If you like the idea of seeing a country properly — but without spending weeks planning routes, booking trains and working out which sights are actually worth the queue — Travelsphere is worth a look. They’ve been running escorted tours since 1962, so this isn’t a start-up finding its feet.
What is an escorted tour?
Everything is arranged before you leave home: flights, hotels, transfers, excursions and a good chunk of your meals. A Holiday Director travels with the group and handles the logistics, and local guides cover the places you visit. You turn up, they do the hard part.
Travelsphere splits their holidays into two main styles:
- Classic Touring — you move between destinations and cover a lot of ground in one trip.
- Relax & Discover — you stay in one or two hotels, with excursions balanced against free time.
On top of those there are wildlife tours, rail journeys and cruise holidays.
Where can you go?
Six continents, so the honest answer is “most places”. A few examples from the current programme:
| Region | Examples |
|---|---|
| Europe | Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Greece, Spain |
| Asia | Japan, India, Vietnam, Thailand |
| North America | Canada, USA, Costa Rica |
| South America | Peru, Chile, Argentina, the Galápagos |
| Africa | South Africa, Botswana, Egypt |
| Oceania | Australia, New Zealand |
What’s actually included?
- Return flights from the UK
- 3–4 star hotels
- A set number of meals — typically somewhere between 7 and 14 across breakfasts, lunches and dinners, depending on how long the tour runs
- Guided excursions, with a Holiday Director accompanying the group
Meal counts vary tour by tour, so check the itinerary page for the specific trip you’re interested in rather than assuming.
Example prices
These were the headline “from” prices when I wrote this in August 2026 — they move around, so treat them as a rough guide and check the live price before you get attached to one.
| Tour | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Amalfi Coast | 8 days | WAS |
| Switzerland | 8 days | WAS |
| Italy Grand Tour | 15 days | WAS |
There are savings of up to £500 per person on selected 2026–2027 departures at the moment.
Travelling on your own?
This is where escorted touring earns its keep. Travelsphere run solo traveller options, and because you’re in a group with a Holiday Director from day one, you get company at dinner without having to organise any of it. If the reason you haven’t booked a big trip is that you’d be going alone, this is a sensible way around it.
Who’s it for?
People who want the culture and the sights without the admin, and who don’t mind travelling with a group on a set itinerary. If your ideal holiday is going wherever you fancy on the day, this isn’t it — but if you want to see the Galápagos or cross Japan and would rather someone else worked out the timetable, it’s hard to beat.
Browse the full range of Travelsphere tours here.
Disclosure: the Travelsphere links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It doesn’t change the price you pay.
