Touring Europe Without a Tour

We've all seen the ads, "Eight Great European Cities in Seven Days," sounds great, right! The reality is maybe not so great. When you consider that 2 of those days are needed to get there and back, that's actually 5 days there. The itinerary is crushing, up at 6 am (or earlier), quick breakfast, loaded onto a bus, and off to the next city or site; unless there's an evening show of some type, after dinner it's straight to bed. By the end of the tour plus your trip home, you're exhausted; not really a vacation or that enjoyable.Your cost is usually in the $3 to $5 thousand per person range for double occupancy. The accommodations are usually adequate and the food is so so. It usually includes admissions into the attractions (which are quite expensive in Europe) and a guide to lead your group around. Hopefully the guide is good even though it can be hard to hear in lots of places. You also get a little time and some meals on your own. One of the worst parts for me is that it's impossible to do any good photography since you're going to be herded along in a group.

So the main question: Is it a good value or could you do better on your own? The good news is that if you know what you're doing, you can definitely do it for significantly less; with the money you save, you can extend your trip to two weeks and decompress your schedule and go more at your own pace. Much more relaxing and enjoyable. If you're traveling overseas, airfare is your biggest expense, so you might as well extend your stay and get your money's worth.

The key to saving money is doing it yourself, but it does take planning and research. The great news these days is that we have this little thing called the Internet where you can do all of your research and check everything out before you book it. First, you have to decide when and where you want to go, and then find out what's there that you really want to see. A lot of this is about comfort level, if you haven't traveled much, you might be inclined to let someone else do it for you, and you might be concerned about getting lost or about safety. In western Europe, it's no problem, they're used to tourists and the tourist industry and localities are very accommodating. Everything is well marked and the infrastructure is excellent. You can always find someone who speaks decent English since it's the most universal language. European cities are safer than U.S. cities, but do take precautions against pickpockets especially in the southern cities.

The best way to save money is to go off-season. After the summer, prices on airfare and everything else drop significantly. I hear you saying, "but we have kids." Believe me, if you and/or your kids haven't gone abroad, it's worth a lot more than two weeks of the same old, same old at school and home. The kids will quickly catch up and end up way ahead from the experience. From the U.S. to Europe, you have lots of airlines and competition as well as third party discounters like Expedia.com, Kayak.com, and others. Currently airlines are trying to cut them out of the mix, but that's still up in the air. It's best to keep watching all of them and pounce when you see a really good fare. It's not necessarily better to book way in advance, it's more about excess capacity for the airlines. Generally it's better to fly midweek especially on a Tuesday so don't think about going on the weekend if you can help it and avoid holidays. Always book round trip, of course. If you don't live near a major international airport, you can save a lot by driving to one instead of flying from a regional or local airport. Often there are good hotel/airfare packages as well.

When it comes to hotels when sightseeing in Europe, our philosophy is that we're not going to do much except sleep there so why pay a lot of money. All we want is somewhere that's convenient, clean, safe, and reasonably comfortable. We've stayed in pensions even, but it's usually just a small, adequate hotel on a quiet street, and we often don't even book it in advance; another reason to go off-season. If you want grand hotels as part of your experience and it fits your budget, by all means go for it. You can often get a good deal on business hotels on the weekends. In the countryside, we look for B&Bs or small inns.

If you're going to be touring in the countryside, like say wine regions in France or hilltop villages in Italy, then book a rental car. Book it before you go to get the best rate. If you can read a map or use a GPS you can get where you want to go okay. Some places now are charging for a tank of gas upfront at exorbitant rates and then they say to bring it back empty; what a joke! In Malaga, Spain we had a great rate booked but then they charged us almost a hundred euros on pickup for a tank of gas, so confirm a fixed price. We have the World MasterCard from Citibank which has excellent coverage on the car and allows us to decline the insurance all over the world.

If your itinerary is mostly cities, it's best to use the train from the airport and between cities. The train stations are usually in or near the city center where the main attractions are. European cities have excellent public transportation and are mostly pedestrian oriented. People live in the city centers, there are shops, groceries, and eateries everywhere. You can usually purchase a single or multi-day pass and some cities have packages that include public transportation and admission to the major sites. These are well worth it and you can usually get them at the train station or the tourist office in the city center. Many sites have audio tours and of course these days you can download tour books, walking tours, and all kind of stuff to help you get around and experience the sites and the history. City bus tours are often a good place to start to figure out the lay of the land and see what intrigues you.

Don't be too ambitious, it's better to see a few places well than to try to do too much. In most major European cities you need a few days to see the main sites. The main thing is to be flexible, relax, and don't be in a rush to see too much; take your time and enjoy it. Don't over plan your itinerary, the real pleasure and memories come from exploring someplace that's new and different, and finding the unexpected jewel or unique experience.