Every single day in my inbox lands another ‘great’ deal from one of the many travel websites. I am often sent deals like 18-day European adventure or 21-day cruise tour package. At first glance the often sound like a good price, but is it really?
I totally understand the lure of a travel tour package, there is nothing required for you to do except book, pay and arrive at the airport. The rest is taken care of for you. If you are a lover of the package deal then all power to you. Either way, you’re out there exploring the world and that is never a bad thing. But for a money conscience traveller like myself. I like to crunch the numbers and make sure I am also getting a good deal on my adventures
So one such deal was sent to me and I really liked the sound of it so I thought I would do a little investigating for you guys, and see if I could put together something myself and how that compared price-wise. I won’t go into the specifics of the travel provider, but one of the many large deal specialists. They were advertising an 18 day England, Ireland and Scotland tour. All flights, accommodation, most breakfasts, tour guides and luxury bus transport from London up to Scotland and then back down through Liverpool and ending in Dublin, Ireland. This tour would be shared with a maximum of 50 people, who would I am sure become your travel besties along the way. A total of 3,000+ Kilometres traveled over that 18 days to get to Dublin with many picturesque and historical stops along the way. Places such as Edinburgh, Windsor Castle, Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge, Scottish Highlands including a stop to see if we can find Nessie at Loch Ness. All for the price of $4999per person. Sounds great, where do I sign up?
So I started to put together my own self led itinerary. So to try and compare apples with apples, I used the same dates and mostly all the same major stops. Staying at the same hotels and taking guided tours to all the larger attractions. The main difference was that I was actually able to pop in a couple more rest days and significantly more extra time to myself. This is where I feel tours don’t suit us, the constant go go go in an attempt to increase the perceived value. It is also worth pointing out that the advertised pricing of $4,999 per person was for a couple. Solo travelers would be whacked with an extra charge of $1,990. So my comparison is also for the couple travelers and after writing this I think Brett and I might be off to London.
Our itinerary looks like this
- Day 1 – Flying Adelaide to London with Etihad Airway
- Day 2 – Arrive London crash at your hotel hopefully for a decent 12 hours sleep
- Day 3 – Guided all-day tour – Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford
- Day 4 – Day to ourselves in London
- Day 5 – Day to ourselves in London
- Day 6 – Make our way to Edinburgh by train. Five hour trip, leaving the afternoon free for sight seeing
- Day 7 – Self-led 2-day tour that included admission to Edinburgh Castle, Royal Yacht Britannia and the Palace of Holyroodhouse and a 2-day pass for the Hop On Hop Off bus
- Day 8 – Day to ourselves with our bus pass to catch anything we missed
- Day 9 – Make our way to Glasgow via train. 1 hour trip, leaving the afternoon free for sight seeing
- Day 10 – Guided all-day tour to Loch Ness, Glencoe and the Highlands
- Day 11 – Make our way to Liverpool via train, 3 hour trip. Spend the afternoon sight seeing on the Hop On Hop Off bus and river cruise
- Day 12 – Rest Day in Liverpool
- Day 13 – Make our way to Holyhead via train, 3 hour trip. Spend the afternoon exploring the township
- Day 14 – Ferry across to Dublin, 2 hour trip. Spend the afternoon exploring Dublin
- Day 15 – Guided tour Cliffs of Moher, Wild Atlantic Way and Galway
- Day 16 – Dublin at our leisure
- Day 17 – Dublin at our leisure
- Day 18 – Flight home to Adelaide with Etihad
So our little DIY 18-day trip would cost a grand total of $3,803 per person including tours, transport between locations, hotels, and flights. I popped this tour together just using the internet and a few of my go-to websites. With around 1 1/2 hours research, it was not difficult or really time-consuming. Thanks in part to the best travellers tool, the internet. I have no doubt I could further cut these prices just by watching flights and hotel specials.
It must be noted that the only thing I have not accounted for was getting to and from hotels after airports and train stops. So while the above was not an exact match it was pretty close. The best part is we would be adaptable. If we decided we needed to spend more time in one destination then we could do that. Also not to mention you will not be forced into a bus with 50 other people, you don’t know. To some, that sounds like fun, but to me not so much.
We have a pretty great plan and all bookings could be made from the comfort of our own home quite easily within 60 minutes. Easy done.
Like I mentioned earlier, I understand the allure of the package tour especially for those who don’t feel they have the time or possibly don’t even know where to start. Of course, when we DIY our own adventures there is no paid tour guide, other than ourselves. Which for some is negative, but for us this way is perfect. So like always do what feels best for you. Just go, explore and have fun!
My 1 hour and 30 minutes on Google saved me $2,300. It wasn’t very difficult and I know given a few more hours research that I could increase those savings as well. There are so many great websites these days where people willingly share reviews, information and help you plan any holiday. The researching of a holiday is actually something that is quite enjoyable, especially when you get to your destination and all the research and tips really pay off.
My next blog post will be a round-up of the websites I most often use to put together our family holidays, and the information I look for to make sure I get the best deal I possibly can. But when these attractive deals pop up in your inbox, take a moment to think, “am I getting a great deal?” It won’t take you long to do a quick comparison and if you are saving yourself $2000. Money that can be banked for your next holiday, well worth a little bit of effort.
We are all happier on holidays!
