Many people recommend paying to do a tour of the countries you plan on visiting. Tours such as Contiki have grown in popularity as an option for people to travel around countries or regions. These tours offer the benefit of not having to do your own independent research and bookings for hotels. Furthermore, travelling with other people is safer and you can meet some people and become great friends by the end. The limitations of tours is the freedom to explore the place by yourself and having no one to tell you what to do and when to do it. Also, some tours tend to be more expensive. For those who have been on one of these tours, and have also travelled alone, which do you prefer?
I've done both and each has their own advantages and disadvantages. On a tour you can't choose who your party is and on some tours I had people who were a pain and not good company. There were some activities I wasn't interested in either, but it can work out cheaper sharing a room and transfers. I had some nice room mates, but some people didn't. Going alone is freer and can be cheaper, you can plan more and spend more time in a place you like and also I used to hook up with other travelers for a leg of a journey and split costs, so unless it was somewhere rural or you needed visas, I would go it alone. My friend is a tour guide and he loves it, tours are great for people short on time and don't like to organize things.
Tours are for those who visiting a place for the first and would rather not get lost or take any risks. Guided tours give them that — safety, being around other tourists from the same country maybe, etc. I like adventure so such an arrangement never can suit me. I always travel alone and without a plan, visit as many places as I can, mingle with the natives and enjoy myself to the maximum.
I don't like tours, so I am not likely to ever embark on one. But, admittedly, from time to time I like going on a day tour to a special place when I am travelling in exotic or dangerous parts of the world. As a traveler I want to see and absorb as much as possible of the places that I visit, but it's not always possible. For example, here in Latin America, where I currently live and work, I can only visit certain places with a local, native guide, as many people here are suspicious of foreigners who go wandering off the tourist trails.
I'm not too fond of tours myself, more often than not you just end up going to the same few tourist traps and spend money doing frivolous shopping/sightseeing. I prefer travelling alone, if you do adequate research beforehand and consult other locals/travellers it can be a safe, cheaper and more worthwhile experience.
I think that traveling alone is not for everyone, so these days I prefer to travel with my family, it couldn't be any other way lol. As a teenager I traveled a lot alone with a book behind, it's good to know things, but it's kind of lonely.
I pretty much always prefer travelling alone. If I want a tour, I'll book a specific one when I arrive at my chosen destination. But the idea of being herded around a group of major cities for 10 days really doesn't appeal. The only time I would look at it would be for those tours you get through Africa or South America. They're not as easy to travel through, both from a safety and a logistics perspective.
I love travelling! I must say that in some countries it is good to go on a tour because there are things you might miss and never know about unless you go on the tour. I enjoy doing my own thing as you can take your time in each place and spend more time on things that you prefer. I find going on my own is sometimes a little dull as you have nobody to share the experience with but it is also nice because there is nobody telling you where to go next. Travel is fanastic and I have learned so much from it.
I would only ever take a tour again if it was to a country like Nepal, where the access is often pretty much limited to tourist and you can only get in with a tour bus. I dislike tours. I hate to be stuck with a bunch of people that I might not like, I don't enjoy running from one place to another and stopping sometimes just for the time to take a picture, I don't like those pit stops to eat where you get 30 mins and everybody has to eat at the same place, I think tours are too formulaic and you never get to discover the real country you're visiting and talk to native people as much. It's just too constricting and superficial for me.
I feel far more comfortable going alone than in a tour. As I see it, part of the enjoyment of visiting a foreign place is having the freedom to explore and find new things. Sure, in a tour you explore, but there are a lot of limitations you have to follow. While some are for safety, others, such as predefined places to eat and sleep, hinder the enjoyment one may have.
I prefer traveling alone. I've been on tours before and while it can still be fun to have company and it meet new people, it's just way too much trouble for me to have to keep up with someone else's schedule. On the tour I got to be a part of, I had to wake up very early and I'd much rather just wake up as I please since I am on vacation anyway.
Personally, I've done both type of traveling before and depending on the place I'm visiting will be how I decide whether I go solo or with a tour group. Some places are best to travel with a group or tour, because it's more safe and you do get to meet new people. However, if I'm visiting a well off place I'll go solo it out and explore whatever I wish to experience.
I have heard about Contiki and it is definitely the kind of tour that I would do, especially by myself. However there's also nothing wrong with traveling by yourself without a tour. It's actually pretty liberating. I find that some of my favorite trips ever were made by myself. I met a bunch of cool people and I literally did whatever I wanted without having to think about what other people wanted. Some people just don't do well with traveling by themselves, so for those people going on a tour with more people essential. If you like being by yourself a little bit and you want to travel to visit places that you want without having to depend on other people, going by yourself to such a good call.
Tours can be quite cheap if you are travelling your family. In particular, I have used a Chinese tour service for a 5-days trip to the East coast. It took us about $700 for 4 people (excluding food and entrance fees to the landmarks). You don't have to worry about sharing your room with somebody you don't know if you are traveling with your family/group. The room and transportation was good even though the food was slightly below par. Well, it's true that you have to conform to their schedule and won't have a lot of room to do things on your own. However, for me, the convenience of having the plan already laid out and the low cost outweighs its lack of freedom.
I prefer to travel alone - backpacker style. I've been through tours a couple of times and they don't sit well with me. For one, I don't like the feeling of being "rushed." When you're in a group, you can't do as you please and you need to abide by the tour's rules. I want to be able to travel at my own pace and leisure. I'm also fond of spontaneous discovery and being in a tour won't afford me enough time to discover places, peoples and cultures on my own.
I usually prefer to travel alone as it really gives me the time to explore things on my own. I hope to travel alone and learn quite a lot from my tours. I think it will be very exciting.
I also like to travel alone because while we are traveling alone we can enjoy a lot and without any worry. In coming month I am going to Italy alone for a week. It is one of my favorite traveling destinations and I am going there 2nd time in my life.
If I have a good amount of budget, I would prefer traveling on my own. This allows me to prioritze the areas that I personally would like to see, and I don't have to go with a huge group of people. Also, I have full control over my time. There are certain cases where you will be able to save a bit if you go on a tour. That might be practical to avail of, especially if you are totally clueless about the place. Going alone would always require a lot of research, so go on a tour if you think you won't have enough time to do your research work prior to the trip.
