What's An Untour?

10 Comments

Comment by Marlene Hench on July 30, 2007 at 6:03pm

AN UNTOUR IS: • Going to Europe and seeing what it is really like
through your own eyes. • Experiencing their culture and living like
the locals. • Staying in a comfortable apartment instead of a
stuffy hotel. • Independently visiting the sights you are
interested in seeing. • Touring at your own pace and allowing for
spontaneity. • Knowing there is a local contact available if any
problem arises. • Being met on arrival by an escort to your
apartment (in most cases). • Meeting other Untourists like yourself
at a great orientation meeting or group dinner. • Having the
Untours’ great staff provide your apartment and ground
transportation. • Having the air transportation provided if you
desire, or doing it yourself. • Being provided with sightseeing
ideas before you leave for Europe. • Sharing your trip with great
people when you return by participating on Untourscafe. • Being
able to say, “That was the greatest trip ever!”, every time you
return home!

Comment by Pete and Maggie Haggart on July 31, 2007 at 4:34pm

An UNTOUR is - the best and only way to travel - if you want to
experience the culture - if you want the freedom to do whatever you
want - if you want to park your bags and day trip to your heart's
content - if you like to explore a region in detail - if you like
to get to know the "local" folks.....and the list goes on and on
and on. We can tell you this because we have never had a bad
experience on an Untour. There are no surprises. Everything is as
advertised and described. And if you post a question at our new
"friendly" Untours Cafe you will get honest responses. Unbiased -
well no - because we have a strong bias toward the Untour way of
traveling! Happy traveling!

Comment by Doris M on August 7, 2007 at 1:01pm

An Untour has been beautifully defined above both by Marlene and
Pete and Maggie. UNTOURING is truly what YOU make of it. Idyll's
original concept back in the days of pen and ink sketches of the
tiny villages and the apartments they chose, was to live in and
become a part of these undiscovered parts of countries for a period
of time. We began our Untouring in the tiny village of Kuchl,
Austria and it was the perfect introduction: walking from our
apartment into this enchanting little town to shop at the local
merchants, eat in the cozy restaurants, and watch their
enthusiastic weekly parades complete with the dressed up little
ones dancing in the street. We spent many days hiking in the hills,
sometimes with wild horses nuzzling the apples in our backpacks,
and discovering all the perfect Austrian homes with their perfectly
stacked firewood as we visited all the nearby little villages. Of
course, Saltzburg tempted us into several visits. Big cities are
fascinating too! Next trip was to Goldern high up on the Hasliberg
where we could not believe we had not closed our eyes and gone to
Paradise. It is idyllic - which must be what Idyll was thinking of
when they named themselves! We always seek out the 'away from it
all' places that Idyll offers because that's where we feel the true
sense of becoming a part of all that surrounds us. Paris and Rome
and Prague and Vienna are extraordinarily beautiful and should be
seen by all, but my recommendation for a first Untour is to seek
out the little places where it all began - in Switzerland and
Austria - or maybe Tuscany where you can discover the incredible
beauty of the little towns of Montalcino and Buonconvento - and
their exquisite wines. Next, I'd do Alsace, and Provence...and then
just keep going. Idyll seems to be growing just fast enough to keep
up with all our many requests without losing the essential
qualities and beliefs with which they began. You'll be on your own
on an Untour but you'll always be in good hands should you need
them....

Comment by Jean and Fred Agneta on August 12, 2007 at 7:06pm

What great comments everyone has posted. On our first trip to
Switzerland, at the end of our vacation in Meiringen, I asked my
husband Fred: "On a score of 1 throuth 10, how do you rate this
Untour. He answered: It's an 11. We are planning our 4th trip in
2008, back to Switzerland. We have enjoyed friendships with our
host family, exchanged Christmas cards, etc. The neighbors on
either side of our chalet, smile and welcome us to their village.
We love the slow pace, relaxing in the small village, and just
everything about an Untours--- once you go on one trip you will
want to continue to broaden your horizons; and plan another trip..
You feel like you are coming "home" when you return.

Comment by Sallymp on August 12, 2007 at 10:01pm

Everyone's comments have been so great to read and so right on
point. What I loved about my Untours experience was the feeling
that we had support if we needed it and had gotten good preparatory
information, but we were free to do what we wanted and had the
chance to live like a local. We liked our neighborhood in Leiden
and got to know the folks at the bakery down the street and at our
little supermarket a few blocks away. After a while, we felt like
regulars at Annie's (a floating bar on the New Rhine River). The
ease of train travel in The Netherlands (after very good
instructions from our Untours local) was fantastic and we felt very
comfortable picking out a place to travel to and riding the train.
Just an exceptional experience. I am looking forward to my next
Untours experience.

Comment by Jean and Fred Agneta on August 13, 2007 at 4:24pm

I forgot to add one of the most Important things: The staff in
Media, PA are so helpful and just a phone call away!!! They answer
so many questions, and give us all the encouragement to travel the
Untours Way--- Just Imagine in Switzerland-- your luggage is
delivered to your home village from the Zurich airport -- you don't
have to pick it up in Zurich and carry it onto the train-- This is
certainly a plus, when traveling-- The booklets that Untours sends
you arrive in plenty of time to plan and read everything in advance
of your upcoming trip!!! We enjoy meeting other Untourists at the
airport when we land-- and seeing them at Orientation---- many
people return again and again to the same village--

Comment by Bill Kover on August 24, 2007 at 12:26pm

To me "What is an Untour?" is summarized in two incidents that
occurred on our last trip to the Swiss Heartland in 2004. We were
waiting for the train at the Sacheln Bahnhof. An elderly gentlemen
came up to me and starting speaking in German. I said to him "Ich
spreche nur ein bischen Deutsch" (I speak only a little German).
That didn't stop him from continuing his one-sided conversation.
However, I did catch a question that I understood "Wo ist
Fahrplan?" (Where is the train schedule?). The train station had
made some recent changes and moved the train schedule poster to a
different location. I motioned for him to follow me and pointed to
the train schedule. "Vielen Dank!" (Many thanks! ) was his response
with a big smile. That just about made my day! I felt like I just
became a local! This incident is something made possible by the
Untours experience. I doubt whether this would ever happen on a bus
tour. Another incident involved a petition. Some people down at the
train station were asking for signatures. We were asked! We had to
admit that we were tourists, not residents of Sachseln.

Comment by Shirley Thornton on August 24, 2007 at 1:57pm

Well, I wanted to add my two cents - but all of the above comments
have done it for me. Just have to say that I never feel alone when
I'm doing an Untour. Always lots of smiles and friendly people
around me. The local staff in the countries I've visited have been
great. What great fun meeting at the airport in Zurich - wonderful
friends from past years and then those new folks who you hope will
have the wonderful experience you've always had. This year I was
greeted by a clerk at the local grocery store with a great big
smile and commented that 'she had just been thinking about me and
was wondering when I was coming back'. Doesn't get better than
that! And how about the train 'driver' that crossed through the
train from another track to welcome me back. Nothing is as special
as that even here in Paradise!

Comment by Janet and Chuck on August 29, 2007 at 12:29pm

We always tell people that it's the best of both worlds. You can
plan your own trip and do your own thing, but you have many
advisors (maybe sages). They range from the Idyll staff --both here
and there -- to all untour travelers. And, unlike reading tour
books by renowned travel writers (which we do also) you can
interact indirectly or directly with untour veterans who provide
honest and helpful answers to your questions.

Comment by Deborah and Donald Wise on September 10, 2007 at 5:06pm

We just returned from our first Untour to Holland. We loved the
town of Leiden. I have to agree with the above comments about the
ease of transportation, the convenience of the apartment and the
helpful, enthusiastic and professional staff. We can't wait to do
our next one.