Singapore's sound and light show attracts visitors from all over the world. Highlights are these magical "lit-up trees." |
The Grand Palace in Bangkok is best visited through a tour. Our Viator cut through the throngs. If you're with a tour, there's power in numbers. |
IF YOU DON'T MIND GROUPS, A GOOD TOUR'S THE TICKET TO MAKING THE MOST OF TIME, MONEY
STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS
PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER
IN OUR COMBINED decades of global travel, we have always taken tours, chiefly as a way of introducing ourselves to the new.
Tours are as different as places and people. One should choose them carefully, educate before booking and be prepared to enjoy -- by putting complete energy into the activities, making the most of it.
Our recent five-week foray to the Far East proved again that well planned tours are our way to go.
Keller and Cookie pause in Hong Kong, part of a lively half-day tour which hit a half-dozen highlights of the city |
Again, do some homework to find a good fit.
IF YOU ARE a complete "on my own" kind of traveler, you're probably not good tour material.
But if you enjoy participating in planned activities, meeting new people from myriad backgrounds, and having the peace of mind that someone else has booked the tickets and planned the transportation, tours are up your alley.
Tours, like most of life, are what you make them.
Tours often incorporate a meal, a great way to sample the culinary wonders of wherever you are on the planet. |
TOURS ARE not for everyone, But particularly when in a new city, we love a half-day tour for the overview and to ground us. Often we return to a neighborhood, museum or eatery on our own.
Other advantages of touring include large-scale coverage of an area. You might be 100 miles away in a few hours, and on your third stop. Tours cover a lot, and are excellent for first or second visits to a city. For us, they're an educational alternative to lazy mornings.
Colorful Singapore street displays were part of an evening tour. |
Organized tours can be theme-oriented, too, to concentrate on museums and the arts. In Bangkok, a night tour included a traditional Thai dance presentation. |
This Hong Kong jeweler was part of a morning tour to a jewelry store (Hong Kong has the world's most.) |
Cookie and Keller at Victoria Peak, part of an organized Hong Kong tour. |
Especially in new terrain, having someone else do the planning is wonderful, too. The tour
assembles the itinerary and allots the time. Without a tour, we might spend 3 or 4 hours in a single place. A tour gets you in and out in an hour or 90 minutes, frustrating if you want to linger. (If you're in Paris, tours won't spend a day at the Louvre. But come back.)
A good tour incorporates variety -- say, an hour on the river, a tram ride, stop in a museum or specialty shop to watch a craftsman, maybe an interesting lunch.
TRANSPORTATION is a key part. The tour company gets you from point A to point B, so you don’t worry about getting lost, renting a car, finding a subway or hailing a cab. You can usually arrange to leave the tour early -- if you wish to remain somewhere -- and make your own way back.
LANGUAGE EASE is another plus to a tour. You may enjoy using Berlitz French, Italian or Mandarin, but it's lovely to have an English speaking guide to tour you around Ephesus, the Vatican or the Great Wall. We always get to know our guide and ask questions. (Don't forget to tip; guides rely on this. And fill out the evaluation. They're read.) www.viator.com
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Rosina Reynolds, a familiar face in all the theater venues around San Diego, plays Golda Meir. |
Alexander Calder is one of many famous names you'll find in the sculpture and music roster at Tippet Rise. |
Wonderful, an unsolicited endorsement for organized tours. People who DON'T travel widely often pooh-pooh them, but we savvy travelers know they're the best way to acquaint oneself with new territory. Well done. And fun photos.
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