Cooking Tour With A Guide Driving You Or Exploring On Our Own Driving Your Rente
By Margaret
A number of you, especially wine lovers, have asked me about the pros and cons of going on a tour with a guide driving you throughout and taking care of all the details versus driving your own rented car, following a pre-arranged itinerary and exploring on your own.

Guided tours are more expensive than explore on your own tours. For example, Mama Margaret & Friends (MMF) popular Cooking, Wine & Walking Extravaganza in Piedmont, 5 Terre/Portovenere and Tuscany is 3375 Euros guided and 2275 Euros on your own. For MMF's Piedmont & Barolo Wine Lovers' tour the difference is 2590 Euros versus 1830 Euros. For MMF's Tuscany & Brunello Lovers' tour it's 2680 Euros versus 1980 Euros. For MMF's Riviera tour it's 2795 Euros versus 1755 Euros.

1. On a guided tour, you just sit back and relax and someone else takes care of everything for you, makes all the decisions and you just show up and enjoy, enjoy. If you have a stressful life with many demands and decisions to make, this will be a most welcome respite.
On an explore on your own tour, the tour company arranges your lessons, hotel, wine tastings etc and gives you detailed maps. However, you may still get lost and be late for lesson and other appointments. For some of you, this is part of the independent adventure and fun. For others, it's stressful and takes away from your enjoyment.
2. If your tour includes lots of wine tasting or you enjoy a few glasses of wines with meals, your guide is your designated driver. No worries! Just enjoy!
Exploring on

your own, you either watch how much you're drinking or take turns as the designated driver.
3. Your guide will know about local culture, food, history and Italian life and answer all your questions, so you'll learn a lot and end up feeling like a local friend is taking you to her favourite spots and people.
On an explore on your own tour, you'll want to read up on local culture and ask more questions at your wine tastings, lessons and hotel. Some of you relish this research while others prefer to hear it from a local friend.
If you're outgoing, you'll meet lots of local people exploring on your own or with a guide. If you're a shy type though, your guide will open many social doors.
4. Depending on the tour company and the itinerary, on a guided tour, you may feel too regimented with a tight schedule. Some tour leaders, like Mama Margaret & Friends ones, are very flexible and go with your flow. You want to shop more? Fine! Other companies' tour leaders may adhere to the schedule though.
Depending on the tour company and your guide's creativity, you may have to compromise what you want to do for what the majority of the tour group members want to do.
On an explore on your own tour, you have more freedom to stop where you want, do what you want and go at your own pace, especially if your itinerary has free time built into it.

Mama Margaret

Italy Schools
Http://www.ItalyCookingschools.com
Tel: 1-800-557-0370 within North America or (604) 681-4074
Fax: (604) 681-4909