Travelling on a tour offers an unforgettable palate of experiences to the intrepid souls that sign up. It’s about seeing all the bucket list sites with no fuss logistics. Or having expert road crew that makes it more of an adventure. Most say our namesake is the raison d’être, to meet a bunch of like-minded travellers and make friends for life.
We all have our reservations about joining a group tour, but our global team at Tour Amigo have come up with a hit list of the top 7 of the most inspired reasons travellers choose tours:
1. The hard work is done for you
Top of the pile is taking the stress out of travel. The tour mechanics drill all the nuts and bolts of travelling abroad. Accommodation, itinerary, excursions, and most usefully, transport, is all arranged for you. Getting logistics right are a massive part of the travelling experience that can frustrate lone travellers. Forget scouring the internet each night for a half-decent hotel, or tackling the matrix of public bus timetables to get to the next town. Tours are the epitome of organisation, and even if things go wrong, they have a reliable network and backup to put things right.
2. Meeting new tour amigos
It’s what our company is all about – making lifetime mates on tour. Touring is like a giant social experiment – a group of travellers and a tour coach/boat/train as the elements, in a foreign country petri dish, mixed together by wild, knowledgeable scientists of the crew. Many fear about the people they will meet on tour, but this equation always triggers a chain reaction of social success. Like-minded people with the same goals are all out to have a fantastic time and making it a trip to remember. You’ll soon be calling them your ‘tour family’. Eureka!
3. Seeing new places
Riding high is – the inevitable – to travel and to see new destinations. The touring world is so diverse now, you could be strolling through Europe’s ancient cities, trucking across African savannahs, or tuk-tukking around Asia’s hottest islands. Touring companies offer the best of the lot, iconic monuments mixed with the insider hidden spots. UNESCO world heritage sites one morning, local restaurant feast by afternoon. You can also be sure to see the most important sites plus places you’ve never heard of, thus the tour offering a smorgasbord of new places you can brag about.
4. Follow the leader
Time and time again you tell us, ‘it’s the crew that makes it”. Tour leaders, tour drivers and even tour cooks are the team that guide, inform, host, direct, teach, organise, help, and entertain your way around the world. Tour companies are strict on recruitment to always ensure you only have the most dedicated leaders taking pole position. It’s always good to have some help when travelling, and as passionate professionals, they will be the best source of local advice you’re ever likely to get. And you will never get lost.
5. Free time
Does free time exist on an organised tour we hear you cry? Well, we’ve listed it as a reason you come on tour because contrary to some bizarre popular belief, tours insist you have free time when travelling. Tours know that it’s important to their travellers and having all the main logistics organised for you, takes away all the time-consuming planning that can make a tour a bore. Now you can choose to have all the time you like between destinations. You always have the choice too and tours will provide maps, advice and pick ups for your free days to make it as time efficient as possible.
6. Save money
At first glance tours can seem more expensive, yet look more closely and you’ll save more dollar than they ever could doing it independently. Most tour costs cover the majority of the trip, such as transport, accommodation, some food and even some sightseeing. Once that is paid you can carefully budget for anything else without surprises such as optional excursions, the occasional dinner out, or for souvenirs. Independent travel can be a minefield for shock costs such as taxi rides, pricey restaurants or local excursions that simply don’t have the same discounts that organised tours do.
7. Safety
Travellers have no need to be scared when galloping to an unknown country, but even the most courageous prefer peace of mind when going to a new place. Tours bring safety and security to the forefront. Getting from A to B, friends to accompany you or advice against scams that regular tourists have no idea about. Tours have a reputation to be protective, so all hotels, excursions and transport are routinely vetted. Rest assured you are in safe hands so you can focus on enjoying yourself. Of course, personal safety is nothing to ignore whilst with a tour, there is still much of an adventure to be had. At least the scary unknowns are dealt with. Yet tours will make you realise that the world isn’t that scary a place at all.
