My wife and I have made multiple trips to Europe and have always done all of our own planning. We have enjoyed the trips but as we are getting older are starting to consider small group travel tours. I want to stay away from the busses with 60 people on them. So far we have been looking at Road Scholar and Odyssey companies. Has anyone done trips with these two companies? Would you recommend them? Do you have recommendations for any other tour companies to consider? Thank you!
Small group travel to Europe
- Thread starter linnemj
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Look at OAT. They do small groups of usually no more than 16. We did one trip with them in Ireland two years ago and would definitely consider going with them again.
OldShooter
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
We are Road Scholar fans. They provide more value-added than tour companies who provide buses, one guide for 25 people, and entire buffets with nothing but dull food. Prices usually represent good values too.
That said, we took an Ethiopia trip with Nat Geo. It was by far the best organized and best run group trip we have ever taken. It was wildly expensive though. Definitely not a good value. We were there for a week with Nat Geo, then another week with a private guide and driver. That second week cost about half what Nat Geo charged for their group travel week.
Don't overlook the option of hiring private guides. They are expensive in Europe so we tend to not hire one every day. But a day with a private guide is a great introduction to a city and the guide can help you plan the rest of your days in that city. We do this in countries that use the Roman alphabet so we can read the street signs. Non-Roman countries (Arabic, for example) we always have private guides and make travel arrangements with a local company. We stay in the kind of smaller hotels and BnBs we like, we eat at excellent local restaurants, see what we want to see, and do it all on our own schedule. We never wait for the ladies who shop beyond the bus departure deadline or who have to go to the loo after the deadline. We specify that we want older guides with the life experience to really teach us about their country, not the enthusiastic kids who only know the dates of all the statues, paintings and historical events.
That said, we took an Ethiopia trip with Nat Geo. It was by far the best organized and best run group trip we have ever taken. It was wildly expensive though. Definitely not a good value. We were there for a week with Nat Geo, then another week with a private guide and driver. That second week cost about half what Nat Geo charged for their group travel week.
Don't overlook the option of hiring private guides. They are expensive in Europe so we tend to not hire one every day. But a day with a private guide is a great introduction to a city and the guide can help you plan the rest of your days in that city. We do this in countries that use the Roman alphabet so we can read the street signs. Non-Roman countries (Arabic, for example) we always have private guides and make travel arrangements with a local company. We stay in the kind of smaller hotels and BnBs we like, we eat at excellent local restaurants, see what we want to see, and do it all on our own schedule. We never wait for the ladies who shop beyond the bus departure deadline or who have to go to the loo after the deadline. We specify that we want older guides with the life experience to really teach us about their country, not the enthusiastic kids who only know the dates of all the statues, paintings and historical events.
athena53
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Another recommendation for Overseas Adventure Travel. I took them to India and Nepal and in March, 2020 took them to Bolivia and what was supposed to be Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagos before countries started closing their borders. They went above and beyond to get us out. I had booked my flights independently and they still put me on the only nonstop from Bolivia to the USA- 2 days before Bolivia closed its borders. 
The guides were really "ask-me-anything" types. The good, the bad, the ugly. We visited locals- naturally they'd chosen those who were fluent in English, had acceptable homes and were not political fanatics, but it felt pretty authentic given the circumstances. No single supplement. Very nice hotels and restaurants; a few hole-in-the wall restaurants in India and chai from street vendors, none of which I would have ventured to try on my own (even after 6 business trips to India) and none of us had any ill effects other than probably having to stay on a maintenance dose of Imodium. Shopping opportunities are infrequent and typically encounters with locals, not large stores with merchandise that may have been made somewhere else. I treasure the poncho made by a lady halfway up a mountain in Lake Titicaca who told the guide it was her last season making them and she was switching to growing soybeans.
I got a giant credit for the cancelled portion of the SA trip and am booked to take the rest in May of next year and to take their E. Europe tour in October, 2022.
Private guides can be great, too- my late husband and I visited St. Petersburg independently in 2003 and had two very good ones.
The guides were really "ask-me-anything" types. The good, the bad, the ugly. We visited locals- naturally they'd chosen those who were fluent in English, had acceptable homes and were not political fanatics, but it felt pretty authentic given the circumstances. No single supplement. Very nice hotels and restaurants; a few hole-in-the wall restaurants in India and chai from street vendors, none of which I would have ventured to try on my own (even after 6 business trips to India) and none of us had any ill effects other than probably having to stay on a maintenance dose of Imodium. Shopping opportunities are infrequent and typically encounters with locals, not large stores with merchandise that may have been made somewhere else. I treasure the poncho made by a lady halfway up a mountain in Lake Titicaca who told the guide it was her last season making them and she was switching to growing soybeans.
I got a giant credit for the cancelled portion of the SA trip and am booked to take the rest in May of next year and to take their E. Europe tour in October, 2022.
Private guides can be great, too- my late husband and I visited St. Petersburg independently in 2003 and had two very good ones.
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grasshopper
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I would suggest a look at Country Walkers. We have done USA, Europe and Africa with them. Small groups 8-12 and great accommodations. We have missed 2 trips from Covid and refunds were back on our CC in a week.
gattara
Recycles dryer sheets
DH and I have taken 3 Rick Steves tours (two in Italy, one to Belgium & the Netherlands) and two Road Scholar trips (hiking in Mont Blanc area, another to Williamsburg VA). Very pleased with both, I think both are high quality and I doubt you'd be disappointed with either company. We often travel internationally on our own but we get much more of an education when touring w/these groups.
Souschef
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I have done 2 trips with Odyssey, and enjoyed them thoroughly. The first was in China and the second was in Italy.
Interestingly, at one of the hotels in China, I met some travelers that were with Vantage. They had 45 people, and we had 16.
Interestingly, at one of the hotels in China, I met some travelers that were with Vantage. They had 45 people, and we had 16.
Chuckanut
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I've done some Rick Steves tours also. I would not call them small group but more medium group (24-26). They do hire a full size bus, the kind that normally holds 50-60 people for their tour groups, so everybody gets his/her own double seat. That is very nice. And with a group of about two dozen people it's hard not to find a few people whom you will 'click' with and enjoy some of the same free time activities.
When Covid caused cancellations, everybody got a full refund of what was paid to his company. Period. No delays, no transfers to a tour in 2021 or 2022, no vouchers. Just your money back.
Oh, one nice thing is that the driver generally joins the group for the group meals. If he speaks English, this can be very enlightening. After a few glasses of wine, one Italian driver who also was an owner of the company that provided the bus, told us of some firsthand stories of how he had to deal with the new, more 'tactful' Mafia to get his business up and running.
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