HOW TO CHOOSE AN ESCORTED TOUR ????????????
By owner of the blog
To many travelers, the ultimate tour of Europe - or any other part of the world, for that matter - is one on which you don't have to worry about anything.
Someone else is concerned with all your transportation, getting you to and from airports and on and off buses, cruise ships and trains, providing you a room with bath and many if not all meals, carrying and keeping track of your luggage, making sure you see all the prominent sights and the best local shows, steering you toward the best shops and, occasionally, allowing you time to rest.
Such is the promise of the escorted tour, and so it has been for generations. These days, however, there are so many of them, often advertised in thick, colorful brochures that you can pick up free at travel agencies, that it can be difficult to choose. At first glance many of them seem similar -and some are. But if you read the brochures with an incisive eye and ask a travel agent about anything unclear, you will quickly find that differences can be tremendous.
As a general rule you will find that in escorted tours, as in almost anything you buy, you get what you pay for. This doesn't necessarily mean that expensive is good and cheap is bad; what matters is to get the best value for your dollar, according to your taste. Prices range from about $30 to $270 a person a day plus trans-Atlantic air fare, which is usually at the lowest available scheduled rate but sometimes by charter.
You may want to be pampered and may have the money to afford it. Or you may find some of the frills on the costliest tours to be much more than you could possibly want or need. Some hotels may be much too lavish for your budget or taste. Some sightseeing may be too rigorous or too steeped in a cultural pursuit that barely interests you - or, at the other extreme, it may be too once-over-lightly.
Many travelers disdain any hint of being shepherded around - the ''this is Tuesday so it must be Brussels'' syndrome. But in these economically insecure times, there are people who can afford, and insist upon, the best of two worlds. One experienced New York travel agent, who asked not to be identified by name, told of clients who use escorted tours as the framework for individual travel.
''They don't want to be bothered with any of the detail,'' she said, ''and they also don't want to pay for independent travel, which often costs more. So they go with the tour from city to city and stay at its hotels, but within each city they float around on their own.'' ''Of course,'' she added, ''they don't get any refunds for those tour services that they don't use.''
Augustus Bullock Jr., president of East Norwich Tours and Travel on Long Island, said older travelers are especially attracted to escorted tours. ''It isn't just the ease,'' he said. ''Many of them are afraid that if they go alone they may be right next door to something that they should see but miss it because nobody told them about it.''
Pegge Hlavacek of TV Travel in Omaha said more women than men take escorted tours. ''The main thing to them is a good tour guide,'' she said. ''Maybe he will agree to take six of them out at night and they'll go to some nightclub and they'll just love it. Never mind all the museums, just get the single women out at night.''
Literally hundreds of companies run European tours from the United States - from very big operators with wide varieties of tours to oneperson shops in which the owner also does the escorting, often to different destinations each year so as to encourage repeat business. Bookings are usually made through travel agents, although some of the small operators use mailing lists or advertise in magazines or newspapers read by the type of people they hope to attract.
Among the big names that are usually found at or near the top of travel agency lists are Maupintour, Travcoa, Swan, Caravan and Olson. American Express tours and Trans World Airlines' Getaway programs are often cited because they have different choices for different budgets and, in the case of TWA, for exceptional clarity in its brochure ing what you get and what you don't.
''L ifeseeing, not sightseeing -that's kind of our philosophy,'' said Peter Anderson, director of trade relations for Maupintour. ''We feel inclined to show a lot more of all those little places that people might not know about, such as lunch at a little vineyard out in the country, dinner at a floating restaurant, or coffee and homemade rolls at a country home in Switzerland.''
Among other big operators - those that chip at frills and therefore charge less - are Travellers, Cosmos, Globus-Gateway, Cortell, Trafalgar, TWA Super Saver and Frames.
''People today are buying down,'' said Jeffrey Joseph, president of Cosmos. ''They don't see the necessity of spending a lot on food, accommodations and such. They want to spend the same amount of time and see the same things as anybody else, but they find they can go on a tourist-class tour and see just as much.'' He said the hotels used by Cosmos are often family-owned and quite small.
Some operators specialize geographically, such as Perillo, CIT and Central Holidays in Italy; Esplanade in Britain, France and European cruises, and Tumlare and Four Winds in Scandinavia. Others focus on special interests, such as Dailey-Thorp in opera and music festivals, Swan in art treasures and Serenissima of London in history and exotica. Special-interest tours are often accompanied by guest lecturers - some of them very prominent in their fields - as well as by professional tour managers.
The European escorted tour market is so crowded that those mentioned here are just a small sampling. Mention of a tour operator does not mean an endorsement, but all have substantial experience. In helping you to make a choice, the best advice can come from travel agents or from friends who have taken a similar tour.
''There are really very few companies that I would recommend sight unseen,'' said Sarah Marquis, who for 60 years has operated the New York travel agency that bears her name.
Of the half-dozen agents I asked about escorted tours to Europe, all agreed that the quality of the tour manager - the person who accompanies the group throughout the European portion of the trip - was the most important factor in the trip's success. Many tour managers are professional teachers with long vacations; others are from a variety of backgrounds, but all the good ones have a deep, sincere interest in people. Guides are considered vital to repeat business; many experienced travelers often ask where a favorite guide will be next summer, so that they can go with him or her again.
A good travel agent will question you carefully about your budget, likes and dislikes before recommending a tour; an agent you have used before and one you trust will already know some of the answers and probably a lot more about you that can help. It's best, however, if before you visit an agent, you define your interests, wishes and limitations as closely as you can. It's foolhardy to talk about an art tour if you almost never visit a gallery or museum at home.
Question the agent and study the brochures for specifics on what is included and what is not, such as number and quality of meals. Ask about types and locations of hotels and whether you can check in immediately upon an early-morning arrival after a trans-Atlantic flight. Ask about tipping, about whether all sightseeing is included or whether, in free time, you will be pushed into taking extra-cost ''optional'' tours. Ask whether shopping will be on your own time or whether a lot of the included ''sightseeing'' will actually be at stores selected by a guide. Ask about penalties if you cancel or interrupt a tour, and insurance to defray the cost.
And find out the maximum number of people the tour will carry. Smaller tours usually cost more, but they will probably be more enjoyable.

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