Independent vs Guided Tours Part 4 - Tour Companies

For the last post in this series I wanted to compile a list of the reputable companies that offer tours. While there are many companies that are smaller and operate more locally, these are large international companies that have a well standing reputation. Although they might be more expensive, there are also many ways you can get discounts if you plan correctly. These will be noted below as well.

Tour Company List:

Young Adult:

Contiki Tours: Tours for those 18 to 35 to Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Egypt and Asia. Many ranges of accommodations for all budgets. Some destinations are heavy party destinations over most but are well organized and have great itineraries. Later on I will post a summary of my Europe trip, with details about the Contiki style. If you are interested in the full blog, please check out my daily travelogue here.



Ways to Save: Having been on a Contiki in Europe I can attest to their tours and discounts, however their tour prices are typically higher than most comparable trips so it is best to maximize your discounts when you can. Contiki offers the most out of any company I have seen. Save by pre-booking before new dates are out, paying the trip off in full early, booking multiple trips, being a returning customer, being referred*, or checking out their frequent deals on their website.

*$100 off voucher for excursions for US residents only. I am able to get this discount for you, please contact me before you book.

Adventure Oriented:

GAP Adventures: Tours all around the world in almost every country imaginable, however low in North America. There are many choices of level from concept to comfort, which can range from camping to hotels. Hundreds of itineraries to choose from for a perfect vacation. Age range is open, and family trips available. While someone may be 30 years older or younger than you, many trips are very focused such that you will be among similar mindset. They also own their own expedition boats for trips to Antarctica and the Arctic Circle. I am utilizing this company for my upcoming trip to Egypt and Jordan so expect a review when I get back in late August.

Ways to Save: GAP Adventures has very few discounts offered. If you have taken a tour in the past and return to take another, you will get 5% off. They have many departing soon tours that they offer large discounts on, and sometimes have specials for certain regions. Be aware that many popular tours fill up in advance so these discounts may not come for your particular trip.

Intrepid Travel: Like GAP the company offers tours in almost every country you can think of. They have similar styles of choices and itineraries with only minor differences between them. Age ranges are open so you can expect anyone from 18 to 70+ to be on your trip. They do not appear to have expedition boats but have more large itineraries over 60+ days.

Ways to Save: Savings with this company are very similar to prior companies. If you book certain tours together you will get a discount and they have departing soon trips that are discounted in order to fill up. Typically instead of having multiple tour discounts, they offer larger itineraries of two popular tours to combine into one bigger one, that is offered slightly discounted. The previously mentioned "Beijing to Bali" trip is much like that, where it is 3 or 4 regional tours put together for a bigger discount automatically.

Imaginative Traveller: Another company like GAP Adventures and Intrepid Tours. I have found that this company tends to have slightly different itineraries and can find very unusual ones here compared to the others. But they appear to be a bit more expensive as a result.

Ways to Save: Again, they only have late departure discounts from what I can tell. The adventure companies try and give you tours for a budget the best they can and do not offer many discounts from what I have seen.

Overland Tours:

Dragoman Tours: This company is a bit different in that all tours are multi-month long trips. The shortest of their standard trips is 4.5 weeks although they do offer a few shorter tours. This is one of the companies that will typically have a food kitty due to their long duration. Trips service Asia, Central America, and Africa mostly, however the itineraries go to some unusual places. One of their longest itineraries starts in Helsinki through Russia and China to Hong Kong, through the "stan" countries to India, up the Middle East to Istanbul, and down to Cape Town in 50 weeks starting at $27,000USD.

Ways to Save: I haven't seen many ways to save for this company. I suspect that if you are willing to shell out the prices for their overland trips [before the extras I've already mentioned], saving a few hundred bucks isn't going to kill you.



This list is fairly small for now. Over the next couple weeks I will update it to include more companies and more types of tours to look into if you decide guided tours are right for you!

Posted in: Guided Tours,Initial