Looking to plan a vacation out of the country soon? Are you wondering how you will be getting around? Should I take a tour or should I try and navigate my way around a unknown world? We are going to help you decide what you should do with pros and cons of taking a guided tour. We have experience of taking trips on a scheduled tour and trips where we do what we want on our own accord. Let’s settle the debate and find whats right for you!
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The Guided Tour
So you are planning your first international trip or first trip to a new continent or culture. The area you are traveling to is unknown and you might not have the language down. You might be traveling alone and want to feel safe by traveling in a group. If you answered yes to any of the above questions taking a tour might be right for you. Taking a tour means you will most likely have local guides and possibly a tour director leading your group. The first half of this post is why you should use a tour service on your next adventure.
Guided tours and trips are very informational and you can learn about the culture and sites from your local guide or director. You won’t have to worry about any language barriers as your guide will be able to communicate to locals and to anyone you will come in contact with. Tours are very organized and most of the time has a set scheduled time which everyone must follow. This way you can see the most of the city or country you are visiting. A huge plus with going on a tour is that at most major sites you will be able to skip the long lines and go straight to the front. This can really help if your travel to Europe in the summer as it can get pretty hot outside and tourists flock to all the sites.
Your tour will have its own transportation arranged through a private tour bus so you will not have to worry about taking public transportation most of the time. Depending on the length of your tour you won’t have to worry about finding a hotel or the perfect French cafe that has delicious crepes you have been hoping for. A tour will have that all prearranged for you before you land at the airport. Your director/guide will know the best cafes and restaurants around the city. What we noticed was that the tour we were on already advised the restaurants in advance so by the time we were seated they had a menu just for us and the food was ready to serve right away. Another plus is that we had a whole section of the restaurant to ourselves so it felt very private.
Your tour director will have your trip planned out just for you from points A-Z. They will meet you at the airport and make sure by the end of your trip that you are checked in for your flight to go back home. On our tour, the airfare was included with the price of our tour which relieved a lot of stress.
If you do book a tour we will give you a few recommendations! If you are in high school and want to plan a senior trip consider EF Tours or if you’re a young adult you can try EF College Break Tours (You do not have to be in college to join, just be between the ages of 18-28). Both are lead by very professional tour directors/guides that will make sure you or your kids come back home wanting to plan their next trip with them! We had a great experience with EF Tours and our tour director Johnny from England who took our tour from London-Paris-Venice-Rome. EF Tours has tours ranging from a couple of days to several weeks! They are based all over the world so you have many different options to choose from. Tour prices are pretty much all inclusive not including lunches, gifts, and drinks other than water. You can choose to have airfare included or do land only with airfare on your own. With EF Tours you will spend most of your time with a group with limited free time for yourself but if you take EF College Break you will have much more free time as this option is more for mature young adults. We hope to travel with EF Tours again soon and see tour director Johnny!
We might be adventurers but we do like a really good tour so here is some tour providers who we are taking, who have very professional guides/directors.
Be your own Tour Guide
As easy as a tour can be sometimes you need some adventure in your life by being your own guide. From the times we have been across the Americas and Europe we like to dive right into the culture and sometimes that is hard to do in a large group. We like adventure and sometimes we do a lot of last minute planning but that is all part of the fun we have. We venture into the city and try to get lost in the history of everything around. Jonah is very good at reading maps and understanding sense of direction while Sierra is good at picking the best restaurants and places to grab a bite to eat.
Prepare to take public transportation on your own. This will save your feet from getting tired and that way you can get the most out of your day. Do not let the horror stories of the metro scare you. Just be vigilante and careful wherever you are. Metros are really easy to use in most major European and American cities such as Paris, London, Rome, Barcelona, New York, San Fransisco, Seattle, and Salt Lake City. Most are patrolled by local law enforcement 24/7 to ease any tension you might have.
One way we prepare for a trip we plan on taking on our own is doing lots of research through books. Before we go to a certain country in Europe we have not been to before we make sure to check in with Rick Steves to see if he has an informative book on a certain destination we are planning to travel to. His books contain lots of maps and very informative information on what to eat, stay, and do. Make sure you get the most up to date book as some things change in certain cities. You can also find language books to help you break the language barrier on your trip. You can find his books here.
Language barriers can be tough and very frustrating in some cases. Do not let this scare you off as it does for many travelers. Make sure when visiting a new country or a country that has a native language that is not English to try your best to speak the language of that country or region. Locals will really respect you if you at least try to communicate with them. We have gotten along great with everyone around the world! Use resources when you travel such as Rick Steves books (See Above) or Rosetta Stone which is a language trainer that you download on your computer with the discs you can buy on their website.
When we travel on our own we also plan airfare and hotels in advance. Hotels could be the hardest part of traveling on your own and we highly suggest you to book in advance to avoid rooms selling out last minute or high last minute prices. Check out our blog for the best hotels in different cities and countries. We love to promote traveling for the average adventurer so we like to stay in boutique hotels around the world which are affordable. When planning to fly somewhere try Rome2Rio which is a site where you can find airfare and airlines you can take to and from home.
If you ask us what we prefer as far as taking a tour or not we will tell you that each has its own positives and negatives. We like doing both and cannot put one in front of the other. It is all based on your preferences as well. If you want to take it easy the first time take the tour and go from there. You might want to explore the world through a tour and there is no problem with that. We wanted to help you make your decision easier for you that way you can see each side of the picture. If you have any questions on tours of going on your own make sure to leave a comment below and let us know where you will be going. Happy Traveling!
