.. who spend most of their time gossiping about other people on the bus, if my various aunts' stories are still representative. Also these tours are renowned for exhausting early 5am starts day after day and stopping at isolated retail outlets that give kickbacks to the guides and drivers.

best to book your own hotels and take small local day or half-day guided tours to the country if you don't want to drive. There are oodles of them in cities like London or Paris