When should you go it alone and when should you take a tour? How can you know ahead of time if a tour is going to be worth the added expense? Below are some things to find out before planning your trip to see if traveling through a tour will make the most sense for you.

How much experience are the tour guides required to have?
While some companies will employ anyone who can talk and memorize a script to lead their tours, others require their tour guides to have gone through extensive education and research before becoming a professional guide. If your tour guide relies on a script, he probably won’t be able to answer your questions or provide you with an interesting tour, and thus isn’t worth the additional cost.

Are you given flexibility with regards to which sites you see?
Some companies allow you to choose from a few destinations or go to additional places during your trip if you are so interested. Find out if this is possible with your travel company. If not, double check the company’s recommended itinerary to make sure each destination is of interest and nothing important to you is missed. This may be your only chance to enjoy this country or area, make sure you get to see everything you want to.

Is traveling on your own even an option in this area?
The area in which you are traveling can greatly impact  whether you should rely on a guided tour or not. When in a foreign country, especially one in which a different language is spoken, a tour guide can be a great resource for all aspects of your travels, and traveling as part of a tour can help provide a worry free trip, one where all your transportation, entrance fees etc. are taken care of for you. However, if you are traveling within your own country and transportation isn’t an issue, you might enjoy your trip more if you have the flexibility to move around as you wish.