There are all sorts of reasons to consider a private tour. For me, the big draw is the thought of traveling with my big extended family without being the de facto planner and tour guide, and the idea that we could all wake up every morning relaxed and excited to see and learn and eat our way through a new culture together. For other travelers, the appeal might be about the chance to go deep into a place with a small chosen group of people led by an expert, or maybe it’s being able to craft an itinerary that fits your exact interests and travel style.
And though private tours are more expensive than standard group tours, they’re not necessarily out of reach. With that in mind, here’s a quick primer on private tours to get you started thinking about the possibilities, the pros, and cons.
Many companies offer a private tour option
Something I noticed during and after the pandemic was how many tour companies either debuted or expanded private tour offerings as a way of helping people stay within a known group while also seeing the world.
Years later, some tour companies (notably Adventures by Disney) have retired their private tours, while plenty of others have made private tours a standard and relatively accessible part of their tour offerings.
Here’s an in-no-way comprehensive list of major tour companies that offer private versions of their tours:
- Backroads: There’s no group-size minimum for Backroads private tours, which are based on existing tour itineraries.
- Collette: Private departures of existing tours with Collette are available to groups of 10 or more.
- Exodus: Private tours with Exodus have flexible dates of existing tours, with no age restrictions.
- G Adventures: Eight or more people traveling together with G Adventures can book private departures of select existing itineraries.
- Globus: Globus private tours range in size from one to 24 and are based on existing tour itineraries.
- Intrepid: Tailor-Made tours from Intrepid give groups of four or more the option to either book a private departure of one of the company’s 1,000+ trips or customize your own.
- Road Scholar: Non-profit Road Scholar‘s private tours are flexible and can work for families or small groups, but are geared to slightly larger groups of communities and affinity groups.
- Smithsonian Journeys: Customizable private tours from Smithsonian include a number of suggested itineraries for inspiration.
- Tauck: There’s no group-size minimum for private Tauck tours, making it particularly good for individuals and couples looking for a private tour experience.
- Trafalgar: Groups of nine or more can book private departures of existing tours through Trafalgar. Groups of 10 or more can customize a tour.
Private tours are based on existing itineraries or are customized
Many tour companies offering private tours simply offer private departures of their existing itineraries. Often, you can lightly customize them but they’ll generally follow the same schedule as the off-the-rack tours listed on the company website.
Some companies allow you to work with them to craft original tours, though this option tends to cost more. Companies that offer customized tours include Intrepid, Smithsonian, Tauck, and Trafalgar.
You’ll pay an extra fee for private tours
Different tour companies follow different pricing structures for private tours, but often, the cost is determined by a combination of the tour’s original price and a private-tour surcharge. So, for instance, Collette charges a 35% surcharge for private tours of 10 to 14 people, 25% for groups of 15 to 19, and 15% for private tours of 20 to 25 people. Globus private tour surcharges also depend on the number of people. So, for instance, on a private Introduction to Ireland tour, the surcharge (on top of the published per-person cost of the group tour) would be $3,120 per person for a group of four or $318 per person for a group of 20. And Intrepid estimates that its private prices become comparable to public small group adventure tours once you reach six or more travelers.
Organizers sometimes get discounts
If you’re traveling with a larger group and are willing to be the point of contact, you may be able to set yourself up for a discounted rate—or even a free trip. For instance, through Road Scholar, if you sign up 20 or more people to your private tour, you can choose to attend for free or get a discount of 5% for each participant. And with Backroads’ Private Trip Organizer program, organizers get discounts of 25 to 100% off their tour rates.
The pros of private tours
Private tours allow you to choose exactly whom you want to travel with, and outsources the travel planning, transportation, sightseeing, eating, and other logistics so everyone in your group can be an equal participant in the fun part of travel. Private tours usually allow you to, at the very least, adjust itineraries to suit your preferences. It also means you’re traveling with an expert, which is a special way to get to know a place.
The cons of private tours
Private tours are more expensive than just booking a spot on a tour company’s public tour. And if you’re the type of person who loves meeting new people, you might find traveling with a group you already know a little insular.
