Shop around for the best
It is the people who make your travel memories, but what lingers longer in the mind: that fleeting feeling from an overly kind restaurant host, or the migraines brought on from the lads-on-tour, pretentious yuppies, or a useless guide you’re stuck with on tour for two weeks?
Yes, if you’re investing holiday time and money into an all-inclusive tour, or even just a day-trip, it’s vital to get the basics right.
Host with the most
Every guide will be described as ‘‘a really good guide’’ in the promo material and websites. If you’re venturing on a multi-day, guided excursion your guide becomes much more than someone who shares information, they become a host, interpreter, MC, historian, and a comedian – and (hopefully not) a nurse.
So shop around. Read reviews and evaluate what would make or ruin your holiday. Opt for value over price. But, more than that, get value from them. They have experience in the area, so ask questions and get recommendations.
Know your limits
Tours can have intense itineraries: briefing, breakfast, coach, museum, snack, lecture, historical site, lunch, observation deck, cycle tour, coach, bar, dinner. Repeat. It’s great to pack a lot in, but you’ll also need free time to explore (or just to catch your breath).
Study your itinerary and speak up if you’d rather opt out of an activity that doesn’t appeal. Also, be sure to ask about accessibility options and the expected exertion levels before you sign up. These are generally catered to by companies targeting certain age groups, but check first so you’re not caught out panting halfway up a hill.
Engage early
Speak up. Introduce yourself and dive into group activities. There’s often a cringe-worthy whiff of ‘‘organised fun’’ and plenty of small-talk when you’re in a group tour, but the sooner you break the ice, the better it will be. Hint: talk about travel, it’s bound to be a shared interest and most people love blathering on about their adventures, highlights and travel mishaps.
Icing on the cake
Cruises are known for their expensive excursions and optional extras. The mark-up on these activities is crazy. It can be the same for bus trips and tours. So branch out and do your own ‘‘optional extras", for a fraction of the price.
Research ahead of time (Google ‘‘Penang port guide’’ or ‘‘Paris at night’’) and suggest to your new friends a different spot for dinner, a hike to a lookout or a niche museum. These smaller, added extras will add to your appreciation of the destination and break you out of the paint-bynumbers-style of guided holidays.
You can go your own way
You’ve seen us. A pack of audio guide-wearing sheep following a person with a flag on a stick. Maximum mob size, minimum fact retention. Somebody’s headset will always break.
Tour guides can open up a world of understanding where the physical site is simply rubble and ruins. But do you always need one? A two-hour guided tour of Pompeii I thought was a necessity, but do you really need to be ushered around destinations such as Ireland, Los Angeles or Hong Kong? Some wouldn’t dream of travelling to Morocco or Vietnam without an all-inclusive tour booked, but with a little planning you could enjoy weeks seeing your preferred sites at your own pace, at your preferred hotels and riads, and engaging more with locals.
Organised tours are an easy, social and accessible way of travelling (and sometimes a necessity), but they can be limiting and bubblelike. Assess if you’re better off simply doing smaller day trips with a tour company, or even going fully independent.