Video Transcription
Welcome to another edition of Travelstart’s FAQ Friday with me, Nick Paul. This week we are talking about organised tours. An awful lot is said about DIY travel – where you just book your ticket and maybe some hotel accommodation and wing it when you get there. You get to make all sorts of romantic discoveries like secret gardens and fantastic little restaurants down some little back alley but there is also a lot to be said about doing the organised tour. So let’s look at 5 reasons why organised tours could be great for you.
Reason 1 – Saving time and money
Many of the sites that you are planning on visiting will actually be included in the tour. This means that the tour guide pre-buys the tickets at a discounted rate for you. Because he or she has pre-bought the tickets this often cuts out time spent queuing. This can save you many hours which will give you a lot of time to go off and explore other things in the city. The tour guide and the bus driver also know all the short cuts to getting in and out of the city saving you a lot of time that you would have spent getting lost wondering around in your car.
Reason 2 – Great quality accommodation
A lot of the traditional organised tours offer you great 3, 4 and 5 star hotels so you don’t have to faff around looking for which hotel is best. A lot of the smaller group tours give you authentic home-stays – all really great B&B’s for you to experience.
Reason 3 – Socialising and safety
For the shyer among us, it can be difficult to explore a city alone or meet new people. Organised tours are a great way to explore in a group and meet some fantastic people along the way. You also have added safety when travelling in a group that you won’t have when travelling alone.
Reason 4 – The tour guide
This is the biggest bonus to being on an organised tour. You might easily pass amazing sights along the road when you are travelling on public transport or on your own steam which you nay not even notice are there. Your tour guide will obviously know these sights because he or she travels this route a lot. The guide also knows what’s open and when, and which sights are best. For example, if you are travelling to Greece or Turkey, there are literally hundreds of ancient ruins. You won’t know which ones are best for which type of architecture and which history. The guide can also tell you what you can eat in this region. You might pass through a region and miss a fantastic local delicacy but the guide will be able to point this out to you before you get there. The guide also knows a lot more than you could possibly know about the local history and culture. When you are travelling on the bus there is a lot of time spent sitting there and he or she will use that time to explain the things that you might not have known about the area that you are travelling through. This is a great way to learn more on your travels.
Reason 5 – Reputable and responsible suppliers
Many of the major tour operators will go out of their way to find reputable suppliers in terms of responsibility to community and responsibility to safety.
So there you have it – 5 great reasons why an organised tour might be the best option for you on your next holiday. If you’ve got any travel-related questions, please ask them in the “comments” section below and please don’t forget to subscribe to our channel.