Advice on a non-Disney Vacation (Great Britain maybe?)

[Dopey & Grumpy]

Hi

I'm not sure this is the right place for this but my DH and I are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary next May and we want to do a Great Britain plus Europe tour. I've been looking on the web to see what I can find and there are a few but I'm leery of using any of them because I don't know anything about their reputation. A couple of them - Tours Vacation to Go.com and Our-Dream-Vacation.com have been around a while but I've never heard anything either good or bad about them.

We want to book one that takes care of everything - air fare, hotels, transportation in the varies cities, etc. Can anyone here recommend a company they've used and liked? We don't belong to AAA and have no plans to join them so that wouldn't be an option. I'm wondering if I should just go to one of our local Travel Agencies and book from them? I'd like to not have to pay a large fee to do this but I want someone reliable. Sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it?

The people here on this board have so much Disney and non-Disney information, I thought I'd give it a shot and see if someone could help us out.

Thanks
Sue

 

[Micca]

Sue I don't have the answer for you, but DW and I have done a UK/Europe trip and I highly recommend it(we did all the planning ourselves). Sounds like a great anniversary present

 

[Tina]

We've ordered brochures from this company:

http://www.globusjourneys.com/europe.aspx

They sound great. We have a friend using them in a few months and are anxious to hear how the trip goes.

 

[laurie31]

My DH and I went on a UK + europe tour through Globus. They have been around for 75 years and were very professional and we loved our tour. They handled everything, which was wonderful. I had been on my own once before, and it was really nice not having to make my own hotel reservations and haul my own luggage. Most meals were included, and those that were not were in places where there were many local restaurnats to choose from. As soon as our dd's are old enough, we plan to take them on a Globus tour. They offer many choices, from fast-paced to leisure, so you can choose what pleases you. Both our tour guide and our bus driver were very courteous, knowledgable and professional. A uniformed Globus rep met us at the airport in London and took us to our hotel. There was also time (on the tour we chose) to explore the cities on your own. I enjoyed having the professional tour of a city (London, Paris, Rome, etc) and then having the opportunity for free time to go back and see more of what interested you most.

You can check out their tours on their website.

http://www.globusjourneys.com/

Laurie

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

You are in luck. Sundays (today) at 2:00 p.m. est (I think) is the DIS chat for those living in the UK. That is where both sides of "the pond" can meet and chat. All are welcome to the chat and I am sure you will get some great "live" info. I believe there is also a UK forum that you might post to as well.
Have a great time planning and enjoying your trip. Spent a short time in London and Paris with friends and it was a great trip. I want to return.

 

[mcnuss]

I am making a HUGE leap here by assuming that bc you are celebrating 40 years of marriage, you would be interested in a group that caters to "seniors" - forgive me if I am wrong...

I have heard wonderful things about Grand Circle Travel (http://www.gct.com/gcc/general/) from many people and in lots of publications.

Another option is to use British Airways Holidays(http://www.baholidays.com) or another airline's "vacations" division. We used BA about 9 years ago to book an all-inclusive trip to London and not only was it very easy (I had 8 mo old baby at the time I was planning this trip, so I was looking for 1 stop shopping) but also considerably less expensive than booking each piece myself. We stayed at the Thistle Kensington Park and it was lovely!

You'll have a wonderful trip!

 

[Dopey & Grumpy]

Hi

Thank you all for the quick responses. I'm going to check out all the recommendations and see what they offer. It's nice to know that someone has used these companies and have had good results from them.

I'll definitaly check out the DIS chat today. Thanks Tiger Lily 03.

Yes, mcnuss, your "leap" is correct. We would definitely prefer to tour with a group of seniors. To tell you the truth, until you brought it up, I hadn't given it any thought to the various age groups that would be touring also. It's somthing to consider.

I'm going to bookmark all the suggestions and start doing some research. It's never to early to start planning a major vacation.

Thanks again everyone,
Sue