Escorted & Package Tours

Escorted General-Interest Tours

Escorted tours are structured group tours, with a group leader. The price usually includes everything from airfare to hotels, meals, tours, admission costs, and local transportation. Despite the fact that escorted tours require big deposits and predetermine hotels, restaurants, and itineraries, many people like the structure, and they're particularly convenient for people with limited mobility.

The biggest operator of escorted tours is Perillo Tours (tel. 800/431-1515; www.perillotours.com), family operated for three generations. Perillo's tours cost much less than if you arranged the same trip yourself. Accommodations are in first-class hotels, and guides tend to be well qualified and well informed.

Trafalgar Tours (tel. 866/544-4434; www.trafalgartours.com) is one of Europe's largest tour operators, offering affordable guided tours with lodgings in unpretentious hotels. Check with your travel agent for more information on these tours (Trafalgar takes calls only from agents).

One of Trafalgar's leading competitors is Globus+Cosmos Tours (tel. 800/338-7092; www.globusandcosmos.com). Globus has first-class escorted coach tours of various regions lasting from 8 to 16 days (for a more in-depth review of a Globus tour in Italy, check our website, Frommers.com). Cosmos, a budget branch of Globus, sells escorted tours of about the same length. Tours must be booked through a travel agent, but you can call the 800 number for brochures. Another competitor is Insight Vacations (tel. 800/582-8380; www.insightvacations.com), which books superior first-class, fully escorted motorcoach tours lasting from 1 week to a 36-day grand tour.

Finally, Abercrombie & Kent (tel. 800/554-7016 in the U.S., or 01242/547-700 in the U.K.; www.abercrombiekent.com) offers a variety of luxurious premium packages. Your overnight stays will be in meticulously restored castles and exquisite Italian villas, most of which are government-rated four- and five-star accommodations. Several trips are offered, including tours of the Lake Garda region and the southern territory of Calabria.

The oldest travel agency in Britain, Cox & Kings (tel. 020/7873-5000; www.coxandkings.co.uk), specializes in organized tours through the country's gardens and sites of historical or aesthetic interest, opera tours, pilgrimage-style visits to sites of religious interest, and food- and wine-tasting tours. The staff is noted for their focus on tours of ecological and environmental interest.

Back to Top

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

		Email			Print			RSS

				Frommer's Italy 2008 Author: Darwin Porter Pub Date: September 04, 2007 Price: $23.99				Related Titles: Frommer's 24 Great Walks in Rome, 1st Edition Frommer's Florence & Tuscany Day by Day, 1st Edition Frommer's Florence, Tuscany & Umbria, 6th Edition