Pre-Tour Planning
Taking the Plunge
Before we purchased our plane tickets, we had to decide ... Join a tour or go it alone? Our first trip abroad was with Rick Steves on the Heart of Italy in 9 Days tour. We have been to Europe several times since on our own and we learned there are pros & cons to each approach. For this trip to Portugal, we chose to book a tour for these reasons:
Why Rick Steves?
There are are many tour companies vying for our business. How does one choose? We had been on a Rick Steves' tour before so it was an easy decision for us. It's all about the 10 Commitments. We initially stumbled on these tours in 2010 because we really just wanted to go with the guy who does all those great travel shows on PBS. In preparation for our first trip to Europe, we read his guide book and liked his backdoor style, connecting with locals, having authentic experiences. We discovered his website, saw that he offered tours and signed up for our first one. It was a great experience. Small fun group, fantastic guides, limited time on a bus, all-inclusive sightseeing, and hotels located right in the heart of things. And a bonus that we didn't appreciate until we saw other tour groups? No name tags and no guides with flowers on a stick or some other equally tacky marker.
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Easy as 1-2-3
To learn more about the Portugal tour Rick and his team offer, we visited Rick Steves' Europe and clicked on the "Our Tours" link on the left-hand navigation menu. We found tour description, dates & prices, itinerary and other information that helped us select the right one for us.
HELPFUL HINT: Check out the "Tours on Sale" section for special offers. We received an early booking AND tour alum discounts. Once we made our selection, we clicked the "Sign Up" button next to the Heart of Portugal in 12 days tour for the corresponding dates we wanted. The rest was a cinch!
HELPFUL HINT: We purchased the Euro Flight Bag, compact binoculars, Portugal guidebook, Portugal phrase book / dictionary, essential silk neck wallet, and travel wash with our promo dollars. We shopped during the store-wide Christmas sale and stretched our dollars even further! And that's it! We received a package in the mail a few weeks later with additional information about preparing for our tour. It included a brochure with dates and reminders (complete required travel documents, notify bank before leaving, etc.), and our tour kit arrived around Christmas. Merry us! Get ready, get set, go!
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