Hi All,
We%26#39;re looking to book a trip to Spain/France/Italy. So far we have been referred to Gate 1 Travel and European Destinations.
Has anyone used them and are they reliable? What other companies can you recommend?
Thanks!
Jen-
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Many of us do it ourselves via the net and using the folks here on TA. First pick a range of dates, then look for plane/train bargain fares to get to and from your home in the US and in between places once you get there. Decide which cities you want to visit, then look for places to stay in those places.
You can do it, we can help, kinda like Home Depot. You%26#39;ll never regret it.
oprah 44
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We%26#39;re in the DIY camp as well. By doing it yourself, you%26#39;re able to gear your sightseeing toward the things that interest you most. I%26#39;m working on planning a trip to Peru right now, and finding tours that align with my interests is proving difficult-- if I wasn%26#39;t a 24 year old woman traveling alone, I%26#39;d be doing more parts of that by myself as well.
You can also choose where you want to stay-- my family has come up with some really different, fun places that you probably wouldn%26#39;t get on a tour.
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I do it myself and find Venere.com very good - much depends on where you want to go, cos if it%26#39;s very off the beaten track you might have difficulty finding out the best way to get there. However last year I booked somewhere out of the way in Italy and then asked the hotel for advice on getting there and they were very helpful. Be brave! it%26#39;s much more fun going it alone and you get to spend more time on the things you want.
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I agree, do it yourself. I planned our family%26#39;s March Munich/Paris trip. I did it by choosing my dates, making a list of things we wanted to see in each city, reading TA post and then posting some of my own questions. I just joined TA in January and do not regret one minute of it, the people are nice a willing to help in whatever way possible. Just ask.
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Dear jenny1...
I%26#39;m another DIY person. My method is to choose a location/country, and then buy guidebooks about those locations. I often use Karen Brown%26#39;s books, because they not only include information about places to stay, but also about the places to see, along with a lot of other helpful advice and tips about the country.
I then cross-reference hotels/inns on TripAdvisor, and then book using the internet. It is amazing how different websites will produce different rates for hotels.
I find booking my trips labor intensive, but worth it. I love the process, and it almost feels like I%26#39;ve made the trip before leaving home. Also, if I do it myself, I have no one to blame, but me! So far I%26#39;ve led a blameless life!
Bon chance.
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I agree, DIY for me. Why are you interested in booking through a company?
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Hi Jen,
I%26#39;ve done it all myself, except once- I took a group tour when I went to Russia, which was the prudent thing to do at the time. For all my other trips I%26#39;ve done it myself.
I don%26#39;t go on tours simply because I don%26#39;t want someone telling me how much time I can spend gazing at the ceiling in Sistine Chapel, or wandering in the Louvre or the Prado, or wherever. Nor do I want to be taken shopping to shops where a guide gets a cut of my purchases. And we haven%26#39;t even gotten to the constant nagging to keep up with the group when I want to stop and look into a shop window, or read a bill of fare outside a restaurant.
I start out with an idea of where I would like to go. Then I buy guide books and maps - at least a European rail map if my last one has had the bun (this happens about every 3 or 4 years, although I did have one that I destroyed in one year - but that year I went overseas 3 or 4 times; a vintage year, to be sure.
For my first trip to the continent I bought Rick Steves%26#39; Europe Through the Back door - it%26#39;s the best source I%26#39;ve found for learning how to organize a trip. I still refer to it occasionally, and I always suggest it for first timers. If it%26#39;s not available at your local book stores (this time of year the travel section is still a bit barren in some places), go to www.ricksteves.com. He also has other guide books, European maps, and other travel items. Additionally, download the rail file. I%26#39;ve never found a better source of information on all the various rail passes and how to decide whether or not any of them will be a benefit on your trip.
I think you%26#39;ll find that most of us use more than one guide book - no single one can do it all - when we%26#39;re establishing our itineraries. I use at least two, others use at least three. An extra guide book is always cheaper than the air fare to return somewhere because you missed seeing whatever would have been your most favorite site simply because you didn%26#39;t know it was there.
My husband I are good at traveling together, but he%26#39;s seldom available to travel with me. Even when I%26#39;m going to spend time in Europe with him, he%26#39;s usually there on business, so I start my trip before his, or remain in Europe after he has returned home. His time is not his own, mine is.
I%26#39;m no longer willing to go to Europe for less than two weeks. It%26#39;s too trying to deal with the jet lag for such a short payoff. If you%26#39;re much younger than I, it might not be so difficult, but for me, the duration of a European trip is generally 3 weeks or more.
When I go to Europe, I fly KLM to Amsterdam Schipol, which may be the most people-friendly airport in the world. I take the train from the lowest level into the city, and spend a couple of nights there to get over the worst of the jet lag. AMS is a great city for this, since the city is clean and safe, there is a huge selection of food available, and almost everyone speaks English. I have other languages, but when I%26#39;m jet-lagged, it%26#39;s difficult to remember any of them.
When I leave AMS, my mode of transportation depends on which city is my second destination. If I%26#39;m going to Paris, I take the train, since I refuse to fly into Charles de Gaulle airport (I believe the French government identified all the rudest, most unpleasant people in the country and employed them there). For any other major city, I fly.
Often an open jaw reservation is the most convenient for me. I fly into AMS, and out of some other city that KLM serves. It means that I don%26#39;t have to double back on myself.
If you do your own planning, you%26#39;ll discover what we all know, the preparation is half the fun. Try it, I think you%26#39;ll like it.
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We did a 6-country tour with Trafalgar Tours in 1996, and a France tour with them in 1998. Those are the only tours we%26#39;ve done - we were satisfied with the company and the tour directors. It does help to know the regimen of a tour so you can work around it.
Tours are good for those who are just starting to travel in a new area, and lack the confidence, experience and/or the time to research and book everything. It is very time-consuming to do on your own.
However, the internet resources are so much more prolific these days, so you can get a LOT of help from board like this.
Other reputable tour operators are Globus, Go Ahead Vacations, Colette, and Insight Tours. You can go online to each one%26#39;s website and request a tour brochure be sent to you (as well as everything is presented on the website). If you go to a travel agency they usually affiliate with a particular operator and will steer you that way (we went to AAA and they use Trafalgar). You can book a tour online directly with the tour operator these days.
Whatever you decide, have a great time!
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Whether joining a group or DIY, I would suggest to restrict the trip to within a region only, not to spend time across the continent. Spain can be done in 2 trips, France 3-4, and Italy 4-5; each covering one region and may last 1 or 2 weeks. I have done groups and DIY. When I am too rushed to finish a detail plan, I would pick a group tour and then add a week before and/or 10 days after, on our own. Sometimes I feel too drained of alertness if I kept wandering around on my own for a month or more, hitting new places every 2-3 days. Then I need to be taken care of, even for a short while.
If you must join a tour group, study their itinerary, hotel locations and timing. Understand their marketing targets (age group) to visualize whether it would be one big %26quot;pyjamas party%26quot; or the other extreme. Try to arrive a day or more early to get over with jet-lag. There is no point to tour as a zombie.
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We took a gate 1 tour last year which was guided through Italy and for the most part it was great.
In retrospect we could have done it ourselves, but it was our first trip to Europe and the security of having a guide was nice.
I don%26#39;t know if we would have saved by doing it ourselves we didn%26#39;t really check into that much. This time we%26#39;re using Gate 1 to Paris but as an independent tour in which Gate 1 only supplies the flight, the hotel stay, and transfers, I tried extensively to match the price doing it myself online various ways but couldn%26#39;t match it for the same hotel and airfare.
If we were going to a country where English was rarely spoken I%26#39;d definitely take the tour, as neither of our Spanish, or French, is good enough to get us by. But if there was no language barrier we%26#39;d not be afraid to do it ourselves.
Good luck and have a great trip whichever way you decide.
