London/Paris ABD vs DIY trip

[MinnieInVA]

I just got back from the British Isles ABD, so a similar situation with London/Paris as far as ease in planning it yourself. I'm a single mom who normally LOVES vacation planning, and I have a 14 year old daughter with ADHD. This time, I decided to see how it went with group travel and tried ABD. I will say, it was *so* nice not having to figure out the logistics of how to get from city to city, find good hotels...and not have to drive! I could actually enjoy the scenery as we traveled between cities and didn't need to pay attention to traffic. Having local guides to tell you the stories behind the sights was awesome, we wouldn't have had that on our own. Probably the best thing was the tours we got to do before official opening to the public: EPIC Emigration Experience, Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, Tower of London. Being there before the general public massively improved our enjoyment of these sights. The tour also allowed some On Your Own time most every day, so you could decompress or do other activities as you wished. Will I make every vacation an ABD from here on out? Nope, I'm not that rich (haha). Will I do one in the future? Yes, probably Japan in the next couple of years.

 

[Marthasor]

If the ABD hits the highlights for you and its within your budget, I would probably do it. I am also the planner in my family and totally get the stress of being the logistics manager every day of a trip. We've done 4 ABDs and have also traveled in Europe on our own. The European trips I planned on my own were a ton of work. ABD is easy peasy!

 

[JRM815]

The London/Paris adventure was the first non-U.S. ABD trip my family and I took. We enjoyed it immensely, but the itinerary has changed quite a bit since we took the trip long ago. For example, our trip included a stay at a country estate outside of London where from there we had a day trip to Stonehenge as well as a visit to Windsor Castle, and in Paris we got to see Notre Dame before the fire.

Since you do pay a premium for an ABD trip, I think the question of ABD vs DIY comes down to how much you value some of the aspects that ABD provides. Is it worth it to you to have someone else handle the logistics, driving, planning, etc. so that you can just enjoy your vacation? Does ABD get you into places (and at times) that would be difficult or impossible to do on your own? Do you enjoy interacting with people outside of your family (and your kids enjoy time with other kids) when doing fun events? Because, let's face it, group travel is not for everyone. You can probably book the same 4- and 5-star hotels on your own, get general public admission to many sites, and save a good bit of money. Only you can decide if the ABD premium price is worth it for you and your family.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

If you end up going OYO and are looking for a private guide in Paris, we did 4 tours with 3 different companies earlier this year and one was head and shoulders above the others.

 

[sayhello]

If you end up going OYO and are looking for a private guide in Paris, we did 4 tours with 3 different companies earlier this year and one was head and shoulders above the others.

Plese tell us the tour company name! Good for OYO/post days, too.

Sayhello

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Plese tell us the tour company name! Good for OYO/post days, too.

Sayhello

https://parisandbeyondtours.net/

We toured with Ferit. He was truly amazing. My daughter was…not the most enthusiastic guest of Versailles...but he ended up figuring out how to make it one of the most memorable (positive) experiences of her entire trip. He also had endless patience for my mom’s questions, though he did suggest that when we come back we book a longer tour so that she can learn everything that she wanted to know.

We did 2 tours through https://meet-thelocals.com/. They were fine, though it very much came down to the quality of the guide. Our food tour was better than the Louvre one, but that was partially because it took more than an hour to get into the museum itself, and at that point my daughter was “done.” The food tour guide brought some chouquettes just to snack on while we get started and my daughter still talks about them. They may have been from Pierre Herme in Odeon (at least that’s what my Apple Location suggests) but that looks kind of fancy.

We also did a tour with a photographer in Montemarte as well through withlocals. He was a bit sketchy as a person but the pictures were beautiful, so I can’t recommend him but also wouldn’t necessarily advocate against him.

 

[wiihoo888]

I did this trip two years back with both my son and my mother. It was absolutely worth it for our experience. My mom is mobility challenged, and the guides could not have been more helpful in accommodating her needs and even giving me a break from that care. That, in itself, was a huge win

We also got VIP access to all of the attractions that my mom had on her Bucket List in both cities. Again, a huge win. The time management allowed for enough time to see the sites as well as time for relaxing and recharging. Don’t get me wrong…some days were long. But we did have free time on our own as well

As others have mentioned, the local guides were treasures. They were able to provide so much enrichment around the history of both cities. They were also a pleasure to have accompanying us. My son came back saying that he wanted to be Stephen (London local guide) when he retired. Just a truly sweet guy

Hope you have a wonderful trip either way