5 Great Tours for People Who Hate Tours

If you’re the kind of person who hates tours, I feel you, because I used to be you. But if you try the tours I recommend below, I predict that you’ll not only change your mind, but they’ll be some of the best experiences you have on your next vacation.

I used to be “anti” tour, thinking they cost too much money, were boring, too crowded, and too “structured.” The more I’ve traveled, the more I’ve changed my mind 180 degrees on this one. 

 As a scientist, my data comes both from comparing my experience with others who didn’t take a tour and also visiting the same place myself with and without a tour. For example, some friends went to Pompeii in Italy, did a self-guided tour with a map, and thought it was really boring. We took a private tour with an Art History professor that same summer and loved it; even my now 20 (then 13) year-old daughter thought it was one of the most fascinating places she’s ever been. 

 I visited Hawaii Volcanoes national park many years ago and did a self-guided tour and thought it “meh”; early this year we went back with a private tour guide and thought it was amazing, because we learned so much about volcanoes and the history and culture of Hawaii. You miss out on a lot when you don’t have a guide--having someone who can point things out and answer your questions makes a place so much more engaging and memorable. 

 1. Food Tours 

I recommend booking a food tour for EVERY city you visit, and for your first full day after arriving. It’s a great way to get an overview of a town AND to get an early meal on your trip without having to figure out where to eat. 

Food tours are usually small group (8-12 people) and involve 4 or 5 stops. Alcohol is sometime included and sometimes available for purchase, and dessert is pretty much a given. We also really enjoy the group interaction and have met some really cool people on the tours. Florence was our first food tour, and since then, we’ve done them in many American cities (e.g., Seattle, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Boston, New York) and all over the world (Barcelona, Lisbon, Porto, Auckland). 

The tour guide will not only give you great tips about where to eat around town, but wil teach you about the local history (e.g., in Atlanta we ate where and what MLK Jr. ate while we learned riveting stories of his early activism; see photo below).

Food tours are great for the whole family, and they’re never boring… regardless of age, it seems like everyone’s tolerance for learning new information increases dramatically when food is involved! [Tip: if you have dietary restrictions or a picky eater in your family, email the company ahead of time to ask for substitutions; you’ll need to do this in advance, though, because they rarely can make “day of tour” changes]. 

 2. Segway Tours 

Yes, these are the things that mall cops ride. And yes, you will look like a goober. But you will have SO much fun riding it! (If you don’t at least google what it costs to buy one once you get back home, I’ll be surprised). Like food tours, this is an ideal way to get an overview of a city because you can cover a lot of ground quickly and it’s a lot less tiring than walking long distances (hello, Washington DC. And Rome. And Barcelona).

For overseas travel, it’s a great way to conquer jet let on your first arrival day (we try to book one for the later afternoon or evening on the day we arrive). Embarrassingly, we have fallen asleep on other tours on our first day in Europe, but a Segway gets wind in your face and because you’re standing, It’s pretty hard to fall asleep. 

 Once your family gets good at segway’ing, you can even take “advanced” tours (we did one up and down the hills of San Francisco that was a blast; we also did an “off road” Segway tour in Maui where we got to ride it on the beach). Segways are much easier than you think to ride, and companies do a good job with good safety training and practice beforehand. [Tip: Age restrictions vary, so always check beforehand).]

3. Photo Tours 

 Here’s a secret: I don’t even have a camera, and even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to use any of the manual settings. But I love taking pictures. And seeing beautiful sites. On a photo tour, a photographer will give you a great, personalized tour of the city, take you to the most picturesque spots, and teach you how to take great photos. They will also take pictures of you and your family (and they know what they’re doing!). 

Most photo tours are okay with you having an iphone only (today’s iphones really have pretty amazing cameras)--they can still teach you how to frame great shots, and even the rest of your family (whether they take pictures or not) will enjoy the tour. If you have a DSLR camera, they will of course teach you more advanced photography. 

One of our family’s favorite tours was a photo tour in Venice. We got up at 7 am and Marco showed us the “Venice of locals”. He introduced us to local shopkeepers (who remembered us later and gave us very friendly service) and we saw people hanging their laundry out for the morning--we got a completely different perspective on the island before cruise ship tourists invaded it for the day, and I doubt we would have had such a positive impression of Venice if we hadn’t take this tour. 

We also took a lot of great photos and learned cool facts (such as the complicated process to become a gondolier, and how the license was traditionally passed down from father to son). 

4. Boat tours 

Boat tours are a great way to see an island or to visit sites that aren’t accessible by land. You can take a private tour for just your family (although these are more pricey), a small group tour, or a large group tour (like a party cruise). 

Besides zipping around an island, there are many different types of boat tours--You can do sunset cruises, sailing, snorkeling tours, whale-watching or dolphin tours, picnic-on-a-private beach tours, adventure tours (in Key West, you can kayak, jetski, parasail, and snorkel as part of an all-in-one-price), or a combination. They often include snacks and drinks, music, as well as whatever equipment (e.g., snorkeling gear) you need. 

If you like being on the water, this is definitely the kind of “tour” that doesn’t feel like a tour. 

5. Cooking classes/demonstrations

Okay, these are not tours per se, but they are awesome and you should sign up for one. These are great for the whole family, because (a) everyone loves food and (b) the chefs are good at catering to beginners (no experience necessary). We’ve done these both in small groups and privately with just our family. 

 The way it typically works is that prep cooks lay everything out for you (not much prepping and no cleaning after) and then a chef guides you through the steps to make your meals. After everything is ready, you sit down (usually with alcohol) to eat a great meal after and chat with the chef and/or other guests. At most of the classes we’ve done, we got to choose our menu in advance so we could have a say in what we cooked. 

 These are a great way to learn about the local food and how to cook it. Our first cooking class was in Florence, and we made homemade ravioli, balsamic butterflied chicken, homemade gelato, and tiramisu. The dinner (and wine) was amazing! 

One of our favorites was a cooking class at a chef’s outdoor home kitchen in Thailand, where we made both red and green curries and several other dishes—it was easy, fun, and crazy delicious. 

Some places have cooking demonstrations, which can also be fun--especially if you’re feeling lazy and want to eat without having to cook first. In Croatia, we visited a farm outside Dubrovnik—where members of the family gave us free drinks (we became fans of quince liquor that day!), a tour of their farm, let us pick fruits and vegetables from their garden for our meal, and chatted with us while grandma cooked. To this day, that was one of the 5 best meals I’ve ever had in my life, and we really enjoyed getting to the know the family (one of the sons was a border patrol officer in Bosnia, and regaled us with stories of all the ways people try to smuggle things across the border). 

Okay, so how do you find one of these tours? Log onto Tripadvisor, click on “things to do”, and then “tours” (you can specify a certain type, such as “food and drink” or “boat”; usually I just look at the all the tours). Sort them by “traveler ranked”, and choose tours that are rated 4.5 or 5.

Good luck, and happy travels!!

Like Snorkeling But Afraid to Scuba? Try SNUBA

Abby and I love snorkeling but have always been afraid to scuba dive, so we recently tried “SNUBA”, which is like a cross between snorkeling and scuba. 

SNUBA stands for “Surface Nexus Underwater Breathing Apparatus” and is a safe way to experience underwater breathing without all of the expense and training required for scuba. 

 In order to scuba dive, you must get PADI certified, which costs roughly $200-$500 depending on where you take the course. Getting certified takes approximately 3-4 days and typically involves book study, controlled environment diving (such as in a pool), and open water diving. 

In addition to these costs, diving involves some significant risks (e.g., decompression sickness or “the bends”, embolism, drowning) and challenges (equalizing ear pressure, mask clearing, weighting/buoyancy, and of course fears and phobias—most commonly claustrophobia or agoraphobia—which can lead to panic and/or hyperventilation).  

Because we’re not great swimmers and are nervous in the water (sometimes even while snorkeling), we decided to try SNUBA on a recent trip to Saint Martin as kind of a “pilot test” (psych nerd term) to see if we’d ever want to scuba dive someday. We love to see animals in nature while traveling, especially in the ocean, and sea turtles are our “spirit” animal.

We set off from the marina on a beautiful day with our captain (Mich) and our instructor (Kelly); luckily, no one else had signed up, so we had them all to ourselves. Mich explained that Abby and I would each be tethered with a 20-foot oxygen line connected to a tank on a floating raft that would go with us, and that Kelly would be in scuba gear nearby, guiding us around and checking on our safety. They also gave us some hand signals so we could communicate with Kelly underwater. 

Pulling out of beautiful Phillipsburg Bay

Snuba is similar to scuba in that you breathe through a regulator (which disconcertingly sounds like Darth Vader under water), but instead of carrying a tank on your back, you have an oxygen line connected to a small raft. Because of the line, you cannot go very deep (max 20’), very far, or get lost or left behind. (For one of the worst movies you’ll ever see, try “Open Water”, which tells the tale of two scuba divers whose diving boat left them stranded. You’re welcome.). 

The raft that holds the oxygen tank and lines

The most important rule, according to Mich, was never to hold your breath. He also said it was important to pressurize your ears every 3’ on the way down by pinching your nose and blowing to pop your ears. I’ll be honest: even concentrating all my energy on remembering to breathe, I still held my breath a few times. I also didn’t feel like I could pressurize my ears while remembering to breathe through my mouth, so I never did it—of course, this wasn’t a problem because I rarely went deeper than 3’ because of my nervousness. I did relax and get more comfortable over time, but for the first 15 minutes I would want to come to the surface to the raft to clear my mask or just breathe through my nose.

Abby was much more natural and ventured deeper (10-12’) and farther away from Kelly (who held my hand a lot of the time, which helped ease my anxiety and allowed me to go deeper). We saw lots of colorful fish and some wreckage of an old helicopter, airplane, and submarine, which was cool. Afterwards, they gave us rum punch (all tours on Saint Martin apparently provide free rum punch, and I’m not complaining) and told us about their backgrounds. 

Altogether our experience took just a couple hours (a 15-minute ride to the SNUBA/wreckage area, 20 minutes of instruction, and 30-45 minutes under water) and was a great way to spend a beautiful day. SNUBA can be found in many beach/resort areas, including Florida, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. We paid $104 each for our 2-hour snuba tour. 

Bottom line: We enjoyed our experience and are glad we tried it, but we both agreed that doing SNUBA only reinforced that we are definitely more “snorkeling” people than “scuba” people. It’s true that you can go deeper and see amazing things with scuba, but we feel like all things considered (e.g., expense, hassle, fear), snorkeling has a better benefit-to-cost ratio, at least for us nervous nellies. However, for anyone seriously considering scuba, SNUBA would be a great introduction. 

Snorkeling Tip: Last year we switched to full-face snorkel masks (which lets you breathe through both your nose and mouth at the same time) and absolutely love them because it’s so much easier (great for kids, especially). We’ve noticed on vacation more and more people switching to these kind of masks, although true scuba people would never be caught wearing one of these. We bought Greatever G2s from Amazon for about $40 (no, I don't get a referral fee, but I do recommend this mask!). 

Good luck, and happy travels!

What It's Like to Travel Fully Vaccinated

We just got back from our first international trip after being fully vaccinated, and the TLDR is that we found it less stressful and more relaxing knowing we have one of the most effective vaccines in history working to protect us. (Abby had Moderna and I had Pfizer). 

This past week, we spent 5 nights on the beautiful Caribbean island of Saint Martin (more on that in a future “destination spotlight” post). In full disclosure, we’d traveled several times during the pandemic (e.g., to Oregon/Washington, Mexico, and Hawaii) from July 2020 to Feb 2021, so it was easy for us to compare our experiences. 

Even early on we felt like the risk of contracting Covid via air travel was relatively low (as a scientist, I read every study available, and the combination of excellent air refreshing systems in airplanes plus the mask requirement and middle seats being open meant that airplanes were very unlikely to be super spreader events). 

We got Covid tests before and after traveling to make sure we weren’t spreading the virus others while traveling or to my sister (who’s in our family bubble) when we returned. We also followed all CDC guidelines (we wore N95 or KN95 masks with surgical masks over that and sometimes face shields), wiped down our seats and tray tables with Clorox wipes, washed our hands frequently, and refrained from eating or drinking while on the plane. 

At our destination, we wore masks and socially distanced everywhere we went, and ate only take out or at outside restaurants. We found that hotels (especially in Mexico) had really good cleaning protocols and all staff wore masks. 

But still, despite these precautions, before the vaccine we generally felt paranoid, hypervigilant, and nervous—getting spooked whenever anyone coughed (we moved several rows back on a flight once because one of the passengers coughed a few times) and obsessively checked everyone’s mask to make sure it was above their nose. (Sadly, the Austin airport was one of the worst we saw in terms of compliance). To eat in the airport, we’d find a hidden corner at any unused gate and slide our mask down to sneak quick bites of a sandwich.

Last summer, the airlines were cautious about enforcing mask requirements and getting into confrontations with passengers (my brother is a pilot and confirmed this), but once they uniformly started enforcing this in the Fall, I saw far fewer masks below the nose. Flight attendants caught onto the “I’m slowly drinking this coffee during the entire flight so I never have to have my mask on” trick, and now they explicitly tell passengers to slide the mask down temporarily while taking a bite or sip but to have it fully on otherwise. 

The flights to Saint Martin were the first in which we had a passenger (window seat) in our same row, but I felt so much better than I would have before the vaccine. We never ate or drank during the flight and neither did our row-mate, so we weren’t all that nervous. The flights home were less full, and even though there was someone assigned to our row, the flight attendant let us move to the exit row, which we had to ourselves. 

Once in Saint Martin, all the same protocols were followed (by us and by the hotel), so not much was different there. Fortunately, the views for outdoor dining were stunning.

Probably the biggest difference was when we went on tours. We took an all-day boat tour of the island with 2 other couples (one from Poland and one from Connecticut), and it came up quickly that all of us were fully vaccinated, so we felt comfortable without masks (we were also outside on a speedboat with lots of air circulation, so that factored in as well). 

I noticed immediately the difference in group bonding—it was like the old, pre-pandemic days. Given the CDC’s recommendation that fully vaccinated people can hang out safely even indoors without masks, we felt comfortable high-fiving while singing Sweet Caroline (the free-flowing rum punch probably helped), taking photos together, and even hugging briefly when we said goodbye. 

Our new (fully vaccinated) friends, Jeanie and Pauly from Connecticut

The bottom line: we felt less worried and more relaxed throughout the entire trip, even though we didn’t do much differently (other than removing masks on boat tours with other fully vaccinated people). However, everyone will have to decide for themselves what they’re comfortable with. I have plenty of friends who are fully vaccinated who still don’t feel like they want to be in public with others, and I totally respect that. I personally don’t feel comfortable eating inside a restaurant (because people are maskless and it’s not that unlikely that someone in the restaurant has Covid), but I do feel comfortable flying/traveling and hanging out with friends and family who are also fully vaccinated. 

If you’re considering traveling this summer and are fully vaccinated, the CDC has green-lighted domestic travel. If you’re itching to go international, I’d recommend Mexico or the Caribbean (but of course check the US Department of State Travel Website for country-specific recommendations). As of now, the US requires negative Covid tests (antigen or PCR) within 3 days of your return flight to the US, but many resorts offer free or reduce-priced onsite testing for their guests to make this much easier. At our hotel, the nurse had our results and paperwork done in 5 minutes (in what looked like a pregnancy test), which was really cool. 

 Good luck, and happy travels!

The Coolest Travel Site You’re Not Using

I first discovered Rome2Rio several years ago, and it’s been one of my favorite “go to” sites for travel planning ever since. 

The concept is simple: you plug in where you’re starting from and where you want to go, and it tells you all the options for how to get there (planes, trains, ferry, driving). 

It’ll also tell you how long each route takes, and if you put in a date, an estimate of how much it costs. 

 Example 1: Austin to San Juan Island 

My wife loves whales, and we heard there were orcas in the San Juan Islands, so we decided last August to go to the biggest of the islands, San Juan. I knew it was off the coast of Seattle, but wasn’t sure how to get there. 

Using Rome2Rio, we found out that it takes a combination of a flight (Aus-Sea, 4.5 hours), drive (from Seatac airport to Anacortes; you can rent a car or take a shuttle; 2 hours and 45 minutes), and ferry (1 hour from Anacortes to Friday Harbor). If you click on the individual links on Rome2Rio, it will give you flight/ferry times and cost estimates. 

We had an amazing time; the islands are beautiful and serene, and even the ferry ride was stunning. And yes, we saw orcas! Plan ahead (3-6 months) if you can, because the tourist season is really short and good accommodations (and even the ferry) can sell out. 

Example 2: Austin to Paris 

I like to use Rome2Rio to see the various ways to get to Europe and how many stops it takes to get there. For this example, because there are still Covid travel restrictions, I chose a random date in the Fall (October 27th) and found out that the cheapest one-way fare to Paris is $285 (!). It takes 19 hours and 5 minutes, with 2 stops. (In case you’re curious, you'd take Spirit airlines from Austin to Newark, United airlines from Newark to Porto, and Tap Portugal airlines from Porto to Paris). 

When I search the same date on Google Flights (one of my favorite flight search engines; more on that in a future post), the cheapest I found was a two-stop Jet Blue + Tap Portugal itinerary for $508. So Rome2Rio gives you a great place to start, as well as comparison prices. 

Example 3: Paris to London 

When I’m traveling in other countries, I like to figure out the best way to get from one city to the next so I can see what’s reasonable to add to my itinerary (spoiler alert: I cram in as many cities as I can because I figure, “I’m all the way over there already”). 

Things are wacky now because of Covid (train schedules are especially limited), but you’ll find that the train from Paris to London takes 2 hours and 36 minutes ($66 is the lowest fair on July 10th). Rome2Rio tells me that the cheapest flight on that same day is $48 on British Airways and takes 1 hour and 36 minutes. Not that you’d want to given these great prices, but you can also take a 7 ½ hour bus ride for $62. 

"Big Ben" (not Roethlisberger)

p.s. If you need help finding the best hotel room for you in any city, check out this post: https://professortraci.blogspot.com/2021/04/

 Hope you enjoy Rome2Rio as much as I do! 

 Good luck, and happy travels!

Quickly Find the BEST Hotel for You in Any City

Finding a hotel--especially in a city you’ve never been to--can be overwhelming, and many people don’t know where to start. 

Asking for recommendations can help, but if you want to make sure you get the BEST deal, here’s a trick I use. It can be done quickly, without any prior research, and has always resulted in finding the best hotel for the price I want to pay. 

Not surprisingly (because I’m a scientist & researcher), my trick relies on data--from Tripadvisor, whose traveler opinions I've found to be extremely reliable. 

The "Explora" hotel in Patagonia had an amazing view and was all-inclusive

STEP 1. Go to Tripadvisor.com & enter city in the "where to" bar. 

STEP 2. Click on the box for “hotels”. 

STEP 3. Enter your travel dates. 

• Put your dates in the "check in" and "check out" boxes

• Also enter "number of travelers" and hit "update"

STEP 4. Sort by “traveler ranked” (the default is “best value”). 

 STEP 5. Read the reviews starting at the top and moving down. 

• The first one is often “sponsored” (which means it’s an ad), so you can skip that one and start at #1. 

• If you want to use filters (e.g., property type, breakfast included, free parking), you can check the boxes to the left, but I recommend NOT limiting by price because comparing prices allows you to see how good of a value your hotel is. 

• Example: if #4 is $150/night and is between #3 at $500 and #5 at $300, you know #4 is a great deal. 

• Choose the highest rated hotel that’s in your price range. Depending on your budget, this may be #5 out of 240, or it may be #58. Once I find a high-rated hotel that looks good in my price range, I might read a few more to see if a slightly lower-ranked hotel has a better feature, but mostly I end up with the highest rated one in my price range, and this has worked out great. 

• Reading reviews can quickly tell you the important features to look for in a hotel in that city (which spares you from having to do research beforehand). 

• Example: location is often important. Is it near a metro station? Can you walk to restaurants nearby? Is it in a safe place that isn’t sketchy to walk around at night? It’s also easy to find out if the hotel is clean, has good wifi and/or AC, has free parking, good views, treats their customers well, etc. 

• Stick to hotels rated 4.5 or higher. Tripadvisor’s colored-in green circles tell you the average customer rating out of 5. As a rule, I only choose hotels that are 4.5 or higher. The reason is that 4.5s are a mix of 4 and 5 reviews, whereas 4s are a mix of 3 and 5s (3 is actually “bad” to most people, who may be too polite to put 1 or 2; 4s definitely have some flaws). My experience backs this up (especially early on, before I had this rule)—any time I’ve chosen a “4”, I’ve often been annoyed, but am rarely unhappy with something rated 4.5 or higher. 
• Tip: The 4.5 rule also works great for activities, tours, and restaurants on Tripadvisor! 

STEP 6. Find the best price for your hotel. 

• Although Tripadvisor includes price comparisons (many of which are hard to beat), it’s important to check the hotel’s own website as well. Whenever you can (e.g., if prices at the hotel’s site are equal or lower than the ones on Tripadvisor), you always want to book through the hotel directly: they appreciate it, plus it’s often easier to cancel or make changes and you might also get some perks. 

• Check Costco and/or AAA. If you have memberships to either of these, it’s worth checking them as well. 

• Costco has vacation packages (to places like Hawaii, Bora Bora, Florida, etc.) that often are at terrific prices and may include extras, such as free breakfast, resort credit, and/or a Costco “shop card” (which is essentially a rebate that you can spend like a gift card at Costco; these can be several hundred dollars and up). 
• Tip: Costco is also well known for having the best rental car and cruise prices that few competitors can match.

• If you have Triple A, it’s worth checking because their best rate is often equal to the best non-refundable rate through other sources, but with AAA that rate often has a 24-hour cancellation policy. So if you like the rate but need flexibility, it’s good to book through AAA. 

All-time favorite: Overwater bungalow at Intercontinental Thalasso Bora Bora

 Good luck, and happy travels!!