Travel to Europe, tours

[eliza61]

My mom recently went on a trip to Europe with a tour group. London, Paris, etc. She enjoyed it and really likes going with a tour group, because she likes not having to plan things. However, it seems all her pictures were taken from inside a tour bus! I'd like to take a trip with her to Europe in the future, but I don't know if the whole tour bus thing is for me. Can anyone recommend a compromise? We're both a little intimidated by going somewhere alone where we don't speak the language, but yet I don't want to be so regimented by a tour group.

I think there are 2 different thoughts on touring a foreign country.

1) some folks don't want to do the touristy things with fellow Americans. A friend of mine is like this. She wants to go off the "beaten path", visit the local pubs so to speak. So she rarely does the tours, she is not initimated by the language barrier and will often just have a phrase book.

2) Others want the comfort and convienence of not having to figure out how to ride the subway in France. My mom tends to want an American chain hotel where she will recongnize her food choices for dinner.

Globus tours have many tours that are a combination. They have a 10 day Paris/London tour that my girlfriends and I did that was nice (nice price also)
4 days in each city with 2 days sight seeing and 2 free days on your own

vacationstogo. com has some good deals, if you are comfortable with on line booking. http://www.tourvacationstogo.com/

 

[shamrock30]

I've taken quite a few trips to Europe and only one tour--to Russia when I was a teenager. That was enough to teach me that a tour is not for me.

I also disagree that "everyone" speaks English, although you can often find someone who does around the hotels, restaurants, and tourist sites in the big cities. DH and I learn a few key phrases and travel with a small phrasebook, and we always manage to muddle through. Most people are nice, and if you are persistent and patient, you can usually make yourself understood.

 

[bavaria]

I also disagree that "everyone" speaks English, although you can often find someone who does around the hotels, restaurants, and tourist sites in the big cities. DH and I learn a few key phrases and travel with a small phrasebook, and we always manage to muddle through. Most people are nice, and if you are persistent and patient, you can usually make yourself understood.

Here is some irony. I always advocate learning a few key phrases and using them to pave the way, as I find that many people do not speak English. Even the younger generation in Germany no longer speaks English as a rule; it appears that my generation has more English speakers and better English speakers.

Move into the countryside and you will find fewer English speakers.

However when I suggest learning a few phrases, I get some negative feedback from some posters who find that offensive. How is that different from the complaints about the tour groups at WDW speaking in their native tongue? How would you feel if I stopped you on the street in Hometown USA and started to babble at you in German without even greeting you in English?

I consider it a courtesy to your hosts to learn at least a few words. While I do speak several languages I still learn key phrases if I am visiting a 'new' country.

Oh, and if the signage is not in English, do not stand and shriek and use profanity and expect me to stop and help you. Chances are that if you behave that way, my English skills will disappear entirely. (Yes, I encounter that quite often!)

 

[Imzadi]

I agree with the PP who said be careful what tour group you travel with, and also about Rick Steves. I was booked to travel with a large group around England, because I was afraid to travel there by myself. I arrived the night before our group met and wandered around London a bit. That alone got me over my jitters of traveling alone.

When I went to Heathrow Airport to meet up with the group the next day, I realized I really didn't want to be stuck with most of the members of the group for a full 11 days. I went into the bathroom to pull myself together, and somehow, when I came out, the group had left without me - only my bag was left in our meeting spot. I suppose I could have run, to try to find which exit they went to board the tour bus. But, for some reason I hesitated.

I ended up blowing off that trip, (and the non-refundable money spent, ) and used what little money I had left to book smaller 1-3 day tours here & there, planning my own itinerary using Rick Steves tour books & the tours in the British Airways travel guide, in my own time frame, staying in lovely B&Bs, and completely had a blast! I even went to Paris, thru a Chunnel tour for one day. (Much too short a trip. ) But it was totally unexpected, and I loved it.

I now look at that original tour I booked as just the security & means of getting me to England, and over my jitters of doing it without a solid plan. (I was such a scaredy cat. ) But, once I was there, I realise it wasn't like traveling to Mars. They're humans. I even traveled on both London's & Paris's underground subway systems on my own, without worrying I'd end up God knows where and no clue how to get back.

I now want to go to Ireland or Scotland. I'm pretty much going to do the same thing. Smaller, individual 1-4 day bus tours or self-drive tours, visiting only the areas I want. And not getting stuck for too long with any one group or tour. Spending longer, where I want. And I may ferry to Wales & head on towards London.

England and Ireland are really smallish islands, compared to traveling in America. To travel by car between London and Dublin, the trip from London to Holyhead in Wales will only take between 6 and 8 hours, depending on the traffic. That's if you make it in one sitting without any stops, and who wants to do that? Then, it is then a two-hour ferry crossing from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. Or, traveling from the southern end of England to Scotland is only a few hours longer. I personally, can't imagine taking a cruise and missing the land sites through England, Scotland or Ireland.

Some U.S. states are bigger than whole European countries. I had a boss who was Swiss-French. He spoke fluent French and Spanish and some Italian. When I asked about this, he said Switzerland is so small that the joke there is: When you lay down, your head is in Switzerland, your body in France & your feet are in Belgium. It's very routine for Europeans to speak many languages because the countries are so small. Makes for easy traveling, especially with the Eurailpass others have mentioned.


And I agree about not getting on some super commercialized tours. They get kick-backs from certain stores & hotels who recommend them. My friend is a concierge, here in NYC, & I would never dine at the places she recommends. They are overpriced, touristy & lack our real, local, hometown atmosphere, foods & prices. They aren't bad places, but when you live here, you know better. She recommends them because of the tremendous kickbacks in free services & meals she & the other concierges receive.

 

[CarolA]

IWhen I went to Heathrow Airport to meet up with the group the next day, I realized I really didn't want to be stuck with most of the members of the group for a full 11 days. I went into the bathroom to pull myself together, and somehow, when I came out, the group had left without me - only my bag was left in our meeting spot. I suppose I could have run, to try to find which exit they went to board the tour bus. But, for some reason I hesitated.

I ended up blowing off that trip, (and the non-refundable money spent, ) and used what little money I had left to book smaller 1-3 day tours here & there, planning my own itinerary using Rick Steves tour books & the tours in the British Airways travel guide, in my own time frame, staying in lovely B&Bs, and completely had a blast! I even went to Paris, thru a Chunnel tour for one day. (Much too short a trip. ) But it was totally unexpected, and I loved it.

That is too funny! You have to wonder about the quality of a tour that loses a guest on DAY 1 at the airport! LOL!

 

[PatriciaH]

We loved our Adventures by Disney tours- both the Viva Italia and the Knights and Lights (London/Paris) one. We had limited time (21 days) and we saw SO much more with the tours than we would have on our own. We also had a great amount of free time and added even more pre/post nights where we traveled on our own. We are fine traveling on our own (I was a travel agent) but the tour let us focus on all of the fun stuff! We made some nice friends on the tours too.

 

[shelemm]

Anyone who can plan a trip to Disney can plan their own trip anywhere in Europe. I went to Poland, and I didn't know any Polish. A phrase book and a small language dictionary can get you through anything. Just about everything is on the internet. Go for it!