# Gate 1 Travel??



## Jim C (Oct 18, 2006)

Thinking of taking a 14-15 day trip to Italy next year-either late summer or early fall.  We haven't been there before and are opting for an escorted tour for the first time. Has anyone had any experience with booking trips through Gate 1 Travel? Any comments will be helpful;  the good, the bad and the ugly!!!  Thanks


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## urban5 (Oct 18, 2006)

*Gate 1 Travel*

Booked a 7 day tour in April 2006 for Greece.  Had no problems, paper work was delivered on time and every aspect of the tour came off as indicated in their literature.  I did not use their airfare and booked a land only package, as I was already in Europe.


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## Jim C (Oct 20, 2006)

*Thanks*

Urban 5, Thanks for the information.  I'm not big on group/escorted trips(only one we ever took was a cruise/tour to Alaska this past June), but we need to hit the, "must sees" and I can't think of a better way to do it in a 2-3week period of time.


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## urban5 (Oct 20, 2006)

*Escorted Tours*

I had never taken a planned tour until this year, but did one in Mexico, one in Guatamala-Hondoras and the one in Greece.  I have usually planned our trips myself, but when we made the list of places we wanted to see the planning became pretty daunting.  You are correct its the best way to do the "must sees" in a relatively short time.


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## purple (Oct 22, 2006)

We just finished a 14 day tour to Italy and used www.affordabletours.com as the travel agency.  They gave a VERY good discount and we were very pleased.  We went with Insight Vacations as the tour company and it was excellent. They only have 40 seats on the bus so there is more legroom and the getting on and off procedure goes more smoothly.   Email me if you have any questions about the tour or about our travel agent.  We loved Italy!!
Sara Ware


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## Lou (Oct 22, 2006)

We did a 12 day tour of Italy in May 2006.  It was our first guided tour, and I think it is definately the way to go to see the most in a short period of time.  We used GO AHEAD TOURS.  They offered in each city (we did Venice, Florence and Rome) several optional excursions that you could do with the group or you could spend time on your own.  That optional time on your own, plus the fact that several friends had used the group was the reason we chose GoAhead (goaheadtours.com).  They offer quite a few tours of Italy, have a nice website, and at your request will send you a very nice book of tours they are offering.


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## patty5ia (Oct 23, 2006)

We just finished our first tour (to France) with Rick Steves (ricksteves.com)
and it was excellent.  We had a small group of 26 with 2 guides and plenty of room on the buses.  Our included meals were wonderful and the hotels were good, situated in great locations.  I highly recommend this tour group and will used them again.  They do tours of all the countries in Europe.  We were afraid to do tours and have planned all our own trips in the past, but this was a great experience and we thoroughly enjoyed the people in our group and our guide.


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## Jim C (Oct 24, 2006)

*Great information*

The information I received is great;  especially ricksteves.com since it's a little different.  Looks like I have my work cut out.  After so many years of planning out our trips by myself, this will be a unique experience.  Thanks again for the advice.


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## bailey (Oct 25, 2006)

I hated my escorted tour.  Used Trafalgar.  Not enough time at any one city.  I called it my "drive-by" tour.  We spent most of the day driving in a bus with sites being pointed out.  When we did get to stop, we were rushed.  If I had to do it over, I would book various day tours in the spots I wanted to see.  Gives you more flexibility.  I think Viator does day tours and I'm sure there are other private tour guides.  Perhaps one of the travel guides can direct you.


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## Jim C (Oct 28, 2006)

bailey said:
			
		

> I hated my escorted tour.  Used Trafalgar.  Not enough time at any one city.  I called it my "drive-by" tour.  We spent most of the day driving in a bus with sites being pointed out.  When we did get to stop, we were rushed.



Bailey, Sounds like you got a bad deal.  I'm only considering tours that spend at least two nights at each location, sometimes three.  I would rather extend our trip by a few days that do a, "If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium," deal.  Hope you next trip will be a great one.


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## purple (Oct 29, 2006)

Insight has "Easy Pace" tours that spend 3 nights in each city.....


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## KarenLK (Oct 29, 2006)

A friend did Thailand and Turkey escorted with Gate1 and was very happy with them. (No, she did them in separate trips, in case you were wondering.) She has also done some unescorted packages with them as well.


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## Judy (Nov 9, 2006)

Does anyone know whether there's a website with reviews and discussions of tours and tour companies such as TUG for timeshares and cruisecritic for cruises?


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