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TRAFALGAR TOURS
Escorted Tour Travel in "the Value Season"
Take
a tour or plan your own travel? The eternal travel question. By nature
I’m an independent sort. When I’m traveling I like
to find my own way. It’s also my job to discover unique secret
places by personal divination of guile and wit, but sometimes I long
for the simplicity and comfort of an organized escort guided travel tour.
Hotels arranged, transportation provided, no speed cameras or train schedule
delays to worry about, the hardest decision to make – tennis shoes
or loafers...
Trafalgar
Tours is one of the world’s largest tour companies.
Not the oldest. That distinction belongs to Thomas Cook, who's namesake
invented the travel tour in 1841. Trafalgar Tours was established
in 1947, just
after the big war when Europe was beginning to recover and a desire to
see the rebirth. Trafalgar developed
tours primarily for the tourist traveling for the first time, when languages
and currencies and customs
were different in each country. This provided a convenient means for
tourists to travel worry free and see the great sites often heard of
from afar. It was Trafalgar’s style of tour that also came to represent
the “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium” sort of
reference, which became so familiar it was actually the basis for a Bob
Hope movie in the 1960’s. In 2007 Trafalgar was voted the "Best
International Tour Operator" by Travel Weekly, so they must still be
doing something right.
Trafalgar and touring in general
have come a long way since those days, although the same principal
remains, a group traveling for a determined
number of days on a motor coach between towns, countries and arranged
hotels with an inclusive prepaid price, the offerings, styles of travel,
and desires of travelers to have more interaction with local cultures
have matured and Trafalgar offers over 300 travel tour itineraries to
destinations around the world. Tours feature accommodation in 3 and 4
star hotels, guaranteed departures on select destinations, professional
tour directors, local guides, many meals, hotel tips, service charges
and baggage handling included. They still focus on touring for first
time travelers, but have many returning customers happy to explore another
area. Additional excursions are offered along the routes that you may
want to take, but cost extra, so calculate that in your budget planning,
plus meals and an special entertainment like concerts or plays.
Airfare to the tour departure
point is not included in the tour price. You can purchase airfare with
the tour
at generally the best available
prices and they include airport transfers. Though if arranging your own
travel to and from the tour, you can plan some individual touring before
or after, if determined to express your independent spirit. And take
into consideration you're going to be with the same group of people
for a
week or more,
which
can either
be the source of the “experience of a lifetime”, making new
friends and many happy memories of shared communal joy, or if a little
unlucky - the “God, get me off this bus – the world isn’t
big enough” blues. Though if you do get into a bar fight in a foreign
country there’s at least a professional experienced tour guide
to referee. Traveling with a group does have the advantage of not waiting
in line
for a lot of sight-seeing attractions and an organized travel tour can
be significantly cheaper than arranging a trip on your own, perhaps as
much as 40% cheaper with less hassles.
Trafalgar breaks its tours into
classes of travel, First Class to Cost Saver, Regional by countries
or themes like "imperial Europe" or "Great Italian Cities" as well
as Train Tours and River Cruise tours.
Ways To Save Money on Trafalgar Tours
Travel in fall, winter or spring
Value Season – For 2008-2009
from November to April, prices are at least 20% off summer travel. Travel
to London or Paris for Christmas $820 to $999 per person for 8 or 9 days.
Book your tour by July 31 and get an extra hotel night at the start or
end of your trip. If traveling alone you can share a room.
Book a tour and pay seven months in advance saves 5%. Four months in
advance gets 2.5% discount. Travel with Trafalgar a second time in two
years gets 5% off, which is doubled if booked and paid by July 31. Travel
with 5 to 8 friends or family gets 5% off each passenger. Kids from 5
to 17 are 10% discount. © Bargain
Travel Europe
Web Info
Trafalgar Tours
These
articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain
Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted
without permission.
SEE ALSO:
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IN EUROPE - Malaga
SUN,
SEA AND ANCIENT CULTURE
Learn Italian in Italy's Puglia Region
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