Generally, you simply wish to go away the holiday planning to another person.
Whether or not it is an epic journey to America’s best-known national parks, a multiday go to to Paris and France’s chateaux nation or an exploration of the Inca ruins of Peru, probably the most rewarding holidays additionally will be a number of the hardest to plan.
Have you learnt sufficient concerning the locations you wish to go to to choose the most effective inns in the most effective areas? Can you determine the transportation to get from website to website? Do you even know which locations you wish to see?
And when you get there, who’s going to clarify all of it to you?
Enter the escorted tour, also referred to as a bunch tour or guided tour — a visit the place any person else figures out many, if not most, of the little (and massive) issues that make a dream trip come true.
In case you suppose this implies a tour on a full-size motorcoach — a “bus tour,” as some folks name them — positive, that is one kind of escorted tour. However there are many different forms of escorted excursions on the market that use all kinds of transportation, together with trains and ships, and with various ranges of guiding, luxurious and adventurousness, in addition to group sizes.
There are additionally excursions accessible that do not contain touring with a bunch in any respect. These are referred to as non-public excursions.
Here’s a information to every little thing it is advisable learn about excursions in all their kinds.
What’s a tour?
Merely put, a tour is a trip that any person else has deliberate so that you can make it as simple (and rewarding) as will be.
Reward your inbox with the TPG Day by day publication
Be part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s specialists
In lots of instances, these are guided journeys performed with a bunch of like-minded folks — usually known as a bunch tour, escorted tour or guided tour. However not each tour that you will discover accessible to e book includes touring with a bunch. Along with group excursions, some tour corporations supply non-public excursions — expertly deliberate journeys led by a devoted information only for you.
There are also “unbiased excursions” and metropolis stays the place a tour firm has organized most of the parts of your journey — your lodging, airport transfers, transportation between cities and a few sightseeing, for example — however largely leaves you to discover every vacation spot by yourself.
What all of those types of excursions have in widespread is that they’re designed to alleviate most of the ache factors that happen in the course of the journey’s planning course of and in addition in the course of the journey itself.
Forms of excursions
Years in the past, many group excursions happened on giant motorcoaches with comparatively giant teams and concerned fast-paced journey between plenty of websites. There nonetheless are group excursions like that, partly as a result of they continue to be common. In case your purpose is to see a variety of a rustic, area, metropolis or pure space in a restricted period of time at an inexpensive value and with an professional information who will let you know extra about what you are seeing than you ever may have discovered by yourself, it is exhausting to beat a basic motorcoach tour.
However today, there are much more choices in relation to touring, together with excursions designed for all kinds of group sizes, in any respect kinds of luxurious and journey ranges, in addition to with all kinds of transportation varieties. Moreover, you will discover excursions that cater to a variety of vacationers, from solos and households to retirees, and to a variety of traveler pursuits. There are particular excursions for foodies, for wine lovers and for images followers, for example. Different excursions concentrate on artwork websites or spiritual websites.
Even when taking a look at choices at particular person tour corporations, you will now usually discover a comparatively wide selection of choices for every of the principle tour locations — every little thing from comparatively fast, fast-paced journeys with plenty of sightseeing to itineraries which might be longer and extra go-slow of their strategy, with extra free time constructed into the schedule, in addition to extra selection in actions.
Among the greatest and best-known tour corporations catering to North Individuals, resembling Globus, supply all (or most) of the forms of excursions talked about above, with a menu of various kinds of excursions accessible to go well with nearly each style.
By the use of instance, this is a have a look at all of the various kinds of excursions provided by Globus — 10 in all:
- Traditional excursions. These are group excursions guided by an professional, with Globus arranging nearly each facet of the journey — inns, airport transfers, transportation between websites, many meals, attraction tickets and extra — to create a fastidiously curated and stress-free expertise the place you principally simply have to indicate up and have a good time. Typically, these excursions contain journey between cities and websites on a motorcoach that may seat greater than 50 folks (though, usually, Globus by no means places greater than 45 folks at a time on these excursions, leaving some seats on the bus open; the common group measurement is 36 folks). However Globus additionally provides what it calls “Small Group Departures” for three-quarters of its Traditional excursions that contain journey in a smaller group (the common is 24 folks).
- Small-group discovery excursions. These are group excursions designed for vacationers preferring a extra intimately sized group and are prepared to pay slightly extra for the privilege. Additionally guided by an professional, they function a median group measurement of simply 15 folks for excursions in Europe, with journeys elsewhere averaging 18 folks. In addition they usually embrace actions that may solely be performed in smaller teams, resembling non-public wine tastings, cooking lessons, artwork lessons and visits to lesser-known websites which might be troublesome to go to in greater teams. Moreover, they often embrace stays at distinctive, smaller lodging.
- Unbiased excursions and metropolis stays. These are “do-it-yourself” excursions and metropolis stays the place Globus arranges most of the key parts of your journey — your lodge, airport transfers, transportation between cities (if wanted) and a few primary sightseeing — however largely leaves you alone to discover every vacation spot by yourself. They aren’t group excursions. You are touring by yourself. However along with letting Globus make all the fundamental preparations for you, you will usually have entry to native hosts, usually primarily based at your inns, who may also help you with concepts on what to do in every place you go to and resolve any issues that come up. Globus payments it as a “freedom with a security internet” form of journey.
- Undiscovered excursions. These are group excursions designed to take vacationers past the principle vacationer locations and websites in international locations to lesser-known and less-crowded locations, usually with an emphasis on off-the-beaten-path locations recognized largely to locals. A “Hidden Gems of Southern Italy” tour, for example, brings vacationers to small cities within the little-visited Apulia area within the “heel” of Italy. Different Undiscovered excursions concentrate on the Scottish Highlands and Balkan international locations resembling Albania and Montenegro.
- Escapes excursions. These are group excursions that happen in the course of the offseason in common locations, providing an opportunity to journey when crowds are smaller, strains are shorter and, within the case of many European excursions, temperatures are milder. They’re additionally usually priced decrease than excursions in the course of the peak season — as a lot as 30% decrease.
- Spiritual excursions. Additionally known as faith-based excursions, these Europe- and Center East-focused group journeys are aimed toward vacationers who wish to make a pilgrimage to sacred areas of Christianity, notably the Holy Land.
- Rail excursions. These group excursions embrace rail journey as a part of the expertise, usually along with conventional motorcoach touring. A seven-day “Better of Norway” tour, for example, contains journey on the nation’s iconic Flam railway, thought-about one of many world’s most scenic practice rides. An eight-day “Peru Splendors” tour features a rail journey to Machu Picchu.
- Cruise and tour holidays. These group excursions to locations like Egypt or Greece mix conventional touring by land with a number of days of journey by ship. 9-day Egypt cruise and tour holidays, for example, embrace 4 nights of journey on a Nile riverboat to see the traditional ruins of Luxor, the Valley of the Kings and different iconic websites.
- Particular occasion excursions. These group excursions concentrate on iconic occasions such because the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico and the New 12 months’s Eve fireworks over the harbor of Sydney. For vacationers who’ve at all times wished to see these occasions, Globus has designed excursions that embrace particular entry the place you do not have to plan a factor.
- Personal excursions. These excursions supply all the advantages of one among Globus’ group excursions, besides that you do not have to share the journey with anybody else besides your hand-picked touring occasion. For a better price than the standard Globus tour, you get a guided tour expertise only for you and your touring companions.
We used Globus for instance right here, because it has one of many broadest arrays of tour types of any model, however different tour corporations additionally usually supply a number of tour varieties. Upscale tour operator Tauck, for example, provides each bigger and smaller group excursions, particular tour departures aimed toward households, rail-focused excursions that it calls “Practice Journeys” and different sub-types of excursions, together with journeys that embrace cruise journey.
What are some great benefits of a tour?
Maybe the largest benefit of signing up for a tour is that it makes planning (and taking) a trip simple … and that is no small factor. As anybody who has deliberate a big trip is aware of, there will be a variety of shifting components, and the method will be demanding.
Whether or not you wish to go to cities, the countryside or pure wonders in your individual nation or in international locations midway all over the world, discovering simply the proper lodging for every night time of your journey, arranging transportation between the locations you intend to go to, choosing particular websites to see and lining up native excursions and guides will be difficult and time-consuming, in addition to rife with the chance to make errors. When you’re in your journey, the do-it-yourself strategy can usually result in disappointment when issues do not go as deliberate.
Whereas some folks love to rearrange do-it-yourself holidays, others discover that being your individual tour chief can take the enjoyment out of journey.
On a tour, you by no means have to fret about getting from level A to level B, the place to sleep or what to see. In signing up for a tour organized by another person, you’re additionally taking the trouble out of determining native customs and forex, so that you simply benefit from the experience.
Particularly, excursions in most of their kinds get you:
- An professional information. On most excursions, you will have an professional information or tour chief with you always who’s there to clarify what you are seeing and assist put it in context. When touring in international international locations, this information may also function a translator at instances (of each the language and the tradition) and as an adviser on every little thing from tipping customs to honest pricing for native items.
- Simplified journey. Your tour firm will usually deal with all of the logistics which might be concerned with journey, from reserving your lodge to arranging all of your transportation and actions. You simply loosen up and benefit from the journey.
- A built-in set of journey companions. A key factor about group journey is that … it is a group. You will be sharing your journey with a minimum of a number of, if not a number of dozen, like-minded individuals who can contribute to a richer journey expertise. That is one thing that usually appeals to vacationers who wish to be social once they journey, notably solo vacationers (not that you must work together all that a lot along with your fellow tourgoers should you do not wish to; it is completely as much as you).
Moreover, excursions additionally could be a extra inexpensive selection when reserving a visit (extra on this under).
All that mentioned, there are some issues to contemplate when reserving a tour. If touring as a part of a bunch is simply not your factor, chances are you’ll wish to concentrate on one of many unbiased excursions that some corporations supply — those the place the tour firm arranges a variety of the items of your journey however then helps you to expertise the journey by yourself.
You additionally want to consider how a lot you want or dislike journey that follows a set itinerary — and the way set you would like that itinerary to be. Most excursions have some flexibility constructed into the schedule — a day free throughout a metropolis go to or a selection of actions on sure days. However in broad strokes, the concept of a tour is that you’re signing on to tag alongside on what’s a really well-thought-out schedule of sightseeing and actions to benefit from your journey days.
You will possible see extra and do extra on a bunch tour than you’d should you had organized your journey by yourself. However the trade-off is that, for probably the most half, you are alongside for the experience for what the group is scheduled to do and won’t have a variety of time to enterprise out by your self.
The place can I’m going on a tour?
Briefly, you may go nearly wherever.
Lots of the greatest tour corporations catering to North Individuals supply a broad vary of journeys all around the world, from the Americas to Asia.
Journeys to Europe usually symbolize the largest class of exits for large tour corporations serving North Individuals, because it’s one of the common locations for Individuals to take excursions. However most main tour corporations that cater to North Individuals additionally usually supply giant numbers of excursions throughout North America, in addition to a minimum of some excursions to South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and the remainder of the Oceania area.
Tour large Trafalgar, for example, operates 149 itineraries in Europe and 68 itineraries in North America, in accordance with tour reserving website TourRadar. It operates one other 24 itineraries in Asia, 17 in Latin America and 19 within the Oceania area.
For Europe excursions, particularly, you will usually discover giant numbers of choices not only for the area as a complete however for particular person international locations. As of the time this information was revealed, Globus provided 30 totally different tour itineraries that both centered completely or considerably on Italy. There have been 19 distinct itineraries listed for France.
Italy, France and England are the three locations in Europe the place you will usually discover probably the most variation in excursions accessible. However excursions to Germany, Austria, Hungary, Greece and the Netherlands are also widespread.
Past Europe, excursions to America’s nationwide parks are additionally a standard theme throughout the business, as are excursions to America’s most well-known historic websites (Civil Battle battlefields, for example) and cities. In North America, you will additionally discover excursions to scenic areas resembling New England and the Hudson Valley and to particular bucket-list locations resembling Hawaii.
Excursions to South America usually revolve round visits to iconic websites, resembling Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley in Peru; the huge Iguazu Falls on the border between Argentina and Brazil; the Amazon rainforest; and the Galapagos Islands.
Excursions to Asia usually concentrate on Japan, China, India, Thailand and Vietnam. You will discover excursions that may take you to, say, the Nice Wall of China or the Forbidden Metropolis of Beijing; Japan’s capital, Tokyo, and the historic metropolis of Kyoto; and the “Golden Triangle” of India.
Excursions to Africa usually revolve round immersive safari experiences — excursions to East Africa’s sport reserves in Tanzania and Kenya are a preferred choice — in addition to famed pure wonders resembling Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River. Excursions that embrace visits to Cape City and Johannesburg in South Africa are widespread. However maybe the largest vacation spot for excursions in Africa is Egypt (particularly, the Nile), the place excursions concentrate on the wonders of historical Egypt, together with the Pyramids of Giza, the Valley of the Kings and the temples of Luxor and Karnak.
In lots of of those areas, you will additionally discover excursions not simply to basic locations however lesser-visited locations, too, resembling single-country explorations of, say, South Korea, Georgia or Armenia — locations that may typically be simpler to see as a part of an organized group tour than on a do-it-yourself journey.
Which corporations supply excursions?
The tour enterprise is a comparatively fragmented enterprise, with dozens of manufacturers that provide excursions.
Notable tour corporations advertising to North Individuals embrace:
- Abercrombie & Kent
- AdventureWomen
- Adventures by Disney
- Brendan Excursions
- CIE Excursions
- Collette
- Contiki Excursions
- Cosmos
- G Adventures
- Gate 1 Journey
- Globus
- Grand Circle Journey
- Intrepid Journey
- Nationwide Geographic Expeditions
- Abroad Journey Journey
- Street Scholar
- Tauck
- Trafalgar
Whereas marketed individually, a few of these manufacturers are associated to one another as sister corporations working below the identical company umbrella.
Globus and Cosmos, together with river cruise line Avalon Waterways, for example, are all a part of the Globus household of manufacturers, which collectively is likely one of the world’s greatest tour operators. The three manufacturers below this umbrella collectively supply greater than 500 itineraries throughout 80-plus international locations, with greater than 10,000 particular person departures.
One other main group of tour operators is The Journey Company household of manufacturers, which incorporates the corporate’s flagship model Trafalgar, in addition to Brendan Excursions, Perception Holidays, Contiki Excursions, Luxurious Gold, Costsaver and river cruise line Uniworld.
The Journey Company’s manufacturers collectively supply greater than 750 itineraries throughout 70-plus international locations, with greater than 2,000 particular person departures.
Every of those large tour operator teams has member manufacturers that focus on a distinct demographic or traveler curiosity.
Globus excursions, for example, are considerably greater priced and supply extra inclusions than the excursions provided by sister model Cosmos. The corporate’s Avalon Waterways division focuses solely on excursions that embrace river ship journey.
Amongst The Journey Company manufacturers, Trafalgar caters to a variety of demographics, whereas Contiki Excursions is solely for youthful vacationers within the 18- to 35-year-old age vary. The corporate’s Brendan Excursions division is much more narrowly centered, with journeys to solely two locations on the earth: Eire and Scotland. The corporate’s Luxurious Gold model focuses on high-priced excursions, whereas its Costsaver model provides, as you would possibly count on from the title, budget-style journeys.
Among the many different manufacturers listed above, a number of (resembling Tauck and Abercrombie & Kent) have carved out a distinct segment specializing in higher-end (and higher-priced) excursions. Adventures by Disney — a division of resort and leisure large The Walt Disney Firm — is aimed particularly on the household market with greater than 40 family-friendly itineraries, whereas AdventureWomen caters solely to girls vacationers with a number of dozen women-only journeys a 12 months.
Among the many relaxation, Abroad Journey Journey particularly provides excursions for vacationers ages 50 and up. It is a part of one other group of affiliated tour corporations that additionally contains Grand Circle Journey and Grand Circle Cruise Line — all aimed on the 50-plus crowd. CIE Excursions is especially recognized for excursions round Eire, together with two new strolling and mountain climbing excursions by the nation.
Nationwide Geographic Expeditions (which, like Adventures by Disney, is now affiliated with The Walt Disney Firm) focuses on excursions that soak up pure wonders, archaeological websites and wildlife-rich locations. G Adventures is especially centered on adventurous journey.
How lengthy are excursions?
How lengthy do you wish to be away on trip? Whether or not it is just some days or many weeks, there’s possible a tour accessible for you. Lots of the greatest tour corporations supply a variety of tour lengths. You will discover a variety of excursions that final round seven days, that are designed to work nicely for vacationers who’re nonetheless working and may solely get away from work for per week. However many corporations additionally supply longer 10-night to two-week excursions, and there are excursions that final a month or longer — the latter usually aimed toward retirees who’ve extra time for journey.
Tour firm Street Scholar, which attracts a variety of retirees, for example, has journeys so long as 135 days on its schedule. Different corporations, resembling Collette Excursions, largely follow journeys starting from seven to 14 days in size however supply a smattering of longer itineraries. Of 186 excursions on supply by way of Collette’s web site, 26 are longer than two weeks in size, together with a 19-day New Zealand itinerary and a 27-day tour throughout the South Pacific.
Longer excursions are commonest for locations that contain long-distance journey for Individuals, resembling Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the South Pacific. Complicated itineraries that cowl a broader space or a number of international locations additionally usually are longer on the whole.
You will additionally discover that excursions that promise a extra relaxed tempo will usually be longer.
How a lot do excursions price?
Tour prices differ extensively, with some accessible for as little as $1,000 per individual whereas others price as a lot as $10,000 per individual or extra.
As with all journey, longer journeys are likely to price extra. However there are a variety of different components that have an effect on the value of a tour, from the luxurious degree of the lodging which might be included with the tour to the final price of journey within the vacation spot that’s the focus. Journeys that embrace stays in expensive cities resembling Tokyo, Zurich or Paris usually include premium pricing, as do journeys to distant areas resembling Antarctica or components of Africa (the place safari journeys, particularly, will be very expensive).
Different components that have an effect on tour price embrace the variety of meals and actions lined in the course of the tour and the dimensions of the group. Notably, small-group excursions usually price greater than bigger group excursions, and personal excursions usually price much more.
The timing of any given tour can be an element, with excursions departing throughout high-season durations usually costing considerably greater than excursions departing throughout offseason durations.
For instance, as of this information’s publication, September 2026 departures of a six-night “Bonnie Scotland” tour of Scotland provided by Globus have been accessible beginning at $2,399 per individual — or about $400 per night time. However the identical tour scheduled for August 2026 began at $3,079 per individual — or about $500 per night time.
The one distinction between the journeys is that August is the excessive season for journey in Scotland, when demand is highest, and September is a slower season for journey to Scotland. Simply by ready a number of weeks to take this tour, you could possibly save greater than 20%.
For much more financial savings, Globus additionally provides five-night “Scottish Highland Escape” excursions to Scotland in the course of the deeply offseason interval of January to March that begin at simply $1,169 per individual — or about $234 per night time. A part of the model’s Escapes line of lower-cost offseason excursions, these journeys are barely shorter than the “Bonnie Scotland” journeys however supply a lot of the identical sightseeing.
When contemplating such journeys, simply keep in mind that the offseason is commonly the offseason for a purpose. The climate in Scotland from January to March is considerably colder than in the course of the summer time months and will be moist and wet, which might have an effect on your touring expertise. On the flip facet, should you join a tour of Scotland in the course of the winter months, you will discover usually crowded sights, resembling the long-lasting citadel of Edinburgh or the battlefield of Culloden, blissfully freed from crowds.
Are excursions a great worth?
When evaluating the price of a tour, it is vital to remember that the value contains many issues that you just’d usually pay for individually should you have been reserving a visit by yourself. An upfront price of $400 or $500 per individual, per day for a tour could seem to be loads, however it will probably symbolize a big worth when you think about the person prices of all the weather that you’re getting bundled into the value.
Along with lodging every night time, the pricing of a tour usually folds in fairly a number of meals, transportation from place to put (no have to pay for a rental automobile, Ubers, taxis or trains) and, maybe most notably, an in depth quantity of guided touring with most or all admission prices to sights included.
The latter is not any small factor, given how a lot the price of guided touring and admissions to sights will be at a vacation spot should you e book and pay for all of it by yourself.
Moreover, for many individuals and perhaps you, there’s an intangible worth to signing up for a tour associated to the time it saves in journey planning. What number of hours would you spend making an attempt to rearrange a visit with so many shifting components by yourself? What’s your time value? And, given that you just’re most likely not an professional within the historical past and websites of the locations that you just plan to see on the journey, nor the transportation system or lodging choices at these locations, what are the chances that you will get the planning proper?
Equally, there’s an intangible worth to having an professional information main you on such a visit versus touring to the identical place by yourself. On a bunch tour, the sights usually come to life with the tales you get concerning the locations you’re visiting from the information. It may be a deeper immersion and connection than you’d get by yourself.
There isn’t any exhausting greenback quantity for these final two components, however they often is the greatest worth parts of a tour.
Backside line
There are a lot of causes to enroll in a multiday tour as a substitute of creating all of the journey preparations by yourself when planning a visit to a vacation spot. For starters, it makes the planning a part of the journey simple. It additionally simplifies the journey expertise when you’re at your vacation spot.
In lots of instances, your tour firm will organize each piece of your journey, from the lodge you keep in and most of the eating places the place you’ll eat to your transportation and sightseeing tickets, in addition to native guides. All you must do is present up.
That may imply you have got extra time in your journey to concentrate on the issues that you’re seeing and doing, not the logistics of the journey.
If this sounds interesting to you, you will discover a variety of tour corporations providing journeys for nearly each kind of traveler.