When I graduated from university, I decided to head off to Europe. Rather than backpack, though, I wound up going solo on a few guided tours. It wasn’t the plan. I was meant to go with a friend who cancelled on me the month before we were set to go. Terrified, I went out on my own and did two solo tours before my own solo travel to Cinque Terre. That first solo experience was full of highs and lows. Even with the guided tours, I had one that was incredible and one that was a little disappointing.

However, it gave me the confidence that I needed to continue to travel alone and to use guided tours. It delivered a lot of benefits to me that I hadn’t expected. Even now, if I’m going someplace completely new, I look at a guided tour like an introductory taste. It’s just enough to get me educated so I can decide if I want to return for longer.

So are they right for you? Maybe not. After all, tours can be a little divisive. Let’s go over some of the pros and cons so that you can make the decision that’s right for you.

Let’s start off with some of the benefits of using a guided tour.

Pros:

• The accommodations have typically been better than something that I could find for myself at an equivalent price. Because the tour groups are able to get blocks on rooms, they can often find central hotels with spacious rooms that are a good price. Lately, these have been chain hotels, but the comfort truly pays off. I’ve had some really unique places, but they’ve always been easily located to get back to the action. I’ve been able to do that on my own. However, I typically end up paying at least twice as much for the same quality.
  
• There truly is peace of mind when you don’t have to worry about getting between cities. I’ve done the train route as well as public buses and they both work. What really makes a difference is the convenience of a driver who is picking you up from one hotel and getting you to another without you having to haul your bags around is a nice perk of a guided tour.
  
• When you pay for a tour, typically, that means you’re paying for porterage. That means that whenever you arrive or depart a hotel, you aren’t lugging your bag with you. You are still subject to bag size limits (50lb), but being able to stick your bag in the hall and have it arrive to your next hotel is a huge plus that takes the load off your back — sometimes literally.
  
• As a solo traveller, sometimes you want to be on your own. However, sometimes you want company and you want the assurance that you can find it safely. With a tour, there’s typically a range of 15-40 other people. They’re a shortcut to having company and the ability to socialize on your own terms. Because you’re travelling solo, you can dictate when you want to reach out and seek out company with this group that’s travelling alongside you.
  
• There’s a certain degree of security in going with a guided tour because if there are hiccups in your trip, you have a tour guide to help you. One of the most stress-relieving things for me recently was a trip I lost my luggage. In the past, I would be the one constantly making calls and worrying. On my tour, the guide did that for me. That applies to all sorts of vacation stumbles. Having the guide there really helps you to truly focus on your own vacation and not the logistics.

However, it’s not all positive. Especially as a solo traveller, there can be an equal amount of cons to weigh when making your decision.

Cons:

• You might have heard that tours like this are typically full of an older demographic. That can be true, however, I’ve noticed that changing. On my last tour, there were multiple teenagers with their family and another subset of millennial-aged people (also travelling with their parents). If you want a young, vibrant, fun vibe, a typical guided tour may not be for you, though there are specific companies that cater to the younger (like Contiki). However, for the more organized and sedate tour paces of Trafalgar, Insights, and Globus (and more of the like), the average age does tend to be 40+, which should be kept in mind
  
• The people on these may not be politically or socially in your sphere and you may struggle to find connections to the people you’re travelling with. It’s luck of the draw. I’ve had tours where I met the most incredible people that I vibed with completely. I’ve also had tours where we just never caught on and it was more like a bunch of awkward travellers in the same space. When you go alone, that means that if you don’t get along, you might be spending even more time alone.
  
• There are a lot of people on that bus and that can slow you down. After all, with every destination, you have to wait for a whole busload of people to arrive at the same meeting spot. If you’re used to hustling along, like me, that can start to make you feel like there’s more you could have seen.
  
• The bus can also get pretty cramped. If it’s a full tour, you’ll be sharing the seat beside you with a stranger. There’s plenty of space, but if you’re a little more socially anxious like I am, that can really wear you down when you should be able to turn your brain off and simply enjoy the peace and quiet of someone else driving you from location to location.
  
• Going solo means a single supplement is in play. Depending on the tour, that can add up. This is where you need to keep an eye out for deals that waive the single supplement, because otherwise one of the biggest cons of a guided tour while solo can be that you just end up paying more than you’d like to.

For myself, I like to do a balance of guided tours and my own independent travel. If I’m going on a tour, I’ll usually add on a few days up to a week on my own after to decompress and go truly solo, especially if the tour didn’t work out (thanks to some of the above cons). The pros tend to outweigh the cons, but I typically make sure to buffer that time just in case it all goes wrong.

Ready to try a solo guided tour? Check out my post here for some suggestions of companies you can venture with, along with tips on how to budget for that single supplement!

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