We personally think tours are awesome, whether they are full tours that include hotels and the airfare, or day tours where you just spend a day seeing some sights, we love them all. We even love the hop on and hop off tours, though we really don’t consider them tours as much as informative transport. Both traveling with a tour group, and on your own, are great options for the traveler to see the world. We will discuss a few of what we think are pros and cons of both.

Pros to taking a tour

It’s easy and you don’t know much or to think much about what you are doing. Once you select the tour, you put yourself in their hands and away you go. There are some great tour companies such as TourOpp discount tours and they love what they do. You will learn a lot from a good tour guide. A tours is more relaxed and peaceful, you can take your time and are on nobody’s agenda. A tour is generally cheaper for doing the same things, as you travel in a group and can share some expenses such as the bus, as well as get bulk discounts. You will make new friends that can carry over into the rest of your life.

Cons to taking a tour

You are on a schedule, so you can’t always take the time you want, to see things. Things can be a bit rushed. They might not go everywhere you want them to go. You might be bored at a location, but stuck there until they are ready to leave.

Pros to traveling alone

You can take your time, and see everything you want. You can leave when you feel you have had enough. You can grab opportunities as they come up without having to wait for anyone. You have much more freedom.

Cons to traveling alone

It can be a bit more expensive such as if you have to take taxis and don’t know the local transportation. You can also get what we like to call a “tourist discount”, which can more than double the price of things. It can be much more confusing on your own, especially in a foreign language country. It might not be as safe, as you will not recognize the same danger as you might back home. You might miss a lot of great experiences as you just will not know about them. You might also not hear about the nuances of a location or the culture.

What we have found to be the most rewarding is both. We generally take a tour for an area, learn all the interesting things, the history, the culture, see what there is to see, then we can come back on our own and take more time. Once we know what there it there, it makes it so much easier to enjoy things you have seen before. Maybe eat at that cafe that you saw, or go shopping a little longer, or spend time in that museum, there are so many things. If you take the tour first, you never feel you have missed anything. There are many sites that have great tips and information on travel. So we suggest do your research an get yourselves in the hands of an experienced tour guide. Sit back and relax and literally watch the world go by.