27/02/2020
Over the years, I have traveled throughout Europe in a variety of ways - from big group tours, small group tours, river cruises, ocean cruises and lots of traveling on my own. My favorite is small group tours. Why?
Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of each type of travel.
Cruises, both river and ocean, have their advantages. The biggest one being that you unpack once and wake up in a new destination nearly every day. The food is often good, but usually not very local. The biggest downside is that it is often hard to avoid the crowds and really see the destinations like a local. Most ocean-going ships these days have 3,000 to 5,000 passengers. You are one of thousands that are dropped off at the same place around the same time and, if there are multiple ships in port, you and your fellow passengers can overrun a small city. I was in Venice last year when there were 7 cruise ships in port - all the streets were crammed with people! And, of course, they all want to see the big sites during the limited time they have before returning to their ship. The next day, when the ships were gone, it was a completely different and more relaxing city. With cruise ships, you have to be back on board for dinner. The dinners can be quite good, but you don’t get to experience local restaurants and nightlife or to see the cities and towns when the cruise ship passengers and day trippers are gone.
For solo travelers, cruise lines sometimes offer single cabins, but you may have to pay a single supplement that can be as much as twice the double occupancy rate. That happened to me on a river cruise.
River Cruises can also be nice. I did a Viking cruise from Budapest to Bucharest with my family for my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary a few years ago. Like ocean cruises, you only have to unpack once. And, unlike ocean cruises, river cruises are much smaller. One of the more popular river cruise lines, Viking cruises, have between 100 and 250 passengers, so you’re not going to overwhelm any of the cities you stop at. In Europe, most of the major cities became big cities because they were on a major river, so you can easily access cities like Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, Prague, Amsterdam, and Budapest. River cruises also have the advantage over ocean cruises in that there is little chance of seasickness. But, you are limited to the cities and towns along the river you have chosen. This can mean spending a lot of time in a place you didn’t want to go. And, like ocean cruises, you have to be back on board for dinner, missing your chance to experience these port cities at night. On a side note, for anyone concerned about getting sick on their trip, both river and ocean cruises are notorious for spreading illness. Unfortunately, this was certainly an issue on our river cruise as 6 out of 8 in our group became very ill on the voyage.
The big bus tours are another option. Like small group tours, they can potentially avoid the crowds and allow you to see the cities and towns in the evening when the day trippers have left. However, most big bus tours have about 50 people on the tour, so you spend a lot of time waiting for everyone to be assembled. They have to eat at restaurants that are designed for big groups which limits your choices considerably. One advantage of large group tours is the potential for a lower cost due to sharing the cost of guides and private transportation with many other travelers.
What about traveling on your own? You get to decide where you want to go and for how long. You can travel at your own pace. You don’t have to do what someone else wants to do. However, it will take a lot of time to research your destinations, come up with an itinerary, find good hotels, find good local tour guides you trust, learn how to get around on foreign transportation, and so on with the occasional language barrier. It can be so overwhelming that people put off traveling at all.
Now for the good news! Small group tours are easy. You don’t have to do any research. The days are planned for you. You get to stay in great, centrally located hotels and skip the lines at major attractions. You have great local guides to lead you and provide context so you know what you are seeing. There are no restrictions on restaurants that the group can eat in. You can eat just like the locals.
On Unikorn tours, we see the big sites either early in the morning or in the late afternoon - that’s when the crowds from the cruises (and the big bus tours) are not there and it makes it much more enjoyable. That way you can save time and see the sights without the crush of the crowds and not wait in line.
You can do all this for about the same or a little more cost than doing it on your own because you are sharing some of the costs with other travelers.
For solo travelers, small group tours have the advantage of making it easy to meet fellow travelers, but still have the independence that you may want.
At Unikorn Tours, our goal is balance all of these into your perfect trip. Travel at your pace. See what you want to see. Experience local culture.
We invite you to check out our public tours to the Netherlands, England, and the Capitals of Europe. Or, perhaps you want a custom tour with your family or group. You can set up an appointment to discuss your needs here. Or, maybe you want to go on your own, but you need some help in the planning. We can help with that too. Set up your consultation today!
