Just got back from Europe and I did a Kumuka tour , European Escapade - EU3L starting Wednesday 24 September London - Rome, and just wanted to let you now what an awesome product Kumuka have.

Our driver and tour guide were Susan and Kevin Burn and they were fantastic , Susan's knowledge, experience and insight into the cities/countries we visited just added to the overall experience, to know the histories and stories around the things we were seeing helped give us a better understanding of what we were seeing/experiencing and to pick what we were going to do in our free time. Both Kevin and Susan were always happy to answer questions and assist us if we needed something. They provided all the information we needed , Susan's guide to ...... ( the cities we stopped in) gave us everything we needed ( Sightseeing , Food , Shopping , sneaky/quicker ways into sightseeing locations ) and even though we got off the tour once we arrived in Rome Susan gave me her guides to Rome and Venice so I could use then for my own travels.

The Kumuka product of free time and multiple nights in a city was a great concept. When you have 32 people in a group , they are all going to have different priorities of what they would like to see and to allow us to do our own thing at our own pace - great. An example of this was in Paris - most of the group wanted to do the Eiffel tower but my wife wanted to really do the Louvre before it got busy so they caught there metro train to the Eiffel tower and we got our metro train to the Louvre and this allowed everyone to get the best experience they wanted. Also Susan organised a Moulin Rouge show and again it was if you wanted to and no pressure so again it fitted budgets and what people wanted. Staying in hotels further out of the city centre to allow a better type of hotel works as well. All Hotels were by public transport and it really is only a quick trip into the cities and coming from a city without a metro system it was fun to travel on.

I haven't done any other tour companies in Europe but my parents have done globus , cosmos and trafaglar tours and listening to them , there experience is being herded as a group to all activies and sightseeing , all dinners together and generally no freetime at all , which may work for older people but for the 20 - 50 year old groups i think they like to know were there accommodation and transport is but then want to choose there own adventures/experiences as well.

On a personal note it was my first wedding anniversary while on the trip , didn't tell anyone on the trip.  The actual day was the day we travelled from Annecy to Nice then did a night trip to Monaco and I have to say what a memorable experience , Started the day in beautiful Annecy and travelled down to Cote D'Azur , dinner beside the royal palace and finished the night with cosmopolitans and a few bets at the Grand Casino in Monaco. Where did I spend my first wedding anniversary - In Monaco of course! , where else ?! 

Cheers, Michael.