When most people plan to travel internationally, they also want to book tours. Booking tours when you’re abroad helps you see the most important sites and get a real feel for the locations where they are. There are different kinds of tours. For example, for some people, they take an entire trip built around a tour.
Then, there are also tours that you can take for a day or half a day when you’re in your destination.
There are tours geared toward families and then tours that are based more on couples. Some tours go through multiple cities, and the list goes on and on.
How do you know what tour is going to be right for you? For example, let’s say you’re going to be traveling to India. How do you choose the right tour company and the right style of tour before sending money to India?
The following are some things to keep in mind that can help you as you’re trying to choose a tour for your travels.
Do You Like to Be With Other People?
Some tours are inherently social, and they encourage people to meet one another as they travel. Some people are going to like this component of a tour, and they actively seek it out.
On the other hand, if you’re someone who isn’t necessarily interested in socializing or someone who wants to focus on being with your partner or family, you should consider this.
If you’re not looking for a very social tour, think about private or small group options.
What Is Your Fitness Level?
Depending on your destination and the specifics of the tour you’re considering, some of these experiences can be really rigorous physically. They can require miles of walking and things like going up steep steps.
Are you going to be able to handle this, or do you need something more along the lines of a bus or motorcoach tour?
Most tour operators will provide information as to the required fitness level or some of the physical challenges you might encounter.
What’s the Pace of the Tour?
If you want to go through as many sites as possible on a tour and feel like you’re seeing a bit of everything, even if only briefly, some tours will hit all the major hotspots of a destination in a few hours.
However, some people don’t want this. Some travelers want to see only a few things, but they want to be immersed in them. Check out the tour itineraries and see which direction a tour seems to be heading. Also, some tours will schedule every second of the traveler’s day, while others will allow for blocks of free time.
Finally, you should also look into how much transit time is factored into tours. If you’re not careful you may find that the majority of your travel time is spent in transit. For example, day trips from larger cities could require hours on a bus or boat. Is that how you want to spend your time or are you more interested in being in a concentrated area and getting to see and do more there?
