Every tour operator says its groups are small. The word has been used so loosely that it has stopped carrying information — "small group" is applied to twelve people and to thirty-five.
So it is worth being concrete about what the number does, because it is the decision from which every other decision on a trip follows.
Our groups are not one number
They vary by trip, and deliberately so. Some of our journeys cap at ten or twelve. Most cap somewhere in the mid-teens, and none go above sixteen.
The size is set by the route rather than by a house rule. A South American itinerary with six flights needs a smaller group than a European coach route, because every airport multiplies the cost of an extra person. The exact group size for each trip is on its tour page.
What the number actually changes
Which restaurants are possible. This is the least glamorous and most consequential effect. A restaurant with eight tables cannot seat forty people. It can seat twelve. Every group above a certain size is permanently restricted to venues built for coaches — which are, almost by definition, not the good ones.
How long everything takes. Loading a coach, clearing a border, checking into a hotel, getting through airport security. Each of these scales with headcount, and across a fortnight the difference is measured in hours of your holiday. On our Balkans route there are six border crossings; the group size is the single biggest factor in how much of that fortnight you spend queuing.
Whether the guide can actually guide. A guide with forty people is a manager doing headcounts. A guide with twelve can answer the question you actually asked. This is the difference between a commentary and a conversation.
What access is available. A cooking class in a family home. An artisan's workshop. A small boat through a gorge. A private welcome. These are rarely available to large groups at any price, because they physically cannot accommodate them.
Whether the group becomes a group. In a dozen people, everyone knows everyone by day three. At forty, you know the four people nearest you on the coach and the rest stay strangers. Many of our travellers come alone, and this matters to them more than anything else on this list.
Whether the day can flex. A small group can linger somewhere because the light is good, or leave early because everyone has had enough. A large group cannot deviate from the plan, because the plan is the only thing holding it together.
What it costs — honestly
More.
The fixed costs of a trip — the guide, the vehicle, the driver, the leader's time — barely change between fourteen travellers and forty. Divide them across fourteen and each person carries a bigger share.
There is no clever way around that. A small-group trip costs more per person than a large-group one covering nominally similar ground, and any operator claiming otherwise is either cutting the accommodation, cutting the guides, or not running the trip they advertised.
What you are buying with the difference is time, access and pace. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on what you want from a holiday, and it is genuinely not the right trade for everyone.
The other side: what small groups are worse at
It would be dishonest to only list advantages.
Departures can be cancelled or moved. A trip needing a minimum number to run is more vulnerable to not reaching it than one selling forty seats. This is a real risk and any operator should tell you their minimum before you book flights.
Less social redundancy. In a group of forty, if you do not click with anyone there are still thirty-nine options. In twelve, if the group does not gel, there is less room to move. In practice this is rare — people choosing this kind of trip tend to want similar things.
Fewer departure dates. Smaller groups mean fewer seats overall, which means less choice of dates and earlier sell-outs on popular routes.
Why we made the trade
Because the alternative produces a holiday we would not want to be on.
The large-group model works and there is nothing dishonourable about it. It gets people to places they would not otherwise reach, at a price that makes it possible. But it is a different product, and it produces a different memory — a sequence of photographs rather than a fortnight you can describe.
Frequently asked questions
How big are your groups?
It varies by trip — some cap at ten or twelve, most in the mid-teens, and none exceed sixteen. The size for each trip is on its tour page.
Why do small-group tours cost more?
Fixed costs are divided among fewer travellers. That is the entire explanation.
What happens if a departure does not fill?
Trips have a minimum number to run. We tell you what it is, and we tell you early rather than late.
Do many people travel solo?
Yes — many of our travellers come alone and we also match them with a room partner who is like-minded, which is a large part of why the group size matters.
Is a small group better for older travellers?
Yes, the pace can be set for the group actually present rather than for a timetable.
See our current journeys and their group sizes, or read more on why small-group travel works better than big group tours.