Once you’ve chosen your travel destination, you’ll need to decide whether you want to journey independently or with a tour group of some kind. Some senior travelers always choose tour groups. Others prefer to plan their own trips. Here are some things to consider when deciding whether a tour group is right for you.
Tour Group Pros
- Convenience
When you take a tour, someone else handles all the details. You choose a pre-set itinerary, pay the tour group operator and sit back while the professionals deal with airlines, bus drivers, local guides and hotel managers. All you need to do is arrive at your departure point on time, suitcase in hand.
- Cost
Large tour operators capitalize on economies of scale. They have buying power with airlines, hotels and ground transportation companies. Some of those savings are passed on to you. When you combine these savings with senior discounts or travel memberships (such as AAA, Costco, or Sam’s Club), you may discover that you’ll pay the same for independently-purchased airfare alone as you will for a tour, which might include not only airfare but also hotels, meals and guides.
- Access to Unusual or Overcrowded Destinations
If you want to visit Antarctica, you probably have to go with a tour group. Fortunately, you can find senior tour groups going to Antarctica, Nepal and many other exotic places. Tour operators can set up trips to just about anywhere, even to places most individuals can’t reach on their own.
Popular sights, such as the Vatican Museum in Rome, are so crowded during peak months that many would-be visitors are turned away after spending hours in line. Guided tour groups have their own Vatican Museum access times and even enter through a different door. If standing in line is difficult for you, or if you have limited time available to visit your “must-see” attractions, you can maximize your sightseeing time's value by traveling with a tour group.
- Worry-Free Travel
Some travelers like the challenge of solving problems themselves. Language barriers and transit strikes, to them, are part of the experience. If you’d rather worry about what to wear to dinner than where to eat, a group tour can provide a stress-free travel experience. Your tour operator and guide have to worry about dealing with difficulties. Problems are rare on group tours because your tour operator developed the itinerary in advance and, most likely, has conducted this tour many times before.
- Learning Experiences
Tour groups offer many ways to discover other cultures, learn new skills and study the subjects you’ve always wanted to know about. You can practice your French in Québec, weave baskets in the Appalachian Mountains and watch migrating birds on Virginia’s Eastern Shore – all with tour groups. Tour operators understand senior travelers’ preferences and continue to add to their senior-friendly itineraries and programs.
- Tour Guides
If you’re visiting a place for the first time, you’ll especially enjoy taking a group tour with a knowledgeable guide. Well-informed, organized guides add value to your tour experience. Your guide is likely to know the best photo opportunities and can tell you how to walk around Venice when the streets are flooded. You’ll always know where you’re going, and you won’t have to worry about outdated maps and broken ticket machines.
- Social Opportunities
In a tour group, meeting new people is part of the fun. Some senior tours are created with social interaction in mind. Whether you would like to travel with other single seniors or take tea with fellow Red Hat Society members, you can find a tour that meets your needs.
