For many travelers, there comes a time when taking a group tour is just too difficult. Perhaps mobility issues make it difficult to keep up with the highly-organized, carefully-timed, sometimes exhausting tour group itinerary. Maybe the long flights to meet tour groups and cruise ships are so tiring that it becomes impossible to enjoy the rest of the trip. Or, possibly, the planned-for-you approach of a guided tour is no longer appealing. If you fall into one of these categories, does this mean you have to hang up your traveling gear and stay at home?
When travel with a tour group is no longer a good alternative for you, it's time to sit down and reassess your travel preferences. It's easy to get used to the group tour approach, where almost everything is planned for you. However, there are many ways to see the world, many kinds of tour groups, and many new technologies available that can help you continue to travel – on your terms.
Alternatives to Tour Groups
Plan a trip on your own, perhaps "home-basing" at a rental cottage, hotel or resort, and using guidebooks, local guides, taxi tours and/or day tours to help you get to the places you want to see. Depending on where you want to go, this approach can work quite well. It takes a bit of advance planning, but there are plenty of resources available to help you. You can probably find English-speaking local guides through the tourism office of the country, state or province you want to visit, and a good travel agent can help you with the logistics. If you don't want to do any driving yourself, a hotel might be a better "home base" for you.
Visit places near family and friends. This does not mean you need to stay with family members, but you will have the advantage of their local knowledge to help you decide where to stay and which attractions to visit. Some travelers build all of their vacations around family events, such as weddings and graduations, and have a great time getting to know the places their extended family members call home.
Choose a hotel or resort that offers plenty of activity choices and day trip opportunities. For example, in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, many hotels and resorts offer day trips with transportation to local attractions, including eco-parks, the Mayan ruins at Tulum and adventure parks. There are many hotels and resorts in the US and other countries that offer similar opportunities.
Find a tour operator or cruise line that offers slower-paced itineraries. For example:
- Road Scholar offers tours at various activity levels. Road Scholar’s "4" activity level would probably be a stretch for travelers with mobility issues, based on the number of activities they pack into each day, but their "1" and "2" level tours would probably work for most gentle walkers.
- Slow Travel Tours is a group of European tour operators that offer tours that bring the best of Europe’s culture and cuisine to you through hands-on experiences, demonstrations and authentic adventures. Many of these tours and daytrips can be customized so that you can travel at your own pace.
- AMA Waterways offers "gentle walkers" shore tours on many of its river cruises.
(Tip: Look at a tour itinerary for a place you have already visited. This will help you learn how much the tour operator expects tour participants to do each day.)
Stay closer to home. If flying across the country makes you so tired that you can’t enjoy your trip, choose a destination close enough so you can drive or take the train.
Use technology to customize your trip and see things at your own pace. Modern technology brings travel information to your fingertips.
- Mobile phone apps can help you find your way around cities and parks on your own. You can find travel apps for iPhones, iPads, Android phones and BlackBerry smartphones that will help you convert currency, translate menus, take walking tours of cities and navigate airports.
- Podcasts can help you visit museums, attractions and historic cities at your own pace. Use your MP3 player or iPod to listen to one of the hundreds of podcasts available. Some museums, including New York City's Museum of Modern Art, London's Royal Air Force Museum and the Vienna Hofburg offer free MP3 audio tours; you can also find free and low-cost podcasts and MP3 audio tours at tourism offices or online.
- Segway tours are available in many cities, including Washington, DC, Honolulu, Orlando, Paris, Berlin and Budapest. You won't have to worry about keeping up with the group while you are riding a self-balancing Segway.
The Bottom Line
Focus on what you can do and what you want to do, and build your trip from there.. You don't have to climb every bell tower or see every museum exhibit to enjoy a destination. You can travel on your terms, at your own pace, in many different countries.
