Any experience with Globus tours?

[Luvdogs]

We're thinking of doing a Spain/Portugal tour next year. We've been to Europe several times but also thinking of having a company do all the planning for us. Globus seems to be considered a good one. Any others?

Did you have to use them to get to/from Europe? We were thinking of adding on days on our own at the end. If so, are their flight prices comparable to what you could get on your own?

We're lucky (or unlucky for those who don't like Norwegian Air) but we can fly out of several airports that Norwegian Air services and roundtrip flights are around $400! So if Globus is charging around $1000, that's a big difference for two people.

Tell me what you think!
Thanks!!

 

[explanade]

I haven't done many tours, just one Amex tour a long time ago.

I'd look at the hotels and look up reviews of them. They may not always be at the most convenient locations to all the attractions.

Then again, on some tours, they have tight schedules so you're going from city to city and spending a lot of times on buses.

You can look at those itineraries as a guideline or template to planning your own tour.

 

[OldShooter]

I got 22 hits at International Travel News but did not read any of them. Looks like mostly articles by people who have traveled with them:

https://www.intltravelnews.com/search?query=globus

You may have to subscribe to get access; I don't know. But the web deal IIRC is only $15. Getting the print magazine is worth the extra few bucks for me. YMMV.

 

[Moemg]

I toured once with Globus and once with Traflagar.The hotels with Traflagar were more centrally located .You go at a brutal pace (up a 6 with bags packed and return to a new hotel at 7pm ) .They both had excellent guides .Doing your own planning takes time but you can go at your own pace .

 

[FIYes]

I have done 2 Globus tours and 2 cosmos tours (Globus budget brand).
The Globus tours were Italy and Peru. My complaint with all of the Globus and Cosmos tours was the “shopping opportunities “. I am not a shopper and would have preferred to skip those.

Italy...I would rate it as a good tour, yes we had the up at 6, but that got us into the Vatican with no lines and very few crowds. We had an excellent tour director and bus driver and excellent local guides. Our final hotel was out in the boonies but it did have a shuttle into Rome for those of us who had an extra day or two at the end. Really the location of that hotel was my only complaint. This was the first tour that I ever took so it was all a new experience for me. This trip was over 10 years ago so this is not current information.

Peru...one of my favorite trips of all time. We had a couple of days in Lima before the tour started. It was a great tour. Wish we had an additional day in Cusco. All hotels were good and well located.

Cosmos to Greece was a another good tour. All hotels were well located. This was a very enjoyable tour.

Cosmos to Scandinavia had poorly located hotels. We had a couple of extra nights at the beginning and at the end of the tour. Both of those hotels were inconveniently located. I have not taken a Globus/Cosmos tour since. That should indicate how this tour went. I complained after we got home and received a long since expired voucher for a couple of hundred off future travel.

The good thing about tours...all the planning and arrangements are done. You get to see a lot in a short time. No worries with transportation or language issues. They can be a good value.

The bad thing about tours...your schedule is not your own. They can have a lot of bus time.

Since I have retired I am enjoying slow travel. We spend more time in one place and go at our own place. We may spend far more time at a museum than a tour would allow and less time at other places. However, the arrangements can be a hassle.

 

[explanade]

Researching and planning are parts of the attractions of travel for me.

Why am I visiting this place, what am I going to do there, etc.

You get answers to these kinds of questions as you research and plan trips to destinations.

 

[DEC-1982]

DW and I went on a 13-day Globus Italy tour several years ago. Our experience was quite good. As always, YMMV.

 

[athena53]

I've never taken one so take this with a grain of salt, but the descriptions are too "fully escorted" for my taste. DH and I (and now I on my own) always liked the flexibility to declare one day a museum day if it was raining, to return to a museum in the afternoon if we realized that the morning wasn't enough, and to seize spur-of-the-moment opportunities such as a concert or a play advertised locally. To me, it's worth the planning I have to do on my own to find a good hotel and figure out how to get from Point A to Point B.

 

[Bamaman]

Globus would be considered a mid priced tour company and they have a good reputation. My parents went with them a couple of times.

Although my wife and I have reached real retirement age, we are not planning on taking guided tours until we cannot navigate trips on our own. Right now, we can take two overseas trips for the price of one guided tour when making our own arrangements.

If you have access to airports with Norwegian Air Shuttle, go for it. They are a thorn in the side of big legacy air carriers but they allow so many of us perpetual travelers to go on a couple of big trips yearly.

 

[Beachgrl]

dh and i did a Globus tour of 4 Hawaiian islands about 10 years ago. We loved it! We were some of the youngest on the tour (we were in our 30's at the time).

The tour guide was very knowledgeable, all interisland flights were taken care of as well as a bus tour the day you landed on each island and your bags were taken care of to each hotel room.

Overall highly recommend.

 

[Souschef]

If you can afford it, I would suggest Tauck. We have stayed in centrally located upscale hotels, and the tours were at a leisurely pace.
No bags outside at 6AM.
Be careful as to where your hotels are located. On some mid price tours, they are ways out of town.

 

[nwsteve]

If you can afford it, I would suggest Tauck. We have stayed in centrally located upscale hotels, and the tours were at a leisurely pace.
No bags outside at 6AM.
Be careful as to where your hotels are located. On some mid price tours, they are ways out of town.

+1, Tauck is our "go to" for any trip where we lack the background or inclination to spend the time to figure it out. We have used for China (fabulous), Peru, Vietnam.
This company actually plans for the unexpected and already knows what to do when SHITF.

 

[donheff]

DW and I went on a Globus safari tour about 6 years ago. It was excellent.

 

[Crewer]

I don't have any experience with Globus but we have done a couple Odyssey tours with DH's alumni association. They were Egypt and Nepal/Bhutan - places we didn't think we could manage on own. Guides are great and not having to worry about getting around locally are plusses for the escorted tours. You can really see alot in a short period of time! We did get a half day to ourselves in Luxor, Egypt and enjoyed the time to do our own thing (we opted out of an extra side-trip to have that time).

We just got back from Lisbon and Porto Portugal and plan to go back next year (probably) and to add Madrid or Barcelona to Lisbon and the southern coast of Portugal. That's all on our own, which is no problem (and we're getting up there in age - late 60s). Taxis are cheap (in Portugal) and honest (mostly - we had one extra long ride out of many).

 

[Souschef]

I don't have any experience with Globus but we have done a couple Odyssey tours with DH's alumni association. They were Egypt and Nepal/Bhutan - places we didn't think we could manage on own. Guides are great and not having to worry about getting around locally are plusses for the escorted tours. You can really see alot in a short period of time!

We have also taken a couple of Odyssey tours and were quite happy with them. One was in China, and the other was in Italy. They specialize in small groups of about 20 rather the 40-45 on lower priced tours like Globus.
They are worth the difference in price.

 

[Chuckanut]

I've done some Rick Steves tours and they were pretty good. They had a nice balance of tour activities and free time to investigate an area on one's own. They limit tours to 28 people max, so everybody gets his/her own double bus seat and you only share when you want to . No shopping stops though some of the places that demonstrate traditional crafts do have the opportunity to buy stuff. No tipping or 'extras'. And the meals they provide are great and of sufficient quantity that one often does not have to buy another meal that day.

Obviously, one must choose a tour whose itinerary is of interest. If being able to change plans on the last minute is important, or if you really want to see the Museum of Torture instead of the Louvre, then a tour may not be for you.

 

[Dreamer]

I've done some Rick Steves tours and they were pretty good. They had a nice balance of tour activities and free time to investigate an area on one's own. They limit tours to 28 people max, so everybody gets his/her own double bus seat and you only share when you want to . No shopping stops though some of the places that demonstrate traditional crafts do have the opportunity to buy stuff. No tipping or 'extras'. And the meals they provide are great and of sufficient quantity that one often does not have to buy another meal that day.

Obviously, one must choose a tour whose itinerary is of interest. If being able to change plans on the last minute is important, or if you really want to see the Museum of Torture instead of the Louvre, then a tour may not be for you.

I have been interested in the Rick Steves tours, but wondered if they would be too hard for us. We are in our mid 60s and we are in pretty good health. I was just curious if you are around our ages or are you younger? We can walk 6-10 miles per day without a problem, but I did not know if they are more strenuous than that. Do you mind sharing what countries that you went to with the Rick Steves tours? I believe the one that I was looking at a while back was Ireland. Did not know if Road Scholar would be better or Rick Steves. Thank you.

 

[Chuckanut]

If you can Walk 6 to 10 miles a day you can do a Rick Steve’s tour. Make sure you can wheel your luggage up hill on cobble stones and carry it up a few flights of stairs. IMHO, he overstates the difficulty a bit, but that is better than understating it. A reasonably fit 60-something should have no problems. Just don’t expect to be driven everywhere, hotel staff to be lugging your suitcases around, and do expect to use sometimes crowded public transit to get around in the big cities. And expect to be able to walk and climb about Roman ruins, medieval castles etc. on your own.

Hotels are well located - near sites and near public transit that can get you to sites farther away. Some of the hotels in smaller towns are somewhat rustic but clean and nice. At times there are the usual European cramped showers and small beds . The worst was the monk’s cell at the monastery in Bulgaria and we were warned about it in the tour description. A few are VERY nice, far better than what I would book on my own.

And definitely don’t be a Grump.

 

[nwsteve]

If you can Walk 6 to 10 miles a day you can do a Rick Steve’s tour. Make sure you can wheel your luggage up hill on cobble stones and carry it up a few flights of stairs. IMHO, he overstates the difficulty a bit, but that is better than understating it. A reasonably fit 60-something should have no problems. Just don’t expect to be driven everywhere, hotel staff to be lugging your suitcases around, and do expect to use sometimes crowded public transit to get around in the big cities. And expect to be able to walk and climb about Roman ruins, medieval castles etc. on your own.

Hotels are well located - near sites and near public transit that can get you to sites farther away. Some of the hotels in smaller towns are somewhat rustic but clean and nice. At times there are the usual European cramped showers and small beds . The worst was the monk’s cell at the monastery in Bulgaria and we were warned about it in the tour description. A few are VERY nice, far better than what I would book on my own.

And definitely don’t be a Grump.

+1 Never had a "bad" Rick Steve's trip. Always great guides and some were truly exceptional. We are now 70 and find we are no longer "fans" of some of his choices of "sleeping where the locals stay".

 

[Nemo2]

The very thought of having to take a tour horrifies me......but then I'm only 75 so the need for it is a long way off.

 

[Moemg]

Instead of taking a rick Steve's tour have you considered just using his guide books for where you are interested in. This is what we did in Barcelona and his restaurant and hotel suggestions were spot on.

 

[Chuckanut]

Instead of taking a rick Steve's tour have you considered just using his guide books for where you are interested in. This is what we did in Barcelona and his restaurant and hotel suggestions were spot on.

Actually, I have done both. I have spent many happy weeks in Italy,Spain, Scotland etc. following his tour book as well as searching out nooks and crannies on my own. Sometimes a tour works best, sometimes independent travel. Like when to take SS, it's a personal decision.

 

[Dreamer]

If you can Walk 6 to 10 miles a day you can do a Rick Steve’s tour. Make sure you can wheel your luggage up hill on cobble stones and carry it up a few flights of stairs. IMHO, he overstates the difficulty a bit, but that is better than understating it. A reasonably fit 60-something should have no problems. Just don’t expect to be driven everywhere, hotel staff to be lugging your suitcases around, and do expect to use sometimes crowded public transit to get around in the big cities. And expect to be able to walk and climb about Roman ruins, medieval castles etc. on your own.

Hotels are well located - near sites and near public transit that can get you to sites farther away. Some of the hotels in smaller towns are somewhat rustic but clean and nice. At times there are the usual European cramped showers and small beds . The worst was the monk’s cell at the monastery in Bulgaria and we were warned about it in the tour description. A few are VERY nice, far better than what I would book on my own.

And definitely don’t be a Grump.

Thanks for the information. I might have to revise the 6-10 miles of walking. I was with my sister today and we went to Social Security office, the hospital, the eyeglass place and several stores (I am not a shopper) but she was shopping for an angel family and I must say that I am exhausted. The hotels sound fine. I have never been in a European shower, but I have done cruise ship and schooner showers. The monk's cell sounds like a neat story to be able to tell.

 

[Dreamer]

Instead of taking a rick Steve's tour have you considered just using his guide books for where you are interested in. This is what we did in Barcelona and his restaurant and hotel suggestions were spot on.

We might be able to do this, if we were in an English speaking country. My DH has anxiety and would probably freak out, if we were in a foreign country and were lost. He has only traveled in the US and Canada. I am afraid that he would be totally out of his comfort zone and would do much better with a tour group.

 

[Dreamer]

The very thought of having to take a tour horrifies me......but then I'm only 75 so the need for it is a long way off.

I would love to be able to take off and be as fancy free as you and your lovely DW. Maybe if we had started traveling at a younger age, we would not have a problem.

I have a hard time seeing you on a tour. I think that you should be the one leading the tour!