Reasonably priced travel tours/groups

[Sunset]

VBT offers cycle tours with differing miles and time on the bike, some with as little as two hours a day cycling.
The electric bikes are offered by reservation. Upon arrival, all participants are specifically fitted for their own bike to be used throughout the tour. There is never "outrun all the old fogies to get to the bikes"

The usual age on most bike tours is over sixty....

I'm interested in knowing, how does the electric bike reservation thing work in real life. ?

I certainly can think it would be vastly over subscribed, so is it simply the first ones to reserve it hog it ? I have experienced this at certain places which said bikes were available, only to find all week there were none available.

Is it a round robin type thing to ensure sharing, but which means some tours would be out when not having the electric bike. ?

 

[Sunnymar]

I'm interested in knowing, how does the electric bike reservation thing work in real life. ?

I certainly can think it would be vastly over subscribed, so is it simply the first ones to reserve it hog it ? I have experienced this at certain places which said bikes were available, only to find all week there were none available.

Is it a round robin type thing to ensure sharing, but which means some tours would be out when not having the electric bike. ?

VBT offers multi-day cycling tours around the world. These are booked in advance, when booking a specific trip one would request an ebike, if one is not available, the cyclist would be advised, and have the choice to book a regular bike or reserve a different tour date.

I can assure you many cyclists have no desire to ride an ebike. Again there is no round robin, sharing or hogging an ebike, they are reserved for one cyclist for the duration of the booked tour, just like regular bikes.

I have both a regular bike and an ebike, I enjoy both, but many cyclists dislike ebiking as it is cheating.

 

[youbet]

A lot of the tours have pretty pricey single supplements don't they?

.

But don't you in effect pay a "single supplement" on DIY trips? That is, when traveling alone, I find I'm paying the entire cost of my room myself since there is no one to split it with. When traveling with a companion, usually DW, the tour price each is a bit less but then I have to share the room.

When DW is my traveling companion, room sharing is fine, actually preferable. But when my traveling companion is my son or a buddy, I've sometimes wished we had paid the single supplement and had individual rooms.

Generally, I think single supplements are fair as long as they are calculated to accurately cover the additional cost of single rooms with no arbitrary penalty. Conversely, when traveling with a companion, I certainly wouldn't want my tour price to be subsidizing someone who isn't room sharing.

Instead of looking at the higher tour price for a single as a "single supplement" we think of the lower shared room price as the "shared room discount."

 

[explanade]

Yeah I haven't tried these tours because they always seem to be more than a trip you book on your own.

Especially the choice of accommodations, it seems you can do better on your own, being able to choose location, size of rooms and other hotel amenities.

On the flip side, I think some of the tours offer some unique guiding that is hard to find apart from these tours. For instance, I think I saw a tour of the Cinque Terre in Italy which included a lot of day hikes. Now you can find a lot of these hikes on your own by buying a hiking map or guide book but some of these are pretty serious, talking about all-day hikes.

I searched to see if anyone offered day hikes but found that it's pretty pricey and you're in effect paying for maybe a private hike so it's going to tend to be expensive.

But the tour that I found, which I believe was through National Geographic, was thousands more than I ended up spending and again, I wasn't convinced the choice of accommodations was worth the cost. Of course, you're paying for the guide and for the profit margin of the tour operator, National Geographic and others.

 

[Sunnymar]

I'm interested in knowing, how does the electric bike reservation thing work in real life. ?

I certainly can think it would be vastly over subscribed, so is it simply the first ones to reserve it hog it ? I have experienced this at certain places which said bikes were available, only to find all week there were none available.

Is it a round robin type thing to ensure sharing, but which means some tours would be out when not having the electric bike. ?

VBT offers multi-day cycling tours around the world. These are booked in advance, when booking a specific trip one would request an ebike, if not available, you would be advised and have the choice to book a regular bike or reserve a different tour date.

I can assure you many cyclists have no desire to ride an ebike. Again there is no round robin, sharing or hogging an ebike, they are reserved for one cyclist for the duration of the booked tour, just like regular bikes.

I have both a regular bike and an ebike, I enjoy both, but many cyclists dislike ebiking as it is cheating.

 

[Amethyst]

These companies want people who are old enough to have leisure time and money to spend, but not so old they slow the group down.

We have a tour coming up with Tauck, and their brochures show passenger group photos where everyone is in the 60-75 age group. Then again, the tour literature is quite stern about not bringing people along who can't walk easily, need care, etc.

I've found tours to have so many old people--and technically I'm now of retirement age.

There are a number of really good tour companies throughout the world. Most price young people out of the market as running buses and staying in better quality hotels are expensive.

 

[Bamaman]

These companies want people who are old enough to have leisure time and money to spend, but not so old they slow the group down.

We have a tour coming up with Tauck, and their brochures show passenger group photos where everyone is in the 60-75 age group. Then again, the tour literature is quite stern about not bringing people along who can't walk easily, need care, etc.

If you're taking a Tauck tour, you'll see that only the really old people can afford them. But Tauck is really first class. For the price of one of their river cruses, I could take 5 ocean cruises.

We leave Ft. Lauderdale in 1 week for a repositioning cruise, and I'm almost embarrassed how cheap the fares are. Spending Easter in Rome (2nd Easter there in 3 years) and heading for Budapest staying in an apartment.

We plan on saving tours for when we get elderly and cannot navigate traveling on our own.

 

[Amethyst]

LOL! My friend, who is 62, has posted gazillions of photos of her fabulous Tauck tours and Regency 7 Seas cruises (African safaris! Mediterranean cruises! Egyptian pyramids! European river cruises), and all the other passengers look like they could be her parents (who are dead). She says every group has at least one grumpy old man who complains all the time and tries to order the staff around. Despite these horrible inconveniences, she has had a blast on her trips.

We are totally over self-guided tours. Did enough of that money-saving stuff when we lived in England.

If you're taking a Tauck tour, you'll see that only the really old people can afford them. .

 

[explanade]

It's not just saving money.

It's being able to choose accommodations which may be better, spend more time on activities or venues which interest you more, etc.

 

[OldShooter]

International Travel News (https://www.intltravelnews.com/) at $24/year is a good resource for advice. The articles are written by subscribers who, in most cases, have paid for the trip and have no axes to grind. Searching on the web site is also a good way to find information. You can search on a tour operator or cruise line name or on a destination.

It's like the polar opposite of the big travel magazines. Newsprint, black & white printing, no hype, no faked photographs, etc.

I think you can get web site only for $15 but, hey, what is $24 compared to the cost of the trip? A sample copy is free: https://www.intltravelnews.com/samplecopy

 

[Teacher Terry]

When we go to europe we never or rarely take a tour. I don't want to be told how long to stay at a place, etc. One day we had breakfast and decided we were exhausted and went back to bed for a few hours. Now when we take a cruise to the Caribbean you only have a limited amount of time so we take a tour. I feel it is also safer on the islands to do that. Some friends of ours only take bus tours and I would rather poke myself in the eye with a dull pencil-Ugh! They are only in early 60's. I could see if I was really old and did not want to plan then I might feel differently.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Nemo: you are really missing good food if you only eat in the buffet. If you are traveling alone it would be more enjoyable to eat with the same people everyday because you would get to know them, etc. Then you may end up doing other things with them too on the ship.

 

[Nemo2]

Nemo: you are really missing good food if you only eat in the buffet. If you are traveling alone it would be more enjoyable to eat with the same people everyday because you would get to know them, etc. Then you may end up doing other things with them too on the ship.

We are neither of us 'foodies'; if we need refueling we grab something to eat, and have pretty much always been satisfied with the buffet fare.......plus we prefer to make our own selections and generally mix-'n-match from the various offerings.

We're pretty much a self contained unit, although we do on occasion have meals with others.......recently we've eaten with New Zealanders, South Africans, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Germans, etc.......in fact we may well meet more people at the buffet than at a fixed table at a fixed time.

(Your reaction to bus tours pretty much equals our dining room one. )

À Chacun Son Goût

 

[Meadbh]

We are neither of us 'foodies'; if we need refueling we grab something to eat, and have pretty much always been satisfied with the buffet fare.......plus we prefer to make our own selections and generally mix-'n-match from the various offerings.

We're pretty much a self contained unit, although we do on occasion have meals with others.......recently we've eaten with New Zealanders, South Africans, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Germans, etc.......in fact we may well meet more people at the buffet than at a fixed table at a fixed time.

(Your reaction to bus tours pretty much equals our dining room one. )

À Chacun Son Goût

I'm a foodie and an introvert. I have been known to pay a little extra to dine at a specialty restaurant, both for the culinary delights and the solitude. I have had some great conversations with the staff at these restaurants. And there are nights where I just can't face the dining room crowd and head off to the buffet. Chacun à son goût!

 

[Nemo2]

I have had some great conversations with the staff at these restaurants.

On the last trip we took we spent a fair bit of time talking to the buffet staff.....young people from Croatia to Russia, from China to Ukraine, (our cabin steward was a Brazilian woman whose husband was also a crew member....we spent some time chatting with her)......on the French ship that we took three times we talked to Tunisian waiters in the buffet...etc, etc.....a wide variety of perspectives......we (generally) find the crew interesting, and we enjoy talking with them.

 

[brett]

We are independent travelers however we do sometimes take tours in the cities we visit. We tend to take our time in each location. Not really interested in a tour at this point. We don't want to move every day or two days. And we very much prefer hotels/pensions with local flavor. Not interested in staying at a NA type hotel-we may as well stay home. Spending a week or more in some cities is just fine with us.

We spent three weeks in Sicily and still did not see it all so it is still on our list though a little lower now....to be combined with some other trip either coming or going.

We were on a tour years ago. It was OK since our time was limited. This is no longer the case.

 

[athena53]

She says every group has at least one grumpy old man who complains all the time and tries to order the staff around.

LOL! Just got back from an Overseas Adventure Travel tour of India and Nepal and yeah, we had one of those. He'd bargain vendors down to the last rupee even though the vendors probably would not make in their lifetime what he made in a year. Fortunately the rest of the group (including Grumpy Old Man's wife) was great.

It was a bit hectic for my taste (10 hotels in 21 days, not counting the two overnights I booked during my travels to/from Delhi) but we saw SO much of India and Nepal, and these were areas I wouldn't want to explore on my own. I'm seriously considering them for the Galapagos because the difference between their price and UnCruise (my favorite cruise line, which charges 175% of per person, double-occupancy rate for singles) is in the thousands of dollars.

 

[audreyh1]

If you're taking a Tauck tour, you'll see that only the really old people can afford them. But Tauck is really first class. For the price of one of their river cruses, I could take 5 ocean cruises.

Hmm - well maybe I’ll consider that when I am really old. They must be used to people with mobility issues then.

 

[audreyh1]

These companies want people who are old enough to have leisure time and money to spend, but not so old they slow the group down.

We have a tour coming up with Tauck, and their brochures show passenger group photos where everyone is in the 60-75 age group. Then again, the tour literature is quite stern about not bringing people along who can't walk easily, need care, etc.

Hmmm - maybe not!

 

[OldShooter]

... I'm seriously considering them for the Galapagos because the difference between their price and UnCruise (my favorite cruise line, which charges 175% of per person, double-occupancy rate for singles) is in the thousands of dollars.

FWIW, we found the best deals in the Galapagos are had by finding the actual owners of the boats. The Ecuadorean government strictly limits the number of boats permitted, so most of the offers you see are people just reselling a boat they don't own and adding a markup. When you deal with the boat owners themselves there is more flexibility and often the opportunity to negotiate on price. This is especially true if you can wait to the last minute and the seller has a boat about to sail with an empty cabin. Going directly to the owners, too, gives you a wide range of choices; the boats vary quite a bit in amenities and a single reseller is not likely to have more than one or two options on offer.

16 pax per boat is the norm. There are a few bigger boats that should be avoided, as you will almost certainly be broken into small herds before you are taken ashore and there will be a lot of waiting around as a result. The landings and paths on the islands are not designed for large groups.

I have a spreadsheet from four or five years ago that identifies many of the boat owners and has links to their web sites. I'll be happy to send it to anyone who PMs me with a real email address.

 

[woodguy00]

While on an independent trip to SE Asia I had occasion to meet and speak with a gentleman who was on a Gate 1 tour with his spouse.

When I asked him about Gate 1 and the tour his comments were extremely positive. He said that the tour was well priced (middle of the road) and he felt it was very good value. You can also sign up for late booking special offers with Gate 1.

We've used Gate 1 for several trips including China last fall. We've been very happy and will use again. There were a number of single travelers in our group who fit in just fine and paired up as travel buddies frequently. I also see that Gate 1 occasionally offers 'no single supplement' promotions. There was one in February.

 

[Amethyst]

This is how they put it: "We regret that we're unable to provide individual assistance to guests with walking difficulties or other personal needs...Guests requiring such individualized assistance must be accompanied by an able-bodied companion who can provide it." So, they are not exactly excluding people who can't walk well. I don't think the buses they use are wheelchair-accessible, though.

Hmmm - maybe not!

 

[audreyh1]

This is how they put it: "We regret that we're unable to provide individual assistance to guests with walking difficulties or other personal needs...Guests requiring such individualized assistance must be accompanied by an able-bodied companion who can provide it." So, they are not exactly excluding people who can't walk well. I don't think the buses they use are wheelchair-accessible, though.

I think when I’m doddering I will still want to travel. Maybe I’ll finally go for the cruise ships catering to ancient folks. I could always hire a travel companion or couple.

 

[Meadbh]

Hmm - well maybe I’ll consider that when I am really old. They must be used to people with mobility issues then.

Not Tauck, but I took a river cruise up the Danube with Avalon Waterways in 2014. I loved the cruise and the service was excellent. But.....there was an American woman on the ship, travelling with a friend, who had a mobility problem. She needed to push one of those walker-chair thingies. Our guides made every effort to accommodate her needs, but in Prague, which is full of cobblestones and thresholds, it was a problem. She insisted, against advice, in joining in the walking tour, and spoilt the experience for everyone else. She then complained about not being accommodated.

So they are used to people with mobility issues, but those people need to be realistic, too. I have a friend whose husband uses a wheelchair and is quite frail. I advised them not to spend their money on such a cruise, because a lot of the value is in exploring places that are not handicap friendly.

 

[omni550]

I have several friends in their 50's-60s who swear by the OAT trips (Overseas Adventure Travel). Some do 2-4 OAT trips/year...sometimes doing 2 trips back-to-back. They like the size of the smaller groups and feel that the OAT attracts an educated clientele.

About 30 years ago I did a 3-week bicycling tour of Greece with Classic Adventures. https://classicadventures.com/ They started with cycling & hiking trips exclusively in Greece but have now branched out into non-cycling travel also, and also go to many different countries/locations. My group was 12 people, mostly 30s-40s..plus my 'assigned' roommate who was significantly older (she used the sag wagon a lot, and had a blast.)

Another group tour I did was with Journey's International https://www.journeysinternational.com/ in China. We had 14 people -- from the US, Canada, Australia, Austria. Since it was an active tour (including hikes and bicycling in addition to the usual sightseeing), the group age (self-selected) was from 18 - 50.

Another friend likes G Adventures tours. https://www.gadventures.com/


omni