2 overland - London to London via the Orient Express route as far as Budapest then rail to Moscow, TransSib by luxury train, Japan by ferry, cruise Trans Pacific, across the USA by train, then the Queen Mary was just 8 people.
In fact maximum RZD group size limit was 12 anyway.
They also do bespoke tours, and have a "black book" of hotel contacts to die for.
Now I don't know if they take overseas clients.

I have done several tours to Switzerland with them, also a couple of American tours, and Halifax NS to Perth, Australia via The Canadian, The Coast Starlight, then fly to Melbourne, then rail to Sydney then the Indian Pacific to Perth with them.
One of my US tours was Denver to LAX via all the preserved railroads en route and the Grand Canyon then on to SFO and Chicago by rail. A classic example of some (very) out of the way stops as well as city stays. A chartered bus was used as required where trains didn't exist.
Yes I have also travelled independently in the US and Canada but sometimes a tour just does it better.

I think tours are a wonderful way to go. I get jealous of those that can do tours.

I think the disconnect is between what people want when they take a tour and what they want when they travel independently. To me, a tour is a sampler to see places and have experiences that you wouldn't have thought to do on your own.

There is an old saying, "You sell what sells"

You can talk about slow travel until you are blue in the face, but most people want to maximize their limited vacation and see lots of things. You can wax poetically about "Backdoors" and lesser known towns, but people going to Italy are going to want to go to Rome, Florence, Venice, and then maybe an "unknown little town" like Positano or one of the Cinque Terre villages, that they heard so much about.

Once you have seen the main sights, sure, then you gravitate toward spending weeks someplace, hitting lesser known areas, but even then, some have the philosophy of never visiting the same place twice, so always on the move.

That said, no, the tours have never been for me. I never liked the pace and the regiment it demands. I can also travel for half what a tour costs, I realize that you are paying for the service and perks, I just prefer to invest my own sweat equity.

Rick Steves tours closely follow his recommended itineraries as far as pacing goes. Right now we’re on a RS tour and loving it. His pacing works for us. This is our 5th tour— all great— and I’ve been to Europe two dozen times now. When traveling by ourselves, we both followed his recommended pacing and also we’ve gone slower and faster. I’d note there is a difference between traveling and vacationing. I feel pretty confident Rick designs his tours and recommendations from his heart and not his pocketbook.

Happy travels.

This thread refreshed memories about travel in Europe. My first exposure was a high school classmate offering her impressions of her family's trip to Europe. Impressive and we all listened with great interest. Years later and after retiring from their occupations, my parents, with careful planning, visited Europe. Upon their return, it was a joy to learn all about it. Still, travel to Europe seemed a distant, nearly impossible reality. Completing college degrees and with a flourishing career, I could afford a trip to Europe before settling down. A valued resource was a low-cost travel guide costing $4.95. Train passes provided unlimited travel combined with modest accommodations booked at arrival train stations. In 1982, Rick Steves published advice about traveling in Europe and conducted tours in a funky VW bus. His geeky enthusiasm and practical approach was appreciated by many. Rick's business model has dramatically morphed over the years. We have changed too. Once in a lifetime trip to Europe, is now for many active on the Travel Forum, yearly adventures. How many now wish to book modest ** accommodations with shared loos down the hall versus luxurious **** accommodations? While I thoroughly enjoy independent travel, there are times when a Rick's tour is a worthwhile alternative.

Mike, you might be interested in this article from the Harvard Business Review. One section in particular discusses Rick's motivation, and it makes sense. He states that his goal is to get people to travel places other than Orlando (see bold section below). I think that's what happened in the beginning. And I'd be willing to bet that a lot of people on his tours back then (and even now) travel independently because he's show them how. He's made lots of money—kudos to him—but gives a lot back and has really contributed to how Americans travel. I'm all for it. https://hbr.org/2025/01/lifes-work-an-interview-with-rick-steves

How have you navigated the past few decades of technology-driven changes in how people both consume information and travel?

I don’t worry about it too much. My main thing is to produce strong content in whatever medium is working for people. I have wonderful collaborators. I give lectures anywhere I can. My TV shows are free on public television. My radio shows are free. I’ve got technology beyond my wildest dreams to amplify my teaching. My app includes 61 free audio tours. Our guided tours—about 30,000 people every year—subsidize the rest. But I’m doing the same thing I always have: helping people get more out of their time and money on European trips. My mission, I like to joke, is to inspire and equip Americans to venture beyond Orlando. Perfectly smart, capable people go back to Disney World six or seven times without ever leaving the country, and I just say, “Hey, try Portugal instead. If you don’t like it, you can go back to Disney.” Europe, for me, is the wading pool for world exploration, and culture shock is the growing pains of a broadened perspective.

I've read virtually all of Rick's narrative books -- my favorite is Postcards from Europe -- and his attitude about pace is complex. He says to move slowly and swiftly at the same time. Though he says to avoid staying one or two nights in just one place, he's also adamant about seeing as much as you can abroad while the time lasts. In his most recently published narrative book, On the Hippie Trail, I was amazed that in Varanasi, India, he is up at 4:30 a.m. to tour the Ganges River, a pilgrimage site for the Hindu faithful. He gets on a boat, tours a market, visits several temples and witnesses cremations. The same day, he visits Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first sermon, to see a stupa (monument). He walks through a museum. Back in Varanasi, he visits a fort. And that night he has dinner with an Australian tourist. What an exhausting schedule even for someone in his 20s! The next morning, Steves is up at 4:30 a.m. again! This time, he takes another boat ride on the Ganges, prowls the back streets and goes to a bazaar. This wasn't a one-time burst of energy. Rick packs in the sites wherever he goes and moves quickly.

I traveled independently 10 times and with family five times before I took my first Rick Steves tour in 2022. I subsequently took two more of his tours, in part because my wife wanted to take one and my sister the other one. The pace of two of these tours -- Rome and Eastern Europe -- was fast but not breakneck. In October 2024, I took his Turkey tour and felt that I was run ragged. Generally, I prefer independent travel but am willing to go on organized tour with family. I would probably go on a Road Scholar trip.

We've traveled domestically and internationally and independently since our college days. We traveled as our children were growing up; and now they are young adults who travel even more than we even did. I can also say as the travel planner in the family, it is both fun, gratifying and exhausting. A few years ago, we tried a RS tour to see if we were at all tour people. We loved the ethos of of the tours; the no grumps, manage yourself, be responsible. They don't attract folks who are high maintenance; that need to be catered to. We have now taken 3 tours and enjoyed each one immensely. We have found the groups to be really wonderful; you've got introverts, extroverts, young and old but a majority over 60; and though there is never any political talk (except for learning about the locations we are visiting) and in spite of the forum wanting to believe; they have been very diverse groups politically which comes from occasional clues. We've met people who travel independently before and after the tour with pretty swanky plans when on their own; and we met one couple who mentioned at breakfast that they were very frugal travelers and the tour was a big splurge for them. And it's all a wonderful thing! One thing the groups have had in common is their extensive travel backgrounds. I've never met anyone on a tour even remotely new to travel.

We will never give up independent travel, but we find a lot of value in the tours. We also live in the furthest southwest point of the continental US. It's not a quick hop over or inexpensive endeavor to Europe. If we lived on the east coast we'd go to Europe every year. We also don't have a month at a time to be gone, so these are all the factors we consider when we travel. Would I love 2 months of travel through Italy meandering small villages at a slow pace...sure. Is it likely? No. RS puts out suggestions for all kinds of travel and then you find what works for you personally. There's no one size fits all and he successfully capitalizes on all of it.

”And I'd be willing to bet that a lot of people on his tours back then (and even now) travel independently because he's show them how.”

Mardee, that’s exactly how my husband & I jumpstarted our independent trips. During our second RS tour, our guide was chatting with my husband & me while waiting for our tour group to return from a stop. He mentioned that we were so organized that we could probably do this on our own. Wow, that lightbulb moment opened my eyes, and the rest is history! Of course, it helped that we lived near Edmonds, so I attended several of his staff’s free classes at the Edmonds Center each year, plus learning from this valuable forum. It’s one of the reasons why I try to be helpful to others wanting to learn, also.

The question I have is this: I have read many of the RS (or ETBD - Europe Through the Back Door, as the company was originally known), and those books have consistently emphasized the idea of slow travel.

Really? Just look at his recommended itineraries. They are not slow. I don’t ever recall seeing an emphasis on slow travel in his guidebooks. His guidebooks from the 80s were called ”22 Days in …” and the itineraries were typically 1 to 3 nights in each location. While today’s books cover many more locations, they still have rushed itineraries. For example, in the most recent Ireland book it suggests 2 days for Dublin and 1-2 days for the Dingle peninsula.

I WISH Rick’s usual tour hotels were corporate 4 star ones, Mr E! Well 4 star anyway… no, his usual hotels are 3 star often wonky hotels. Only the 1st and last hotels have been 4 star on our 9 tours.

I WISH Rick’s usual tour hotels were corporate 4 star ones, Mr E! Well 4 star anyway… no, his usual hotels are 3 star often wonky hotels. Only the 1st and last hotels have been 4 star on our 9 tours.

Luv2Travel. I had to chuckle when I read this, because on our 21 or so tours, our LEAST favorite hotels have been the 4-star, business class hotels.

Different strokes!

And I'd be willing to bet that a lot of people on his tours back then (and even now) travel independently because he's show them how.”

Mardee, that’s exactly how my husband & I jumpstarted our independent trips. During our second RS tour, our guide was chatting with my husband & me while waiting for our tour group to return from a stop. He mentioned that we were so organized that we could probably do this on our own. Wow, that lightbulb moment opened my eyes, and the rest is history! Of course, it helped that we lived near Edmonds, so I attended several of his staff’s free classes at the Edmonds Center each year, plus learning from this valuable forum. It’s one of the reasons why I try to be helpful to others wanting to learn, also.

Jean, that's great! And that's really what I think of when I contemplate RS tours and this forum. It's all about trying to help others share our passion. We were all newbies once, and Rick just gives us a couple of ways to pass on what we've learned from his resources; whether it be a tour, or this forum, or even guidebook info.

I have been on about 5 of his tours and have booked a 6th and 7th (one this year and one next year. As a person who loves to plan, and have a trip to look forward to and it still working full time, the tours are a perfect fit. Good mix of downtime and go time, decently located hotels and most import a guide - not only do I learn a lot and see a lot, they get us into museums without the waiting and make the most of my (American limiting) vacation time. Do I wish that there were places we stayed a bit longer on tour? YES, but that is why I look for decent air and go for a week or so, (like a Thanksgiving in Madrid for RT $450 from the west coast!) where I hade already been on the Spain tour. We went back to some of the same places and discovered new spots and just hung for a few days - relaxing and enjoying tapas and churros.

I could do it on my own, but I get so much out of the tours that I can't see stopping yet. Maybe when I am retired and can spend more time - but right now that is more scarce than $. YMMV And yes, he is a business, but as far as I can tell, also ethical and compassionate and I appreciate that!

We have never taken a Rick Steves and have been on only one tour. We have travelled extensively on our own and in our eagerness to see more our early trips were mainly one night stays.we gradually tried two and three night stays. They only work if you wish to explore a relatively small areas.

I use the guide books to select sights and cities. Unfortunately there are very few undiscovered areas in such areas as Tuscany. We have found a few cities, equally nice as more publicized cities.

We would not stay in most hotels Rick recommends as we want more comforts, but that is our choice. He is successful because he offers a product people want and wish to pay for.

A final note. We did one private tour. As the travel agent explained it, the incremental cost was the guide and driver. The advantage was we had more flexibility and could move around more easily. It was worth every dollar. However, I recognize that this is not an option for everyone.

Travel as you wish and your budget allows

Frankly, it’s quite simple because we’ve heard it so many times from the tour guides….”we want to give you a taste of (whatever country we’re visiting) and teach you to be comfortable traveling so that you are able to come back on your own and spend more time in the places that interest you.”
And I agree with Luv2travel (Hi buddy!) most of the hotels have been wonky not 4 star! Occasionally, a really nice one gets thrown in and is greatly appreciated.

Wow, that lightbulb moment opened my eyes, and the rest is history! ... It’s one of the reasons why I try to be helpful to others wanting to learn, also.

Jean, what an amazing story behind your generosity here!

Thanks, Hannah. I think a lot of us on the forum are thrilled when we can help someone else in some small way have a nicer experience during their trip.

My sister in Iowa recently asked permission to have a couple in their church call me. They are planning their first trip to Italy to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Wow, that touched me so much since my husband only made it to our 45th! We talked, and I asked about their wishes. They ended up making some itinerary changes after we talked that will make this a better experience for them & their goals for a romantic time. I may not be able to celebrate my 50th anniversary in a couple of years, but I find a lot of joy thinking about these two fulfilling their dream. That’s why it’s wonderful to have the chance to help!

Always so many different perspectives. To our original author, Mike. I’m getting from your post you’ve not been on an RSE tour and perhaps not another type tour? After years of independent travel (in Europe) and now with different tour companies (6th RSE coming up) as well as other very well-known tour companies I probably have a different perspective. So, not to go into my entire life’s history of traveling-Rick and his guides have made me a more independent traveler. He’s helped me become a student of traveling. From the choice of the trip, to the trip preparation (reading other travel guides, reading RSE guides, watching travel programs, reading travel articles and watching Monday Night Travel, etc.) I’ve become a seasoned well-equipped traveler with knowledge of the historical, political and social aspects of the region (s) supplemented by the actual trip itself, fellow travelers and the guide or guides. Even though I’m on an RSE trip with other RSE travelers, I can navigate in small towns, large capital cities, use public transportation, order meals, negotiate and even get back home through varied foreign airports and customs offices. I didn’t have that skill set, knowledge or training before. My independent travel was much more narrow and specific, think revisiting the same towns over a period of years because it was familiar. Nice, but I didn’t learn anything new. In traveling with some other companies who carried your bags and dropped you off at the hotel door, all I learned was how privileged I looked and how fancy traveling was not going to be sustainable. I was more concerned about the outfits I wore and not where I was traveling. If you buy in to the RSE philosophy, you care less about your portered luggage, your outfits and more about what you will discover about the region, the people and the art and history you can only experience in person. As other respondents have pointed out, Rick is clear that he wants his tours to give his travelers a taste of the region And maybe they will hunger for a bigger bite and come back independently someday to continue the journey. Tours are not everyone’s idea of a trip, vacation, holiday, get-away or break, but Rick’s curated tours are well developed experiences.

Thanks Rabs for that informed reply. And thanks to all of the rest for their thoughtful takes on my original post. This is what makes this forum so great.

You're right Rabs, I've never taken a RS tour, or any other tour for that matter. I've always been a DIY guy when it comes to travel and I enjoy doing that. I realize my way isn't the way for everyone else. I was merely commenting on what I've read, watched, surmised, and gained from a handful of people I know or who have spoken to who have taken these tours.

I'm thrilled to hear from so many people who have first-hand experience with his tours (which I do not) and speak highly of them, as well as admire Rick Steves as a person and businessman (which I share).

As Rick would say, "Keep on Travelin'".

Mike

I've traveled both independantly and with tours, not a RS tour yet, but I am taking the Best of London tour next Apr/May and I am looking forward to how it compares to the other 4 tour companies I have used in the past. We have opted for tours when the transportation of getting around a country or place we want to see the most of has been a hinderance. Driving in Scotland and NZ for instance. I have also traveled a couple of times as a solo female and it gives me comfort to use a tour company for part of the time, but also spend a few days on my own. My husband and I have loved our independant experiences, but we have also met life long new friends on a couple of the tours we have taken. We have found that combining a tour with independant travel is a nice change of pace at times. Give a tour a chance and see how it works for you.

Thanks susanking39. We've hired drivers a couple of times for a day who also served as tour guides and it was great. The one that first springs to mind was a driver in Belize who had grown up there but had lived much of his adult life in New York in the finance business. Highly educated, his father was British who was sent to Belize to establish the banking system there. He took us to places that other guides don't go, and at times that missed the schedules of more known tourist groups. Also told us about the local populations that a typical tour guide might not know about, at least in the way he experienced it.

Second was yet another driver (cabbie) who picked us up at the Belfast train station to take us to our car rental pickup site (BFS airport). He had a side job as a "Black Cab Tour" operator. Took the back roads to BFS, and along the way showed us much of the wall that to this day separates the north from the south. And of course he could explain a history of that wall. Even though I've read much and watched movies and documentaries about "The troubles" and Irish history, he had insights that I would never be able to learn through those means. He could talk about it from his own lived experience.

So yes, sometimes a guided experience is fully worth it. Still, for the time being, I enjoy DIY travel, with occasional local guidance. Could change, who knows? As age takes its toll, a more complete packaged experience could become an option. Maybe.

Mike

Slow travel is great when you know you want to take a deeper dive into the place beyond highlights or on a repeat visit. How do you know what's going to strike you to stick around a while ?

First trip to Rome a few days next trip over a week. Do I want to go back? Maybe but it's a big world and want to see new places.

I'm booked on my 2nd RS tour this year and have traveled independently with his books since the late 90's. Sometimes you don't want to plan , want a quick overview or don't want to white knuckle drive on a country road in bad weather. Tours are good for that especially where there isn't good rail service.

I may not be able to celebrate my 50th anniversary in a couple of years, but I find a lot of joy thinking about these two fulfilling their dream. That’s why it’s wonderful to have the chance to help!

Jean, this is so bittersweet and simply beautiful. I sent you a PM to respond more fully so as to not hijack the thread. <3

I used RS guidebooks for DIY trips for 20 years and finally did a RS tour this year. When I go on my own, I spend more time in each place and see fewer places vs. the RS tour I took (Greece) which stayed 1 or 2 nights in each place. I totally understand why the tours do that- they are pretty much all "best of" tours to give people a taste of the area and a variety of experiences, and makes sense to me to cover more territory. than many people would ordinarily do on their own. I thought the itinerary was excellent for our trip- if it were me, I'd spend an extra night at each location, but that would extend the trip beyond the 2 weeks that fits into most people's schedules and budgets. Besides, I'm not sure most people, including me, want to pay tour prices to hang out and relax longer in a given location. I loved our tour, but am not rushing to sign up for another RS tour, largely because of the amount of hours on buses over 2 weeks.

I have heard Rick say in person and in interviews, that his goal is to encourage people to travel independently (find your own backdoors) and that his books and tours were meant to give people some travel skills and information to help them do so.

I'm listening to a podcast called How I Built This, hosted by Guy Raz. He is interviewing Rick Steves (interview occurred 4 years ago) and it's very interesting. All about how his business grew from basically nothing to what it is today. I highly recommend it.

I WISH Rick’s usual tour hotels were corporate 4 star ones, Mr E! Well 4 star anyway… no, his usual hotels are 3 star often wonky hotels. Only the 1st and last hotels have been 4 star on our 9 tours.

I probably wouldn't be interested in taking another RS tour if he used corporate hotels. The small hotels with actual personality were part of what made us love our first RS tour. That is one of the (many) things that sets him apart from the others.

My husband and I have traveled all over the world independently. We took our first RS tour in 2023 and were hooked. RS provides local guides for each area, we enjoy the knowledge and stories these guides share. Your idea that we stay in 4* hotels made me chuckle. The hotels are qwerky, but most locations can’t be beat. We leave for our 3rd RS tour in a couple of weeks and have #5 and #6 planned for 2026.

I just love this conversation. Its always good to hear so many different perspectives.
I am 71 and happily retired. I started traveling in 1972 before Ricks books. First trip depended heavily on the book called Europe on 5 dollars a day (and yes it was possible to do so at that time). I have backpacked for 4 months spending leisurely time in some places (a month in Greece) and I have also had a couple of just one to two week trips in Europe (mainly when I was working but most recently I spent a week in London in March).
In 2024 I was fortunate to be in Europe for 2 1/2 months straight (a long held retirement dream). During that 2 1/2 month period I stayed with friends in Wales for 2 weeks, then I took the RS 12 day My Way Alpine Tour, then rented a house with friends in France for a month and then did about 2 1/2 weeks of independent travel. It was all fabulous including the wonderful RS tour (my second).
Mainly I am an independent traveler but a few years ago decided to give RS tours a try. Starting with the 12 day Portugal tour; I saw the benefits right away. The RS My Way Alpine tour was the second one and I am scheduled for The Best of the Adriatic this month and super excited (have added on days before and after). Also decided to do the RS 17 day Best off Italy in April 2026; I have been to many parts of Italy (three times) in my backpacking days; but this time I thought wouldn't it be great to revisit all those places and all that art and really learn all about it this time!
I think Ricks books do a great job of narrowing down the major sites with the minimum time needed to see those sites. That's important for a traveler with limited time.
I have not tried any other tour companies. A friend travels a lot with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT), and my sister in law loves Sierra Club and Roads Scholar, and recently took a small independent van group tour to the Outer Hebrides with only 5 women on the tour. It sounded great. I believe they stayed in pubs and old time Bed and Breakfast places.
So yes, there are many ways to travel. Tours or independent travel or a mixture of both. Believe it or not some folks don't like to be gone from home too long; I am not one of them!! Others are restricted to limited time off. Some just want to see as much as they can and others want to just kick back and relax. As I have gotten older (there: I said it) I don't care for one night stays; but I think the Adriatic tour coming up has three of those. I will deal with it and make the best of the time I have. I have also found its kind of nice for someone else to do the logistical work of transportation and lodging. That's what made the My Way Alpine tour so great, plus the amazing scenery.
I also LOVE the RS hotels; always have. Even if money was no object those are the types of places I enjoy and would continue to choose. I can still schlep my own bags but of course I appreciate an elevator. I love a bathroom in my room but would not mind walking down the hall to one if need be. I don't need many amenities, but I do want it to be clean and safe and it is fun to be in the center of the old towns.
Just keep on traveling no matter how you do it! And keep an open mind about taking a tour. I was not disappointed. Regina

As the original poster of this thread (that would be moi), I am both surprised and educated by the number and variety and content of the responses. I've learned a lot from all of you. Next time I'll post my question in a bit less judgmental way...maybe ;>).

Happy travels all.

Mike

*emphasized textYet when I talk to people about their RS Tour experiences, or when I view the itineraries of the RS tours, I hear and see just the opposite of what I have taken from the books. They seem to be a quick run-through of well-organized stops with pre-arranged locals at their shop or cafes or whatever and then back on the bus to the next stop. Just the opposite of how I want to travel, and the reason I've never taken a Rick Steves tour. But clearly enough people love them so kudos to Rick I guess.*

I feel like your comments are fairly judgmental and curious about who you have been talking to? What would give you the idea that the tour is about shop and cafes? Having gone on several tours I was only taken to one shop in all the tours I have been on.
. Not sure what you mean about cafes…. Also again having been on several tours I would reject the notion that his tours are full of inexperienced travelers. myself included. Go or don’t go on a tour it’s your choice. Tours are not for everyone. However don’t try to put in motivations for others and without actually being on a tour telling others what a rs tour is like.

Well thought out question :D This is coming form a 4-time RS tour veteran (5 come Sept) plus 5-time independent European traveler over a 14 year period

For me and my experiences & desires, I use the tours as a springboard to both get a baseline knowledge of an area and a curated snapshot of desired highlights. My personality agrees highly with the RS book themes and I find the value exceptional for an organized , efficiently run, and tested X'day itinerary. I take advantage of time pre-tour and post tour to delve deeper into guidebook recommendations, hire local guides for day trips, and doing ordinary things (food shopping, park walking, cafe reading, etc...)

My understanding of the RS philosophy is to teach independent travel and to gain the skills, confidence, and desire to travel without an organized tour and to embrace slow travel.

My two cents!