Guided Touring: the Best Way to See the World

Rick Steves, noted travel author and founder of Rick Steves Travel, endorses taking bus tours, especially when travel time is limited. I have experienced group travel in Europe, China and Australia/New Zealand/ Fiji. I can see it being a natural fit for North America, South America and Japan as well. Some bus tours are luxurious and others, like Steves, feature small and midsize arrangements at a more affordable price. In the high-end category, he cites dependable companies such as Abercrombie & Kent and Tauck.

For budget tours, he offers Globus and Cost Saver (Trafalgar). Collette; Insight and its parent company, Trafalgar; and GAdventures are listed for moderate touring. I have not had any experience with the GAdventures or Rick Steves tours. To calculate the per diem cost for 2025, I will use one company from each category: Tauck, Collette and Globus. Tauck's AWeek in Ireland tour is seven nights, costing $857 per night per person. For their comparable eight-night tour, Collette charges $412 and Globus, $428. For A Week in Spain, the Tauck cost is $955, Collette's is $415 for a ten-night tour, and Globus is $370 for an eight-night one. A Week in Naples, Capri and Amalfi with Tauck will cost $1341. With Collette adding an extra night, the cost is $518 per person, per night. Globus does not have a comparable tour. Nights, here, refer to nights in Europe on the tour. The pricing on those tours officially promoted as small group departures will be slightly higher.

What accounts for the swing in pricing? Tauck uses primarily five-star hotels, Collette the high end of four-star with an occasional five-star and Globus uses primarily four-star hotels. Steves also differentiates hotels by location and the number of "one-night stands." Look for hotels within walking distance of major sites or in the center of the city. For those evenings when the dinner is not included, it is important to be near several full-service restaurants. Tauck has no optional excursions and includes more three-course lunches. They also offer some unique private visits to museums, castles, etc. Some of their included-dining experiences are very special. Most, though, are on a par with Collette, which now uses primarily three- and four-star restaurants. Exceptions are in the rural areas of Iceland and Scotland, where the hotel is the only dining option to accommodate a group.

Companies offering guided tours are listening to travelers' major complaints: too much time on the road or airport delays. On my Tauck Tour of Scandinavia, we had three flights included within Scandinavia. It was a nightmare having to arrive two hours before the flight, delays, gate reassignments, stolen luggage, horrible seating on the planes, etc. On the 2025 version of the same tour, the flights have been eliminated and replaced by an overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo and busing within Norway. The ferry has cruise type cabins. More train travel is being incorporated into tours for speed and comfort.

Having booked air through Collette, Trafalgar, Tauck, Globus, Viking, Celebrity, Holland America, American Cruise Line, etc. as part of tours or cruises, seldom does it go even 90% as planned. Some people booking their own air have had great experiences, but for others, it is a horror show. I don't have time to go into all the reasons for problems, but connections, misinformation and the inflexible policies of the airlines seem to top the list.

The tour manager can make or break a tour. Liberty Travel states, "Collette doesn't send you out to explore the world with just anyone. Tour Managers take care of you every step of the way. Your Tour Manager will wear lots of hats during your vacation: tour guide, concierge, confidant and friend...their years of experience mean they can enhance your trip in countless ways!" I can still remember the names of most of my Collette Tour Managers, reach out to them occasionally and they get right back. The names were Peter Cammera, Paulo Balzo, Apostolas Chontas, Kopi Tuba, Mary Jo Neves, Luke Bracamonte and, most recently, lan Richie. Our Tour Manager on Tauck was excellent, as well. I have not taken a Globus tour, but did take a Cost Saver, the budget branch of Trafalgar, many years ago, and the biggest criticism was the Tour Manager.

No tour company at any price level is perfect. Followup after the tour is key, and as an agent and traveler, I receive calls from Collette about questions on my evaluation or one of my customers. Usually, the questions are about hotels or airline problems. Besides taking customer service reviews seriously, the best thing about Collette is the cultural enrichment experiences included in the tours. I had a client on a Trafalgar tour of Greece, which she enjoyed very much but only had one such feature - Greek dance lessons were included. On a similar Collette Tour, we had eight events in nine days, including visits to a winery, an olive farm, an apiary to learn about beekeeping, an icon studio, an ouzo distillery, dinner with traditional Greek entertainment, participation in a Mediterranean cooking class/lunch and folk dancing lessons.

Written by Tom Gannon