Hi,
I am single and 30 and will be travelling to Europe for the first time. I would like to do a highlights tour for about 14 days.
I am worried about ending up on a tour that is either full of drunks or older retired people.
Can anyone recommend tours that they have been on that might suit?
Thank you very much.
Joanne
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Hi --
I%26#39;m like most of us here on the forum, and independent traveler, so I have no information for you, but this response will bump your posting to the top of the heap again, and might get you some information, this time.
Good luck.
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Where would the tour start from? I know some visitors from the Antipodes and North America take tours starting from London, Cosmos probably being the biggest operator. I%26#39;ve been on a couple of tours myself (UK people sometimes do them too), mainly because I was taking my father with me. While the average age can be on the high side, there are usually a few younger people too. I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;d normally encounter many drunks.
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Joanne, go on the Rick Steves travel board. Rick Steves is an amercian who wrote and developed a series of travel guides called %26quot; Europe Through the Back Door%26quot; ,, it means his style of travel, discovering the interesting places, not spending a ton or staying in fancy chain hotels, casual travel but fun. ricksteves.com should get you there.
The site is very good, there are travel forums, and information on tours. His tours are popular with many age groups, and if you click on the tour scrapbooks of people who have taken his tours I think you will find a real mixed bunch. No grumps and no princesses allowed is sort of the motto.
Anyways, take a look , it may be just what you are looking for.
Ps You could just go alone, but I do understand that everyone is not happy doing that, it is nice to have someone to chat to at dinner once in awhile right?
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Joanne,
I waited to reply to see what others would say.... I once thought of a Rick Steves%26#39; tour, but having made the trip independently 4 times now (w/ the assistance of many here on TA!) I%26#39;m confident enough to do it on my own.
However, since this IS your 1st trip, AND you%26#39;re going on your own.... I%26#39;d second the recommendation to check out the Rick Steves website (the rest of you please don%26#39;t stone me!) they have a 14 day Best of Europe tour and they limit their tour groups to 28 people or less. If I were going for the first time on my own, I%26#39;d probably take his tour.
His office will also send you a free DVD of the %26quot;Rick Steves Tour Experience%26quot; for you to check out. Bt if this is the way you want to go, you%26#39;d better hurry, his tours tend to fill up pretty fast and there are only a limited number of slots remaining for this tour season.
My folks were trying to convince me to take a Tauk tour w/ them, but those seem to be a little %26quot;over-the-top%26quot; for me. Having done the trip independently, I don%26#39;t think I could ever take a coach tour now.
Anyway, have a wonderful adventure!
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%26gt;%26gt;I am worried about ending up on a tour that is either full of drunks or older retired people.%26lt;%26lt;
I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll find a tour where either group is excluded - it%26#39;s a chance you%26#39;ll have to take. Mind you, I%26#39;d take the retirees over drunkards any day. :)
Does it have to be a tour? If by a %26#39;highlights tour%26#39; you plan on seeing several main cities, you can do this by yourself, and tailor it more to your likes/dislikes.
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Does Rick Steves have a bad rep all of a sudden? I%26#39;m aware of his books and so on and lots of US folk seem happy with his recommendations so maybe Joanne should take a look? I think I missed something somewhere ;o)
Anyway, I did a search for Travel Companions and several are listed here
www.5star-travels.co.uk/Travel-companions.asp
Now, this could also be fraught with issues - and you will need to use some common sense - but you%26#39;re not the only woman who posts here on TA who is a solo traveller so there must be other women out there in your same situation? If you could find a few people to build a relationship with who share what you want to do that might be better than a tour as such?
You could look at
http://www.osolomio.com/?Itemid=1
or
http://www.trafalgar.com/AUS/Home
Who I believe both offer tours more for your age group. Tragalger have numerous tours - one took in London, Rome, Paris, Venice %26amp; Lucerne.
Once you%26#39;ve done it once you%26#39;ll feel able to make your own way in the future.
Let us know how you get on.
HTH%26#39;s
ebabe
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