Why renting a car is much better than going on a group tour.
Buying group tours in a foreign country can be quite risky. You don’t know the laws, the customs and the manners by which people live. It definitely helps to know someone experienced who could give you a word of advice. Some tour companies are well known to take advantage of tourists. Not only they take advantage of the fact that you’re foreign, (do mind, the ones who do purchase guided tours are 95% foreigners) they take advantage of the fact that you will leave and never see them again, they take advantage of the fact that it’s not in the interest of local newspapers to write anything negative about them for the benefits of travelers. How do they take advantage of you? Most of them charge you a lot more for what you end up getting. You have no freedom of choice, you can’t change your mind and cancel the tour, and you WILL NOT get your money back if you do cancel. Believe it or not, some of them will claim that they will give you your money back and end up not to.
What happened to me in the beginning of this summer was unspeakable! I was in England for 6 months on work visa. Naturally I wanted to explore the countryside. I ordered a Stonehenge tour with a company called Astral Travels. I heard from a friend that they offer a special deal on Thursdays. I made a big mistake by giving them my credit card info and the address instead of asking them first what they have available. My boyfriend was coming over for the week and I wanted it to be something special for both of us. The Thursday tour was sold out. What they ended up doing was, they waited a few days and took the initiative to book a tour for me on following Saturday without my decision. Of course by the time I found out about it I already made other plans. Here comes the worst part: I called them up to cancel the tour and they agreed right away to do it for me and give me my full refund. As any normal human being would do in this case, I believed her and proceeded with my other plans. As a result, not only they didn’t cancel the tour for me, they refused to admit it that they have any records of me calling or canceling it. They called me a liar; they wouldn’t even listen to me or be willing to hear me out. Not to mention, they were rude!
Another bad experience I had with a place called Tracks Travel. Me and two of my friends bought a tour with them to go see the Dover Castle and Canterbury back in February. One of our friends wasn’t feeling too well and we were a bit slower than the rest of the group. Not to mention, our tour guide was really bad about knowing her own history, which was not something that bothered me too much, until the bus ended up leaving us in Dover because we were a few minutes late! In fact, we were approaching the parking lot as the bus was leaving! Alone, in a foreign country, in a place we’ve never been before! How outrageous can that be! Luckily there was a train station couple of miles away. But the road of course was our expense. And did they give us our money back when we called the next day? NO! Just like all of them, being right was more important than customer satisfaction. And they will find reasons to be right even through we both know they are wrong! Why do they do that? Simply because they can get away with that.
Well the truth is, not all my group tour experience was bad. The two described above were the first and the third (definitely the last) time I’ve done that. The second tour I took was during the Easter break, and that was with 21st Century tour. I ended up having a good time. The group of people I ended up with was really nice; the bus driver was courteous to wait for everyone at any point of our travel. But still, the living conditions of the hostel made me wish I was by myself instead.
All I can say is that I am done once and for all with guided tours, unless I am in the US where I know how things work. Nothing beats car rental, or going in a car with friends that you know. Hey, if driving on a different side of the road is that scary, there are trains in England that go to pretty much any point. Taking a train alone or with friends could be much safer and better experience, simply because you’re not tied down by some kind of a crazy schedule. And if you want to know the history of the place, honestly, Internet is the best source for that. So eventually I did end up renting a car that time with my boyfriend, we both drove it and it wasn’t that bad. We ended up seeing Wales, some villages and small towns on the way, the Stonehenge and even stopped at some country pub to have a pint!
I know, British Isles are fascinating particularly to those who never been there and would like to visit. So many places to see: the ancient castles, medieval villages, the famous Stonehenge and just the nature in general. So many businesses in London offer day trips and tours to different places and they do flourish. I can understand why, not too many tourists are comfortable to drive on British roads so not to many of them are eager to rent private vehicles. Well the truth of a matter is, renting a car would not only be the most adventurous way to experience the country, it’s much more effective too. Not only you have the freedom to see as much as you like, stay there for as long as you want and plan it all yourself, you don’t have to deal with other people’s rules, regulations and problems. If, on the other hand you’re the type who does prefer guided group tours, my word of advice is, beware which company you buy your tour from. Some of them are tricky and nasty, as I mentioned earlier. And for your own safety, avoid paying with credit cards that won’t let you dispute your money back just in case something bad happens.
Thank you for reading this.
