Travel Tip #22: It’s OK to Take Tours
Some people are so intent on being independent travelers that they dismiss all tours as commercial, disingenuous and inauthentic. Those people are idiots. Am I being harsh? Perhaps. But those holier than thou travelers don’t make the rules for everyone who travels. They simply make rules for themselves and project their ideologies on the rest of us. There are some wonderful tours out there and sometimes they offer the best opportunities to enjoy some truly wonderful experiences.
Janelle Nanos, Special Projects Editor at National Geographic Traveler, wrote (eloquently, I might add) about this topic on Intelligent Travel before taking a tour of Morocco. Janelle and I recently discussed her opinions on tours and how her experience changed how she views them.
“Tours are a tricky thing. As a travel editor, I’m supposed to turn up my nose at them and focus solely on forging my own path,” she said. When it came to Morocco, she added, “a tour seemed like a smart way to do it.” She noted that there were several factors that helped change her opinion on tours.
“I found a tour company, Intrepid Travel, that shared my same ideals about sustainable and authentic travel and came highly recommended (both from my colleagues, and my magazine, which has included them in our annual Tours of a Lifetime issue).”
Janelle noted that the size of the group can affect the tour experience. Her Moroccan tour was “a small group trip, maxing out at 12 people. That meant no big buses, no crowded tourist restaurant.”
Lastly, when it comes to language barriers, having a guide can be the difference between having a superficial experience and truly having an opportunity to explore nooks and crannies that may otherwise have been challenging for travelers to find. Janelle noted that “it made spending two weeks in a foreign country where Arabic is the predominant language (a language I unfortunately do not speak) much easier to navigate, and it enabled us to travel further and into more regional areas than I may have ventured on my own.”
Are tours for everyone? I would argue that there probably is some type of tour experience that could satisfy any type of traveler. Will every traveler be willing to set aside their steadfast ideals and experiment with a tour? No. But we all need to make our own rules. If you want to take a tour, take one. Just follow Janelle’s advice and find a tour operator that shares your ideals so that you are not offended by how they do their business. Seek recommendations. And, of course, keep an open mind.
I’ll let Janelle’s final thoughts on tours close things out:
Traveling with a tour group can often feel like a canned experience, where everyone is going through the motions, but a good tour–and I now can attest that such a thing does exist, despite my own instincts to say the opposite–feels like getting around with a local and a few friends.
Special thanks to Janelle Nanos, Special Projects Editor at National Geographic Travel, for sharing her thoughts with me. You can read more of her work (and that of many other talented travel writers) on Intelligent Travel.
I like this. I generally opt for solo travel but there are some places where I just don’t feel competent or safe traveling alone as a solely english speaking woman. I’m looking at tours for my upcoming trip to Egypt for example.
Thanks, Stephanie. Be sure to let us know how the tour works out for you.
I highly recommend Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT), a subsidiary of Grand Circle. Group size is kept small (14-20), and you get to see local schools and have lunch with a local family. Downsides are visits to carpet factories, but you don’t have to buy. I never wanted to go on a tour until I took this one, but it is so nice not to worry about travel connections and baggage. Another good group is GoAhead Tours, but they can be up to a busload of 42 people–so go in off season when groups are smaller.
I’m not a traveler by any means, but one of my fondest memories from a visit to Boston was taking a guided tour of the Freedom Trail. Commercial, yes, but educational and enjoyable.
Mike–
Thanks for this article! I’ve worked as a tour guide for a large European travel company for about 15 years, and I am just now starting up my own small company of tours for travel journalers and aspiring travel writers. I think a key point for anyone considering a tour is how important it is to research the company you travel with before you sign up.
Some tours provide amazing, enriching experiences that bring people in genuine contact with the local culture. These tours, when working with local contacts, can offer insights and experiences that would be difficult to pull off on your own. Other companies, however, make a huge mess of things, herding too-big groups around on tour buses, rampaging through places too fast and too superficially, and bilking their customers for so-called “optionals” or taking them on shopping trips in which the guide stealthily goes and claims a kickback from the shop owners after the group is out of sight. Unfortunately, these companies give the tour business a bad name.
I have always thought of myself as an independent traveler, but even as a professional tour guide, I have hired local guides in areas that were totally foreign to me, where I needed to get my feet wet before plunging in on my own.
I think the trick to finding a tour that will enhance your experiences and respect the local cultures is to talk directly with someone in the company before signing up. Find out what their travel philosophies are, how big their groups are, how much free time and independence they include (because some experiences you just can’t have in a large group), and ask them flat out what they have to offer that sets them apart from other companies.
Dave, you make some outstanding points. Nice to see a tour operator recommend that prospective customers contact them before booking a tour. It’s that welcoming attitude that makes people feel comfortable about doing research to ensure that they enjoy your trip.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Totally agree. And in addition to the reasons listed above, some sites can only be visited via tour—ones I’ve been to: Machu Picchu and La Ciudad Perdida.
Great point, Lauren!
[...] already discussed why it’s OK to take tours. Now, over at Gadling, I discuss what questions to ask before booking a tour. From language issues, [...]
I did the Intrepid Morocco tour as well as the Egypt tour and I did them exactly for the reason that Stephanie mentioned. Some countries I didn’t feel as comfortable traveling as a solo female. The key is to fine the right kind of tour. When I did the intrepid tour I did their lowest cost Basix style trip – it was basically backpacking that had already organized the lodging and transportation…very bare bones – but I loved it. You didn’t have to eat with the group or go to the 30th temple in Egypt if you didn’t feel like it. The only thing that was included in the cost was the lodging and transport…so it left a lot of control to the traveler.
Plus – when traveling long term…sometimes it’s just nice to not have to do all of the planning yourself…it’s kind of like taking a little vacation from your long term backpacking lifestyle! I mixed my 2 yrs up with tours and solo travel.
Great point about tours providing a break from planning on long-term trips. Thanks for sharing, Sherry!
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking tours. As other commentors have stated, it’s vital to research the tour company to make sure that they meet your expectations. Not all travelers are comfortable going it alone. Isn’t it wonderful that there are travel options to fit almost any need?
My husband and I toured the Canadian Rockies with Tauck tours a few years ago. We chose them for the lodging quality and the freedom provided in the tour, both dining and activities. We had just completed a 3 week road trip of our own through several western national parks in the U.S, ending up in Calgary. By then, we appreciated the option of sitting back, letting someone else do the driving while we enjoyed the view.
We enjoy mixing our travels between group options and independent travel. One of our best experiences was a private tour that we took along the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. By hiring a local guide, we came away with an entirely different perspective.
[...] got contemplative about taking group tours with Mike Barish over at his very funny blog. Seriously, if you need a pick-me-up, go click on his [...]
My wife and I have taken many day tours in Israel while visiting family there. One time the male *tour guide spoke about, it seemed, every blade of grass. He loved and was proud of the country and it showed. We couldn’t recall much of the information but we loved every minute of it. The next day a woman *tour guide only spoke, for the most part, when we would get to a sight. My wife and I were a bit disapointed when two woman in front of us commented how much they liked her as opposed to some tour guides who never shut up. So I guess it is almost a no win situation sometimes.
* In Israel to be a licensed tour guide you have to take an 18 month course, which includes history, religions, cultures etc. and they take you to some sights as a tourist, to see it from their prospective, and then pass a test, to be licensed.
I HAVE ONE WORD TO SAY ABOUT PARILLO’S 3-ISLAND TOUR OF HAWAII—FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!
I took a guided tour of Calgary & Banff Alberta Canada. We were 3 couples who joined the rest of the tour group out of San Diego. We were the youngest members of the group. We had a fantastic time! Great guide and bus driver, and great accommodations, even got an upgrade at Chateau Lake Louise, a deluxe resort. I loved not worrying about where to go, what to eat, where to stay, driving responsibility. I wanted to be a mindless tourist b/c in real life, I have to take care of everyone else, so it was a break for me.
I am generally an independent traveler, but I did a tour of the Great Wall in China. There were only 3 people in the tour group, and we traveled in a small bus with an English speaking guide and a driver. It would have very difficult, and maybe impossible, to do that trip independently. It was not difficult to get around Beijing since the street signs are in both Chinese and English. In Shanhaiguan, 180 miles east, the signs were in Chinese and Russian, so we could not possibly have found our way around the city. Most of the places we visited did not have public transportation access, but even if they had, we probably could not have figured how to use it. Our guide took us to places of unusual interest, that we would not have known about on our own, and could not have gotten to on our own.
We were remarkably lucky that our group was so small, but it would still would have been good if the group was as big as 10.
[...] of my favorite “knower of things” Mike Barish recently wrote a post on why it’s ok to take tours, referencing another article that also advocated for tours. Both articles received a fair amount of [...]
[...] often talk about traveling with friends, traveling alone and traveling on tours. What often gets overlooked is traveling with your significant other. Sure, every year around [...]
Great post Mike.
It’s a contentious issue. Tours can be great if you’re a solo traveller or couple wanting to travel with others. Most people travel to places they’ve never been before, so there is always a concern of how different it will be to your normal surroundings. Will you be out of your comfort zone?
Some travellers love to be pushed to their limits, but others don’t, and that’s where a local guide or tour group can really help you understand the foreign culture.
It comes down to what type of person you are and if you’re curious, a problem solver, a planner or an introvert. Everyone’s different. I’ve travelled independently and with tour groups and I think I prefer groups because of the diversity. If you’re a naturally curious person but don’t have the confidence, you’re going to learn and grow so much next to another traveller that has the opposite traits. Times that by the number of people in your group and shazzam!
I’m currently working on a website where travellers can publish their trips and attract other travellers from around the world to do it with them (instead of trying to bribe friends or family that aren’t too keen). Trips being independent or tour operated. Just a place to meet and get to know your group before travelling, as that’s another reason why people are put off tour groups – they’re not sure who they’re going to be stuck with and if they’ll get along. Launching Globetrooper on the 28th of March at http://www.globetrooper.com, but until then check out our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/globetrooper