OK, I decided to skip lunch (see 'negatives' below), so will go to the question of organised tours. This is a general reply, so the 'you' isn't necessarily you, Pushka.
I always went totally independent in my travel for years and years - all over western and central and parts of eastern Europe, USA/Canada, South America, St Petersburg, Moscow, eastern Africa, South Africa, Japan. Booked hotels, used hire cars etc. Lonely Planet was my guide. Not always by myself - I frequently traveled independently with friends.
Then, about 10 years ago, my interests started going east in Europe. So when I went to Romania, where I thought navigating and understanding a language not like French/Spanish/Italian would be a hassle
with a car, I hired a private guide/tour. In general, you can either get a driver and a guide or a combined driver/guide, which is the best I think. And the Romanian tour was still one of the best I've ever had - very historically knowledgeable and personable guy was driver.guide. Although going private is obviously more expensive, you get the flexibility to add things (within limits) and you can go at your own pace. The latter is important to me - I hate dallying; I always like to squeeze as much out of a trip as I can.
After Romania, I did a private tour in Burma which was OK (guide had poor English), I've done 2 private tours in India (and am doing a third in December) - excellent value; Georgia, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Lake Baikal, Russia. India and Sri Lanker were AFF recommended tour guides. I went back to independent touring in Israel.
Basically my criteria for independent/vs private tour - is ... how much of a hassle will be dealing with a car (parking, risk of theft while its parked with all my gear in it) and how much of a hassle will it be if something goes wrong - communication , system of laws etc. St Petersburg, Moscow etc were just cities, so no cars.
So, a couple of years ago,
@JohnM said he was going on an Exodus tour of Iran, which was very high on my list to visit. I couldn't imagine going independently to Iran, so I joined him on that - he's done many of their tours (and others) and recommended them. It was excellent; beforehand, of course I thought of all the horrors about tour groups I'd observed over the years - loud groups of Italians, pushy Japanese, rude Russians, the drama Queens, those who always keep the rest waiting etc. Hasn't eventuated, fortunately.
Exodus tours generally have a max of 16 pax (the 2 I've done had about 10 and 12) and use freelance tour guides and separate drivers of course. They tend to have a majority of Brits on them (its an English company), with Aussies, Canadians, some Americans.
Both trips I found my travelling companions all very easy to get along with. No PITA 'always late to the bus' or demanding or complaining. They are nearly all experienced travellers who can swap travel experiences and tips and understand that things don't always go as planned.
Organised tours like Exodus, in general PROS
In-depth history explanations and 'background' info on the country and district
Hotels organised, 3-4 star in the places I've gone. You can be pretty sure it will be 'comfortable enough' even if not what you would have automatically chosen
Meals part included, or easy tips on where to go
Advice on customs, shopping, eating, etc
Cheaper than private tours
Go to places difficult with independent travel (at least at my age - 59).
Tickets organised, photo ops usually well thought of
Some support if a health issue arises (again, I recognise that I have a few ailments that if they flare up, could put me in an awkward spot if I was by myself).
CONS
Generally inflexible. On this trip, we have varied the schedule a little by consensus, but that might not suit an individual
Lunches on this trip to me are a problem. We often have sit-down lunches over 1-2 hours, or allow that time for people to find their own. To me this iust a tremendous waste of time - I'l happy with a banana for lunch and to keep moving along.
Things which i would otherwise certainly plan to visit might be skipped.
On this trip we do have a couple who usually lag the group walks and usually join the group when the guide is explaining the stop, standing at the back continuing their chat. This is more rude than a problem.
I am doing Exodus' '5 Stans' tour in a couple of months. Again I couldn't imagine doing this independently (although a few AFFers have done chunks of it independently) and it would be too expensive as a private tour, and a nightmare to organise. This Balkans tour is one which is an odd one out. I have seen AFF trip reports and realised it could be done independently, but I wanted to do the area this year and I just haven't had much time to organise. So when I saw the trip, and the itinerary, I just booked it. 5% discount for a repeat Exodus client.
That was probably way too much detail. Yes, I am an independent traveler, but I realise tours can access places that independent travel is difficult; you learn a great deal and, of course, its easier to arrange. And, yes, health is coming into it a bit now for me. Balkans tour is a bit of an exception though.
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. Added an extra half hour ( to find a spot we could turn around) when we were already very tired. Not very happy, Jan.j
