For many many years I resisted the concept of package tours. The thought of joining 43 other passengers in a bus (you can call it a motor coach, but it's a BUS) didn't appeal. Besides, I had heard that the schedules are so limited that I really wouldn't see anything. American tours especially have the reputation of cramming too many destinations into a short time. Personally, I never want to hear "You have 3 hours to tour Paris, and then we're off to Amsterdam."
I had also been very successful as a solo traveler, so I never saw the need.
And yet, at the same time, there were occasions when I knew I was missing things, when I would talk to people about a place and they had seen a set of sights that I had totally missed. Additionally, while I was very lucky to receive a good education, there are real gaps in my knowledge, and that always bothered me.
So last year, I decided to take an art history tour of Italy. As I flew to Venice from San Francisco, my head was spinning with "Will I be following someone with a flag?" and "Will I be the only person who eschews polyester in the group?"
Well, it was nothing like that. Our guide was a PhD in Italian Renaissance Art, and he brought it all to life. I have never been a fan of Renaissance art, I mean "Oh, look, it's the Madonna and Child, how original." but he really brought it to life. At the start of the tour, he asked us about our interests and geared what we saw and what he said to mesh with the interests of the group. For example, I'm a C-SPAN junkie so he made sure to go over the political aspects of the works for me. And it wasn't long before I was having fun picking out the saints in the background...
The group was also much smaller than the bus load I expected, which was a blessing.
All in all, it was the best two weeks of my life, and I have so much more appreciation for Italy because I saw and heard what was important for a newbie to consider.
