Destination: Europe

Do-it-yourself Europe

Self-guided walking, cycling and driving tours follow outfitter's plan -- but not the leader

PLEASURES OF FRANCE: Strolling through a sunflower field in Provence.

Guided group tours to Europe take the hassles out of planning, but can make some people feel like part of a herd. Independent explorations provide flexibility but also all the organizational headaches.

Now, there's an increasingly popular hybrid -- self-guided tours where an outfitter handles some arrangements, but travellers conduct their own trip. You set your own pace, usually dine where you choose and mix with locals instead of tourists.

Popular among Europeans, but until recently little-known to North Americans, self-guided Europe excursions are offered by more than a dozen North American-based companies. Variations on the theme are available in England, Scotland, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and Greece. Sweden, Denmark , Norway, Cyprus, the Czech Republic and Hungary are emerging as hot new destinations for doing it yourself with assistance.

Self-guided trips may involve multiple pre-paid lodgings along a chosen route or be based at one place, with suggested day trips from the hub. You may be travelling by rental car, bike, on foot or via trains, buses or ferries. Inn-to-inn walking and bike trips usually include luggage transfers.

Among other perks may be orientation with a local expert, hikes, even a balloon ride.

Outfitters provide an area representative to handle problems, and some companies supply cell phones for easy communications. The trips can be big money savers over guided tours or cost substantially more if luxury lodgings or swank extras (like a private chef) are provided.

"Self-guided Europe trips are ideal for free spirits who don't want to spend their vacation following the leader but want some vital basics taken care of for them -- and someone watching out for their interests," said Peter Smale, of Homes Away in Toronto. The company arranges self-guided programs based at farmhouses and manor homes in France and Italy (Spain will be added in 2003).

A week's stay at a house with daily maid service and a pool, can cost as little as $1,000 per person -- about what you would pay for a standard room at a good hotel. Here, you get the whole place to yourself -- the more folks who share the house, the cheaper per person.

Professionally arranged self-guided tours can also provide independent travellers with an added sense of security.

"Knowing your accommodations have been pre-screened and that there's someone available to handle crises or just provide advice can make travelling abroad feel a little less risky," said Loren Siekman, president of Discover France, a Scottsdale, Ariz., company that arranges 28 different self-guided, walking, biking and driving tours.

Guidance, but not guides

Randonnee Tours, based in Winnipeg, handles most of the arrangements for its inn-to-inn cycling, walking and drive-and-stroll tours in France, Scotland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy and Ireland.

Based on the clients' interests and energy level, the company designs an itinerary, providing maps and detailed route descriptions, as well as luggage transfers for walking and cycling trips. Lodgings with daily breakfast are in B&Bs or small hotels. You decide ahead if you want to change locations every night.

On cycling trips, which cover about 30 miles per day, a bike is included but there's no support vehicle to give you a lift if you hit a day of rain or low energy -- a service usually available on guided tours. Inn-to-inn walking trips cover 8 to 12 km a day, and there too, you have to get yourself to the next night's lodgings. Drive-and-stroll excursions cover 60 to 170 km a day, with optional walks mapped out along the route. The company does not handle air transportation or rental cars.

Sherpa Expeditions, a 30-year-old British company, designs self-guided walking and cycling trips, graded for difficulty, around most of Europe, including Cyprus and Hungary. Many trips, which usually involve different lodging each night including luggage transfers, duplicate the company's guided trips, so the outfitter can fine-tune routes and lodging choices. Breakfast is included daily; dinner is provided the first night and at more remote hostelries.

While six- to 10-day trips are the norm, many itineraries can be adapted for three to four days. Sherpa is represented in North America by the respected Connecticut outfitter, Himalayan Travel.

ON A SELF-GUIDED TOUR of Gordes, Provence, you can enhance the experience by taking art classes.

Living like the locals

Idyll Untours, a 26-year-old Media, Pa., company that pioneered self-guided tours to Europe, encourages clients to take trains, buses and ferries, though rental cars are provided where public transportation is impractical.

The company books only furnished apartments for its trips to Switzerland, Italy, France, German, Austria, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, Czech Republic and Hungary. Units may be in Paris, Venice or at vineyards or converted castles. A representative holds an orientation session after guests arrive and arranges one optional special event.

"In Andalusia, Spain, we've done cooking classes where everyone learns to make paella; in Switzerland we took guests to a cheese farm high in the mountains; and this year we'll take guests to the amazing new Jewish Museum in Berlin," said marketing manager Joe Tosolt.

For the most part, however, travellers are left to their own devices, said president Hal Taussig. "Our clients relish their independence. If they want to be shepherded or waited on, they've chosen the wrong company and we're all in trouble."

Home at First, a spin-off of Untours, applies the parent company's hands-off philosophy to self-guided programs in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. It's run by Taussig's daughter Judi Fahnestock and her husband Tom.

In England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland guests are based at a cottage or apartment for one-week. Norway, Sweden and Denmark tours, which are 10-14 days, use B&Bs.

The company's most comprehensive tour in Scandinavia, called the Magnus, includes car, rail and ferry travel, plus a flight north of the Arctic Circle.

Haute hospitality

For those who don't feel right without someone at their beck and call, Butterfield & Robinson of Toronto organizes tony private tours in Europe with a guide you can use or lose.

"We're kind of control freaks when it comes to the quality of the experience, and we just don't feel we can guarantee everything will go perfectly if we don't provide someone ever ready to make sure it does," said B&R's Cary Gray. "Think of the guide as a butler, to enlist or dismiss as you like. While you're out walking or driving around on your own, he might be setting up a gourmet picnic lunch along the route or getting prime tickets to a performance or museum exhibition."

Travellers who like being based at one luxurious estate, might consider the chichi new Villa Concierge program offered by Chicago-based Abercrombie & Kent. Country houses or castles in France, Italy or Scotland come with a concierge -- and a cell phone to summon him.

"Forty percent of our business has become private trips, and the Concierge Villa program is the cream of the crop if you want to be laid back," said A&K's Pamela Lassers.

At a Concierge Villa, the staff does the laundry and the cook whips up meals. You may be billed for food and wine, but the chef's services are included. The concierge can snag hard-to-get reservations, charter a boat for a little canal cruising or lock in a tee-time at an elite golf course.

"If you pull out all stops, these vacations can be pricey, but the villas themselves can be quite reasonable if you fill every bedroom," Lassers said.

In Tuscany, for example, the Villa Michaela, an hour's drive from Florence, can cost as little as $1,300 per person per week. You'll have to round up 22 house mates to occupy the 11 bedrooms (each with private bath) and go easy on vintage wines, but otherwise, it's the royal treatment all the way.

PLANNING A SELF-GUIDED EUROPE TOUR: Prices vary widely depending on location, season, accommodation, transportation and other amenities. Fees can range from about $1,000 per week per person for a shared apartment to several thousand for an elegant villa with a full staff and chef. Most Web sites contain pricing information.

• ABERCROMBIE & KENT, 1-800-323-7308, http://www.abercrombiekent.com/
• BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON, 1-800-678-1147, http://www.butterfield.com/
• DISCOVER FRANCE, 1-480-905-1235, http://www.discoverfrance.com/
• HOME AT FIRST, 1-800-523-5842, http://www.homeatfirst.com/
• HOMES AWAY, 1-800-374-6637, http://www.homesaway.com/
• IDYLL UNTOURS, 1-888-868-6871, http://www.untours.com/
• MARKETING AHEAD, 1-800-223-1356, http://www.marketingahead.com/
• RANDONNEE TOURS, 1-800-465-6488, http://www.randonneetours.com/
• SHERPA EXPEDITIONS, Book through Himalayan Travel, 1-800-225-2380, http://www.himalayantravelinc.com/
  
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