How to choose a tour

For some choosing a tour is simple, for others taking into account available time, money, destinations, styles of tour, time of year, who to travel with, whether to go alone, spending money, what to pack, flights…these are just a few of the myriad of factors that many people take into account when choosing a tour.

We’ve put together some good advice from our past travellers to help give you some ideas….

“I went with what interested me and what I really wanted to see”

- Dominique10 , Quebec Canada, Posted 19 Jun 2007

“For me, it was a process of reading through the descriptions of all the tours, and looking at the prices to see which would get me a) an interesting tour b) as long as possible and c) within my budget. Since I’ve been working for four years now at my organization without taking a vacation, I had plenty of time saved up, so it really came down to finding a tour with the most time for the least money.

European Whirl ended up fitting the bill for me – cost per day was pretty good, even factoring in airfare, tour sounds interesting, and it will take me mostly to places I haven’t been before.

All that said though, I would think this is one of those things that really depends on circumstance. Are you fresh out of school with no commitments, or are you in a job and only have a limited amount of time to take off? How much can you afford to spend? What are you interested in? Just remember when pricing tours to factor in spending money on top of the tour itself and airfare. It all adds up real quick!

Good luck finding a tour! Though I haven’t been on a Contiki yet, from everything I’ve read, it doesn’t look like you can make a wrong choice!”

- ahintz, Sacramento, California, Posted 19 Jun 2007

“Me and my friends started by making a list of where we wanted to go and then found all the trips that went there.”

- mattsmess, Posted 19 Jun 2007 04:31 AM

“Well, for my own personal scenario I am budgeting for $2000 less than I will have. Since money is a big concern I had to pick one that was long enough to see everything, and cheaper so I can afford it on what I make this summer alone [My plan – do not pay more than what I can save this summer, everything else I save is extra, but budget like its not there]. So, I determined i’ll have $4500 by the time I go back to class in the fall. After factoring out what my parents will purchase for me [bookbag, travel stuff, maybe a museum and rail pass in france], I decided on the European Whirl.

It’s long, and cheaper than others. Since it is a bit cheaper I can stay extra nights in Paris to enjoy it more comfortably. I would have liked to go to Egypt too, but the extra cost and airfare would have been too much. There is always 2009 for an Egypt trip once I have a real job. I figure it’s better to hit the places I really want to go to hard and do not skimp, so Egypt needs its own vacation.

Oh, I also chose the Whirl trip because it ends in Paris, making a perfect setup for me to stay there extra nights.”

- Jeremy, Posted 19 Jun 2007