I have taken group trips with Butterfield & Robinson. Not what you are looking for, per se, but I can give you some insight on group trips in general. Our first one was great, because the group was good. Fun, relaxed, conversational people. The second trip was the opposite. The group was dominated by one obnoxious family, who thought they should control things by virtue of their numbers. We still had fun, albeit with annoyances. It is such a function of the group you get. But I would do it again in the right circumstances.

That said, it's nice sometimes not to worry about logistics. I have heard good things about Roads Scholars.

Perhaps consider using a travel agent for the general itinerary, and then book excursions through local tour groups. This way, you’re not committing to a set group for the entire trip.

I forgot to mention, a coworker spoke highly of a small group trip with Inside Japan.

I happen to know the RS president socially. I do not go on group tours, because I am totally comfortable with and happy to do my own planning. The exception was Antarctica, but that was necessary given our modes of travel. And in that case, one of our favorite parts of the trip was getting to know a Chilean family of 9, and spending a day with them afterwards at their beachhouse.

What my friend says is that the social dynamics can often be a huge positive, but sometimes are neutral. If they become negative, that is the fault of the operator. It should be neutral at worst. Pick a group that reflects your interests, values, pace and budget. SImilar demographics often help (eg age, income, familial status) but is not strictly necessary. Then discuss your specific concerns with the company, and read every review you can find, especially any negative ones.

My son's MIL who I also know fairly well has traveled multiple times with OAS. She's traveled enough with them that on nearly every trip she encounters a traveler who has been on one of her previous excursions. She speaks very highly of them. She's widowed and travels with a long time girlfriend. Since both of them have traveled extensively and are now in their mid 70's they appreciate having someone else take care of details. She recently returned from a trip to Thailand and Nepal.

We did a Collette tour of Tuscany 8 years ago. It was sponsored by a winery near by my sister and BIL. It wa nice, we saw things that we would not have arranged on our own. A benefit to using a tour guide like Collette is that we did not have to wait in line to see sites in Florence. Downside is that you are at the mercy of the planned tour thru a city and if you are done with chapels, war relics, etc it is difficult to go your own way. My sister and I would have preferred to spend more time exploring shops and restaurants than allotted.

Would we do one again? Yes, we are taking our second Viking river cruise in a few weeks.

I think it depends on your personality. I would never do a group tour but my brother and sister in law do them in Europe and love them. I mean it could end up being great, but it's just too risky to me. Also, I have zero interest in meeting people when I travel. YMMV.

If I didn't want to plan everything, I would use a travel agent to do the planning. They can schedule excursions/tours for a day but you wouldn't be stuck with the same group for the whole trip.

I will be honest, there are only a few my husband and i will travel with. Mostly because we really enjoy exploring the areas, even if means getting off track/schedule. Or we want to take a day and just relax! That’s one reason we adore road trips, even long ones and often do not have a schedule! Definitely not a fan of cruising because a)too many people and b) even on excursions you really cannot head off to anywhere you want, and c) schedules lol!There are a few of our closest friends that we will travel with, occasionally who do not have to do every activity together.

But hey, each to their own! Travel your way and enjoy 🙂

I would seek out smaller tour companies. We found a tour group that booked five day, three day and one day tours. We were on a 10 day trip and mixed and matched as well as bummed around on our own. Their busses held 12 vs 30+ that is more typical. We chose our accomodation and eating. They offered five star hotels down to hostels. We found ours word of mouth. Keep asking around. We traveled with our daughters. When you have a group already it can insulate you from the others if you find them not your type.

I belong to a local Traveling Ladies group. Myself &10 of the ladies just returned from a group tour of Amsterdam, Luxembourg & Belgium with EF Tours. There were 35 total in this group. It was well planned & the Hotels were very nice with great locations. I am currently going through treatment for lung cancer & recently had surgery to remove a section of one of my lungs so my experience is unique. It was tough for me because I am having breathing issues & had a hard time keeping up with the group. But overall it was a very good experience.

Gale, big hugs to you. im glad your toughness resulted in a very good experience. more hugs! westy.

What my friend says is that the social dynamics can often be a huge positive, but sometimes are neutral. If they become negative, that is the fault of the operator. It should be neutral at worst

That's a great way of describing it. When we had the obnoxious family of 5 in our walking tour group of 11, we would be annoyed at times, mostly shrug our shoulders and laugh, but it really didn't ruin the trip. It was just neutral, but disappointing because the first trip had been so perfect.

I just went to Japan for the first time and it was absolutely incredible. I was traveling with my DS, who’d been before with my DIL, and he planned everything.
You might like to look at both the guided and self-guided tours by Oku Japan- they would be my choice if I return to Japan on my own. I’ve heard great things!
Mostly I travel independently, but one of my very favorite trips (pre Covid) was a National Geographic / G Adventures trip - a week on a canal barge on the Burgundy Canal + nights in Dijon and Paris. There were 17 in our group and everyone got along so well we had several reunions in North America during the following years. It was SO MUCH FUN!!
In September I will be taking a Road Scholar tour of SW France and the Pyrenees- areas I’ve never visited and that would be difficult to access without a car. I hope I like it!

Thanks for the info, ccp— of course will I trust anyone who follows David Liebovitz restaurant recommends.

I think about this for after I retire and DH probably does not. Maybe one of my friends if she retires soon. My sister is having lots of mobility issues and I’m encouraging her to get stronger for travel purposes. I get a lot of flyers from my alma maters for alumni trips. Viking River cruises look interesting too.

Since I made the mistake of sharing my interest in chrome rather than via duckduckgo I’m seeing info on many women travel groups. that’s a nice thing, but not a priority.

I've taken three trips with Go Ahead, and they've been terrific. They offer a "Solo Group Tour" which I've done, which is primarily made up of others traveling alone. Each person has their own room, and it's especially fun to be part of a group where many people are open to meeting people. In fact, I met three other travelers on my first Go Ahead trip, and they've become such good friends that we've traveled two more times together. My husband was too ill to travel the last few years of his life, and traveling with a group tour company was the only way I felt I could travel internationally. Go Ahead also offers a single supplement on their standard group tours, so their entire catalog is open to solo travelers. Viatours is a great site if you want to travel on your own and plan a few group excursions. We've used them for a private boat day in Amalfi, a mountain top meal with stargazing in the Andes, and a private meal in a home in Buenos Aires. All were top notch.

We just got back from our group tour with Tauck... our 9th with them. One gal on the trip, it was her 35th and she traveled alone. What I like about it is they plan everything so we worry about nothing...all the logistics, the driving, the baggage handling...everything. All of the people we met were very nice and considerate. In our years of traveling with them, we haven't run into anyone sour at all. It was fun getting to know everyone. I also like the fact that when we are in a strange town or location, all of a sudden, you'll see someone you know from the tour, so it's like being in a community even in a strange land. Yet people also respect each other's privacy and alone time. We also don't have things like assigned dinner tables or such. We are free to mingle or not, spend time with people or not.

While in the old days, that's not how I'd want to see national parks, in this stage of life, having someone know where to go, take you to the spots, tell you ahead of time of trail conditions, etc. is just wonderful. Especially when you are traveling with your own health issues, it becomes much easier to have help with all the other stuff.

We've done one group tour with Tauck - a family version maybe 10 years ago or more. It was great as far as logistics - as the resident trip planner I really liked not being in charge. And Tauck does everything so well. There was more downtime than I expected and I wasn't prepared to have to do some planning for that in order to make the most of it. I would research a bit more if I did another one.

My best group travel experience was to France with my friend's son's high school French Club. The parents were so much fun and the high school kids had so much great energy and excitement. Our tour guide was FABULOUS. Everything about that trip was amazing. We didn't have any down time - or maybe I was just too tired to notice.

Yes, legomom, depending on the trip, there may be more or less downtime. The guide can help you decide what to do or you can make your plans ahead of time. When we went with them to Italy, they took us to the most difficult places to get in like Vatican City, and then left us free to spend the rest of the day as we wanted. So we were able to customize the trip as we wished without having to worry about logistics.

Yes, it was my fault- not clear enough preparation on my part. We did Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce and I didn't realize we would have enough time for real hikes if we planned it properly and brought real hiking gear. We made the most of it, but I will look more closely on any future group trips and research a little more before I go to make sure I am using any free time wisely:)