Five Top Tips for Choosing the Best School Tours

by Rachael Rowe

It’s that time of the year when choosing a vacation for the class is a priority. Clearly you will be looking for something impressive, cool and a tour that will live on in the memory of the students. So how do you pick an awesome vacation that will wow the students and keep the parents happy? Here are some of the best ways to snap up that dream tour.

  • LOCATION

Deciding where to go in a limited amount of time is very important. Traditional favourites can be just as popular as edgy new destinations. Consider the practicalities and accessibility for everyone in the class so whilst a trip of a lifetime to remote areas of Asia may appeal to some people, there are just as many interesting destinations for school tours in the USA and in Europe.

  • AFFORDABILITY

The price has to feature in any selection criteria for a vacation and particularly in the current economic climate. A vacation for a school tour has to be affordable so that everyone can join in and fundraising for the trip is achievable. Remember, some parents may have a single income or none at all, whilst others could have several kids who are planning a school activity and will want to treat them equally. A school vacation should never be an elitist experience. Some companies will even come to your home town and create a vacation within the community itself.

  • QUALITY

What are other groups saying about this type of vacation? Is there any feedback and if so would that influence your choice? One way of finding out is to contact a school who has previously booked a vacation with a company and ask them about the experience. Another way of assessing the quality is to look at whether the tour company offers something above and beyond the standard vacation. Looking at what educational aspects can be integrated into a tour is also very important. History seen in the place it actually occurred is a fantastic way of getting points across to kids who find the classroom experience a bit boring and might even regenerate interest in the subject.

  • SAFETY

Take a look at how the company views safety, particularly when travelling overseas with someone else’s kids. Are bus drivers trained and to what standard? What is the level of supervision for the tour? Ideally you should be looking for some strong leadership and whilst there is an element of freedom for the kids there should be some ground rules and an emphasis placed on supervision for activities. Night time security is also very important for this type of vacation.

  • LEGACY

There are vacations and tours that have a very standard approach to visiting an area and seeing the sights. Why not look for a tour that stands out from the crowd and actually lets a child take something from the experience so that they come home with more than just a tacky souvenir. Some offer an introduction to a new sporting activity, or some positive interaction with the local community. Even choral performances and concerts are a wonderful way of spending a vacation. All of these give a child more confidence and broaden their outlook on life, essential skills for more independence. A vacation can also give a child the impetus to want to travel more globally or learn new languages and all of these are life skills that are a fantastic legacy from well-organized school tours.

This post was written by Rachael Rowe

Rachael Rowe is a travel writer who got the travel bug from going on a school tour.

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