Too many two night stops?

I don't mind the two nights stops. It makes me feel like I'm getting to see more things. One nights stops are not the best, but I understand that sometimes they're necessary. It's true that not repacking during that three night stay is nice. It's a shame there aren't any longer tours anymore (other than the 21 day) but I guess that the RS company has found that Americans with their shorter vacation times don't really book the longer tours. I would though!

Two nights have been good for us on our 3 RS tours. Especially because we add at least one night prior and one night at the end; so those two cities get at least 3 nights. But I can definitely see why 3 nights is appealing for some locations.

The 2 night stops work pretty well for me, and I usually add nights before and after which helps.

I did the Basque tour in 2019 and it was 2 night stops like the current itinerary. One of my favorites, too.

We did the RS Basque tour this year. Fantastic trip. Fantastic guide. We had folks in their mid-80s on the trip and nobody felt rushed. The pacing was perfect. We had 3 different couples who had been on over a dozen RS tours already. They uniformly rated the Basque Tour with its 2 night stays as the best or one of the best RS tours they had been on.

I have noticed that many posters on this forum who have amazing travel experience and who give terrific advice are loathe to do a 1 night stops or 2 night stops. I understand as folks travel more they begin to savor the finer details and the ambience and they often no longer find the long train rides or flights or drives charming. Makes sense to me. Personally, I like to travel both ways-- hit the highlights and move on to the next place with great highlights and also I like to slow down and spend a few extra days places.

No matter how you travel, it's still great!!! And the RS Basque tour is amazing.

Happy travels.

“Perhaps I am getting older and slower”

Apparently so am I!

I’ve done 12 RS tours and nearly all were 2 nighters with an occasional one-night thrown in for repositioning. I didn’t mind any of them BUT…. I also started doing some Road Scholar tours which tend to stay longer and do day trips. I loved the one I did in Provence which stayed 7 nights in Aix and 6 nights in Arles. I loved that the towns started to feel familiar.

For myself I think my change of mindset is that I’ve now seen a LOT of places and find I want to enjoy where I’m staying.

Happy and proud oldster, here. I've done a number of RSTs and touring that includes 2-nt stops pacing has been and is fast to my body and packing/partially unpacking efficiency skillset. Personally I would always prefer 3-nts per stay. But, I can appreciate that to have a broader perspective of region(s) / area(s) it 'pays' to move around in order to capture as many of the experiences available as possible. I just wish there were more RST 7-day city tour options because that's my travel love-language, being in one place for all the time. Luxurious!

I agree with Pam about getting the feel of a city by staying longer. I’m a vet of 15 tours including in 2009 the SanSebastian and Basque Country. I believe it was only 7 days and did not include a visit to Pamplona. From the current tour description the activities seem to be fairly identical with that exception. I would much rather stay in one location and make the day trips than stopping in 3 or 4 hotels.

Pamplona was a great stop on the RS Basque tour! Our guide Fran captivated us with personal stories of having run with bulls and felt their hot breath on his neck before dashing to safety!

I am so glad RS added Pamplona to the tour.

It's good to know that other tour companies have slower pacing when I too inevitably want to move at a more civilized pace. Heck, someone carrying my bags will also be appreciated. But until then, I'm running with the bulls! (Or at least living vicariously through someone who has.) The 20 year version of me probably would undoubtedly think these Rick Steves are too slow-- but I was annoying back then. (Come to think of it, I still am! Some things stay the same...)

Happy travels!

After 20+ years of independent travel, I tried a Rick Steves tour. It was all two-night stops, and I won't do another! I am also old (79).

I am okay with 1-2 night stops since those are mostly my norm when traveling independently. But, what I really noticed during the RS Best of the Adriatic tour last year was the number of hours on the bus. The tour has 37 hours of transportation on a 13-night tour which averaged out to almost 3 hours/day. During my independent trips, my goal is an average of 1 hour/day taken by transportation which makes a huge difference because the 1-night stops still have a substantial amount of the day walking & enjoying the city.

Currently, I’m considering the RS Prague/Budapest tour or Poland for 2025. 7 hours on the bus for a 7-night tour (3-night Prague, 4-night Budapest) should work out very well!

The RS Poland tour has 11 hours of transportation for a 9-night tour. That one has two locations that are 3-night stops: Warsaw & Krakow. If you add the normal pre-tour day for arriving, you would have a 3-night at Gdansk, also.

Pam wrote

For myself I think my change of mindset is that I’ve now seen a LOT of
places and find I want to enjoy where I’m staying.

I find myself agreeing. As I travel more I want a more fine grained view of the place I am in. Or, I want to get out ASAP and go someplace else!! :-)

The Adriatic Tour has a lot of bus time. I avoided it for several years as it exceeded my daily windshield time standard. But, I finally gave in. , did the tour, and enjoyed it immensely. I did schedule and extra day in Ljubljana and Dubrovnik. I enjoyed an extra two days to poke around some of the other parts of the waterfront. And to hit the old town wall early before the cruise crowds arrived.

I understand why Rick does 2-night stops and I loved the Basque tour with its 4 stops of 2 night each but that was 6 years ago and now, ahem, I prefer more nights per stop and a more relaxed pace.

”…it exceeded my daily windshield time standard”

Good one, Barnstormer! ; )

My first RS tour was Barcelona & Madrid in 2016. Chosen specifically because it used the train between cities and I was sure I would dislike bus time the most.

I'll be taking my 12th RS tour in Sept., and I no longer worry about bus time. I enjoy the scenery, the coach is comfortable, and longer distances are broken up with interesting stops.

I still have lots of places I want to see, and RS suits my needs for the European destinations.

I've been known to take a look at an RS tour and design my own around the itinerary, allowing for a little more time at several places. For example, I spent four days and 5 nights in parts of Southern France that RS covers in one two night stay. On our third visit for a meal a local restaurant worker wanted to know if was going to buy property in the area. He seemed relieved when I told him that the best I could do is perhaps visit again in a few years. I say that because he later brought us a dessert "gratuit".