Anyone Taken a Bus Tour

I always believe in seeing for oneself Jules. What is good for someone may not work for another. We travelled across Canada and were it not for some of the best bus tour operators and train rides, we could not have done it in the time we allotted.

For city sightseeing we did our own thing but for example the Rockies, Niagara, Alaska, Manitoba and other destinations, we used Discover Canada, Evergreen and Frontline. All wonderful and efficient. People were friendly and we made friends we have to this day.
May I suggest try one and see how you go.
 

Took parents before both passing on a casino bus trip from SLC UT to Wendover NV. played bingo for a dollar. Won twice ($10), then won the tire number game when arriving ($35). Won almost a thousand at the tables. Long trip home and my dad (who likes screw drivers), was telling me how hard it was standing up in the tiny commode throwing up.
 
hollydolly said:
oh goodness I agree with Bowmore. If the American bus tours are anything like the UK.. you have to be up at the crack of dawn,, eat brekkie in a hurry, and be back on that bus.. ... and when you've done all that.. there's always one couple , who keeps the bus waiting for about 1/2 hour past it's departure time..because the rules don't apply to them...

Not for me.. did them years ago.. bus tours to Europe.. ( Paris, Belgium etc)
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I have seldom ever been on a bus tour. Been on one years ago. Yes, there was always a couple that was late and kept everyone waiting. We called them "the lovers." They were just full of themselves and did not know what planet they were on; least of all that someone was waiting for them!
 

2018......Sighisoara. Romania........we'd been walking around for a few hours, so grabbed a couple apples/bananas and sat on a bench in a park......next to us was an 'older' (older than me even) Israeli lady......she was on a bus tour.

"All they want to do is eat" she said......."They're over in that restaurant now"...pointing over her shoulder....."when are we going to have breakfast...lunch?"

She was unimpressed...........
 

Anyone Taken a Bus Tour​


Jules, when I've walked down the aisle from the front of the bus, to the back of the bus and back again, I just see lots of seats and some with people sitting on them. ;)šŸ˜Š
 
We've been doing "What ifs?" on a sporadic unregimented basis since this thread began; gut reactions are "If we can no longer be autonomous then we ain't going".

Scenarios range from A) "What if we dislike everyone on the bus and we're stuck with them, (granted this is a one sided perspective, but if we don't like them, odds are they won't like us)........to......B) "They might be a great bunch of people"........(giving due consideration to Murphy's Law of course with the latter option).

Right now we're leaning heavily towards "If it comes to that, naah, we'll stay home and find something else to do".
 
In my younger days, I always did my research and travelled solo.

Only did a tour twice (first and last time tour!! LOLOL) My husband (now deceased) always wanted to go to Australia and New Zealand. We did a day tour in NZ and the couple who sat in front of us were Germans, only the husband understood English. His voice was not loud but we had constant translation in German.

An aside: I use to do house exchanges and was able to see many places without staying in hotels (longest was 3 months in Adelaide Australia.) I could never afford to travel as much as I did without exchanging homes.
 
BC Flash said:
Only did a tour twice (first and last time tour!!
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I guess the only bus tour we've taken was in Iceland.......part of a day, little or no interaction with other participants.....no probs.

The idea of being virtually incarcerated with a group, (on the bus, then in the hotel, rinse & repeat, yadda yadda), is unnerving.

Have never done house exchanges.......numerous airbnb's though.
 
Years (many years) ago my Mother invited me to go with her on a bus tour. If I recall the length was about ten days and we traveled from Texas to Niagara Falls, NYC, and then to Boston and the New England area for the fall foliage and back to Texas. I was probably the youngest one of the group but everyone was friendly and I had a good time and saw some lovely scenery. I think we had to be on the bus by about 9:00 am - usual routine was to have our suitcases by our hotel room door by 8:00 so they could be loaded while we had a buffet breakfast. It was a well planned trip and the guide/hostess was knowledgeable and entertaining. My Mother enjoyed it immensely. the
 
The first time I visited Beijing, China (in 2000), was with a Korean group. The travel agent advised me and my friend not to tour with the group because Koreans had a different idea of how a tour should be. So we looked around on our own. We actually spent a lot of time resting in our hotel room.

The second time was in 2001 with my fiance. The tour group was very small: just us, 2 women, the driver, and the guide. (I didn't think of this story earlier, because we were in a van, not a bus.)

The guide was young and handsome. At each stop, he gave us a brief intro and then spent all his time on his cell phone with a woman. She already had a boyfriend, but he was trying to win her over. We actually got to see her at one point, as she worked at one of our stops.

At one fancy restaurant with elegantly dressed waitresses, the guide complained about everything. Near the end of our meal, he ordered more rice for himself. After a few minutes, I asked him why he wasn't eating his rice. He said, "There is a small animal." Either the chef or the waitress had put a fly on the rice!

They took us on a set itinerary -- not necessarily places we wanted to go. Some were stores, and some were historic places and so on. At each touristy place, we were swarmed by people trying to sell postcards and other souvenirs.

I couldn't handle the constant pace and crowds. Toward the end of the day, we were at the Summer Palace, far from our hotel. I abruptly decided to walk back to the hotel on my own. I've written about that in some other thread.

At the end, we pooled what we thought was a generous tip, for the guide and driver. The guide said, "That's for the driver?"

EDIT: When we got back, I told the travel agent about the driver's dunning for tips. She said the guide and driver didn't receive any payment, and relied on tips.
 
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Mom and I did Reno for fun tours. We'd visit three casinos, then off to our own nightlife. The 80's were some of the best times Mom and I had.

While my past is fraught with "Issues, incidents and agony" it wasn't always gloom and doom.
 
NorthernLight said:
EDIT: When we got back, I told the travel agent about the driver's dunning for tips. She said the guide and driver didn't receive any payment, and relied on tips.
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The travel agent should have informed you about this before the tour.
 
I've been on a few bus tours, but nothing for about 20 years now. First was to Florida... the air conditioning on the bus decided not to work and it was over 100 degrees because it was the 4th of July. A few times to D.C. and the major complaint there would have to be that there was never nearly enough time to see what I wanted to see before it was time to meet the group. Good highlight of one of the D.C. trips was having lunch with a few senators at the Rayburn House office building. Bad highlight was another trip and having to walk around a dark Capitol Hill looking for breakfast at 5:30 a.m. to catch the tour bus back... finally found a hole in the wall and there was a roach crawling around my fried egg sandwich. Never again! šŸ˜±
 
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Teacher Terry said:
I took my first bus tour in Ireland and really enjoyed it. We stayed 2 nights in each place and didnā€™t get on the bus in the morning until 9 so we would get up at 7:30 and have plenty of time to get ready and have breakfast. We showered the night before and put our bags out at 8 am. All the hotels had buffets so breakfast was fast.
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Yes, see below.
funsearcher! said:
3 weeks England, Ireland and Scotland Exhausting never ending schedule Felt pushed
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I did one bus tour in 2015 for 2 weeks in England and Scotland. Up at 5, luggage outside room by 6:30, breakfast and on bus by 8. It was constant except for the evening drinks at the bar. Our bus guide was Irish, he was delightful, and encouraged me to go to Ireland next time. He told me they are much more relaxed, not rising too early in the morning, an easier and enjoyable experience.
The above post confirms this.

Only when you are home have you realized how much was crammed into such a short time. And can breath and admire your photos.
 
I checked out the tour company and time they started every morning, etc before booking because I didnā€™t want to be up too early. The company I used the guides are their employees. There were 33 people on the bus and we had some interaction with them but not a ton as half the meals were on our own in the evening.

At most of the sites there was free time to explore on your own. My friend and I never ate lunch but used the time to explore where we were at. Lunch was never a group meal but one of the things you could do at the stop. 2 meals a day were plenty for us.

Each tour has the sights listed that you will see plus when you have free time to go off on your own or you can take an optional tour. Riding to the next destination always had beautiful scenery. The company offered more than one itinerary to each country so you can pick whatever appeals to you. It was my first tour and I was so happy that I booked 2 more.
 

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