I have noticed a trend in travel lately. That a certain types of travel are superior to others. On one hand you have lame group travel only seeing the popular tourist sites in each city. On the other hand you have the plan your own itinerary crowd that does things on their own and off the map. In reality travel is travel no matter how you choose to see the world. The point is to see it! These are my top 5 reasons to take a group tour.
Top 5 reasons to take a group tour
- The planning is done for you – one of the major benefits of taking a group tour is having all the hotels and transfers are planned out for you. Once you get off the plane you don’t have to worry about a thing because everything, even your meals in some cases are planned. Having it all planned means that you just have to show up when they tell you and there is no stress to figure out your day. Someone else has taken that on you just have to enjoy your trip.
- Get a taste for an area – tours are like a highlight reel. You get to see many different cities in a short period of time. You see the major attractions and can fall in love with a new city with plans to return. Or you can tick it off your travel list and move on. When you do go back you will have confidence and familiarity from that first group tour to handle a foreign city on your own.
- Travel alone without travelling alone – One of the first group tours I ever went on was with Contiki. I was 23, just graduated my masters and planned on going to Europe on my own. But I didn’t want to go backpacking truly alone. I didn’t want to go backpacking at all to tell you the truth. Instead I signed up for a Contiki Mediterranean tour (the one in hotels not hostels) and traveled along with a group of 20-somethings some of whom I am still in contact with today. There is safety in numbers as well as friendship. Yes there can be annoying people on the tour. There are the people who are always late. But the benefits outweigh the small annoyances.
- Cost effective – tours at first glance can look expensive. But when you start pricing out hotels, meals, transportation and guides you quickly find out that tours are pretty competitive. A bit like an all inclusive resort you can pay for everything up front and then not have to worry about paying for too much while on the tour. Most tours also have optional excursions. This allows you to build in flexibility and be as price conscious as you want by opting into what you can afford.
- Guidance – being on a guided tour allows you to learn more about the area you are visiting. The guides will tell you about what cash machines to use. About what local scams to avoid. Where to eat after a long day on the bus. Our Cosmos tour also included local guides in each city. They were well versed in the local history and added so much depth to our city tours. Plus there is someone watching out for you, waiting for you. That give me peace of mind that if something goes wrong you have someone to call that speaks your language to help you out. The driver is incredibly invaluable too. You don’t have to worry about driving on the OTHER side of the road, reading road signs in another language or the fact that Italians don’t stop at red lights the same way we do in North America. You don’t have to traverse winding mountain side roads. An experienced driver will do all that for you.
Inexperienced travelers can build confidence with group tours. Even experienced travelers can benefit from tours when they are going off the beaten track. Certain areas are only accessible via a tour like African Safaris and trips to the Galapogos. I would argue that even if you aren’t going somewhere that you can only visit via group tour a group tour is a great way to get your bearings the first day. Spend the money on the Hop on Hop off bus for your first day in a new city, get the lay of the land before you venture off on your own. I know I want to head back and spend more time in Prague and Budapest from our group tour and the next time I go there I will know what area to stay in and what I want to see because I have first hand experience. We can hit the ground running. I also have seen Strasburg. Been there done that. Don’t really need to see it again. Same goes for Vienna for me; I don’t feel the need to go back and see it again in more depth. That is the beauty of a tour, get the highlights, see what warrants a return visit. Or move on entirely to new places and experiences.
Have you been on a group tour? What are your top 5 reasons to take a group tour over planning your own itineraries?