BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Budget Travel Can You Recommend a Group Tour company?

The last two articles on the Budget Travel site are full of helpful tips on how to save time and money on a group tour. Does anyone have a recommendation (or a horror story)of a group tour that they took?

I've traveled with Contiki twice, once to the UK and S. Ireland and I just got back from Italy. Both times I had great experiences. The tour manager was full of helpful information, we hit all of the major sights, and it really helped me decide where I want to go back and spend some time. Tours are a bit fast paced but I felt that I did have a lot of time on my own to choose what I wanted to see. I like having everything taken care of: hotels, transportation, some meals. Plus you meet people from all over the globe. I know that on my next travels I'll have some free places to stay!

I'm glad to hear that you've enjoyed your Contiki tours! I'm a former tour manager for Contiki tours in the U.S. and it's a wonderful way to see a lot of country in a short amount of time. True, you don't spend a lot of time in one place, but if you're a young person searching for an inexpensive way to see as much of a country as possible, it's the best way to travel. Check out www.contiki.com for their tour schedules around the world.

YES!!!!!

I HIGHLY recommend this small educationally minded tour company run by a bilingual Italian prof. !!!! They advertise in the New Yorker, but clients come from all over.
Make your own trip! Here's a clip from their website:

We offer five customized tours for individuals and groups: Lake District- Castles, Villas, Wineries; The Veneto�s Renaissance Villas; Medieval Tuscan Towns; Umbrian Cuisine, Culture, and Countryside; Sun and Sea in Capri. All Palladio destinations are carefully selected for their natural beauty, cultural interest and historical depth.
The mastermind behind the tours, Claudio Mazzola, is a Ph.D. Italian professor. He has over 25 years teaching experience in both Ivy League classrooms as well as adult education settings. One of Mr. Mazzola's greatest pleasures is introducing Americans to his native Italy.

please contact: palladio@aol.com
or visit our website: http://www.palladio-tours.com/about/about1.htm
Buon Viaggio!

We filled out a ballot for a GeoHoliday promotion to win a Mercedes Benz or $10,000 in May 2005. Then we received a call from GeoHolidays to come to a timeshare presentation. My husband and I thought "why not go, you never know what might happen". We were there for 90 minutes, had some refreshments then when we were leaving we won a gift for a 3 days 2 nights vacation to Quebec. We were very pleased however I said to my husband, "we likely won't win the car or the money because we already went to the presentation." But when we received a call at the end of March 2006 from a Geo Holiday representative that we had won the 2005 Mercedes Benz or $10,000 promotion, and that we should take our time to decide which one we wanted. Since we didn't want to take the car because it's a two year lease we preferred the $10,000. Although we called Geo Holidays back to tell them our decision, we still didn't believe it. My husband said to me: we will believe it when we have the check in our hands." Soon after we got another call from a GeoHoliday representative who invited us to their marketing office in downtown Toronto. We were very nervous and still couldn't believe that this was really happening to us. When we arrived they took our picture, congratulated us, and gave us the $10,000 check which we are already planning to use to vacation in Trinidad and Guyana this summer. After that when we left the GeoHolidays office I said my husband that "in all the time since we've been in Canada we never experienced such first-class treatment". We had such a great experience with Geo Holidays that we would like to share our story with everyone. Again, we would like to thank Geo Holiday for everything.


Sincerely,


Zamir & Raihana Chadee

My husband and I joined up with two other families to take a Canadian Rockies vacation aboard VIA Rail, and we loved it! In addition to saving money on the kids tickets, it was a fantastic environment for spending time together. The meals were delicious - my picky eater did not complain - and I never worried about what the kids were up to because... well, how far can they get in a train car!? Every aspect of the trip went off well - other than me losing my favourite pair of flipflops <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

We booked online - it was so easy and quick! - at www.trainpackages.ca