Group Tours vs Travel On Your Own

Posted on June 19, 2008
Filed Under Charters, Tours |

What’s the best way to go? Whenever I think I’ve nailed down the answer to this, something invariably changes my thinking. In the past I would always have said “travel on your own” is the best way to go – without exception.

This allows one the freedom to be spontaneous and wander where you want, for as long as you want. Also gets you away from large groups of people and having to adhere to a time table, and choices for dining and accommodations made by someone else.

Great Wall - ChinaOn the other hand, not knowing ones way around can lead to wasted time and money. You may be around the corner from some place you’d love to visit, but miss it completely because you were totally unaware of it.

With a group tour, assuming it’s a reputable company, one should expect to receive value in many forms, from expert guides and efficient travel planning, to great deals on rates.

Often in the past group tours got the reputation of being cattle car trips. But today, the best ones allow much flexibility to do some things on your own, while benefiting from the economies of the group. You can do as much of the work as you want as in the case of walking tours, or be totally pampered in coaches.

Getting of the beaten path is always the best way to see what’s real anyplace, but at the same time, it would be unfortunate to miss the landmarks and special sights the some locations are famous for. Plus it’s nice to hear some background info as you go from knowledgeable guides, as it can make the visit much more interesting and meaningful.

One more interesting factor in deciding which way to go seems to be that the older I get, the more I’m inclined to let others do more of the work. And while it was fun to knock around as a young adult seeing much of the world on foot, and in Spartan accommodations, I find I’m much more into something upscale.

It’s actually not such a bad thing to have a pro take care of all the details, where all I have to do is show up.

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