Group Travel vs. Independent Traveling

Tom and I are usually independent travelers, choosing areas we want to explore, and making our own airline, transportation and sleeping arrangements. We prefer to move at our own pace, which we've found is usually quicker than other travelers, and explore the areas we find interesting which, naturally, are often different from what other travelers want to see and do.

However, we have learned that there are advantages to traveling with a group and a guide. When we decided we wanted to travel to Turkey in 2009, the uncertainty of our safety as Americans and the logistics as a whole were a bit intimidating – we wanted to see as much of Turkey as we could. Some friends suggested Rick Steves’ Best of Turkey tour. We discovered his tour offered a great itinerary and took care of all the hotel, sightseeing and transportation details, and most of the meals. We LOVED Turkey and are still raving about the country, the tour and our guide, and came away with a great first impression of group travel.

Two years later, we find ourselves halfway through a Rick Steves’ tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Once again, we are having a wonderful time. It sure is nice to have someone else take care of all the details as well as provide a knowledgeable guide to explain what we are seeing. We find we are doing things we probably wouldn’t do or know to do on our own. We have ample free time to explore at our pace, and have enjoyed more group meals than we expected and more delicious food than we would normally eat. And it’s nice to have other people to chat with when we are in group situations.

Our tour guides take us on city walking tours and entertain us with interesting talks during bus rides between destinations – discussing city and country history, politics, as well as general information. We get to relax and enjoy the scenery instead of dealing with traffic, deciphering maps, road construction detours, dinner and hotel reservations, tickets for attractions, and parking.

Best of all, when the tour ends, we have 26-30 new friends! YOLO!!