Organised Tours: To Group or Not to Group?

Gareth and I usually like to tour independently when we’re on holiday. I would read up on local history and the sights to see, then plan our itinerary around that and tell Gareth all about it on the day when we’re there. This works well, because we can then decide what we want to see and do so at our leisure. And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing on our Spanish holiday as well these past two weeks, with two exceptions: I booked us on two day trips with a local tour operator to visit Gibraltar and Morocco.

Both of these trips were resounding successes, in my opinion. There is so much history in Gibraltar that I can’t think of a better way to tour the Rock than with a local guide. And I wouldn’t wish Morocco on anyone without a knowledgeable guide. Having returned from our trip there just an hour ago, I still feel harassed and harangued, not to mention confused by the twists and turns of the alleyways of Tangiers. I have no illusions that if we had visited this African port city on our own as initially planned, we would not have been able to see and do as much as we did today.

I also quite enjoyed the camaraderie of our two tour groups. The Gibraltar tour had many British people on it, while the Morocco group consisted mainly of Americans. It was interesting to share these experiences with people from other nationalities, to hear their thoughts and opinions on the trip.

For more posts in the Spain 2010 series, click here.

Although I still think independent travel is generally the way to go, there are definitely situations where travelling in a group has its advantages. Which do you prefer, and why?