Escorted tours

youngalan
youngalan Forum Participant Posts: 53
edited November 2016 in Overseas Campsites & Touring #1

I was very interested when the Cycling Netherlands tour appeared in the 2017 brochure, but then I looked at the price and what you were getting for that, after looking at the max brochure price cost, a welcome drink, a coach trip of about 100 miles, a meal
, a coffee and a slice of cake, I  thought the price was somewhat steep ! 

 

Comments

  • Pliers
    Pliers Forum Participant Posts: 1,864
    1000 Comments
    edited November 2016 #2

    Alan, I agree, all the "tours" seem a bit pricy.

    But I expect it's the same with just about everything in the travel industry. Book your own flights / ferry/ campsites / hotels / apartments whatever, and it will be sheds cheaper than any package holiday. 

    Each to their own, though, and the Club wouldn't be marketing them if they weren't popular.

     

  • harryb
    harryb Forum Participant Posts: 1,536
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    edited November 2016 #3

    I totally agree with the high cost of these organised holidays. Some of them are into four figures and don't even offer the ferry crossing. You can organise it a lot cheaper yourself.

    However, some people like to have everything organised for them and also prefer the social scene of being with a group so there are two sides to this type of holiday.

    Not for me though

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,830 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 2016 #4

    Young Alan, Having looked through the programme I'm thinking of a rough independent costing for that cycling holiday of about £250 -  though that's taking own bikes - rather than "from £749" which does admittedly include hired bikes.  Nevertheless it will quickly be oversubscribed I think. . 

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,868 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 2016 #5

    Are these tours not run by a couple appointed by the Club? If that is the case you will no doubt be paying for them somewhere in the tour cost. Whilst the other things mentioned might not be very expensive in their own right they soon add up. I don't know
    about Holland but to hire a coach in the UK will usually cost a minimum of £500 for the day and that won;t include entrance fees. As ET says the cost of doing it yourself will be much cheaper but it depends if you are comfortable with that?

    David

  • youngalan
    youngalan Forum Participant Posts: 53
    edited November 2016 #6

    Yes , I totally agree now that the CC have told you the site to stay at for a good cycling holiday , together with the the cycling trips to take , ( together with a free bottle of wine for staying for three nights )

  • ValDa
    ValDa Forum Participant Posts: 3,004
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    edited November 2016 #7

    Are these tours not run by a couple appointed by the Club? If that is the case you will no doubt be paying for them somewhere in the tour cost. Whilst the other things mentioned might not be very expensive in their own right they soon add up. I don't know about Holland but to hire a coach in the UK will usually cost a minimum of £500 for the day and that won;t include entrance fees. As ET says the cost of doing it yourself will be much cheaper but it depends if you are comfortable with that?

    David

    The Tour Hosts are members of the Caravan Club. However, it's not 'paid for' but a voluntary thing, so only some of the expenses associated with the holiday are covered by the Caravan Club.  It's hard work for the tour hosts, believe me, with lots of behind the scenes organisation required and hosts need to be able to get on with a wide variety of people, some of whom can be quite demanding.  We've done it - just once - on a tour for First Timers in France, and did intend to do more tours, but we store our caravan in France, and it made things like insurance very problematic for us, so we haven't done another tour since.

    Yes, the tours appear expensive, but lots of people are happy to pay and to have the security of someone organising everything for them.  I'm not sure what the cycling tour covers, or what age group it's intended for, as generally we found our 'guests' were more mature couples who expected various degrees of 'support' so tour hosts have to be quite involved at all times.

  • olden
    olden Forum Participant Posts: 38
    edited November 2016 #8

    While I agree with most of the pros and cons mentioned above, we enjoyed a CC Escorted Tour in 2016. We have a Motorhome and find that organised trips out from the site, in conjunction with being part of a group, very beneficial

    We shall probably do a different tour next year. One thing that we look at are the number of trips in relation to the number of "free days", and try to choose one that has a lot of trips built in

     

  • Grumblewagon
    Grumblewagon Forum Participant Posts: 246
    edited November 2016 #9

    I didn't pay a lot of attention to the Escourted Tours brochure. It's not just the cost, but the flexibility of coming and going as we please.  We never book in advance for Europe and only ever go with a vague idea of our route. 

    Yes, I'm sure that lots of people want everything organised for them, just as some people will book every site months in advance.  That's not my style at all.

  • hitchglitch
    hitchglitch Forum Participant Posts: 3,007
    1000 Comments
    edited November 2016 #10

    Surely "Escorted Tours" is an oxymoron?

  • Oldgirl and Staffy
    Oldgirl and Staffy Forum Participant Posts: 414
    edited November 2016 #11

    What appeals to me about such tours although we have not yet been on one, is that the people taking the cycle tours know the routes and the area so you gain the benefit of their experience.  That means you can make the most of your time on holiday and let
    someone else do the research and the hard work....

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