BootsnAll Travel Community

I am trying to figure out my 1st European adventure and am trying to decide which is better. I'll be on my own and speak a little (read: VERY little) Spanish and Italian and I want to see as much as possible on my limited budget. My family (and me too I guess) would feel better if I was with a group.

That option seems like less of a brain drain than figuring out how to get yourself place to place and not get lost or worse. But I am finding that most of the tours don't really fit my desire as far as amount of time spent in certain places (ex. I really want a good couple days in Florence).

Any advice is greatly appreciated. You guys seem so well versed in this stuff, I am excited to hear other's experiences!
TIA
AMber

Hi Amber, welcome to BnA!

I'm leaving on my first European trip in a week. I'm going by myself because I like to do my own thing-I wouldn't be happy on a tour.

If you're going to be nervous about being on your own, and are dreading the thought of having to book your own rooms, transportation, etc, you'll probably be better off on a tour. I have a friend who did one and she loved it. But just realize that you'll be stuck following someone else's itinerary, with the same people for a long period of time.

I'd encourage you to go by yourself, but if it's not for you it's not for you.

Amber, most of us on the boards would agree that doing it on your own would be the more rewarding method ... however, there is nothing wrong in my opinion with choosing a tour group. Don't let anyone pressure you into trying to go with out one.

I think part of the fun of travel is actually finding out how to do everything on your own and like I said, it is more rewarding.

Pros to tour are that you get to see most of the sites you want to see.

Cons to a tour is that you will miss a lot of authentic experiences that can only be found getting off the beaten path and away from the tour groups.


You have to weigh what is important to you.

But by no means should you let anyone tell you that one is TRULY better than the other... it is all personal preference.

Maybe you'd be interested in signing up for a week long tour to wet your feet then going off on your own once you get the hang of navigating in another culture? Oh and welcome!

Amber, I'll be one of those people who say "go on your own"!

But first of all, how many days do you have, and how much ground are you trying to cover? If you do do a tour, can you begin or end it in Florence, so that you can have some extra time there?

My very first trip was to Japan, and granted, it was only for a week, and meeting a friend there...I spoke little Japanese (konichiwa..and that was about it). I got totally lost in the airport (and that was just the start!)...

But anyways...one thing I notice about tours (I've looked into em before), is that they are quite expensive, especially if you have a limited budget. Europe, in general, is expensive already.

I went to Northern and Western Europe, and I only speak English and Spanish..but I was going nowhere near Spain! It was taxing, sometimes, trying to figure out transportation (I had a Eurrail pass). But I had a Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring Guide, learned the basics of the languages of the countries I was in (numbers, "train", "depart", "platform" are important!), and I caught on pretty quickly. By far the most difficult for me was Dutch. But I learned to listen for key words, and was able to get by just fine.

But really, it's up to what you want out of the trip. Do you want an adventure, or do you want the feeling of comfort and security in being in a group, with English speaking people?

As diplomatic as everyone's trying to be, I'll just come out and say: Go on your own...it'll be more fun.

If it was a choice between going on a tour and not going at all, I'd vote tour, but between tour and independant, the tour's a big loser.

The problem with tours is that they'll visit the big sites, make sure you have time stop at the gift shop at each and everyone, and then take you over and drop you off at the shops their friends own. And after that, they'll drop you off at a hotel in the suburbs, usually one conforming to the cookie cutter school of hotel design (where a hotel in Rome is exactly the same as a hotel in Salt Lake City). Most of the time you'll feel rushed to see the places you want to, and then have a ludicrous ammount of time at some other spot that's of no interest.

Something to realise is that getting around western Europe (and even most of eastern Europe, these days) is dead easy. Buses and trains run everywhere and almost everyone speaks a bit of English (in tourist areas, you can safely assume that people will speak english, off the beaten track, it's still a pretty safe assumtion, but just in case, learn the numbers and the phrase 'is there anyone who speaks english available,' (if a business has 3 or more employees, someone almost always will) and you'll be fine.

There's some options in between too. Busabout does hop-on, hop-off tours which have the advantage of paid-in-advance transportation, and they'll have guides to give some tips when you arrive in a city (I haven't used them, so I don't know how much they do in terms of stopping at sights along the way, but I imagine there's some of that). Then if you want to stay a week in Florence, you can, and if you change your mind and get bored on the second day, well, that's okay too.

If you do want the all inclusive tour, try to look for a smaller group. It might cost a bit more but a tour with a dozen people on a minibus will be much more rewarding than being part of a 40-50 person herd following around the guide with the bright umbrella.

Overall though, you'll get more out of a trip, and better value for money, if you go independantly.

sorry, i didn't have time to read all of the other posts. i have two experiences with europe. my first time was a tour, but i was also only 17. it was through school so we used EF Tours. it was a great tour (of Spain), but there were also numerous extras we had to pay for, aside from the general tour. of course they were all optional, but if you're there you might as well do it.

the second was a trip to paris for a week 3 years later. it was my first real out of country experience on my own and it was bloody brilliant. i had the chance to meet losds of backpackers, some who were backpacking RTW, which at the time, i had never even considered. it got the bug biting and 6 years later, i'm still hopping here and there on my own.
all because i jumped into it on my own, not worrying about what may happen on my own.

that said, i have done my fair share of smaller tours: be it hiring a car and driver for a couple of days in Sri Lanka, doing short little 3 day 4wd tours in Oz, or doing a full on week long job with a group (also in Oz). Some of them were fantastic and made me really want to do more. Those were usually the ones that were "roughing" it in the bush. generally, we'd pass
more easy-going groups like "adventure" tours and i'd scoff, as they were so posh and prissy (in my opinion). Others were package deals, that were just so annoying and unflexible and absolutely full of commissioned stops. (no, we can't stop at that convenience store right there, but we can stop at a roadstop 40 minutes out of town with a $20 buffet)

the reason i'm raving and ranting about these tours is that, in Oz, you could find all sorts of little short tours, that you could usually get on in a moment's notice. i think only 2 or 3 of the tours i did (out of like 12-15) were booked with any advance notice.

are there situations like this in Europe? or is it all just contiki and the gang?
if there are short little 1-3 day tours, i'd recommend, to the original poster, going on your own for a bit and then hopping on one or two of these. (obviously depending on how much time you've got). i think it's great to have someone help you on your way to some little gems that you would not have gotten to on your own (couldn't have seen the bungle bungles in western australia without one) but it's also great to be able to find some on your own
having a few days (would've never been able to sneak up to the top of Lion's rock in Sigiriya Sri Lanka before sunrise had i been on a bus).

it seems like you'd rather have the flexibility and time on your hands. if you're worried about finding everything or anything, there are no better guides than other travellers who are doing it on there own too. if you're thinking of spending a little time in florence on your own, then you'll have a little time to hop to an internet cafe and check these boards for some extra advice, maybe even meet someone who's in the neighbourhood and wants to split a cab.
and no matter where you go, there's always someone who can figure out what you're saying (if not carry a pad of paper and pencil to draw a picture)

the best travel mantra: what's the difference between getting lost and exploring? the journey is the destination!

good luck amber, welcome to our backpacker cult!

Check out Intrepid, they're a tour company that are well recommended on these boards.

Amber, you didn't say how old you were or if you have a lot of travelling experience. Nor did you say how much time you have! If the peace of mind is worth it to you, do it on a tour. If you think/know that you'll be too stressed out to sit back, trying to figure out the language barrier and the transportation, then do the tour. It's up to you to do whatever makes you the most comfortable. You can still have an adventure on a tour - it's possible to get into mischief. With Intrepid, at least from my impression, the groups are smaller and it's a lot more flexible. It also ensures that you always have travelling companions, someone to watch your back.

Of course, doing it alone means that not only are you responsible for taking care of yourself and your plans but you have the flexibility to do whatever the hell you want. Meet some cool travellers and then want to go check out that small village with them? No problem. You have your own agenda.

Since my background is in tours, I want to stress to everyone that there are many different styles and, in general, the word "tours" have a bad connotation.

However, the styles of tours are changing and there are many, small, cheap, low-impact that support local communities, and have an independent style where participants (usually young backpackers) have their own flexability and plans during the day, but the group travels to certain destinations with each other and might do a few, NOT ALL, activities together.

That's the kind of tours we are developing for BootsnAll and we work with Intrepid on a few of them.

BootsnAll Tours