Just “before kids”, I booked a 5 week holiday to get a sample of Europe, fully expecting the sample would never be enough. The travel agent recommended the touring company Cosmos and within a short time, an itinerary was chosen.
Australia to Singapore to London, with time to see a play in the West End; before boarding the 17 day bus tour, featuring Brussels, Amsterdam, Rineland, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Florence, Nice, Geneva, Paris and back. A few were drive throughs, others were a couple of nights, but we appreciated it was a lot to take in, in a short time.
To relax after that pace, we hit Athens on the way to Santorini; before the need to return home.
This wasn’t the beginning of the travel bug, but certainly a great way to experience a glimpse of what we were missing.
I have included many return sites to spend much longer visiting, but would be interested to hear of the places you visited, that could have been more enjoyable if you were part of an organised tour; as much as the tours you have enjoyed, that discovered the un-expected beauty.