Niagara Falls on the border between the USA and Canada

Written By Niclas

Going to Rome, Italy? London, UK? New York City? All of these places have so much to offer for a city break or vacation. But Rome isn’t that far from Pompeii and other historic places. London is surrounded by interesting places like Stonehenge, Canterbury, Oxford, Bath and Windsor to just name some. New York City is another place in the middle of a hugely interesting area with Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Toronto, Niagara Falls and many other places nearby.

But how do you combine any of these places? In some cases you might be able to take a train, and maybe a bus and go by yourself. Naturally you might also rent a car and go directly. Another option might be to book a tour from your travel agent when you book the rest of your trip.

If you decide to go by train you might run into problems. The station might not be close to the place you want to go to and figuring out how to get the best deal on your train ticket can also be a science in itself. The official tourist agency at your destination might be able to help you though and the railroad may also help you, so it’s not an impossible option.

Renting a car might be expensive in certain places, but the worst part may very well be that you would use a lot of energy on getting where you want to go and then finding a parking space might be expensive or tedious. And in these times of energy conservation and environmental awareness, this is definitely not the green option.

Next option available is to book a tour with your travel agent. This is usually a very straight forward process, often with pickup points near the hotel you’re staying at and the people you travel with will usually be from the same region as yourself and the guide will either speak the language of your home country or a language close to that.

But there is another option, which I have often used, in several countries by now. Find a local tour operator or a specialized agent, such as tours4fun, and you will usually find a much wider selection of tours, often with multilingual guides, and often at the same cost or less than what your  travel agent might charge.

You might have to walk or drive a little further to get to a pickup point, but the operators and tours4fun are more than happy to provide you with information and tools so you will have no problem finding your way.

What I actually find most attractive about this option though, is that you will often get to travel with, and share the experience with, people from other corners of the world. Not only will you maybe get other views on the experience, but you might also learn about future holiday destinations, other cultures and people and maybe even make some good friends or a new business contact. I have personally made a few new friends this way and also a few business contacts.

But what if you during the tour visit a place that you would like to spend more time on? Well. You will know about it now and so you can come back and spend a future vacation here.

London Eye across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament in London

The Cathedral of Puerto del Rosario on the Spanish island Fuerteventura