Children Welcome On Bus Tours
Q. Are there any bus tours that welcome young children traveling with their parents in Europe and the United States? Most tour companies appear to prohibit or discourage families with children under 6 years of age.
A. There are three main reasons that some tour operators believe that young children and buses are a poor match, said Ginger Croce, spokeswoman for American Bus Association in Washington: Children may get cranky if they don’t find the places tours go to interesting; supervision can be a problem; and available facilities may not be sufficient to meet children’s needs.
Collette Travel Service in Pawtucket, R.I., has bus tours all over the world and limits them to children 6 and older. “We want to make sure the children have a good time,” said Peter Hopps, customer service manager.
But there are operators who take the attitude expressed by Mike Stewart, owner of Stewart Tours in Winston-Salem, N.C. “Most parents and grandparents are aware of what that child is capable of tolerating,” he said.
James Reddekopp Jr., president of Fly Away Holidays in Hawaii, said he has had children on his tours as young as 2.
He said he tries to meet with tour groups and “if I feel there could be a problem, I’ll speak to the parents.”
Here are a few operators who will try to accommodate young children on bus tours, and where their trips go:
Tours by Maitland, 3250 Foothill Road, Kalispell, Mont. 59901; (800) 610-8687. Two- to 12-day trips, mostly in the Pacific Northwest.
Stewart Tours, 3923 Avera Ave., Winson-Salem, N.C. 27106; (910) 924-6000. All 50 states, up to 30 days long.
Fly Away Holidays, Post Office Box 1165, Kailua, Hawaii 96734; (800) 350-7373. Hawaiian tours are the specialty, but there are also tours to Europe, Israel, Turkey and Japan, among other places.
Barnett Tours, 4401 Dominion Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060; (800) 922-9238. Mostly east of the Mississippi.
Pearls of Scandinavia, 1236 Randall Court, Traverse City, Mich. 49686; (800) 806-8785. Scandinavia and other destinations.
The American Bus Association, (800) 283-2877, and the National Tour Association, (800) 682-8886, can help you find others.
Q. To celebrate our 75th birthdays next June, a friend and I decided to spend a week in London and see some Wimbledon matches. Can you tell us how to obtain tickets?
A. Even though this year’s championships are barely over, you are smart to start thinking about getting tickets for the 1998 championships, which run from June 22 to July 5. But there is no guarantee of getting tickets without booking a travel package because advance tickets are otherwise available only through a lottery - or “ballot,” as the All England Lawn and Tennis Club calls it.
The instructions for the ballot given when you call the club, (44-181) 946 2244, are to send an addressed, stamped envelope to AELTC, Post Office Box 98, Church Road, Wimbledon, SW19 5AE United Kingdom. The club will send back a form to request dates and locations. It must be returned by Dec. 31. If you are one of the fortunate, you will be notified in mid-February.
Next year’s ticket prices will not be announced until December, the club says. This year’s advance-sale prices ranged from about $25 to about $92.
Keep in mind that only some of the roughly 13,000 Center Court and Court No. 1 seats will be available, since many are allocated to various tennis associations and tour operators, or sold as debentures, something like a stock offering.
The official Wimbledon agent for North America is Sportsworld Travel, P.O. Box 725271, Atlanta, GA 31139; (800) 278-6738, fax (770) 516-2221.
Neil Scott-Barbour, managing director of United States operations, said Sportsworld’s brochures would be available in the fall. The tours, which last year started at $895 a person, cover two or three days of tennis, accommodations and ground travel, but not air fare.