One of the best parts of travel is sharing extraordinary experiences with other people! If you don’t have a wide circle of travel buddies, don’t worry, there are millions of fabulous group tours out there that you can join. Whether you hop on a pre-arranged tour or gather your own clan for a DIY journey, group travel is a wonderful way to see the world, and we think everyone should book at least one group trip in their travel life! In this guide, we will dive into some of the best types of group trips for you and your crew. Let’s roam!
How to Find the Perfect Group Tour
Pick a Tour Type
The world is a big place, and there is a group tour for every travel style. From luxury cruise liners to backpacker trekking tours, the options are limitless! The first step to finding your perfect tour is to decide what kind of tour you are in the mood for. Hopefully, the list below will give you a good idea of what is out there!
Narrow Down Destinations
After you have chosen the type of tour you want to take this year, begin to cross-reference those types of tours with your bucket list destinations. For instance, let’s say you really want to take an adventure tour this year. You want to spend every minute doing something active in nature. You pull out your travel wish list, and your top five are London, Paris, Costa Rica, Venice, and New Zealand. You are likely going to want to look for adventure group tours in Costa Rica or New Zealand, as these places are known for their outdoor activities.
Do Your Research
From here, you begin to Google specific tour companies and travel experiences. Read the reviews carefully. Make sure the tour hits the highlights of what you want to see in the area. Make sure it fits your needed departure date, is in your budget, and carefully read the fine print on what is and is not included in the package price (air travel to and from, meals, alcoholic drinks, equipment, etc.).
Also, pay close attention to the “vibe” words that are used in the write-up. If you don’t drink, then the last thing you want is to end up on a backpacker party tour. If you are in doubt, send an email or use the virtual chat option to get more details.
Make Your Choice
We advise that you chose 2 or 3 tours to research. After you have gotten all the details, make a “pros and cons” list of the tours. If you are traveling with a group of known companions, get their input on the options. You want it to be something that your whole crew is in agreement on! Pick the one that best fits your group and your travel intentions.
Types of Group Tours
1. Scavenger Hunts
If you are looking for a day tour to do with your crew, check out the Let’s Roam Scavenger Hunt App. We have hundreds of fantastic scavenger hunts all over the world. Our hunts are expertly curated by travel and relationship specialists to ensure that you not only get the best sightseeing tour, but you also get a level 1 bonding experience. Let’s Roam scavenger hunts are a blast! We fill our trip itinerary with amazing historic sites, jaw-dropping urban art, and interesting trivia. You will compete with your crew to answer our questions and create Insta-worthy photo and video ops. It’s a one-of-a-kind way to explore, and we promise you are gonna love it!
2. Wine Trails
Think Napa Valley, Portugal, and Bordeaux! The wine capitals of the world always have fantastic group tours. Some regions hop from vineyard to vineyard by elegant train. Others employ small group tours by mini-coach. Some are walking, or even horseback riding, tours. If you are a wine-lover, then we can’t think of a better vacation than spending your free days with other winos learning the ropes of the business, tasting the goods, and enjoying some of the lushest scenery on earth!
3. Distillery or Brewery Hopping
Wine not your thing? Perhaps, you enjoy a cold brew or golden elixir instead! Almost every nation has a specialty drink and a local brewery. You can enjoy an intimate tour of the Citron distillery on the island of Naxos, Greece, for free! Eastern Scotland has some of the best whisky distilleries in the world, and you can easily hop on a small group tour to visit several. Touring Mexico? Join a tequila-making adventure! Enjoying the mountains of Kentucky? Pop in for an official bourbon tour.
Northern Arkansas, Seattle, Denver, and many other tourist destinations in North America have interactive craft beer trails where you can jump from brewery to brewery, collecting stamps for your beer passport.
Pro Tip: These tours are best done with friends and family, as it might not be advisable to get toasted too toasted with a group of total strangers!
4. Island Hopping
If you are a lover of blue waters and sunbathing, then join an island hopping tour! The most famous is probably using the ferry system in the Greek Islands, but that certainly isn’t the only place to join an island hopping tour. You can tour the island surrounding the United Kingdom. Tour cruises ferry passengers between all the Galapagos Islands, or you could island hop in the Maldives on a small group plane tour.
Organize your own tour by utilizing local ferries. If that sounds like too much work, there are hundreds of great travel companies that offer organized trips with experienced tour guides, fantastic food options, and all your accommodations taken care of for you!
5. River Cruises
Ocean cruises are one of the most popular vacation styles. However, we really love the river cruise option! River cruises stop more frequently and usually incorporate plenty of city excursions. Solo travelers can easily find a group of folks to depart the ship for a day tour with. Take a quick kayak tour, walking tour of the city, or food tour. With these cruises, the next adventure is literally around the river bend, and we love the variety of travel experiences that are at your fingertips.
Popular places for river cruises include the Nile in Egypt, the Rhine River through the Netherlands and Germany, the Mississippi River, and the Danube River in the Czech Republic, Austria, and Hungary. River cruises can carry a high price tag, and the population tends to be a bit older than some of the other tours on the list.
6. Wildlife Tours
If your dream vacation involves photographing exotic animals, then consider a wildlife tour! Think jeep safari through Tanzania, sloth searching in Latin America, or whale-watching tours in Baja or Alaska. There are thousands of these tours available out there, just be sure to look at their ethics pages. You want to choose a tour that gives back and ensures the well-being of the animals in question. The goal is to watch amazing creatures in their natural environment, not to subject animals to lock-up for human entertainment.
7. Bar Crawls
Nobody wants to party alone! Even if you are normally a solo traveler, you likely enjoy a group’s company when you hit up the local nightlife. Check out Let’s Roam for a quick and easy-to-plan night out. Our bar crawls will introduce you to the best watering holes in the city, plus keep you laughing all night long with our hilarious challenges. Gather a few peeps from the hostel, and hit the pavement. You’ll engage in a little friendly competition, consume a barrage of tasty treats, and collect plenty of photo evidence of your wild night!
8. Walking Tours
Walking tours are one of the cheapest, easiest, and best tours to join. You simply show up at the designated meeting area, and bada-bing, a new friend group! Walking tours are always informative, sometimes free, and vary widely by type and group size. These are generally in big cities and may be historical, based on food, paranormal, dedicated to a famous local, or even literary.
The options are truly endless, and some great cities like Sofia, Bulgaria, New York City, and Edinburgh, Scotland have multiple types of walking tours to choose from. We suggest taking walking tours on the first day or two in a new city. They are a great way to meet friends, ascertain local recommendations, and get a good introduction to your surroundings.
9. Food Tours
Yummmmmm...we love a food tour! Take all my money! Food tours are the best way to get a taste of all the local delicacies. They range from fancy restaurant tours to street food adventures. We love the smaller ones led by a local tour guide. They generally have a small group size, and they usually visit smaller and less touristy food spots. The people you meet on your food tour often become your dinner pals for the rest of your trip because you all, obviously, like to try local foods, and it is just a natural pairing.
10. Adventure Tours
Adventure tours are a quickly growing segment of travel experiences. Group tours focused on surfing, kayaking, trekking, mountain biking, rappelling, aerial adventures, rock climbing, and spelunking are taking the travel world by storm. If you have an outdoor adventure hobby, we promise you can find a like-minded group of folks to test your abilities with! Look on social media groups for adventure destinations, G Adventures and Hostelworld list a lot of adventure tours on their sites, and even Airbnb has local-guided excursions available.
12. Scooter Tours
Travel through the Italian countryside or the basque region of Spain on a scooter! You can form your very own scooter gang or join an organized tour out of one of the major cities. Scooter tours are generally pretty affordable, and there is no better way to enjoy the landscape. Some are focused on food, some on vineyards, some on sightseeing, but most are a collection of all these and more! Organized tours usually include a safety and practice day to allow you to get used to the scooter and get advice from a trained instructor. Before you hit the road, you will feel confident and ready to roam.
13. Motorcycle Tours
Calling all bikers! If your usual vacation revolves around the open road, then look into an organized motorbike tour. It’s the perfect way to travel through the Southwest of the United States, or up the iconic Pacific Coast Highway. Other popular rides include the Northeast for fall foliage tours, and rides through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia.
14. Senior Group Tours
If you are past your spelunking days, do not fret. There are plenty of amazing group trips for “seasoned” travelers. These tours often limit the walking that is necessary. They usually feature the best accessibility for those with special needs, and they keep the itinerary a shade less packed. Accommodations tend to be comfortable, and you enjoy some of the best food options of any group tour out there.
As mentioned, river cruises are common for the over 60 crew, but that certainly is not your only option. Explore Venice, Florence, and Tuscany on a guided sightseeing tour. Take a historical castle tour of Ireland. Join a safari in South Africa, or if you are looking for love, join one of the “singles ready to mingle” tours. Travel is still on the table after middle age. It might look a little different, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on anything. Adventure is still out there waiting, and there are plenty of like-minded folks to experience it with!
15. National Parks Circuit
For a fun, full-family adventure, take your whole clan on a tour of the national parks! You can snag a pass for each vehicle for just $80 that will get you into all the parks and government lands. We suggest your head to Utah.
This glorious little state boasts five national parks on an easy circuit. It’s the perfect DIY group tour. If you camp, it won’t cost you much, except for gas and food. Within the national parks, you can join organized hikes, wildlife viewing tours, or even white-water rafting adventures. You’ll see some of the weirdest and most wonderful landscapes on earth, and you get some spend some quality time with your favorite group!
16. Student Group Tours
Exposing a child to the world is the fastest way to give them a well-rounded education. If your child’s school, extracurricular group, or friend group is offering an international trip, jump on it! Student tours are the perfect way to safely expose your child to new cultures, different foods, and a broader way of thinking. Often parents are invited along too, so if you don’t feel comfortable sending them alone, then buy yourself a ticket too!
Student Tours usually focus us on art or education. Some travel companies offer budding artists the chance to meet with professional dancers, painters, and performing artists for tips and inspiration. It exposes them to the professional possibilities of their passions. Some focus on historical sites. Others focus on living off the land and expanding life skills. Some student tours even offer scholarships for traveling students.
If you don’t know of any local group taking a tour, you can look into student travel organizations online. These specialized travel companies are highly trained to work with other children. They give intense regard to safety and education, and they specialize in fun!
17. Sports Group Tours
Touring the world as a sports fan can get pretty expensive. When you are strapped into buying single tickets or renting passes from locals, the dollars can wrack up fast! Get rid of the hassle of securing your own tickets to international sporting events and join a sports group experience.
These tour companies buy tickets at the group price, and they do it frequently. They know the ropes, and they can secure better seats and much better prices. These tours often include tours of the stadiums and special events, Most include some sort of sports-themed party and a few brewery tours too!
18. Volunteer Groups
If you are truly looking for a group of like-minded people, then consider going on a volunteer trip. These group trips are focused on giving back! Popular destinations include working with sea turtles in Costa Rica, teaching in an education development program in Cambodia, or volunteering for a women’s empowerment program in Ghana.
Using your vacation time to give back is a sacrifice, but every single time you get more than you give! Take one look at the news, and you know that our world is a tough place, but we can all make someone’s life a little bit easier, just by giving of our time and skills. If you have never taken a volunteer trip, we highly recommend you consider it.
For more information on volunteer travel, check out our new guide “Volunteer Vacations, How to Give Back While You Get Away!”
19. Wellness Travel Groups
One of the fastest-growing segments of travel is wellness travel! Travelers all over the world are choosing to spend their vacation days improving their spiritual, physical, and mental health. Retreats are popping up everywhere that specialize in group meditation, healthy eating, and restorative practices. These group trips are led by professionals and usually focus on education. They often include a healthy meal plan, professional therapy sessions, guided meditation, and group workouts.
Going through a health journey is never something you should do on your own. Sure, you need self-motivation, but having a group of people who understand your struggles and can help keep you accountable to the program is invaluable! These group trips do allow you to experience some of the local culture and landscape, but their primary focus is to allow you time to work on yourself with professional guidance, in a beautiful and relaxing environment. Most of them at least, others are intense exercise programs that border on boot camp. To each his own!
For more information on wellness travel, take a look at “Wellness Travel and What it Can do for You.”
20. Rail Tours
If you love train travel, then hop on a group rail tour! These guided trips revolve around some of the world’s best train journeys. Forget the mini-bus. Skip all that walking. Sit back and enjoy your panoramic view and listen to the clank of the train.
The Rocky Mountains, Switzerland, Scotland, Singapore, and Japan are all popular destinations for train tours. Some of these trains are pretty fancy too! They include high-end sleeping quarters, stunning ballrooms, and Michelan star meals. If you are looking for a little luxury on your next adventure, then pack your ballroom gown and book a train tour!
Time to Book That Trip
Alright, guys! Those are our 20 favorite types of group tours. We hope you found something on our list that has inspired you to get out there and meet new people, explore the world, and do something out of your comfort zone. Group trips aren’t for everyone, and they certainly aren’t for every trip, but tossing in a group tour every once in a while is a great way to add variety to your travel and spice things up a bit!
Let us know in the comments which group tour you are going to try!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the different types of tours?
If you are looking for a group tour, you are in luck! In today’s travel world, you can easily join an adventure tour, a volunteering group, or even sports tours!
How do travel groups work?
There is a huge variety within the group tour genre, but most trips include a fixed itinerary, group meals, and scheduled free time for solo adventures.
What is an easy group tour?
Gather some friends for a scavenger hunt of your city, join a free walking tour, or book a fully-coordinated river cruise through a travel agency.