To Tour or Not to Tour?

Posted by Janelle Nanos on October 27, 2009
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real-travel-group-packages.jpgI’m setting off on a group tour to Morocco next week, and throughout my travel planning, I’ve been somewhat apologetic as I explain that yes, as a travel editor, I signed up for a tour. So I was heartened to read Daisann McLane’s column in our current issue espousing the benefits of group travel, which she noticed on a recent bus trip through Guangzhou, China:

As I sat on a bus wearing a silly cap, eating pork buns, and being serenaded by a karaoke-singing tour guide, I had to laugh at myself.

Not that many years ago I was so allergic to anything remotely “touristy” that I even refused to carry a camera when I traveled. I kept a list of “not for me” places–popular attractions, neighborhoods, even nations, that I refused to visit because I thought they’d be “too full of tourists.” I considered myself a class apart, a traveler, and that meant going places nobody else did, and going, mostly, alone. Tour groups? No way.

But it was a last-minute spot in a group tour to Slovenia that changed her mind. As the one American in a tour with one hundred Slovenes, Daisann was quickly adopted by the group:

In the cafés of Brac island, I learned the refrains to old folk songs (one of our fellow tourists, it turns out, was the “Slovenian Bob Dylan”) and how to sling back shots of slivovitz, the local firewater. During long afternoons on a pebbly Adriatic beach I got a crash course in the twists of turbulent post-Yugoslavia politics.

“It is not so bad to be tourist, is it?” asked Mila, laughing, at the end of one of those perfect afternoons. She had a point. This trip with the group was more enjoyable–and culturally enlightening–than my earlier, carefully researched solo forays to the area.

I’ve found that bonding with your tour-mates can be nearly as fascinating as exploring the destination itself. My first visit to Europe was on a bus, stopping in one country a day, and with all the driving, there was plenty of downtime to get to know my fellow passengers. We had an international crowd, from Brazil, India, England, China, and Australia, and as a teenager, I found their stories helped shape my wanderlust, and inspired me to get out in the world.

What’s your take on tours? Do you opt to go solo or do you look to make friends on the road? 

Get the scoop on great group tours from our Tours of a Lifetime issue, and find all of Daisann’s Real Travel columns here.

Photo: Robert Churchill/iStockphoto.com

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Comments

  1. Angela K. Nickerson
    October 27, 2009, 4:55 pm

    I actually lead group tours of Italy and other European destinations. I’ve taken groups large and small, and I think 8-10 is the perfect group size. There’s enough variety so that people in the group make new friends and can have dinner with different people each night. But with a group that small, those who are on the shy side, can’t disappear into the back of the bus never to be heard from again.
    Plus, with a group that size, you don’t have to rely on buses from which much of the countryside passes you by. With a small group you can navigate the city using public transit — and your guide takes the responsibility for getting you there on time and in one piece.
    The biggest advantage of group travel, however, is being able to travel with an expert. For most travelers hiring a guide for their entire trip is not economically feasible. But in a small group, that cost is spread out over more people, and suddenly what seemed like an extravagance becomes much more reasonable.
    A group experience makes traveling with a guide more affordable, and the expertise gained from traveling with a qualified guide can open doors for travelers in ways that most guidebooks can not. For example, I take small groups to Florence and Rome to see the works of Michelangelo. When we stand before Michelangelo’s Pieta in Rome, we can also talk about the David in Florence — and my commentary on both pieces builds on prior knowledge. In other words, I can help travelers not just navigate the city streets and choose a good restaurant but also make sense of what they are seeing so that they go home having truly learned about the places they have visited rather than just sight seeing.

  2. Sally
    October 27, 2009, 9:17 pm

    As much as a tour group sounds like fun, I enjoy travelling by myself. It gives me ultimate freedom to decide at the last minute to change my plans, or if I don’t feel up to something I won’t have to do it.
    Admittedly I’ve never done a ‘tour group’ per se, and the times I’ve gone with others I’ve spent the whole time alone in galleries while the rest went shopping.
    I also like to spend more than one day in a city, especially as I know I probably won’t ever get back there. The idea of getting off the bus, taking a picture to prove you’ve been there and immediately heading to another destination does nothing for understanding the city, its layout, its culture. I enjoy navigating my way around a city for a few days.
    Ideal for me is 4 days. It gives you a chance to see the sights, then branch off or get lost and experience the backstreets and lesser-known fun stuff.

  3. Carl Henderson
    October 27, 2009, 10:07 pm

    As an avid traveller who has visited over 50 countries in our great world and working as a professionals travel consultant with Travel Professionals International based out of the Toronto office, I have had A LOT of experiences with tours both personally and with clients.
    As already mentioned there are some great pros and cons to travelling in tours. Pros are numerous – experienced guide, learn culture, history and destination, group dynamics and friends, seeing more in limited time frame, skipping lines at popular attractions etc. etc. etc.
    For those who hate tours, the cons and preconceived notion of tours are very hard to overcome.
    However, I find it really important to match the right client with the right kind of tour! Tours come in all styles and budgets from riding the local buses of Laos with chickens running around to having a private jet tour around the world with an elite few luxury travellers.
    The most important thing when booking a tour is to realize what you like and don’t like, having the right expectations and booking a tour to match your style.
    If this is done properly, a tour can be an incredible travel experience! Perhaps not for every trip, but there is a time and place for everything…I dare anyone to try to read a travel guide book and understand the hieroglyphics on the temples in Egypt! :)

  4. Paul
    October 28, 2009, 12:02 am

    Hate group travel, but would feel safer in a foreighn country.

  5. Weldon
    October 28, 2009, 4:24 am

    I gave myself similar grief when I booked an all inclusive ski holiday last year: http://questingforadventure.com/?p=137
    After a great week skiing I came to conclusion that there is a time and place for each type of holiday. Normally I do bounce around solo, but there are some trips that are more fun with a group and tours provide that. But Morocco? That’s a fun place to go solo.

  6. jason
    October 28, 2009, 6:37 pm

    Yahh! its great to travel in group. I prefer to travel in group. Its fun to travel in group, we receive a great support while traveling to unknown place and its fun we never get bored. I even love to make friends while traveling. Its natural while traveling we come across many people with whom we like to travel, spend time or share many traveling experience. I have made a lot of friends while traveling in Europe and we are still in touch. I receive a great support from my old traveling friends. They help in finding out list of Best cheap hotel where i am visiting. So i will advice we should always prefer to travel in groups.

  7. Donna
    October 28, 2009, 7:08 pm

    I too have never been a big fan of group tours and often travel not only independently but solo. I like to set my own schedule, and being alone has never prevented me from meeting fellow travelers. In fact, the opposite tends to be true–I meet fewer people when I travel with others.
    Still, I have had to take a number of small group tours (12 pax or fewer) in recent years, either for work or because it was the easiest way to get to certain remote sites. And like Daisann, I ended up getting to know some great folks (including you Janelle!) who made the experiences much more enjoyable than they would have been otherwise.
    One place, though, for which I’d recommend a tour or guide for the general visitor is China. I recently returned from a month of backpacking there–which was fantastic–but unless you speak some Mandarin or are sticking to the most popular tourist cities, independent travel can be difficult. Not impossible, just tougher than a lot of other destinations.
    I was lucky to have had a friend with me for most of my trip who has a strong grasp of the language. If not, it would have been difficult to get around–even with her Mandarin skills it was a challenge at times–and we would have missed many of our experiences with locals, especially in the small towns, rural villages and provinces in the west. (I was fine by myself in Beijing and Xi’an though.)
    As for Morocco, which is on my short list since it’s one of the few places I’ve convinced my fiance to travel to outside of the U.S. or Europe–we’ll probably go on our own. Just be sure to share your tips with us when you get back! :)

  8. Sabina
    October 28, 2009, 8:57 pm

    I’ve never been on a group tour, except for the random day trip here and there when on a much longer solo trip of my own making. I really deeply enjoy meeting the people of whatever country I’m in. I can’t imagine being able to talk to them and get to know them to the extent I do if I were ensconced in the confines of a tour group. Traveling alone is the only way to be.

  9. Dartmoor
    November 6, 2009, 2:05 am

    The Wealth of Wildlife Project was funded by Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) and is designed to raise awareness and encourage the enjoyment of wildlife on Dartmoor by visitors.

  10. Marrakech Riad
    November 20, 2009, 4:20 am

    this is wonderful to read and i just hate group travel, but would feel safer in a foreign country.

  11. Skiing
    November 20, 2009, 8:10 am

    I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.

  12. Dartmoor
    December 7, 2009, 1:10 am

    Dartmoor offers more to see and do than could be included in theaverage holiday to devon or Dartmoor itself. From great attractions forchildren through to museums and the natural attractions that Dartmoorhas to offer such as disused quarries and Railways.

  13. Coach Hire
    January 12, 2010, 1:24 am

    well, first, I have to agree with both Sally and Donna, group tours are fun in a way, but we not only go for travel and tours, just for the fun sake, right? We sometime need to travel individually, to enjoy our soltiude, absorb our sorroudings, I daily meet so many travelers and tourists here in our coach company where I am working, the said company provides coach hire, minibus hire and limo hire service, airport pickup and airport transfer in London, all UK, Ireland, Scotland and Europe.
    I daily see many teen-agers traveling as group tours, this might be fun for them, but I personally travel alone, it helps me think, enjoy the each and every bit of my trip, my privacy is not shared, and so on. Its me that decides either good for bad, and for me enjoying alone is more fun, it widen our mind, and helps us learn as well!