Organized trips. Organized tour or independent travel? Pros of organized tours

An integral part of the work of companies is the need to organize travel. At the same time, it does not matter at all which of the employees goes on a business trip - this event must be thoroughly prepared. This article will be devoted to this topic.

Today we will take a closer look at such questions as:

• organization of business trips;
• organization of travel for the head;
• organization of corporate travel.

Business trips can be both within one country and around the world. As a rule, the more contacts an organization has, the more often it becomes necessary to organize travel.

Organization of business trips

As a rule, the organization of business trips is entirely the responsibility of the manager's secretary. It includes such stages as buying air or railway tickets, booking a hotel, transferring, establishing contacts with the host, etc. Depending on the purpose for which employees are sent on a business trip, the degree of its preparation also differs. For example, the purpose of a business trip may be attending a conference, exhibition, professional development, training courses, negotiations with partners or establishing new contacts. Basically, such trips are sent to ordinary employees of the company or heads of departments. However, this does not mean at all that the organization of these trips can not be given due attention. On the contrary, its result directly depends on the quality of the organization of a business trip. Therefore, let's look at all the points in more detail.

When organizing business trips on the territory of Russia, much less time and costs are required than overseas trips require. To begin with, the secretary, who is responsible for organizing the trip, needs to know exactly how many days an employee or employees must be in another city. Based on these dates, it is necessary to book tickets. It should be borne in mind that the journey by rail is cheaper, but may take longer. As a result, the employee will be absent from the workplace for longer. In addition, a situation may arise when an employee arrives at the place at night or late in the evening (which happens very often when traveling by train). In this case, you will need to book the hotel in advance. Also, if the head of a department goes on a trip, then it is unacceptable to buy tickets for him in a regular reserved seat.

Knowing the date of arrival, it is necessary to arrange a transfer. As a rule, many hotels have this service, however, if it is not there, we recommend that you agree with the relevant company in advance. Also do not forget to arrange a transfer for the return trip.

The choice of a hotel largely depends on its location. It is most convenient to give preference to those hotels that are located within walking distance from the destination of the business trip. This is especially true in cases where the event to which the employee went is strictly regulated and it is impossible to be late for it. In those cases when there are no hotels within walking distance or they do not meet the requirements, we also recommend organizing a daily transfer.

Organization of travel for the head

When it comes to organizing executive travel, many secretaries start to worry, although there is nothing difficult about it. The main thing to do just before buying tickets and booking a hotel is to ask your manager about his preferences. It is possible that he does not like flying or prefers to check into hotels located on the outskirts of the city. Therefore, do not be afraid to ask about it again - in the future it will save your time and allow you to quickly find the right option.

When choosing a place of residence, you should select several of the most suitable options so that the manager himself can choose from the proposed ones. Before that, check if the hotel has vacant rooms for the required date.

Organization of business trips for the head outside the country requires a visa. To apply for a visa, you must collect a package of documents that the embassy requests. To begin with, you should visit the website of the embassy and familiarize yourself with the requirements and conditions for issuing visas. After that, you need to call the embassy - sometimes the embassies do not have time to post the changed requirements on the website.

There are two types of visas: business and tourist.

To obtain a tourist visa, it is enough to request visa support from the hotel where your manager is planning to stay. Often it is issued exclusively for the dates for which the hotel room is booked.

The procedure for obtaining a business visa is usually more complicated than a tourist visa: the embassy asks for confirmation of business contacts (contracts, invoices, extract from registers, etc.), therefore, a tourist visa is often issued through the hotel for a single trip. But if your manager plans to visit the country often, it is better to apply for a business visa, especially considering that people who entered the country on a tourist visa are prohibited from engaging in commercial activities on its territory.

If you want to receive visa support from the hotel, then when ordering a room by e-mail or phone, ask to send confirmation to the embassy, ​​i.e. provide visa support. The booking site will send such confirmation automatically to the specified email address. You may be asked to show a printout of your booking confirmation when crossing the border, so print a separate copy for your manager.

Also, the organization of business trips to other countries implies the preparation of currency. As a rule, hotel reservations are made on a prepayment basis in international currency. It is also necessary to foresee the availability of ATMs within walking distance from the hotel in advance so that your manager can withdraw money from the card without any extra hassle. If there is no such information and the hotel does not provide currency exchange services, we recommend that you take care of the availability of the required amount in foreign currency before the trip.

Organization of corporate travel

Organization of corporate travel differs only in the number of employees who must travel to another city. Although this event cannot be called frequent, many companies arrange corporate vacation trips. In this case, it is necessary to provide that the selected hotel can provide all travelers with places. It is also important to ensure that the transfer is spacious enough.

When organizing a corporate trip abroad, you must take care of the availability of all the necessary documents for employees. If a visa is required for the trip, we recommend drawing up a plan according to which the documents will be prepared. So, having contacted the embassy and having learned the list of necessary documents (for obtaining a visa), it is necessary to determine the time frame during which all employees must prepare a package of documents. Further, we recommend that you agree with the embassy on a date when they can receive all employees. It is best to devote two days to this question.

When booking tickets, you must contact the airline serving this direction in advance. It is possible that you will be able to get a corporate discount if you purchase a large number of tickets at a time. Also make sure all staff are up to date with the departure date and exact time of departure. In the event that a lot of employees are sent on a corporate trip, then those responsible for the departments should be appointed. Thus, the organization of corporate travel will not cause much trouble.

Attached files

• Order to send an employee on a business trip (form) .doc
• Travel regulations (form) .doc
• Memo to the employee in case of a business trip (form) .doc

Available to subscribers only

• Order to send an employee on a business trip (sample) .doc
• Travel regulations (sample) .doc
• Memo to the employee in case of a business trip (sample) .doc

Today, the service of organizing individual travel is becoming more and more popular among citizens of Europe and the United States. This type of offer allows you to organize a trip taking into account individual wishes. In Russia, such a proposal is just beginning to appear, since until recently, many citizens of the state were embraced by the idea of ​​collective travel abroad, requiring incredibly high costs. Due to their illiteracy and inexperience, our compatriots do not understand and do not accept the information that an individual travel can be much more exciting and economical. Traveling in this way, you can broaden your horizons, not being limited to a vacation in a five-star hotel and meals on an all-inclusive basis.

Benefits of individual tourism organized by a travel company

Organizing a business in the field of individual tourism requires the knowledge and experience of entrepreneurs. This will make it possible to compose an exciting travel program and save on its implementation costs, thereby attracting customers with an ideal price-quality ratio. For example, knowing the Baltics firsthand, you can organize a tour with a visit to its attractions for about the same cost as a vacation in Crimea, on the territory of one resort. The choice in favor of an organized individual travel and independent travel to other countries is obvious, since the first proposal implies fewer risks associated with any possible difficulties of staying outside the borders of the native state, which often arise for less experienced tourists. Going on a trip without intermediaries, you have to rely only on yourself. Traveling according to the approved individual tourism program, you eliminate the risks associated with booking accommodation, tickets, obtaining visas, etc. In addition, independent travel arrangements require tourists to have additional free time, knowledge, organizational skills and confidence. All this is not typical for all potential travelers. Therefore, it is easier for them to contact a travel agency, a travel planning service and specializing in organizing individual tourist trips to anywhere in the world and at any time. Large travel agencies are rarely interested in doing this kind of activity, since it takes too much time and effort with a relatively low return on investment. In other words, the niche of organizing individual travel is not yet occupied and is a prospect for those wishing to organize their own small business.

The profitability of services for organizing individual tourist trips is about 30%, which is very decent for business. You should also not be afraid of possible problems that may arise during the implementation of services for organizing individual tourist trips. Myths such as the impossibility of obtaining visas, or booking single rooms in foreign hotels, the lack of demand for such an offer, are just tales of lazy, insecure people or competing firms.

Every day, Internet search engines record an increase in requests for individual travel and services providing this kind of service. Therefore, experienced tourists who want to organize their own business to generate income should step up and create a business in this niche. World statistics confirms the relevance of this business idea. Approximately 30% of all travelers travel abroad on their own, refusing the expensive services of travel companies. At the same time, they would not refuse the help of a specialist and are ready to pay for organizing an individual trip in order to save personal time.

There are positive examples of business organization in the provision of individual travel planning services in Russia. Therefore, you should not be afraid to start your own business in this direction of the economy.

Business organization for planning individual tourist trips

The main goal of such an enterprise and service is to provide assistance and train tourists to travel independently outside their home state. Such services cost much less than travel agencies traditionally charge their clients, since the services do not spend money on printing brochures and organizing other advertising campaigns that attract tourists. Already after the first trip with the help of the service, its clients destroy the main psychological barriers and fears of an individual trip abroad, which does not happen in the course of cooperation with traditional tour operators.

Services that organize individual trips abroad work according to the principle - the client plans his vacation, and the service helps to organize it! Some clients will return to the service again and again, as they have no time to solve organizational issues. Others, having used it at least once, will advise the company's services to their friends and relatives, pointing out all the advantages of such cooperation.

Competent planning of an individual trip is a business success

When making plans for an individual trip, an entrepreneur must take into account three main points - budget, country, personal wishes. Experienced tourists are well aware that the main expense of any trip is moving costs. The cost of air tickets or tickets for another type of international transport is always high. Therefore, it is the main tool in the formation of the travel budget. You can save on travel or flight costs. To do this, responsible individual travel services recommend their clients to plan their vacation at least three months in advance.

It is important to post relevant recommendations on the company's website so that clients initially understand where to start planning their upcoming trip. A correctly chosen hotel will help to save your vacation budget. It is best to choose a place to stay in the center, closer to the attractions that a tourist wants to visit, or to the beach. This will save transportation costs directly during the trip. All these subtleties should be negotiated with the clients of a service that specializes in organizing individual travel. Satisfied customers are the key to any business. This can be achieved through a competent approach and high-quality performance of your work. You should not limit the company's services to certain regions. Should work in different tourist destinations.

The cost of business services for organizing individual tourism should depend on the complexity of the route. In individual situations, it takes a lot of time to work it out (booking accommodation, buying tickets, obtaining special permits, etc.). For example, the service for organizing a trip to a European country for citizens of the Russian Federation should be an order of magnitude cheaper than to a country in Asia, America, or Australia. At the same time, the aggregate price of rest (spending on organization services + payment for the trip itself) should not be higher than the offers of large travel agencies. This will help build a customer base.

Too high cost of business services for organizing individual travel will force the consumer to turn to trusted travel companies, of which there are more than 10,000 on the Russian market. Those who want to save money will turn to Internet services for travelers, specialized forums and databases with thematic reviews. By the way, the latter will be useful in organizing your own business for the formation of individual tourist trips, as they will allow you to draw the necessary information about the rest in a particular country. Thinking about the high competition of business in organizing individual trips abroad is stupid, since this area of ​​business has its own audience. As a rule, these are thrifty people, tired of banal tourist offers, overly busy people. If an entrepreneur can please them with a high-quality organization, a proposed direction, a recreation program, at a relatively affordable price, then his business will develop rapidly.

conclusions

The organization of a successful small business in the field of assistance in planning individual tourist travel is based on services such as: searching for travel offers, buying air tickets, booking hotel rooms, road transport, etc. By filling these gaps, an entrepreneur is guaranteed to gain the trust of his clients once and forever!

During the organized trips, rules for the transport of children on the bus were developed to ensure the safety of minors.

Special regulations regarding the rules for the organized transportation of children have been approved by law.

Specific requirements for the transportation of children by buses are imposed not only on the vehicle and the driver, but also on the escort.

The rules for the transportation of groups of children were developed by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.

By a Government decree, document No. 1177 of December 17, 2013 was approved, where the bus transportation of children by bus means:

• transportation of minors by non-route vehicles;
• transportation of groups of children in the amount of 8 people or more;
• transportation of a children's team without representatives (parents, guardians, adoptive parents).

The representative can be an accompanying child or a healthcare professional. The rules for organized transportation of children do not apply to transportation of children in the presence of their parents, who are not part of the group escort.

The rules for organized transportation of small passengers include:

• compliance with the rules for boarding minors into a vehicle;
• preparation of documentation for transportation;
• compliance of the driver with the set of requirements;
• certain requirements for accompanying persons;
• escorting buses with minors from the traffic police.

Buses with children are accompanied by representatives of the automobile inspection only if they are moving from 3 or more vehicles in a convoy.

An authorized representative of the traffic police must obtain a permit for the movement of children on the bus.

The original of the document must be kept by the driver, it must be kept for 3 years from the date of transportation.

It must be provided at the first request of the traffic police inspector.

The organizers of the planned trip must submit a written application no later than 2 days before the trip to the regional department of the State Traffic Inspectorate.

Notification of the organized transportation of children by bus is submitted by the head of the organization personally or by e-mail through the official website of the traffic police - http://www.gibdd.ru/letter/.

You need to indicate in it:

• the time for which escort will be required;
• route of movement;
• Full name of the accompanying person;
• Full name of the driver and data of his driver's license;
• the number of persons carried;
• indication of the license plate of each bus.

If children are transported by 1-2 buses, then a notification of the trip to the department is also sent to the traffic police.

It states:

• date of transportation;
• information about the company that organized the trip;
• the number of underage passengers with indication of age;
• route of movement with indication of points of destination;
• Full name of the accompanying person;
• vehicle brand and license plate number.

A copy of the application or a notice marked by the traffic police that they are aware of the children’s trip must be with the driver.

Paperwork

For the transportation of children, documentation should be prepared:

• list of children on this trip;
• copies of permits for transporting children;
• a boarding document, which indicates the seats for each child;
• notification from the traffic police or a copy of the application for escort;
• travel contract signed by the transport company and the customer;
• Full name of accompanying persons, indicating phone numbers and passport data;
• contract with honey. an employee to accompany minors if the trip takes more than 12 hours;
• information about drivers (full name, contacts, driver's license numbers);
• list of food items on the bus.

When composing a route, the following should be noted:

• travel schedule and travel time;
• the time of stops for the physiological needs of children;
• places of stops for food, rest and excursions (with indication of hotels).

Buses for transporting children and technical requirements GOST R 51160-98

From 01.01.2017, new rules for transporting children by school bus came into effect. This standard establishes requirements for buses for the transport of children, which are aimed at ensuring safety.

Applies to vehicles for children aged 6-16 years to follow the roads of the Russian Federation.

By the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, from July 12, 2017, amendments to the traffic rules came into force, correcting the rules for transporting children in buses, as well as the rules for placing cars on the roadway.

According to this decree, for the implementation of organized transportation, a bus that is not more than 10 years old from the year of manufacture can be used, as well as:

1. The vehicle must meet the technical requirements for design and purpose.
2. It is obligatory to have a diagnostic card or a technical coupon confirming the serviceability of the bus.
3. To be able to determine the location of the vehicle at any time of the day, the GLONASS satellite navigator must be installed.
4. Each bus must have a tachograph that monitors the driver's rest mode and the speed of the bus.

Only those drivers who have:

• rights with an open category D;
• transportation license;
• medical clearance to the flight;
• experience of driving a transport bus at least 1 year out of the last 3 years;
• passed the obligatory instruction on the transportation of children;
• the driver was not deprived of his license, and he did not commit administrative violations over the past year.

Rules for the organized transportation of a group of children by buses in 2020

GOST 33552-2015 buses for the transport of children applies to special vehicles for the transport of persons from 1.5 to 16 years old in buses.

General technical requirements are aimed at ensuring the safety of young passengers, their life and health, as well as the presence of identification marks and inscriptions.

According to GOST 33552-2015, buses must meet safety requirements... Children transport markings must be installed on the front and rear of the school bus.

The body of the bus must be yellow. On the outside and on the sides of the bus there are contrasting inscriptions “Children!”.

According to the new rules for the carriage of children in buses, which came into force on July 12, 2017, it is forbidden to transport small children under 7 years old if the trip lasts more than 4 hours.

From 11:00 pm to 6:00 am, group transportation is only allowed to and from airports and train stations. After 23:00, the distance should not exceed 50 km.

Organized children's transportation by a convoy in intercity buses lasting more than 3 hours must be accompanied by honey. an employee. The transport must contain bottled water and a set of food products.

Not later than 2 days before the start of transportation, the contractor (charterer) and the customer (charterer) are obliged to provide an official notification to the traffic police inspectorate about the planned transportation by buses.

If it is planned to use 3 or more buses, the customer submits an application to accompany a group of children with traffic police cars.

When transporting children by bus, accompanying persons are obliged to ensure proper order during boarding and disembarking from transport, as well as during stops and when the bus is moving.

Before boarding passengers, accompanying persons must:

The responsibilities of those accompanying the children's group include monitoring the health status, behavior and diet of children. Also, adults are required to control the route and, in the event of unforeseen situations, coordinate the movement of the bus.

In case of mass transportation, children are only allowed to board after the bus stops under the supervision of the driver and under the guidance of the accompanying persons. They take the children in an organized manner to the landing site through the front door of the vehicle (younger children are built in pairs).

The organizers take turns seating small passengers and making sure that carry-on baggage is safely stowed, does not limit the driver's field of vision and does not pose a threat to the safety of children. After their placement, the accompanying driver informs about the end of boarding.

The escorts are the first to leave the vehicle. During stops, children are disembarked from the vehicle only through the front door.

2016-08-22T18: 11: 50 + 00: 00

Hello again, dear readers. Finally, I got around to writing the final article on organizing the trip yourself... Even when this was not the case, many friends and acquaintances asked how I manage to travel on my own, book tickets, find hotels or travel companions. In principle, many of them have the same questions, so I got the idea to arrange everything in the form of a small plan or a guidebook for those who are just about to start organizing their travels.

This article will be both introductory and final, because first I had to write all the useful posts on this topic, and then combine them into a single guide. I want to say right away that all the articles, tips and examples are my personal experience, which I tested on myself and still use it. So if you have any questions or misunderstandings, you need help, or maybe you want to add some more important information to the list, be sure to write to comments.

So, below is the list of articles that I have included in the topic “ How to organize a trip yourself”:

1. How to organize a trip yourself and cheaply

This list will be visible at the beginning of each page that is included in it. This is to prevent the reader from getting lost in the links. And the current article that you are in (for example, now we are on the page from the first paragraph) will be inactive and highlighted in a different color. It's simple. Naturally, only the most important planning points in my opinion are mentioned in the list, which is why I ask you for feedback from me, if you suddenly think differently.

Now, let me tell you how the organization of an independent trip takes place with me, at the same time I will briefly go over the points from the list.

1. Obtaining a passport via the Internet... Of course, what a trip abroad without a passport. No, I don’t argue that there are several other countries of the post-Soviet space (Kazakhstan, Abkhazia), where you can get with a Russian passport, but we don’t want to limit ourselves to the “near abroad”, right?

I am glad that with the development of the Internet, many operations with securities have become much faster and easier, therefore I always get a passport in the same way. On which site it can be done, for how long, at what price and under what conditions it is better to take it, as well as a list of necessary documents for obtaining and a couple of practical tips you will receive by reading the corresponding article under paragraph number 2.

2. Route planning... Next, you need to decide, where will I actually go? And after the answer to this question is received, I begin to draw up a route through the country (countries) where I am going. For many, this particular point is a stumbling block, but I assure you that there is nothing complicated about it. Of course, for a beginner, you will have to spend some time, but then your efforts will be more than compensated for by the fact that you will begin to easily and quickly draw up routes in any country, even in which you have not yet been. You can find out about this in the article paragraph number 3.

3. Obtaining a visa... Oh how! Someone might say, “Where did this item come from? He is not on the general list! ”. That's right, it is not there, because for each country obtaining a visa is individual. That is why I said that I included only the most important points on organizing the trip, I will not describe obtaining a visa to all 200-odd countries, especially yesterday, for example, to South Korea, a visa was needed, but today it is no longer.

But to make it easier to navigate this issue, because in any case it will be necessary to find out about the need to obtain a visa to a particular country, I will cover this issue a little.

It would be nice to find out for a start do i need a visa to the country where I am going. Personally, in this case, I do it simply: I go to Yandex and write "visa Japan" and see what they give me. There are, of course, a bunch of sites where there is a whole list of visa-free or visa-free countries, but I do not trust them, because it is not known when this list was updated and whether it was updated at all. If you are still interested, then the best site (in terms of relevance at least) in my opinion is this one, but, again, be sure to double-check the information.

If you need a visa, there are several ways to get it.:

• at the embassy of the city of Moscow - I often use this particular point, since it is the cheapest and easiest for me (despite the fact that I am not a Muscovite), I still go through Moscow;). However, it is a good idea to know what documents are required to apply. I deal with this issue on the same site that I gave above, but you can go according to the standard scheme - “google”, and the most correct one is to go to the consulate's website (though sometimes infa is only in English). And it would also be nice to have friends in Moscow who would take the documents if you don't need a personal presence.
• at the embassy of another country - this is if you have a lot of time and are traveling in more than one country.
• upon arrival in another country - this item is not valid for all countries, which you also need to find out. There are also options for obtaining a visa when ordering services in the form of air tickets in the country or hotels (a very expensive option)
• through a travel agency - the easiest way for those who do not live in the capital, however, you will have to pay for mediation. Accordingly, the farther from Moscow, the greater the “duty”.

4. What to take: card or cash? Choosing a plastic card... Money is the eternal question of humanity :). I think the title of the title speaks for itself. We decide in what form to take money with us, in cash or on a card? And if a card, which one is better? You will find answers to these questions in the article under №4.

5. Buying a train ticket via the Internet... Since I am very far from the capital, and I fly mainly from Moscow, I often have to think about railway crossings. It is a pity that Russian Railways has no competitors, but if you make a purchase via the Internet, even the monopolist will find a couple of “tasty” offers. I wrote about this and much more in the article item No. 5.

6 and 7. Search and purchase of cheap flights... The key word here will be “cheap”, because unlike the railroad, airlines compete, and how. But finding a cheap ticket is not so easy among the many “tricky” offers. So be sure to read not only the buying method itself ( item no. 7), but also the nuances of search engines that will help in your future experience of purchasing air tickets ( item no. 8).

8. Finding Cheap Accommodation: Book in advance or search locally. Of course, apart from all the tickets, we still need a roof over our heads. Since we are talking about independent travel, then we will look for and book a hotel on our own. There are two ways - booking in advance (via the Internet) and on the spot. What is better and better quality, you will definitely learn from the article point number 8.

9. List of things to travel... It would seem that the most banal point, well that I myself can not put together? However, personally, I always keep with me a standard list of the most necessary things for all types of travel (mountain, long, leisure), so that I don't suddenly forget something. Of course, a couple of items from the list can be easily removed or added, it all depends on the preferences of each individual.

10. Airport: how to check in for a flight... Many travelers now giggle, reading the title of this paragraph, apparently completely forgetting how they themselves first stood in the huge lobby of the airport in confusion, not knowing where to go and who to turn to. But I remember, and that's why I wrote about how painless for my nerves it is to check in for a flight, which you can read about in paragraph number 9.

The last two paragraphs No. 11 and No. 12 rather additional, however, lately I have increasingly come across questions from others on these two topics, and therefore included them in the list. Who entered our group

But how anyone. Personally, I hate organized tours.

Cons of organized tours:

they often include unnecessary sponsored trips to a jewelry or fur coat store (encountered in Paris and Turkey);

you partially depend on other tourists in your group (they need to pee, souvenirs, they have a baby crying on the bus);

tours are usually the most popular excursion destinations for which you have already paid. And if you want to go to a non-tourist place, and you are going to Versailles with a bus, you are sorry to refuse, you have already paid.

Pros of organized tours:

no need to think about anything: what to do with yourself, how to get to the museum, where to eat, what to see. True, it is not a fact that all the seats will be good.

usually it is cheaper at the expense of travel agencies, hotels on the outskirts or those in which travel agencies have special prices, sponsors, to whose store you will be brought on a tour, etc. Also, bus tours, such as 7 countries in 5 days, are very cheap.

there are very cool tours that are not for everyone, but especially for you. For example, in Ukraine there are guys who take designers and architects on tours. They plan well and with them you can go, for example, to the workshops of famous architects, where you yourself would never go. Or there are photo tours. In short, highly specialized tours that will interest you. Or very expensive and rare tours, such as a cruise near Antarctica.

That is, you can enjoy the tour if you get hysterical from planning and if you don't worry too much about what you will see on the trip. Paris, okay, it doesn't matter what you see (the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, you will see 100%). Or if you find a unique tour.

If independence and quality are still important to you, it is better to do everything yourself.

Pros of self-guided tours:

what you want, you do - you visit the places you want, the plane or the bus - you choose yourself, you choose the hotel yourself, everything is up to you.

sites for the selection of tickets, hotels, restaurants, establishments and entertainment give complete freedom (tickets.ua, tripadviser.com, hotels.com, anywayanyday and other hundreds of sites).

a guidebook (booklet) often tells everything that is needed, and if you choose it correctly, you can do without a guide on the bus, as in an organized tour. The Internet, again, knows everything.

you can go to non-tourist destinations that you will learn about on some local site, rather than to the tourist mass-market places where the quality is calculated so that you will never return, and others will arrive tomorrow.

many interesting routes are not the subject of organized tours. Fuck, we would see the Scottish northern castles, climb the highest point in Great Britain, visit Glasgow, Edinburgh, Oberdeen, Inverness, Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye in one organized tour. And on its own it is quite real.

Cons of self-guided tours:

you have to plan a lot and rely on yourself. Often this means buying tickets to the museum on the Internet, otherwise there will be a huge queue (Uffizi, Louvre);

you can get to a bad hotel with bedbugs (Paris :)), travel agencies usually choose proven hotels, because the reputation and everything;

some places can only be reached with a group, or it is easier to get with a group or an organized tour (in some collections, excursions are only for groups, cruises, etc., most often this is an organized tour).

it is a little harder to find yourself a tour guide. I don’t know, somehow we never had the practice of ordering a city guide from the Internet without recommendations. It is always either a blogger-guide whom I read long before the trip (London, Stockholm), or on the recommendation of friends (Tallinn).

In short, independent travel is usually easier and more pleasant to organize for yourself in simple places (cities and countries of Europe and the USA). It is easier and calmer to take a tour to exotic countries, as I understand it

It's not the same for everybody. Last year my friend and I were looking for where to relax, looking for options where you can surf (I dreamed of trying for many years). The beginners themselves, could not do anything. First, we wanted to get there ourselves, find a rental of boards and try ourselves somehow, but in the end we decided to choose a paid surf tour. And you know, we didn’t regret it at all! chose the surfvan camp at their own peril and risk - thank God. everything went very cool))))

Answer

Better to travel on your own. Get out of your comfort zone, upgrade your languages, ride local public transport, rent an apartment from locals, eat with locals, go not where everyone is, see what the group leaders do not show, get into stories that will be interesting to tell. Take risks and discover new things. And you will be happy!

An independent trip is definitely better, and here's why:

Self-planning is a way to travel on any budget. No one in the chain between you and the computer has their own margin on food, flights, housing and all that.

Self-organization is Zen. No one but you is responsible for the shoals, delays and failures. And since there is no point in blaming yourself, you will only have to accept the universe with all its surprises.

Complete freedom of movement. Nowhere and never will you feel so much emotion as at the Bangkok train station without scoreboards and signs.

Go for it, friends.

1) If this is a European city, then, of course, an independent journey. Book a hotel on one of the many sites, buy a "city_card" upon arrival (in many European cities such cards are sold for a period of one to 3 days, usually they give free travel on public transport and free or partially discounted passes to museums), There is public transport in the suburbs, there you can take an audio guide, and if you arrive before the opening, then walk along the sights in front of all the tourist crowds. Nishtyaki from such a trip: you don't depend on anyone, you walk wherever you want, eat where you want, you merge with the city, and not with the herd of the guide. But for this: you need to plan in advance what you will visit tomorrow, after tomorrow, etc., do not spare your feet, because there is a lot of walking, it is desirable to know English.

2) If this is a trip around the country, then the question is about the budget. Everyone writes about tours as huge buses filled with time-forgetting women, unsobbed men and their screaming offspring (hello, typical Turkey). Of course, such a journey is comparable to the descent into Hell. Another case: a driver-guide in a good car for a small company or family (suppose that you are not driving / are afraid of getting lost in maps / not being able to control on unusual terrain / taking a break from the steering wheel and calmly looking out the window) - believe me, this is very good and helps to get to know the country from the inside. However, this is a tour and not an independent journey.

3) There are concept tours, this is a completely different story.

4) Direction: the difference between East and West is great, if you are not going to arrange an experiment for yourself, placing yourself in the condition of a newly hatched chick, then it is better to use a tour operator.

Better water or beer?
Here is the same thing. You need to ask yourself a few questions, in the spirit of "what do I want to get from the trip? What resources do I have (time, money, etc.)?", And accordingly, based on the answers, it will be clear which is better in this case.

If you want to lie on the beach for a week in Turkey, because the budget is limited, you are too lazy to organize, and besides, you don’t know the languages ​​and are afraid that they are needed (in fact, not), then why not buy a tour.

And if you are interested in taking a walk around Venice, then on the contrary - there is no point in contacting the company - you will overpay for the tour, and the hotel will most likely offer you hell knows where.

There is no definite answer to this question. Depends on the direction and what you want.

Usually an organized tour, especially if it covers several countries or cities, allows you to free your head from organizational issues and devote all your strength to the perception and development of what you saw. Here you pay for the relative comfort and efficiency in terms of time by standardization and a somewhat incubatory approach.

Traveling on your own is more fun because you can fully customize it to suit your needs, interests, budget, and pace of learning. However, this requires a lot of time, emotional and physical costs, which are rewarded with interesting discoveries and adventures.

Some companies offer a combination of these two approaches, and this is probably the most advantageous option. Last year I happened to be on a two-week trip to Vietnam with the world famous company Intrepid. We organized basic things, such as transfers between cities and overnight stays in hotels. Everything else was optional - additional excursions, entertainment, outings, dinners, and so on. And we ourselves, as from Lego, put together the most interesting and relevant program, while there was enough time and opportunity to master the area on our own.

For me, independent travel is preferable. Sometimes you start preparing for six months, and this is already a great pleasure. I buy a bunch of books, a map, watch historical films, read reviews from other travelers. Finding a place to live is a special pleasure. When traveling in Europe, we ignore hotels, we book accommodation on airbnb.com We always take country houses close to the area we want to explore. Having a good kitchen is so important! You can live very inexpensively in a real medieval house! But about the cost of independent travel, I disagree with those who write that it is possible to save money on this. Traveling in a rented car in Europe will still cost at least 2 times more than a package tour, although it is worth it.

I am always in favor of independent travel, because it assumes that unforeseen circumstances will arise that need to be resolved, you can run into some adventures and so on, in general, everything will not be monotonous.

Agreeing with all those who unsubscribed, I will add that if you are just starting to travel abroad, you are not very fluent in the local (where you are going) language and not very much in the topic of where to find out, buy, live, be, I would advise you to go with a group a couple of times. You take a closer look, learn the basic things that relate to travel, etc. And then you can go to an independent level. I traveled with groups for several years, and then it so happened that I went to Ireland as a "savage" - with a plan drawn up, a hotel reservation, a paid excursion to the cliffs. After this trip, I realized that I would not go with the group anymore))) This is such freedom! But it requires at least minimal training of the traveler :)

Depends on what you want from this trip. I will write about excursion trips, as I am not a fan of beach holidays.

Buying a ticket through a travel agency, you, of course, overpay, but you don’t bother with the route (just pre-select from several presented), accommodation, excursions, guidebooks, method of transportation. Sometimes you don't even bother with food. They just pick you up at the airport, put you on a bus and take you where they planned. You just have to relax, listen to the stories of the guide and buy souvenirs. And one more bonus: most often, groups enter museums faster than individual visitors.

When planning your trip on your own, you take care of all this. You need to shovel a lot of information about the city or country where you are going to find out where and why you should go there :) You buy air tickets, look for accommodation, figure out how to get to this accommodation. If there are transfers, you also need to buy train / bus tickets. But on the other hand, it has its advantages: you go wherever you want, you do not need to listen to the rantings of the guides (if it depressing you) and make sure not to lag behind the group; you are the king and boh of your journey, everything completely depends on you; you can go to super-interesting, non-pop places; you lie down and get up when it suits you. It is also much cheaper!

Personally, I went on tours and on independent travels. I love both. Mostly I go on my own, but when I have extra money and I don’t have the strength to study the country on my own (before planning a trip), but I want to go on vacation, I go to a travel agency

I watch a lot of opponents of the organized tour and put in my own five kopecks in defense of the tours. Firstly, an organized tour is often cheaper, this applies, of course, to the well-known destinations. Let's say a direct flight, accommodation, transfer and insurance are cheaper than if you collect everything yourself, all thanks to charters from the operator, and by the way, a big plus is often a direct flight. Secondly, no one will keep you in the hotel, they will bring you in and tell you what's what and then do whatever you want to travel around the country itself, this is already like an independent journey. In fact, the operator does not organize your trip, he simply brings you to the place and picks you up with comfort, and then you are free to do whatever you want.