TOURS AND ACTIVITIES
Planning and arranging tours can make you holiday run smoothly. Finding the best tours can be tricky, so here are our best tips from finding tours on holiday and how to save money at the same time.
- Research and create a list
Always research what the best things to do are at your destination. Use Google to search for "best things to do in [destination]. Create list on something like Evernote which can be shared with other people. Using Google and Trip Advisor you can be sure to see the best points of interest on holiday. - Read the reviews
Always read the reviews on Trip Advisor of tour compaines, check how many people have left reviews too. We usually sort them by highest rated and then go through them and see what places they cover on my list. - Reach out and haggle
There is no harm in trying to get the price down, if you contact them directly and haggle some may come down in price! It's worth a try. If you get a few quotes, you can them play them off eachother. - Plot a route
Once you have got your list together its a good idea to use Google Maps to plot where they are. This way you can see what is actually do-able. - Compare directly with your tour operator
Sometimes if may be more convenient to book directly with the tour operator you have your holiday with. So just compare to see what the price difference is doing it independantly vs direct. In out case on our caribbean cruise we did everything through Trip Advisor and saved over £250. - When to go on the tour
Try to go early morning to avoid the big rush of tourists. Also a good tip is to check to see if there any cruises due in that day. If so get there early and check what time they are due back at port. We made this mistake on our holiday to St Thomas, we went to this beautiful beach, but 4 cruise liners were in and it was a nightmare. - Take a look at Instagram
Need some travel inspiration then there is no better place to look than Instagram. You can get some great ideas for what type of photographs to take and where best to go from fellow travellers.
TICKETS AND ATTRACTIONS
We have used Attractiontix on several occasions for family outings to theme parks and tours in Dubai. Great service and we always save money compared to booking directly with the tour operators.
There is a tab on Expedia now, where you can book tours, making Expedia the one stop shop for booking your holiday. Again offering great savings compared to original prices. We did this last time we went to NYC.
On our 12 island Caribbean cruise we researched every single tour and booked them all through Trip Advisor, saving ourselves a small fortune. Every tour we did was amazing and highly recommend doing this.