Rick StevesReviews of ricksteves.com

My Way France 13 Day Tour This was my first RS tour. Overall the tour was good. We had a good group with 20 people. Our guide was very helpful and experienced. The bus was very nice and driver was great. Where the tour fell short for us was the hotels. Our hotels in Paris and Lyon were average at best. In Amboise our hotel was more like a hostel. We actually booked a different hotel at our own cost so we could be comfortable. In Avignon we stayed in a less than average hotel and unfortunately my bed was infested with bed bugs. Our hotels in Nice and Annecy were average. After this experience I will not participate in any Rick Steves tours. The quality control on their hotels does not meet my standards.

Wife and I went on our 1st Rick Steves' tour for 14 days through Scotland. 1st the good aspects: Great local tour guide, pretty well organized, and group size was manageable with about 28 people, most all of them well travelled and likeable. Next, the not so good: Why start the tour in Glasgow and end in Edinburgh when to purchase a round trip airline's ticket from the USA is less expensive if it was a roundtrip from America to Edinburgh and back. Also, the itinerary placed too much emphasis on smaller towns and the countryside. 3 days in Oban, and less time in Glasgow and Edinburgh? Only a few hours spent in the beautiful town of St. Andrews also made no sense. Also, no stop at all in the ancient capital of Perth was curious to us. Next, the not so great hotels: A couple of the hotels in the smaller Highlands' villages were not up to par. The best hotel was in Dunkeld. Steves' Guide to Scotland warns us about the local biting insect called a Midge, but we had not problems with this insect, and even our tour guide said not to worry. The tour itinerary seemed to describe a lot of rigorous walking during the tour, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sure we walked, but one hardly had to be in great shape to handle the walks. Finally, several of the experiences could be enjoyed here in America without having to travel to Scotland to see an exhibition of Raptors, and an exhibition of border collies herding sheep.

I have nothing against Rick Steves tours. They are convenient and, if you've got the money to blow on one, why not? However, I don't and when I did my research, I found that I could do the same program of 6 nights myself at the same hotel in Rome (and, yes, the exact same experiences) for 1/3 of the price. I even met some of my fellow Americans there on the RS tour in April. They seemed pleased enough but so was I. I had saved myself $2200! PS. Airfare is NOT INCLUDED in RS tours.