Are Guided Tours Right for You?

I just got home from a guided tour through Ontario and French Canada with Cosmos and, while I had a fabulous time, I have a confession to make.

Guided tours are not always my personal favorite way to travel.

I  tend to like having more control over my time. I like deciding when I want to get up in the morning and how long I want to stay somewhere. Having someone tell me I need to be on a motor coach at 8:00am is not always my idea of a good time.

That said, I have taken TWO guided tours this year alone, and I would do both of them again in a heartbeat.

Earlier this year, I toured Ireland with Globus. I had a limited amount of time and wanted to see as much of the country as possible, so a guided tour made perfect sense. I was able to cover far more ground than I could have planned efficiently on my own.

Then there was Canada.

The distances between the places we visited made having someone else do the driving SO much easier. With Cosmos, we also had a significant amount of free time most days, which gave me more of the balance I personally like when I travel.

So, is a guided tour is right for you?

Maybe.

THE PROS

Someone else does the driving. You don't have to navigate unfamiliar roads, figure out where to park or worry about driving on the opposite side of the road if you're traveling somewhere like Ireland, the UK or Australia. You get on the motor coach and someone else worries about getting you where you're going.

Your itinerary is already figured out. There is no sitting in your hotel room in the morning asking, "What should we do today?" The route has been planned to make the most efficient use of your time without trying to cram so much into every day that you come home needing a vacation from your vacation.

You can see a lot in a limited amount of time. If you have one or two weeks and want to experience several different places, a guided tour can be one of the best ways to do it. The logistics have already been worked out so you aren't wasting valuable vacation time figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B.

You learn SO much. Your time on the motor coach isn't just about getting to the next destination. Your tour director shares information about the places you're visiting along the way.  You may watch videos or learn about the history and culture of the area before you even arrive.  Heck, you may even have a singalong! (My rendition of "Hallelujah" is legendary)

You also discover places you might never have known existed.

On my recent Canada tour, we visited Montmorency Falls. I had never even heard of it before this trip and it turned out to be an absolutely amazing experience. If I had planned the trip myself, there's a good chance I would have missed it entirely.

Of course, there are trade-offs when you take a guided tour.

THE CONS

You are traveling on someone else's schedule. If the motor coach leaves at 8:00am, you're leaving at 8:00am. You can't decide to sleep until 10:00 and catch up with everyone later.

You don't have complete control over where you go. You're following a planned itinerary, so if there's somewhere you've always dreamed of visiting and it isn't included, you may not get there.

You won't spend a lot of time in each destination. I think of guided tours as a bit of a smorgasbord. You get to experience several different places, but you're generally not settling into one city for five days and exploring every corner of it.

For me, the pros can absolutely outweigh the cons.

The key is choosing the RIGHT guided tour.

One of the reasons I like Globus and Cosmos is that their tours aren't necessarily scheduled from sunup to sundown. You have opportunities for free time, and with Cosmos in particular, fewer included activities can actually be a benefit if you prefer having more time to explore on your own.

This is also why I don't automatically assume that the tour with the most inclusions is the best one. More included sightseeing can be wonderful, but every included activity also takes up part of your day. Depending on how you like to travel, you may be happier with a tour that gives you transportation, hotels and a host while leaving more of your days open.

There really is a guided tour for almost every type of traveler. The important thing is understanding exactly what you're booking and making sure the pace and structure match the way YOU want to travel.

If a guided tour sounds like it might be right for your next vacation, reach out and let's talk about where you want to go. I'll help you find one that gives you the experience you want without making you feel like you're back on a middle school field trip.