When you explore with Travelmarvel, there are a few things you’ll notice pretty quickly: like outstanding service, local expertise, and the freedom and flexibility to follow your own path at your own pace. Once our guests experience the ease and enjoyment of Travelmarvel’s enlightening guided tours, they can’t imagine travelling any other way.

What are guided tours?

Planning a trip can feel overwhelming, particularly if you want to visit multiple destinations. To begin with, there’s a lot to plan. Start with the basics: where, when, for how long and how much will it cost. Then you’ll need to decide the things you must see and do, the best direction to travel in, places to stay, how long to spend in each place, work out the best place to visit first, how to get there quickly and affordably, draw up an itinerary, work out where to stay … and on and on and on. You’ll be in desperate need of a holiday before you’re halfway through planning it! This is where our experienced team of travel experts comes in. Our guided tours are run by people who have travelled extensively, who’ve sniffed out the most unique and rewarding experiences. People who pay attention to the finest details and know exactly what it takes to make a holiday exceptional. When you join a tour, you can be confident your guide has taken care of everything, leaving you nothing to do but sit back, relax, and enjoy each destination to the fullest.

1. You will have an expert Tour Director to guide you

With an experienced Tour Director with you every step of the way, you can enjoy spending time exploring the must-see sights of each hand-chosen destination. Ready with a map and a smile – your Tour Director will be there to navigate language barriers, transport, and all the unexpected difficulties that arise while travelling, so you don’t have to.

2. Local guides will ensure you never miss a thing

Discover a first-hand view of what life is like for locals in each destination by experiencing a new place with a local. Travelmarvel provides guests with local guides who will offer more than just the obvious tourist experiences. Things only the locals know, from pointing you to the best café to the best place to shop, from hidden gems to local legends, you can be sure of being presented an authentic slice of every town and city you visit off the beaten track. As a first-time traveller with Travelmarvel, Aaron told us “I did not think I would enjoy following a paddle around a city! However, the local guides were very engaging and were able to include personal storytelling and insider-knowledge in their tours. I feel like I got so much more out of visiting each location because of the guided touring.”

3. Enjoy a perfect balance of touring and free time

Travelmarvel tours are careful to ensure there is plenty of free time built into the day’s itinerary, so you have ample opportunity to explore each destination at your leisure – or perhaps prefer to relax and just watch the world go by with a coffee for the afternoon; the choice is yours. First-time river-cruiser Trudi particularly loved the freedom the guided tours can offer: “I enjoyed getting to a new town and doing the walking tour, then enjoying the free time we had to explore each city ourselves. The freedom and design of the trip so you could opt-in to meals and tours, or do your own thing, was delightful to discover.”

4. Make friends for life

On a guided tour, you are assured to meet people with the same interests as you, and with so many places to visit together on tour, there will never be a shortage of things to talk about! The other option is to travel with your favourite people and make your own group. Why not ask your best buddies to join you and embark on a journey of lifetime. When six friends travel together on the same trip, Travelmarvel will give each of you a bonus saving. So, make the most of a special occasion and enjoy your travel experience with family and friends. “You can pack for every occasion, but a good friend will always be the best thing you could bring!” -Unknown.

5. Exceptional value for money

With a guided tour, accommodation, transport, and a large portion of your meals are included, meaning your only expenses while travelling will be for souvenirs, sampling delicious local cuisine, and treating yourself to an extra-special event or two. Also, you will always have a Tour Director on hand to help navigate the local markets and eateries.

6. Curated experiences just for you

One of the main benefits is gaining access to places and experiences you wouldn’t be able to if you were travelling on your own. Travelmarvel offers Insider Experiences that will make your time abroad unforgettable. For example, as you cruise the Douro River, your Cruise Director arranges for you to visit a quinta in Pinhao to enjoy traditional fare and sip the sweet nectar known as port wine; a special experience unique to your guided tour.

Travelmarvel provides an enticing glimpse of what you can expect on each tour – from palaces and wineries you will visit, to the premium accommodation you can expect to return to at the end of each day. Book a guided tour with Travelmarvel today and start getting excited!