Early Decisions- Organized Tour or Independent Travel?

Your two largest expenses related to going to London, or anywhere for that matter, are your transportation to get there and your lodging. Big surprise. The major decisions to be made about these are centered around some basic questions.

Do you want to arrange everything independently, looking for the right deal for each component yourself? Note I didn’t say cheapest, though that could be your driving force. Do you want to have the freedom to decide what you do and do not see, when you do it, how much time you spend, etc? Alternatively, do you want to forego most of the decisions & arrangements to be made, allowing them to be arranged by a professional, ensuring that you’ll see the major sites and have someone else handle some of the more mundane and/or stressful aspects of the trip?

There is no right or wrong answer to this. It’s about your priorities, your needs, your preferences.

Arranging the trip all yourself and traveling independently gives you the maximum flexibility. It will in most cases also be the cheapest as you can hunt down the most frugal opportunities, and you are not paying someone else to do any of it for you. You will make your travel arrangements, and will decide where to have every meal, and on what budget. If you like to be spontaneous or in some cases perhaps need to be, then being the independent traveler is the only way to go.

Alternatively, you can go with a tour package that will probably provide flight, hotel, local transportation, tour services, and perhaps some admission fees. Some meals may be included. I’ve been on one of these tours in Italy and they certainly have their advantages. They are not the cheapest way to go, but you get a lot for your money, you get a lot of ASSISTANCE, and they take a lot of the pressures and decisions on location out of your hands. With various levels of Tours from somewhat frugal to quite luxurious, they can still be cost effective. If you are traveling with someone who needs special assistance, for example an adult traveling with children, seniors who can’t do a lot of walking or be responsible for their own luggage, or you want to see a lot of towns in a relatively short time, then the tour might be the BEST idea since you will have someone assisting with transportation, luggage, etc. I will say that as far as traveling with children goes, London is one of the easiest and friendliest cities so unless the children are very young, and/or the adult is “out-numbered”, you definitely do NOT have to take a tour just because you want to take kids. I’ve never taken a group tour to London so I can’t speak to a large extent about them and this blog is not focused on that option. I still might have some tips to assist you in what free time you are given and I think the “Highlights vs. Personal Interest” subject may help you decide if a tour is right for you or not. Clearly, tours focus on the Highlights and offer only a small amount of time for Personal Interests. Stay tuned!

Why not blog about my favorite place, London?

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." So said Samuel Johnson, and it doesn't just apply to men. It certainly applies to me as well. This spring as I was planning my almost-annual visit to London, I was asked by a couple of co-workers who were planning their own family vacations to London for tips and suggestions. Always happy to talk about London and offer advice, I sent off a multi-page email to them. In reply, one asked why I didn't blog about it. It hadn't previously occurred to me but it was an idea to which I kept returning. There aren’t many subjects that could inspire me to dedicate myself to a regular posting of my personal thoughts on a subject. But…this one has promise.

A quick word then about me. I'm a single woman who likes to travel and does so, on a moderate budget. I’m not jetting around for a weekend, throwing my cash around, unconcerned about what anything costs and expecting to be treated like a trust fund princess. I don’t stay in Five-Star hotels, take cabs everywhere I go, and only eat in restaurants with Chefs who have TV shows. Nor do I get to expense my trip and let my company pay for all the better amenities. I’m just me, visiting my favorite place, like average Joe American. Perhaps just like you.

So here goes. Some tips and suggestions especially for people who have never been and want to have a rewarding, interesting experience on what may be the one and only trip they plan to take to London and the environs. The exchange rate of British pounds to US dollars is deplorable so everything is at a premium and you want your money to go as far as you can get it to and still feel like you had a REALLY Great vacation! I’ll share names of specific places and where I’m able, websites that will help you plan your trip. No one is paying me anything. My advice is based on my personal experience, good or bad. In some cases I may step back from making recommendations and merely state what I do, so as to leave some important personal decision to you to make. My visits usually last about a week. I haven’t had to time to check back and confirm that things I experienced on my first trip are still the same 9 years later. So, some info could be outdated. If you know something is no longer accurate or available, please let me know! Additionally a lot of things about travel are based on personal preferences. I think that is what makes each trip unique and special. Making an International trip uniquely your own should be one of your goals. If you have a personal interest that in any way relates to the trip you are planning to take, try to tie something you do into that interest. Enrich your experience rather than just checking things off your list.