Guided tour travel: It's not just for retirees
Phil Mark, who grew up in East Meadow, with his wife, Paula, on a group tour to Turkey. Credit: Phil Mark
Ellen Plotkin, of Syosset, typically plans vacations for her and her husband, Rick. But for a recent trip to South America, the couple chose to go on a group tour that had them watching tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and visiting Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
On a group tour, participants spend a week or more with the same group of travelers, many of whom they've just met. The itinerary is preplanned and typically includes airfare to the destination, transfers from airport to the first hotel, lodging in the country or countries, buses from city to city, some meals, scheduled sightseeing tours and special events just for the group. The tours usually also have a guide escorting the group to manage the schedule and troubleshoot any problems.
"You just say, ‘Yes, I’m in,’ and you pay," says Gaylynn Innes, a Massapequa travel agent for Ohio-based Magical Moments Vacations and the moderator of the Long Island Travel and Vacation Reviews Facebook page for people interested in talking about travel.
Phil Mark, who grew up in East Meadow, and his daughter, Jen, listen to a tour guide on their escorted tour to Sicily in October. Credit: Newsday/Beth Whitehouse
Ellen, 65, says she is more adventurous than her husband, and he wouldn’t have wanted to go to Chile, Argentina and Brazil on their own. "He would constantly be worried. My husband is Mr. Safe."
Ellen found she liked the escorted tour, and the couple is now contemplating a group trip to Japan. "For me, because I do the planning, it’s stress free," Ellen says.
Would a group tour be right for you? Here are five reasons why it just might be — and five reasons why not.
The case for a group tour
You can choose your age range and activity level. Escorted tours are not just for retirees. Tour companies cater to different clientele, and even within one tour company, various departure dates may be designated for different age groups or interests. Backroads Active Travel offers biking or hiking trips around the world. EF Go Ahead Tours offers tour dates for solo travelers. Other tour companies include Gate1, Perillo, Globus, Tauck, National Geographic and more. "Adventures by Disney is very good for families," says Jackie Coady, of Babylon, an independent affiliate of New Jersey-based Magic and Wonder Getaways. Travel agents can advise on the differences between the companies, and company catalogs and brochures typically go into detail about the amount of time spent walking, how challenging each trip is and how many hours each day will be spent on a tour bus.
They’re not all super expensive. Different tour groups charge different prices, depending on factors such as whether you’re staying at five-star hotels or places farther from the central sites, and whether the group has 40 tourists on the bus or a smaller group of 24. Some have more meals included than others; some include gratuities for the tour guide and bus driver, says Lisa Enden, vice president of #1 Power Travel in Plainview. The difference between two tours to the same location can be thousands of dollars, she says. Tours can be good for people who have a specific budget because it’s more of an all-inclusive price, Innes says.
Everything is taken care of. On some tours, the services come right down to picking up your luggage at the door of your hotel room each time you move and putting it on the tour bus for you. There will typically also be additional guides for particular venues that share details of history and culture. The hotels have been vetted by the tour company. "Escorted tours are easier," Enden says, for people overwhelmed by the planning and execution. "Maybe they don’t want to take the train by themselves. That could be daunting, and they want to have someone say, ‘OK, follow me,’" Enden says. The tour guide can also help in situations where a tour member needs medical help, for instance.
You don’t know the country’s language, are unfamiliar with the region of the world, or are new to international travel. "If you’re in a different country where you don’t speak the language, a group tour is definitely worthwhile," Coady says. Phil Mark, 73, who grew up in East Meadow and who typically plans his own travel, chose to go to Jordan and Israel on an escorted tour. "I wasn’t comfortable yet in navigating the Middle East by myself," he says. He also chose group tours for South Africa and for Turkey. Laura Gallo, 70, who grew up in Valley Stream, says she chooses group tours for more remote countries that don’t have a good train, bus or subway system or where she doesn’t feel comfortable traveling alone. She’s been to Bhutan, Nepal and Cambodia, for instance, on escorted tours.
You may experience more than you would on your own. "You’re going to get to see a lot more than if you’re left to your own devices because it’s so structured," Coady says. "Every day is planned for you." Some may have some private perks such as getting into the Vatican an hour before it opens to the public, Enden says. Gallo, who has been on 15 escorted tours, says that on a small group tour she took to Mongolia, group members had the opportunity to sleep in a yurt, for instance.
The case against a group tour
Putting together a trip is part of your fun. That’s often the case for Mark. "It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, trying to figure out where to go, what route to take, where to stay," he says. The group tour eliminates that part of the travel experience — which could also be a perk, depending on your style.
It’s hard to deviate from the tour itinerary. If you have special interests, such as taking a cooking class or exploring local architecture more in depth, you may not have the time or opportunity to do that. With tours often including meals, if you’re a foodie you may feel limited in your opportunities to dine elsewhere. Planning yourself or having a travel agent build a customized trip for you can be more flexible and tailored to what you really want to do than a group escorted tour, Innes says.
You won’t have as much time to relax. The tours can be go-go-go. "They’re very busy to get the most done," Coady says. Says Donna Cuglietto, 70, who grew up in Lindenhurst: "Know that you need a lot of energy. It’s no day at the beach." Group members have to get up at a certain time, for instance, and move on to new sites on specific days. For people who want to sleep late, take a break for a day or move more slowly, a group tour may not be the best option, she says. Ellen Plotkin agrees. "The itineraries are packed. You have two nights at each hotel, maybe three, sometimes one," she says. "If you want to see a lot, you’ve got to move." You can always take on extra days at the beginning or end of the tour if that concerns you, she suggests.
You may spend a lot of time on a bus. "The bus tours, while a good means of transportation and getting to see everything, can be tedious," Mark says. Sometimes there’s just an hour and a half at a location before getting back on the bus to travel to the next destination. Cuglietto says that on a recent tour to Sicily, she would have liked to have more time to browse and shop, and more free time to spend at one of the hotel’s beautiful pools.
You can’t easily escape the other group members. Everything may go smoothly, and you may bond with new friends. On one of Cuglietto’s tours, she says people gelled and were singing on the bus and having a great time. On the other hand, if a group member is coughing, sneezing, blowing their nose on the bus or at your table during meals, you can’t get away. One group member late? You may have to wait. A tour member always complaining? You’ll have to try to ignore them. Only you can decide if this could aggravate you so much that it would ruin your travel experience.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.