Touring Europe - 3 Ways to Vacation in Europe and Come Home Happy

This article will give YOU, the vacationer, some suggestions and guidance to help you plan your dream tour of Europe and not need a vacation after your vacation!

Questions: What are you looking for in a European Vacation?

Pace: fast or slow?

Number of countries visited: many or few?

Number of hotels/packing and unpacking: lots or little?

So here are the 3 approaches to touring Europe:

1) Single Country or Regional Focus tours, AKA “Hub and Spoke Touring”

2) Multi-country tours

3) River Cruising: “Floating Escorted Tours”

HUB AND SPOKE TOURING AND WHY YOU’LL LIKE IT

Looking for a New Way to Tour a Country or Region?

What do you see as multi-country touring drawbacks?

• Packing and unpacking multiple times

• Long hours on the “bus”

• Checking in and out of hotels

• Needing a vacation after the vacation

Let’s introduce the hub and spoke concept. Instead of traveling from city to city with the typical packing/unpacking, stay in fewer cities (hubs) and do day trips out to “spoke “cities. Since hotels are generally located in major tourist city centers, you’ll have both more time to take in the sites of your “hub” hotel and more time to tour the “spoke” locations. Traveling on your “coach” may actually rival a first/business class airline seat on some tour providers.

Example:

1) London, UK - Stay in a London hotel and tour:

• Bath

• Brighton

• Dover

• Greenwich

• Stratford-Upon-Avon

• Stonehenge

• Windsor

• Even Paris on a day trip

2) Florence, Italy - Stay in a Florence hotel and tour:

• Pisa

• Chianti Area/Tuscan countryside - Siena and San Gimignano

• Cinque Terre

• Perugia and Assisi

• Venice

• Even Rome on a day trip

ESCORTED TOURS

Want to see multiple countries in Europe during a single trip? Want to relax? Want to travel “green”? Some of the benefits of selecting a “modern” escorted tour:

1) Save 30-40% over “do-it-yourself”

2) No need to worry about service charges, taxes, porterage, some sightseeing as they are included in your vacation. Did you know that booking an hotel online in Europe may Not include taxes PLUS service charges of 30%

3) Forget about long lines like the do it yourselfers have to wait in at such sites as the Vatican, as you’ll be in rapidly with your tour guide. (Just “showing up” at the Vatican sites may entail waiting in a line miles long!

4) Start the day with breakfast on your tour…EVERYDAY! Have you heard how much a simple breakfast might cost in Venice?

5) Some dinners are included while there’s plenty of time to sample the local fare on your own.

6) Time to yourself IS included to do with as you please; relax or see sites, dine on your own…remember, modern escorted tours are not your father’s tour.

7) Potential to early visit multiple countries or focus on one region/country.

Limited time on the coach, YES, COACH as this is not a glorified school bus type of tour! These coaches may have as much legroom as a business class airline seat. Generally, there are no 8-hour days in transit; Modern tours are meant to be a vacation and not a bus ride!

RIVER CRUISING, a.k.a. Floating Escorted tours

Would you like to enjoy the scenery, towns, and culture along Europe’s scenic waterways? Take EVERYTHING you know/think about “Blue Ocean” cruising and please put it on hold.

1) Pack/unpack just once…OK, so that’s just like an ocean cruise

2) Dock in city center , in many instances, close to or in the MIDDLE of the cities you wanted to see in the first place…Example Vienna or Budapest

3) CONSTANTLY changing scenery, no “sea” days, just days to see the scenery.

4) Inclusive shore excursions, wine at dinner

5) Much smaller passenger/touring sizes

6) Truly explore a destination by exploring history, culture, and the environment. Remember you are touring the HEART of Europe on a vessel that probably holds 140 or less people. When you pull into port, there won’t be hundreds of tour buses waiting.