Customized Tours: Enjoy bucket list adventures tailor-made for you and your group
See how one Group Coordinator uses our Customized Tours to craft personalized itineraries for her groups of adult travelers.
For Brooke, a teacher, travel has always offered an educational way to pursue her passions. Whether she’s orchestrating hikes on an Italy tour or bonding with her travel mates over a whisky on a trip to Scotland, Brooke handles it all with infectious enthusiasm that has made her custom tour packages beloved and sought after.
The magic of our Customized Tours is that they can be designed to suit the personal interests of the group that’s taking them. Want to prioritize active adventure? We can schedule daily hikes! Do you love our Food & Wine Tours? We can customize an itinerary to include the best restaurants a destination has to offer. Our Customized Tours are meant to take you exactly where you want to go. As Brooke said, this level of personalized travel “adds passion and excitement, [which] makes it much easier and more fun!”
Travelers also love that our custom tours are so intimate. Yes, of course, you’ll get to visit the must-see highlights of the places you’re visiting, whether that’s the Sagrada Familia on a Barcelona tour or Wat Pho during a trip to Thailand. But knowing that your personal interests inform the details of your trip means forming a closer connection not only to the destination but to the people you’re traveling with.
Are you ready to take on the world with a custom tour package? Gather 14 or more friends and let’s get going!
Who is Group Coordinator Brooke?
Since 2016, Brooke has been a dedicated traveler with EF Education First. Back when she started, she was a teacher traveling with students on our EF Educational Tours and EF Explore America itineraries. Through those trips, she learned that Go Ahead’s immersive style of travel resonated with another demographic: her students’ parents.
“I had many requests from the parents who traveled with me to sponsor adults-only tours,” Brooke said. “After looking into Go Ahead Tours, I knew I was getting a great product and service because this was a branch of the EF family.”
As Brooke traveled with adults, she noticed her group had even more bucket list places and experiences on their travel lists. So, Brooke began to tailor her itineraries toward her and her group’s wants by opting for our custom tour packages. Our Customized Tours require at least 14 travelers, and Brooke already had a group of excited, willing people, so she tried her hand at crafting her own itineraries and never looked back.
What started as trips with her students’ parents has since grown into global adventures alongside community members, family, and colleagues. This teacher applies the same thoughtful approach to her adults-only itineraries as she did when she was leading student trips. By customizing group travel programs based on the specific interests of her guests (plus plenty of deep-dive research), she crafts intimate, personalized journeys that elevate the traveler experience.
Wondering how you can travel for free, too? Learn more about our Group Coordinator program →
Her signature touch: Why travel with Brooke?
Every Group Coordinator approaches our Customized Tours differently based not only on their style of travel but also on the interests of their community. After all, because these trips are highly customizable, there are no limits to the types of programs a Group Coordinator like Brooke can create. On one of her custom tours, here’s what you can expect.
Digging into delicious food and drink
With custom tours of culinary destinations like Italy, it’s no surprise that Brooke’s programs appeal to food and wine lovers. Her most recent Food & Wine Tour swept her travelers from Florence’s medieval piazzas to Naples’ postcard-worthy streets, and her group sampled antipasti in Umbria and wine on a farm in Cortona along the way. This tour of Italy was a feast for the eyes and taste buds. Brooke’s favorite part? “We would get together and share stories and laughs from the day,” Brooke said. “These are some of the best memories.”
Exploring the world’s hidden gems
Whether it’s a waterfall hike in Lauterbrunnen during a Switzerland tour or an exciting castle-hunting jaunt in Bolzano while on an Italy trip, expect the unexpected with Brooke. In addition to the classics, Brooke’s itineraries feature off-the-beaten-path gems that offer a deeper look at these delightful destinations. In fact, Brooke’s recent Jewels of Alpine Europe tour started in the French Alps and spanned all the way to Salzburg. The trip included a hike through the Jungfrau region, a train ride to the car-free mountain town of Zermatt, and cable car trips up to the Seceda Ridgeline trail for a unique view of the Dolomites, to name a few lesser-known alpine experiences. While each hike, ride, dinner, and viewpoint was stunning, they were largely towns and regions that are less traveled. That’s just one of the areas where Brooke shines as a Group Coordinator creating her own custom tour packages.
Getting immersed in faith-based excursions
Brooke’s Christian faith is important to her, and she often includes historical religious sites like churches and cathedrals in her itineraries. Her recent faith-based trip was a tour of Greece that was inspired by our Footsteps of Saint Paul in Greece: Thessaloniki to Athens tour. Brooke and her group started in Thessaloniki, where Paul the Apostle lived and preached; then, they zipped off to Athens and Delphi before heading to another formative region in the Christian faith called Meteora. There, they visited the Vlatadon Monastery, where Paul the Apostle preached to the Thessalonians. Finally, they visited Greece’s Cyclades islands—complete with a day in glamorous Santorini!
See how other travelers have customized their tours
Want to see the world on your own custom tours like Brooke?
Some of Brooke’s custom tours over the last few years have been to Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and the Alps. This year, she’s taking a Greece tour, and 2026 will take her on an Italy tour. Her keen attention to detail and high level of customization put the needs and interests of her group first, and that makes Brooke one of our most successful Group Coordinators. “I am truly amazed how Go Ahead is able to take a dream itinerary and make it come true,” she said. Ready to get started? See how to create your own custom tour →
Plus, you can follow in her footsteps. Any travel lover can become a Group Coordinator through our Group Travel Program. Whether you want to plan a foodie-focused tour of Portugal (hello, pastel de nata!) or visit ancient temples on a Japan tour, you, too, can craft thoughtful custom tours based on your personal passions.
What kind of Customized Tour will you create?
Check out these traveler photos from Brooke’s tours
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