General Travel Advice group posting on GLOBOsapiens

Package or self-planned

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davidx Premium account Joined: Dec 04 Points: 34719 Posts: 440 Posted: 2006-04-05 18:46:00    This is the second in my series and I hope members will contribute with their thoughts – but please, please, no holier than thou stuff. There is no superior virtue in preferring to leave it to an expert or in wanting to do your own planning but it is interesting to know why you prefer what you do. The package can seem most attractive if time before your travel is very limited or if you feel moved by health factors, by ignorance of customs or language in the place you have chosen. On the other hand, you may feel frustrated by having little control. There are definitely things you want to see and no tour seems to allow for them all. By and large we fall into the self-planning category. However we shouldn’t have considered this for our trip to Peru last year and we enjoyed the Norwegian Coastal Voyage, although we were pleased to be leaving the boat before the completion of its voyage. When visiting both Amsterdam and Paris at different times, we went for what were described as Citybreaks. We didn’t do so in Helsinki or Stockholm and I made my own arrangements for a trip to Prague. The next in this series will be about the extent of planning if you do it yourself, so just a bit here about picking a tour or package. I have no interest in beach or other stationary holidays [again, no virtue] and others may want to give their thoughts. In picking for Peru we obtained a mass of brochures. Factors we considered included cost, duration, amount of strenuous activity, detailed itinerary and, for health reasons, the rate of ascent. I think we got it right but it’s not all obvious. There was one trip more expensive by quite a lot. As it was a one-off, this would not necessarily have deterred us but were the others on the trip likely to be ‘our type?’ What do you think about all this? --- Grieve not for that which you cannot do but rejoice in that which you can. Reply    Reply with quote    Contact davidx   marianne Premium account Joined: Sep 03 Points: 20248 Posts: 349 Posted: 2006-04-06 10:43:00    David, This is an interesting dilemma: package or do-it-yourself. Citybreaks are better as packages because they turn out to be cheaper when organised by touroperators than when you do it yourself. That's why we book these as a packages. Often they are very individual, especially when you travel by train or plane. It is different on a tour buses. We have done this too, because there are lots of perfect offers from the Netherlands to European cities, besides they turn out to be true gems (moneywise). We have done quite a few "bus city trips". It is not uncommon for the driver to organise all kinds of extra excursions, meals etc. The moment we are at our destination we tell the driver that we will be going our own way and will see him again for the return journey. If there are no packages to cities of our choice we book one of the price fighter's flight: air Berlin, Ryanair, Easyjet or others. We find trains a less good options because trains like the Thalys (from Amsterdam to Paris or further south), and Intercity trains to Germany have to be booked in advance. If you want to have the best rates bookings have to be made exactly two months in advance, and most of the time the lowest fares are not available. We arrange all other travel ourselves. We only buy airline tickets and decide where we go and stay per day. However, I can imagine that the day will come that we don't want to do this any longer. In that case I would book a holiday to one place, this way you are not depended on the other people in the group. You just share the same hotel. Marianne --- “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” Robert Louis Stevenson Reply    Reply with quote    Contact marianne   eirekay Premium account Joined: Aug 03 Points: 19539 Posts: 214 Posted: 2006-04-08 03:24:00    I have done both, but I think I fall mostly in between! I am very limited as to time - I can only take 2 weeks together every couple of years, although I get 5 weeks off each year. I tend to research (that's how I found Globo!), decide where to go, prepare of list of interests and then pick a travel agent to help select hotels/activities. This works for me because the Agent frequently knows where best to stay so I have easy access to whatever it is that we want to do. As an example, I have used the same Agent for all my South America travel. We always have relaxed/fun drivers, smooth airport transfers, great somewhat non-traditional lodging and terrific activities/tours. For my next trip, another Globo member suggested a terrific Agent who has helped us arrange per the list of things/cities we wanted to see and has made some great additional suggestions. Going this route really helps us make the best us of the time available. Eire --- Life is not measured by the breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away. Profile Pic: Tikal, Guatemala Reply    Reply with quote    Contact eirekay   frenchfrog Premium account Joined: Dec 05 Points: 26139 Posts: 60 Posted: 2006-04-08 12:12:00    Hi Well well Pakage or Do It Yourself...? I live in Europe, if have to travel within Europe I will go on my own , backpaking sytle, but If I travel far away, I tend to book through a Adventure Tour Travel Operator, mainly to save time and avoid any hassle. Also I think I feel more safe as well as we can look out on each other. I went to Peru on a Package tour and it was really great, no hassle. We still have free time explore on your own as well, so that was great. But I will only go to if the group is less than 20, I hape the coach load, like over 30 people, it is toomuch. Small groups are better. I still keep in touch with most people I met, you make new friends. Take care you all Bye Isabelle --- "It is far more better to have seen it once than to have heard about it a thousand time." Mongolian proverb Reply    Reply with quote    Contact frenchfrog   mistybleu Premium account Joined: Aug 04 Points: 53340 Posts: 245 Posted: 2006-04-08 14:51:00    I’m not too keen on package holidays, and really haven’t done many. I like the adventure of travel so it unusually means me booking every aspect. When I go to Europe or do city breaks I almost always travel independently, as I like controlling what and when I do something. I much prefer just having a day on a tour, then awaking up every morning knowing someone else has organised my day. However by the nature of independent travel, especially in concentrated areas we are all usually doing the same thing, therefore we tend to meet up. However if time is limited, or the place is remote or the distance to cover is great I will go on a tour; and what I think is the best thing about package tours is (if you are lucky) can meet some wonderful people and make lasting friendships. --- "So many places, so little time" ((*_*)) Reply    Reply with quote    Contact mistybleu   st.vincent Joined: Mar 06 Points: 2322 Posts: 23 Posted: 2006-04-10 21:50:00    As far as my own experiences are concerned, I started out with package holidays and city breaks and even joined my parents on a couple of coaching holidays. Not being that adventurous I found it comforting being able to read about where I was staying and what I was going to be doing in the brochures beforehand. However over the last 8-10 years I have changed my outlook and where possible like to do the planning myself and book independently. I'm still a bit of a control freak and like to have a definite plan, but now find I enjoy putting things together myself. Without a doubt it has been the Internet that has changed my habits, both the ease with which flights, hotels and tours can be booked these days, and sites like this where you can find information from other visitors or people living locally. My "independent" travels have so far only taken me to Europe and the USA but I suspect if I were to go to somewhere in Asia or South America I would want a bit more certainty and might well favour the packaged approach. Regards Clive Reply    Reply with quote    Contact st.vincent   downundergal Premium account Joined: Jun 02 Points: 12936 Posts: 221 Posted: 2006-04-14 08:40:00    I am a die hard independent. I just hate having to stick to someone else's idea of how long or what I should see in a particular place. Some of my favourite past-times when on the road include wandering the streets, taking in the local scenes and if lucky mingling with the locals especially the kids. Minature kangaroos & sweets are a universal language for all kids. My other great love is browsing the local markets and I know that none of these activities on an extended basis fit into a tour guides plan. One of my worst travel memories was probably the only time I took a 1 day guided tour & that was long enough for me. It was in Rio & we had to struggle through the guide giving her spiel in at least 3 badly accented languages - never again. Give me a guide book anyday. Kerrie --- Where to next? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact downundergal   hieronyma Premium account Joined: Aug 02 Points: 6484 Posts: 139 Posted: 2006-04-18 17:04:00    Hi David, I started travelling with my family and my friends, bought a train ticket, booked a B&B in advance, and explored the place. But then I went by package tour to England and Scotland, a gruesome experience, although I saw the essentials. A friend of mine meant: It's time to travel alone. I did. For example I bought a flight to Edmonbton, booked a hotel for the first two days in advance. Then I followed Highway Nr. 1. From day to day I decided where to go, what to see, went by train and bus, slept in B&Bs and met the people. They suffered because my English was more than poor. Another way was going with the Experiment in Internationla Living. I stayed in families, lived family life, met counterparts of my profession, and saw, what my hosts could afford to show me. This was also the way to get to know foreign countries and their way of living. But later in life dependíng on my goal I had my journeys planned and arranged by travel agencies - just for me and after my wishes. I am a loner. It seems that I am not a person for packages tours, although I did it under the condition that the groups are small. So I can't decide package tour or not. It depends on the goal of the journey, the country I want to visit, the language spoken, the political, social, and cultural conditions - and last not least the money and the time I can spend. Hieronyma --- "To Live In One Country Is Captivity", John Donne, "Change", 1635 Reply    Reply with quote    Contact hieronyma   ronellevan Joined: Jun 06 Points: 476 Posts: 18 Posted: 2006-11-06 22:42:00    Personally, I like to do my own planning etc - it's half the fun of it. But package trips ca come in handy when you don't have time to plan or are only going for a short time etc. But why can a packaged trip not be an independent one as well. You don't HAVE to go to the museums they take you to. You don't HAVE to go eat at the same restaurant as the rest of the group. Do your own thing, just make sure you know where and when to meet everyone at the end of the day. Reply    Reply with quote    Contact ronellevan