What are some great travel/tour companies?

January 28, 2009 9:45 AM

What are some of the best companies out there for unique and interesting tours or "guided vacations"? I love the idea of these types of trips, and I'd love to be able to start dreaming about my next great vacation...

In reading a recent Ask Metafilter question, there was a link to a tour company that runs bike tours for women going "inn to inn". How cool! This got me thinking about the fact that I love the idea of "guided vacations" that are unique, fun, and passionately run. Whether they are tours, or staying in one place and diving into a subject or area, I'm all for it. Any part of the world is welcome, and any type of trip.

For example: In a couple weeks, I'll be going on a "Women's Winter Adventure" weekend with a dogsledding company in northern Minnesota called Points Unknown. We'll be having classes on how to work with a team, run a sled, and then go out and do our own dogsledding! I'm really excited about this.

I also love reading the REI Adventures website. I find their trips expensive but also ambitious and very inspiring. I sometimes browse their website on a slow workday just to get away from it all.

Do you have any suggestions for more companies that provide unique and interesting guided vacations, especially if you've personally used them and found them to be great? I'd love to have more companies to look at, dream about, and potentially go on vacation with!

posted by warble to Travel & Transportation (14 answers total)

I haven't personally used any of these, but I have them all bookmarked in a group that included REI: Tauck, Intrepid Travel, Country Walkers, Butterfield & Robinson, and Abercrombie & Kent.
posted by miscbuff at 10:04 AM on January 28, 2009

National Geographic Adventure magazine just looked at over 250 adventure travel companies and rated them on quality of services, customer satisfaction, sustainability practices, etc. It's a good place to start.

(My travel company made it to the top 10, but I won't name it since that would be shameless self-promotion).
posted by HeyAllie at 10:20 AM on January 28, 2009

I was unimpressed with the two REI kayaking trips I took in the DC area. They just contract out to local touring companies. It would have been cheaper to book it myself. Bigger, international trips may be different.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 10:25 AM on January 28, 2009

I attempted to go on a boat trip to New Zealand's sub-antarctic islands with Heritage Expeditions

I was waitlisted and didn't make it on the boat so i can't vouch for them personally, but they were very nice and professional about it, and I hear very good things about them. They also go to Antarctica, the Russian Far east, and other exotic places.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:16 AM on January 28, 2009

I traveled to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia with The Great Adventure People and had a really good time. My housemate used them to go to Nepal and also had a great time. Another company that does backcountry trips in Canada is Blackfeather. I haven't traveled with them but used to get their brochures, their trips always made me wish I was independently wealthy. I've also heard of a gypsy caravan trip in Ireland, or somewhere in the British Isles, where you travel in a horse-drawn caravan. That always sounded superneat to me but I have no info on it (and sadly, don't have enough time to google around for it). There's also llama-packing, goat-packing, and horse-packing trips in the Rockies if the animals are appealing. Happy travels!
posted by LunaticFringe at 11:18 AM on January 28, 2009

One of the first google hits: Horse-drawn caravans.
posted by LunaticFringe at 11:30 AM on January 28, 2009

I have personally used and can highly recommend Active New Zealand (which also has branches in Australia and South America).

We had a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime hiking trip with them around New Zealand. Great people, great service, well planned and well run. One of their NZ tours was on the list of National Geographic's 25 Greatest Adventure Trips in the World.
posted by pixlboi at 12:12 PM on January 28, 2009

I have had good experiences with both Intrepid and GAP (Great Adventure People). I've recommended both companies to friends of mine who have also had good experiences. I liked that the tour groups were small and that we mainly used local public transport and went to local restaurants and inns or did camping. Intrepid has customer reviews of most of their trips on the website and both companies seemed to be interested in your feedback. On my trips I also found that the group leader was very helpful in helping you arrange plans for after the tour wrapped up, which is helpful if you want to travel a bit on your own after the group tour ends.

Happy travels!
posted by bbq_ribs at 12:42 PM on January 28, 2009

When I have time and money to do it, Intrepid Travel will be my first choice. Everett Potter ran an interview with one of the founders yesterday.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 12:44 PM on January 28, 2009

Check out the Adventures in Travel Expo, you can talk to lots of interesting tour operators there.
posted by Wet Spot at 2:05 PM on January 28, 2009

I took a tour in Egypt with Imaginative Traveller a few years ago. I think they are very similar to GAP and Intrepid. I was very happy with the trip. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable, and I liked that we stayed in locally owned hotels and restaurants. We did a lot of fun and adventurous things too. I would definitely use them again.
posted by apricot at 4:33 PM on January 28, 2009

I have had such excellent adventures traveling with Explore Worldwide that I thought I might suggest them. They run small group tours from the UK. But you can arrange your own flight. Their typical vacation tour is to load 30 people into a (nice) bus, then drive you around from place to place within a country or locality, with a guide who knows the region well. You spend one or two days in each place, getting a small amount of beach time, walking, exploring ancient sites or local curiosities, and eating local foods (the real ones, not the tourist trap dishes). You get to actually meet local people and see how they live (I have, several times, been invited to visit someone in their home while on one of these trips. You stay in small hotels (2-star, so be prepared), visit local bars and assembly places, and eat in small restaurants and cafes. They have been in business a long time: they must be doing something good, because each of my trips has comprised several Americans, one or two Canadians, and at least one honeymoon couple!
I have toured around the Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, and Africa with this company -- I have never been disappointed and I have always come back buzzing with how different are the lives of people in these countries from my own. They are like Lonely Planet TV program trips, but with a knowledgeable tour guide and a sociable group of people to keep you company. You can choose how active you want your tour to be: hiking vs hotel stays ... :-)
posted by Susurration at 9:09 PM on January 28, 2009

Here's the National Geographic Adventure Magazine article Heyallie mentioned: "Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth".
posted by sharkfu at 8:23 AM on January 29, 2009

Are you an alumni of some university or other? Alumni associations (in my experience this includes both flagship public schools and endowment-run private schools) run really amazing trips with particular focuses, giving you access to things you would otherwise never see and time to interact with experts on the subject. I've been sorely tempted by some my school has run, including an Antarctic trip, another through the Amazon with guest talks on botany and pharmaceuticals, stuff like that.
posted by whatzit at 3:49 AM on January 30, 2009