In 1928, Antonio Mantegazza began ferrying passengers across Lake Lugano in a rowboat.
He had no way of knowing he was founding what would become the most awarded tour operator in North America. Nearly a century later, Globus operates 304 itineraries across six continents and sends more than 500,000 travellers on guided vacations every year.
What it does well has not fundamentally changed since the rowboat: it takes the full logistical complexity of international travel, solves it completely on the client’s behalf, and hands them a vacation where the only decision left is what to order for dinner.
We cover the full guide, including :
The Tour Director: not a contracted guide per departure but a full Globus employee who travels with the group for the entire tour, manages every transition, and whose tenure with the company is often measured in decades. One guest review from 2026 mentions a Tour Director who had been with Globus for 42 years.
VIP access and the Happy Line: priority entry at the Vatican Museums, the Louvre, the Uffizi, the Acropolis, and dozens of other high-traffic monuments where general admission queues run two to four hours. By conservative estimate, a Globus guest recovers the equivalent of one full day of their trip that a self-planned traveller spends standing in line.
The seven travel styles in 2026: Classic for the broadest destination coverage at the best value, Small Group Discovery at 15 guests for boutique access and private experiences, Choice Touring where guests select from a menu of included activities on key days, Undiscovered for repeat travellers ready to go somewhere genuinely different, Escapes for off-season departures with single supplements waived on most itineraries, Independent by Globus for self-guided travel with full Globus logistics support, and Private Tours for families and groups who want the Globus infrastructure without sharing it
What is and is not included: all accommodation in centrally located 4-star hotels, all ground transport, Tour Director and Local Guide services, VIP access, porterage, daily breakfast and a proportion of dinners. Most lunches and some dinners at the guest’s own choice. Flights, insurance, and gratuities not included.
The Globus family of brands: how Cosmos, Monograms, and Avalon Waterways relate to Globus, and why combining a Globus land tour with an Avalon river cruise in a single booking is one of the most recommended European itinerary structures
How Globus compares to Cosmos, Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Tauck, and G Adventures, and which profile of traveller each one serves best
Globus has been solving the complexity of international travel for nearly a century.
The rowboat is long gone. The result is the same.
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Yvan Junior Blanchette
Travel & Cruise Specialist
ÆRIA Voyages📩 yvanblanchette@aeriavoyages.com
📞 1-888-460-3388
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