Today we’re talking about the pros and cons of booking a trip as an independent tour.  

Independent tours are trips where the main components of the trip are booked for you, usually flights, hotels, sometimes transportation like train or rental car, but there is no  direct oversight, professional guide, or a tour company that accompanies you. You plan all of your own activities and dining. Sometimes the independent tours offer suggestions for things to do. 

This differs from guided trips or group tours as with those you show up and every aspect of the trip is planned for you including flights, hotels, activities, transportation. Guided tours you are typically on a strict schedule vs independent tours, you are on your own schedule.

Pros:

• Can be more affordable than booking it on your own. For Costa Rica, we paid about $1000 a person for 1 week. When we went to book the same hotels, rental car, and flights, it was a few hundred dollars more. 
• Less to think about & plan – It’s a good option if you are too busy to fully plan a trip or you don’t want to do the research on where to stay, also don’t have to think about how long your trip is going to be, because it’s already set. 
• Often different tiers or hotels to choose from so you can pick based of your comfort level or preference.
• Flexibility – It gives you the freedom to create your own itinerary and change plans on the go.
• Personalization – A lot of the time guided tours have stops built in that don’t always appeal to you. for example on tours we’ve been taken to a jade shop, villages, rug shop and would have skipped it on our own. With independent tours, you don’t have these forced excursions. This allows you to adjust your trip to accommodate you, are you a foodie, into architecture, love the outdoors? You can tailor your trip to your style.
• More time – With an independent tour you can spend as long in that location as you would like. 

Cons: 

• Planning – Although you have flexibility and personalization, you have to plan out all of your activities, transportation and dining. So it does require some effort to plan this trip vs guided tours you just show up and don’t have to worry about any of this. 
• Can’t make any changes to accommodations – You can’t change where you stay (if you were eyeing a specific hotel in that area) or how long you stay there.
• Safety concerns – You will be navigating unfamiliar areas or dealing with emergencies alone rather than being able to seek guidance for your tour manager or guide. this isn’t a big deal for some destinations, but other more difficult to navigate places like China or Egypt, or if you’re a new traveler, it may be more of a concern.
• Potential for higher costs – On guided tours, entrances to sites are often included and usually bought with bulk purchasing power. Entrances and activities may be a higher cost since you are buying them independently. Also with guided tours, you may go to things slightly outside of the way, but transportation is fully covered and if you were on an independent tour and wanted see that same thing, you may have more costs to get there. 
• Limited Guidance – This one is probably one of the biggest cons for us, because on guided tours you get local professional guides and insight so on independent tours you can miss out on historical or cultural context.

We took an independent tour to Costa Rica and we created a full itinerary about our trip so you can follow it on your own. It goes flies into San Jose then goes to Arenal, Monteverde Cloud Forest and a bonus stop in Jaco. Download the 1 Week Costa Rica Itinerary here.

Independent Tours – Episode Transcript

0:35

Hey squaddies, Travel Squad Podcast is back with Just the Tip, a new Friday mini episode series where we give you quick travel stories, hacks and recommendations to set you off into the weekend.

0:51

Today you have me, Brittanie as your host and we’re going to talk about the pros and cons of booking independent tours.

So independent tours are trips where the main components of the trip are booked for you.

Usually this means your flights, hotels and sometimes transportation like train or rental car.

1:08

But there is no direct oversight or professional guide or a Tour Company that accommodates you.

It’s just you and the group that you book with, so you plan all of your own activities and dining.

But sometimes the independent tours offer suggestions on things to do with the time that you’re there.

1:24

Independent tours differ from guided trips or tours because for those you show up and every aspect of the trip is planned for you.

Your flights, hotels, activities, transportation.

So guided trips are typically on a strict schedule versus independent tours which offer suggestions and flexibility.

1:42

This differs from guided trips or group tours because for those you just show up and every aspect of the trip is already planned for you, your flights, your hotels, your activities, your transportation.

Guided tours are also on more of a strict schedule versus independent tours.

You’re on your own schedule.

1:57

So I’m going to give you a few examples of both the independent tour and the guided tours that we’ve done, because maybe you’ve listened to some of those episodes.

So independent tours, if you’ve listened to our episode on Costa Rica or Rome, both of those trips were independent tours.

And if you’ve listened to our episode on Morocco, Ecuador, Uganda, China, the Adriatic coast, you can hear about our experiences on guided tours.

2:21

I just want to throw out there that all of these tours are specifically offered by gate One, but this is not a sponsored episode in any way.

They’re just a travel company that we use the most.

So just putting that disclaimer in.

All right, let’s get into it.

Let’s talk about the pros first.

2:36

So I think one of the biggest pros is independent tours are often cheaper than booking it all on your own.

For Costa Rica, for example, we paid about $1000 a person for one week and when I went to book the exact same hotels, rental car and flights, it was a few $100 more.

2:53

I want to save 4 to $500 more.

So that’s a huge savings right there per person.

I mean, that’s anywhere from 800 to $1000 for the Jamal and I Independent tours also give you less to think about and plan.

So it’s a really good option if you’re too busy to plan a full trip on your own or you don’t want to do the research on where to stay or think about how long your trip is going to be because it’s already set.

3:15

So you really can’t move those dates at all.

They’re already set in stone.

The hotel’s already picked for you.

So you have the transportation lodging already taken care of for you.

I’ve noticed this for both our Rome trip and our Costa Rica trip.

The independent tour offer different tiers or hotel.

So for example, they had like a Plan A or a Plan B and they had different hotels.

3:35

And so Plan B, for example, was a little bit more expensive.

Nicer hotels cost a little bit more, but not a huge difference.

So you can pick your hotels and your plan based on your comfort level and where you want to stay.

Sometimes I look at where it’s located, sometimes I look at the rating of the hotel, sometimes I look at the combination of both.

3:56

So it really just depends on what you’re looking for in a trip, if you’re looking to save money, if you’re looking to be closer to the city center, those sorts of things.

One thing I really love about independent tours is flexibility.

Gives you the flexibility to create your own itinerary and change plans on the go.

Any time we’re on a guided tour and we go to a National Park or nature spot, I always want more time there.

4:16

But when you’re on a guided tour, they only usually give you like an hour, possibly two hours there.

But on an independent tour, you plan out your own days, so you can choose to spend as long or as little as you want at each destination.

Independent tours also give you the ability to personalize them a little bit more.

4:34

A lot of the times, guided tours have stuff filled in that that don’t always appeal to you.

For example, when we were in China, we went to a jade shop.

In some other countries we’ve been to villages, or in Morocco we went to a rug shop.

But with independent tours, you don’t have these.

So this allows you to adjust and accommodate your trip to you.

4:52

So if you’re a foodie, go at some really great restaurants.

If you’re into architecture, go check out the historical city center.

You love the outdoors.

Go find a hike that you want to do so you can tailor the trip a little bit more to you.

As with anything, there’s cons, So I just wanted to get into some of the cons with you.

5:09

So let’s talk about planning.

Although you have the flexibility and personalization that we just talked about on independent tours, you do have to plan out all of your activities, transportation and dining.

So it does require you to put some effort into the trip versus guided tours where you just show up and you don’t have to worry about anything.

5:27

Another con is you could spend longer in a location than you wanted to.

So when we were in Costa Rica, we were spending one night in San Jose.

Kim did not want to spend the night in San Jose.

She wanted to go ahead and move closer to our and all, but that hotel was already paid for.

5:44

So unfortunately we did stay there.

And it’s just one of those things like you’re on this independent tour, but your route is already mapped out for you, especially if you’re moving locations.

So you may want more time in one spot and less time in another, but you really don’t have that option or flexibility in that sense.

6:01

Another con is you can’t make any changes to accommodations.

I did mention the different tiers that you could book or the different plans that you could book, but you can’t really change where you stay completely.

So if you were eyeing a specific hotel in that area or how long you wanted to stay there, you really can’t change that.

6:18

Another con to independent tours is you’ll be navigating unfamiliar areas or dealing with emergencies alone rather than being able to seek guidance from your tour manager or guide.

When we were in China, someone did get ill and they had to go to the hospital, but our guide really helped them through that process versus if you’re on your own, you’re on your own.

6:36

If you’re on an independent tour, there’s no one that’s going to help you or guide you in those emergency situations.

So another con is there’s a potential for higher costs.

I know we talked about there’s also potential for lower costs, but here’s the other side of it.

When you’re on guided tours, all of the entrances to sites are usually often included and are usually bought with bulk purchasing power.

6:56

When you’re on your own, entrances to national parks and activities may be at a higher cost to you since you’re buying them independently.

Also, with guided tours, you may go to things that are slightly out of the way, but the transportation is fully covered.

And if you were on an independent tour and wanted to see that same thing, you may have to pay more to get there to see it.

7:13

So just keep that in mind.

The last con that we’re going to talk about for guided tours is the limited guidance.

So this is probably one of the biggest cons for me because on guided tours you often get local professional guides and insight.

So on independent tours, you can miss out on the historical or cultural context.

7:30

There’s so many times that we’re walking through a new city and you know it’s a historical site or center and we want to know the history behind it.

But on an independent tour, you don’t have that local guide to tell you the significance or the history of that city versus if you’re on a guided tour, a lot of it focuses on city tours and being with a local guide and getting that perspective, the historical, the significance of it, the significance of the region.

7:57

But on a guided tour, you get all of the historical and cultural context.

But with all of this being said, I’ve really enjoyed the independent tours that Gate One has offered and I really do hope that they create more because I do think that they are worth the value.

So I hope this helps you if you’re considering either an independent or guided tour.

8:15

I do think independent tours are worth it.

So definitely take a look at a few and see if any appeal to you.

All right, squatties, that’s it for the week.

Thank you so much for tuning into just the tip.

Please make sure to subscribe, leave a review and follow us on all the socials at Travel Squad podcast and have fun traveling this weekend!