Tour-riffic

I don't usually buy into tours.  They're most definitely not my thing.  I do a lot of research before planning a big trip, so I find it much cheaper and much easier to just do a "tour" for myself.  Also, with tours you're stuck conversing with people that you may not want to converse with and most of the time you have to listen to some boring tour guide drone on and on about the history of some small rock you're looking at for what seems like hours. See?  I told you I didn't like tours.

However, that may have all changed during this vacation.

My friend found 2 specific tours online that she was totally gung-ho about and therefore we had to buy tickets.  At the time, I was skeptical to say the least. I thought they'd both be just like every other tour I've ever been forced into attending.  I was very, very wrong!  They turned out to be my 2 favorite things I did on the trip.

First up, was Viator's Chocolate Walking Tour of Brussels.  I was a little less skeptical of this one, because it had the word chocolate in the title.  It was billed as a 4 hour (4!!) walking tour of Brussels' Chocolatiers.  What it was, was so much more.  With this tour, you're introduced to Avo who's your guide throughout the tour.  He'll take you into 5 different chocolatiers and you'll get the chance to try chocolates at all of the shops.  As you walk to and from the chocolatiers, he'll point out special parts of the city and stop to take photos of the most beautiful spots.  Then halfway through, you get to go to a small storefront and make your own chocolate using different ingredients.  And to top it all off, you get your bag of candy you made to take home at the end of the tour.  

It was, to say the least, awesome!  We got the chance to see so much of Brussels and really had the chance to taste the differences in specific types of chocolate.  The guide also gave great advice on what to look for in chocolate, as well as the best places for food and drink around the city.  I would go back and take the tour again in a heartbeat!

Then later in the trip, we decided to take the Secret Cottage Tour of the Cotswolds.  This one was billed as a 6 (!!) hour tour of the Cotswolds via a luxury van, including tea at the owner's cottage in the Cotswolds.  What it was, was 6 hours of beautiful scenery, quiet-away from the tourists locations and perfect picture taking locations, mixed with breakfast, lunch and tea in a gorgeous thatched roof cottage.  Spending 6 hours in a van never sounded like much fun, but the guide, Ian knew pretty much everything there was to know about the Cotswolds properties and villages and took us to the most beautiful places to view them.  And the food?!  The food was fantastic, served on the best china in a blooming garden in the country - so you know, the food was perfect!

I may finally be a tour convert - though if I'm planning anymore anytime soon, I'd like them to have food involved too.  I think that's the key to my heart when it comes to tours : )