Vacations are meant to be a time where people can let their hair down, relax and enjoy the places and people that surround them. As an avid world traveler myself, I can tell you that this is not always the case. From the beginning planning stage to the end flight home, stress is a vacations worst enemy. A lot of time goes into booking and coordinating flights, hotels and destination highlights, not to mention possible concerns, which can send you over the edge before you ever get to enjoy the vacation. In my opinion, the best way to alleviate these stressors and maximize your vacation experience in Europe is to try a guided tour. There are several benefits to taking guided tours versus embarking on these adventures alone. The first one is organization; guided tour groups take care of all bookings for you and efficiently plan your trip for the amount of time you have in each destination. You are guaranteed to see the best of what’s to offer in each place that you visit. Time is valuable when you’re talking about vacations. Most people work all year for that one, great, vacation. Tour groups ensure that you are not wasting precious vacation time seeking out sites in an unfamiliar city. Tour guides give you all of the information at each site, so you don’t have to worry about researching ahead of time; just open your eyes and ears. Lines for most of these sites are outrageous, but when traveling with a tour group the tickets are bought in advance and the lines are jumped.Use the time that you didn’t spend waiting in line at the museum to go explore some of the hidden treasures of the city. Tour guides have expansive knowledge of the places that they work, including the best restaurants to eat at, beautiful views to check out and local hangouts that will give you a “real” feel for the culture. We call this “value added” when you get free local knowledge of what, when, where and how.
Guided tours provide a sense of security to your vacation. You pay them to solve your problems. They plan trips in the safest manner possible, warn you of any possible dangers that exist, represent you if language diversity is an issue and make sure that you are healthy and happy throughout your entire vacation.
Lastly, the cost of booking a guided tour is often less than you would spend booking everything on your own. Guided tour companies get bulk discounts on great food, wine, airline tickets, hotel rooms, tickets to museums, etc., which are all included in your overall price. These bundle packages are more cost effective for the quality of vacation that you desire.
Europe guided vacations have a lot of options these days. You can cover lots of cities in a short amount of time, or travel at a leisurely pace with lots of free time to explore on your own. Group sizes vary from 12 to 24 people on small group departures and up to 45 travelers on regular escorted tours, so you can decide the pace and group size to fit your budget and needs.
With all of these great advantages to booking an escorted vacation, it is difficult to find a reason not to try it. Make the most of your holiday this year. Avoid the hassle of wasting precious time and money; instead immerse yourself in the food, entertainment and history of where you are. Take it from me, guided tours make going on a vacation feel like a vacation. Let someone else worry about the details of your trip, while you relax and take in the best of what your destination has to offer.
