Independent vs. Guided bus tours.

The relative advantages depend on the itinerary. If I were interested mainly in London, for example, and places that could be reached in a day's ride from there, I would go independent. From your hotel in London, there are bus tours available to places like Bath and Stonehenge, for examples. Then, for London touring, I would arrange with a limo service like we did in Rome, and saw more in 9 hours that we would have seen in several days relying on a guided bus tour. Ditto for Paris.

If however, I wanted primarily a tour of the English and French countryside, a guided tour company might be more efficient. But it would still be more regimented. On our last (possibly REALLY our last) guided bus tour, we were in England and spent part of a day and night in Grassmere in the Lake district. Beautiful. Could have stayed several more days, BUT had to move along with the tour. And the next couple of stops were pretty near worthless. And in this regard, it is a poorly kept secret that many tour companies and tour guides select certain stops based more on compensation paid to the companies/guides by the merchants there than anything else. Tauck probably does not do this, but many do. As proof, I have been asked for my "bus number" when making purchases in a number of such places.

Thanks,
Richard