Company that does one-week all-included travel?

[Amethyst]

I got a great recommendation from a friend for Tauck Tours, but when I went to their website, not only are their 2017 tours rapidly selling out - they are all at least 10 days long and most are longer.

Mr. A. doesn't have any travel limitations per se, but his tolerance for being away from home is limited. I don't think he'd enjoy any trip longer than a week. Cruises are not on the agenda, as he does not like boats.

Anybody know of a company that does shorter, all-included tours? It's fine if they are in North America as long as it's not our usual stomping grounds (MD to FL).

Amethyst

 

[LauAnn]

Have you investigated RoadScholar.org ? Many of their trips are 5 nights/6 days.

 

[Walt34]

We went on a two-day Coal Country Tour several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the time they also had several four day tours. The history was fascinating, learning about the level of control that the coal companies had over the miner's everyday lives, what led to the creation of unions, and the only time U.S. troops fired on U.S. citizens. Apparently the tours change, what they are offering now is not what we saw.

https://coalcountrytours.com/

 

[Souschef]

Shorter tours

Check out www.afcvacations.com
They have many short tours. I have taken many trips with them

 

[Walt34]

Check out www.afcvacations.com
They have many short tours. I have taken many trips with them

I get "page not found" on that link.

Edit:

Interesting. I take out the "http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/www.afcvacations.com" to just "www.afcvacations.com" and the page comes up.

 

[Souschef]

AFC Vacations - Toll Free U.S.A.: 800-369-3693, Local: 858-481-8188

I get "page not found" on that link.

Edit:

Interesting. I take out the "http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/www.afcvacations.com" to just "www.afcvacations.com" and the page comes up.

Sorry I left out a slash

AFC Vacations - Toll Free U.S.A.: 800-369-3693, Local: 858-481-8188

 

[Bamaman]

Tauck Tours is a rather established tour company, and not an inexpensive operation at that. There are also a number of other large national tour companies that can be found on Google.

If I was taking an organized tour, it'd be in a smaller region--some place new--like Seattle/Victoria/Vancouver. Or Los Angeles to San Francisco would be another good area to travel.

It's a shame cruises are out as they're the most value for the travel buck.

The trouble with organized tours is finding 44 people that are completely compatible with each other. I may be of retirement age, but I'm not ready to be stuck on a bus with a bunch of "really old" people.

"Google" tour companies for your area or look in the large Sunday newspapers for tours. Tauck may be a little expensive for my tastes.

 

[Moemg]

Train Vacations | Train Trips | Rail Tours

This company does some interesting trips. A friend went on the one into Quebec & had rave reviews .

 

[Souschef]

Tauck Tours is a rather established tour company, and not an inexpensive operation at that. There are also a number of other large national tour companies that can be found on Google.

If I was taking an organized tour, it'd be in a smaller region--some place new--like Seattle/Victoria/Vancouver. Or Los Angeles to San Francisco would be another good area to travel.

It's a shame cruises are out as they're the most value for the travel buck.

The trouble with organized tours is finding 44 people that are completely compatible with each other. I may be of retirement age, but I'm not ready to be stuck on a bus with a bunch of "really old" people.

"Google" tour companies for your area or look in the large Sunday newspapers for tours. Tauck may be a little expensive for my tastes.

I take issue with you about finding 44 people you are compatible with. All you need is to find 2 or 3 couples, as we have done many times.
We are at a point in our traveling where we are through "following the yellow umbrella". We can go to a tour company's website, find an itinerary we like, and do it on our own. I agree this does not work for some people who want to be hand held the entire trip.
For example, we did a 6 day Swiss trip, using the same hotel, but had the flexibility to do what we wanted when we wanted.
If you think about it, if it takes 30 seconds for each passenger to get on or off a bus, you can kill 2/3 of an hour at each stop. This does not take into account the people in front of you that want to talk to everyone as they get back on the bus.

 

[Amethyst]

The Tauck "small group" tours appealed to me for this very reason. That is also probably why they fill up so fast a year in advance.

I DO want our hands held. And I am willing to pay for it.

Amethyst

We are at a point in our traveling where we are through "following the yellow umbrella". We can go to a tour company's website, find an itinerary we like, and do it on our own. I agree this does not work for some people who want to be hand held the entire trip.
If you think about it, if it takes 30 seconds for each passenger to get on or off a bus, you can kill 2/3 of an hour at each stop. This does not take into account the people in front of you that want to talk to everyone as they get back on the bus.

 

[HFWR]

Haven't taken a "guided" tour since my high school senior trip, but I can see the charm. We did enough different things in DC and NYC that it would be logistically difficult to schedule on your own...

Have been contemplating a Rick Steve's tour for a European adventure, but still in the research stage.

 

[Lake161]

I've done a number of trips with Intrepid. They arrange transport, accommodations, and a few tours. But mostly you have each day on your own to decide what sights to see and what activities you want to do. The groups are usually about a dozen people. It's great to have the logistics taken care of so you can spend your time really enjoying a country.

Another good thing is that they have three styles of travel with matching price points. Comfort class is the most expensive, but includes better hotels, and more comfortable transport (plane or luxury coach vs local buses or a minivan). Classic is the style I have chosen. You stay in the hotels that locals would use. Clean but not fancy. Transportation is generally by private minivan, but may also include local buses. Basics is camping or dorm rooms.

How good a deal they offer varies by country. I think it's worth it for less developed countries or where I don't speak a word of the language. Other countries are cheaper for me to plan my own trip.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Nemo2]

It's great to have the logistics taken care of so you can spend your time really enjoying a country.

An example of à chacun son goût I guess.............we still enjoy the logistics...planning, searching for deals, routes, etc.............perhaps when we're older, organized tours will appeal...but not quite yet.

 

[Amethyst]

Ha ha! I have always hated being an organizer/tour director! I want to just show up and have fun. It's part of still being 8 years old inside.

An example of à chacun son goût I guess.............we still enjoy the logistics...planning, searching for deals, routes, etc.............perhaps when we're older, organized tours will appeal...but not quite yet.

 

[Nemo2]

Ha ha! I have always hated being an organizer/tour director! I want to just show up and have fun. It's part of still being 8 years old inside.

DW & I like the autonomy of deciding whether we want to stop at a particular place or not, and if we do stop, for how long...........perhaps, because I was a rebellious eight year old, I'm at that age too....it just manifests itself in a different way.

 

[NW-Bound]

An example of à chacun son goût I guess.............we still enjoy the logistics...planning, searching for deals, routes, etc.............perhaps when we're older, organized tours will appeal...but not quite yet.

As I am the one who does all the research and planning, I remember more about our trips than my wife does, whether it's RV'ing, fly-and-drive, or international travel. The only part she cares about and wants to do is to look for cheap airfares. I do the tougher parts, such as looking for public transportation, hotels, etc... in Europe.

 

[Katiek]

This won't work for you and your husband, but I've enjoyed a number of trips with Women Traveling Together - although I haven't done one in a number of years.

I've had mixed feelings about tours. There are some locations where I don't think I'd do well with planning due to language barriers or some locations where I want the assurance of having others around. However, there are some locations (and pretty much all locations in the US) where I prefer to do the planning myself.