How to find the perfect group tour company for you

When choosing a tour, think about your travel personality. Do you like an action-packed agenda, or lots of free time to explore? Ready to splurge, or aiming for a budget-friendly journey? Want a culinary extravaganza? Looking for a gay-friendly excursion, or an alcohol-free band of travel buddies? There’s a group tour for that. Here’s a look at some well-regarded options.
A good first step: Look for tour companies that are members of USTOA (United States Tour Operators Association; ustoa.com ), says Terry Dale, president and CEO of the association. Members must meet strict requirements of ethics and integrity; plus, travelers’ investments are protected in case the company goes out of business. Similar organizations include ETOA ( www.etoa.org ) in Europe and CATO ( cato.ca ) in Canada.
Swiping on a dating app can be a risky move. Does this person even exist? Does he or she want to scam me out of all of my money? You might ask the same questions when it comes to booking a group tour. Who’s legit?
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Fab for foodies: Table Less Traveled
Want to spend nine days in Italy tasting the regional dishes of the Amalfi Coast, Florence, and Emilia-Romagna, dining in local homes, sampling ingredients from farms, factories, and wineries, and learning recipes in cooking classes? Or visiting the Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont regions to meet the local makers of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar, and Lambrusco wine? For an epicurean, it doesn’t get better than that.
Founded by Annie Sim in 2015, these food-focused small group tours lean toward intimate cultural experiences that wouldn’t be possible with a larger party. Groups have a maximum size of 12; beyond Italy, these very filling tours visit Japan, Peru, France, Portugal, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. Sample pricing: 9-Day Best of Peru Tour, $9,835 per person, double occupancy. www.thetablelesstraveled.com
Time-honored classic: Tauck
The Tauck family launched their first tour in 1925 in New England. Their loyal fan base includes over a dozen guests who have traveled with this Connecticut-based company more than 50 times. On the Tauck Forum, guests rave about their excellent TDs (tour directors), exquisite hotels (“the same ones Abercrombie & Kent uses, but at a lower price point,” one traveler commented) and great service. Tauck’s guests skew a bit older (semi-retired or retirees), with the time and money to travel extensively, and an interest in connecting more deeply with the destinations they visit.
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The company offers journeys to seven continents and 70+ countries, and has earned a place on Travel + Leisure’s “World’s Best” list for 27 consecutive years. Small group tours (averaging 24 guests), smaller group trips (up to 15 guests), and river cruising are among their strengths. Their best-selling 12-day “Blue Danube” cruise starts at $6,790 per person, double occupancy; the eight-day version starts at $4,990. www.tauck.com
The curated experience: Naya Traveler
For those who are looking for cultural immersion, this small-group tour operator is worth considering. Naya Traveler works with a roster of local artists, authors, ethnographers, and field experts, to offer a deep dive into the destinations they visit, with a goal of making connections. Trips are customized to each guest’s preferences and interests.
Their “Special Trips” get even more specific, with themes of Art & Ateliers, Wellness Wanders, Adventure & Nature, and so on. Destinations include some less-visited places, such as Myanmar, Kashmir and Ladakh, Oman, and Ethiopia. Depending on destination and choice of arrangements, prices start at $700 per person per day, based on a party of two people in shared occupancy. www.nayatraveler.com
The opportunity to interact with local residents is a benefit of a smaller group. These guests with G Adventures are visiting with weavers in Peru.
Super for solo travelers: G Adventures
Looking for a flexible itinerary with the freedom to explore, but the security of having a tour group watch your back? Pick a destination and see where you fit within their unique Travel Styles, including “Active” and “18-to-thirty-something” tours. Average group size is eight to 12 people. This allows G Adventurers to stay at smaller hotels and eat at smaller local restaurants (using local service providers is part of their community tourism focus). They allow some free time in the itineraries for adventuring on your own, or adding an optional activity — say a hike, cooking class, or helicopter ride.
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G Adventures offer trips all over the world; we’re currently eyeing the 21-day Best of New Zealand Mountain Biking & Black Sand Beaches tour ($2,773 per person). They’ll pair you up with a roommate of the same gender (or book you in a single room for a slightly higher fee). www.gadventures.com
Gay-focused Out Adventures offers safe, fun tours all over the world. Their Croatia Gay Dalmatia cruise, shown here, is a popular option. Group size is 34 or fewer travelers.
LGBTQ+ travel: OUT Adventures
Since 2009, this gay-focused small-group tour company has been offering fun, safe journeys for the community, exploring countries from A (Albania) to V (Vietnam). Based in Toronto, they also support the queer communities they visit, even in less-than-gay-friendly countries, to “enrich local lives and learn about their experiences,” they say.
Out Adventures sleuths out the best local restaurants, authentic experiences, boutique hotels, and travel partners that go beyond “friendly” and are truly welcoming to the LGBT community. Want to go to India for the Holi festival, see the cultural side of Cuba, or take a gay Croatia cruise? Their core market is gay men, but they welcome all LGBTQ+ folks on their departures, as well as friends and family. As an example of pricing, the eight-night Croatia Gay Dalmatia cruise, with up to 34 sailors, is $5,095 per person, double occupancy. www.outadventures.com
Alcohol-free travel: Hooked
Sober living is gaining traction, so it makes sense that alcohol-free vacations would follow. Darci Murray launched Hooked in 2021, with the concept of getting hooked on healthy habits while discovering wonderful places. “Being alcohol-free heightens your awareness: Colors are brighter, food tastes better, touch is more intense,” Murray says. In this full sensory state, travelers are more open to new experiences and self-discovery, she notes.
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These aren’t recovery trips — you don’t have to be an alcoholic to not drink alcohol. Maybe you drink now and then (but want to travel without that element in the mix) but these trips are booze-free. Options include a “Boozeless Cruise” in Alaska, “Serenity in the Serengeti” (Tanzania), plus Las Vegas, Nashville, New York City, Italy, and more. A seven-night trip to Sayulita, Mexico ($2,395 per person, double occupancy) includes ziplining, hiking, dancing, painting, snorkeling, boating, paddle boarding, diving, and a hot sauce challenge — now that’s a sensory experience! hooked-on-travel.com
The Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica is an amazing sight, one that shouldn’t be off limits to anyone. Wheel the World is a tour company devoted to travel without limits.
Travel for people with disabilities: Wheel the World
“Explore the world without limits.” That’s the goal of Wheel the World, a group tour company and online travel platform founded in 2018 by Alvaro Silberstein, a wheelchair user since the age of 18. “Group trips are a fantastic way for travelers with disabilities to forge lifetime friendships, travel with like-minded individuals, and have peace of mind regarding accessibility,” says Andrés Villagrán, head of marketing.
Since the company’s inception, 8,000 disabled travelers and their companions have booked trips with Wheel the World, to destinations including Cancun, Costa Rica, Greece, New York, and South Africa. (Coming soon: Iceland and more US locales.) For DIY travel planners who don’t want to go the group tour route, they offer vetted hotels and activities on their platform. The most popular destination is Costa Rica; a seven-night trip is $2,750 per person, based on double occupancy. wheeltheworld.com
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Diane Bair and Pamela Wright can be reached at bairwright@gmail.com