General Guidelines & Conditions for Land Tours
Small Group Tours by The Traveling Professor
Traveling Professor LLC
We want every traveler to feel informed, prepared, and comfortable before traveling with us. These General Guidelines and Conditions explain how our tours work, what is included, what is expected of travelers, and how we handle payments, cancellations, and changes. By booking a tour with us, you agree to these terms. If a specific invoice, booking confirmation, tour information sheet, or written email from us contains terms that differ from these general guidelines, those tour-specific terms will apply.
1. Pricing & What Is Included
All tour prices are listed in U.S. dollars and are priced per person, double occupancy, unless otherwise stated. Single supplement pricing applies when listed on the tour page.
Each tour includes the lodging, transportation, activities, guides, sightseeing, and other services specifically listed in that tour’s description.
Unless a tour page clearly says otherwise, the price of the tour does not include:
- Airfare
- Meals not listed in the itinerary
- Travel insurance
- Room service, phone charges, and personal expenses
- Optional activities offered at an additional cost
Tipping
Tipping is optional. Our tour leaders do not accept tips. Tips for local guides, drivers, or optional activity providers may be customary in some destinations and are always at the traveler’s discretion unless otherwise noted.
Single Travelers
We regularly welcome solo travelers. When available, single travelers are given single-use rooms. Single supplement pricing varies by destination and hotel.
Optional Activities
Some tours may offer optional excursions or activities for an additional charge. These may include activities that appeal only to part of the group, are more physically demanding, require special skills, or start very early or end late. Any extra cost may cover admissions, guides, transportation, meals not otherwise included, and related expenses.
2. Deposits & Payments
Deposits and payments secure your place on a tour. In turn, we often make commitments on your behalf with hotels, transportation companies, guides, cruise providers, ticketing services, and other suppliers.
Initial Deposit
- The initial Hold My Spot / Good Faith deposit is $500 per person.
- This deposit reserves your place on a specific tour.
- Travelers may then be invoiced for up to 50% of the trip cost approximately 9 to 12 months before departure.
Payment Schedule
- Travelers may then be invoiced for up to 50% of the trip cost approximately 9 to 12 months before departure.
- Approximately 4 months before departure, travelers will be invoiced for 100% of the cost of the trip.
Payment Terms
- We usually acknowledge receipt of deposits and payments by email within 48 hours.
- Our preferred methods of payment are electronic check or paper check. Under special arrangements alternate forms of payment may be accepted.
Please include traveler names, phone number, and email address when sending payment so we can apply it correctly.
Late Payments
Payments are considered late if they are not received within 10 days after the due date. If that happens, we will contact you by email and, if possible, by phone. If payment is still not received within 7 days after that notice, your booking may be treated as cancelled by the traveler.
If a cancellation results from nonpayment, it will be handled under the standard cancellation policy in effect on that date.
We do try to work with travelers when possible. If you anticipate a payment problem, please contact us before the due date.
3. If You Need to Cancel
We understand that plans can change. Because we often make financial commitments well in advance, cancellation timing matters.
Please notify us as soon as possible, preferably by email. We will confirm your cancellation by email.
Cancellation by Traveler
- If the start date is more than 11 months away, all payments are fully refundable upon request.
- If you cancel at any time, and your place on the tour is filled and the tour returns to full capacity, your deposits and payments will be refunded in full, provided the replacement traveler pays the same price you paid. If the replacement traveler pays less, your refund will be limited to the amount actually recovered. The sooner you let us know about a cancellation, the better chance we have of finding a replacement traveler.
- If you cancel within 11 months of departure, refunds depend on what funds have already been committed on your behalf.
- Regardless of when you cancel, we will make a reasonable effort to help secure any available refund or supplier credit.
4. If We Cancel or Postpone a Tour
While uncommon, there are times when a tour may need to be cancelled or postponed.
Under-Subscription
In general, we may cancel or postpone a tour approximately 6 months before departure if there is not enough participation. If that happens, travelers will be notified promptly and all deposits and payments made to us will be refunded.
Cancellation for Reasons Within Our Control
If we cancel a tour for reasons within our control, other than under subscription, we will refund payments made to us for the tour.
Events Beyond Our Control
There are also situations beyond anyone’s control, including but not limited to:
- War or war-like events
- Terrorism
- Labor actions
- Civil or political unrest
- Government restrictions
- Natural disasters
- Epidemics or pandemics
- Health or medical emergencies
- Safety concerns
- Logistical disruptions that make the trip unsafe or impractical to operate as planned
In those circumstances, we will make our best effort to recover and refund supplier payments, but we cannot guarantee a partial or full refund.
We also recommend that travelers do not purchase nonrefundable airfare until they are comfortable that the trip is operating as planned.
5. Travel Insurance
We strongly and emphatically recommend that all travelers have:
- Medical coverage while traveling
- Emergency evacuation coverage
- Trip cancellation and interruption coverage
Where you purchase insurance is entirely your decision. Any references we provide to insurance companies or resources are for convenience only and are not endorsements. Travelers are responsible for reading and understanding the terms, conditions, and limits of any policy they purchase.
We are not responsible for claim decisions made by an insurance company.
6. Hotels, Luggage, Transportation & Activity Level
Hotels
In general, our hotels are centrally located and within walking distance of many sites and restaurants. Rooms typically include one queen or king bed, or two twin beds, with private bath. In Europe, it is common for two twin beds to be pushed together to create a double or king setup. Unless otherwise noted, hotel stays usually include breakfast.
Luggage
Please pack light. On many tours, travelers are responsible for handling their own luggage getting on and off trains, vans, boats, ferries, taxis, and similar transportation. Space can be limited, especially on trains and smaller vehicles. We also recommend bringing a daypack for water, rain gear, a jacket, and other personal items.
Transportation
Our tours may use a variety of public and private transportation, including taxis, buses, vans, trains, boats, and ferries.
Activity Level
Our tours are generally designed for healthy, active adults. They are not a good fit for travelers with significant mobility limitations. Depending on the trip, you may encounter hills, stairs, rocky or uneven surfaces, cobblestones, and long walking days. Travelers should be prepared to spend at least a few hours a day on their feet.
Comfortable, sturdy, broken-in shoes and appropriate weather gear are essential.
7. Traveler Conduct & Group Compatibility
We want our tours to be enjoyable for everyone. We ask travelers to be congenial, flexible, and good-humored, and to take the small hiccups of travel in stride.
If something is not right during the trip, please raise it with your tour leader or manager while the tour is still in progress, so we have the opportunity to help.
We reserve the right to accept, decline, or remove any participant whose health, mobility, conduct, or behavior materially interferes with the safe operation of the tour or significantly affects the experience of others. If a traveler is removed from a tour for these reasons, no refund will be provided, and any resulting additional expenses will be the responsibility of that traveler.
8. Age Guidelines
Our tours are intended for adults, and we welcome travelers age 25 and older.
9. Pets & Service Animals
Pets are not permitted on our tours.
Because group travel often involves hotels, transportation providers, local regulations, international logistics, and destination-specific limitations, requests involving trained service animals will be reviewed case by case.
10. Traveler Responsibilities & Flight Bookings
Arrival and Departure
It is the traveler’s responsibility to arrive at the starting point of the tour on the correct date and time and to depart from the ending point on the scheduled date. We are not responsible for the cost of unused lodging, missed sightseeing, or missed services if a traveler arrives late or departs early. Any costs involved in joining the tour late or leaving it early are the responsibility of the traveler.
Passports, Visas & Other Travel Documents
Travelers should make sure their passports and travel documents are in order immediately after paying a deposit, and no later than 3 months before departure.
In general:
- Passports should be valid for at least 6 months after the tour ends.
- Passports should have at least 2 blank pages.
- Travelers who are not traveling on a valid U.S. passport are responsible for obtaining any visas or entry permissions that apply to them.
- All travelers are responsible for meeting entry, transit, vaccination, immunization, and other health documentation requirements for every country they visit or transit through
Travelers are encouraged to bring multiple photocopies of passports and other important travel documents.
Europe ETIAS and United Kingdom Electronic Authorization (UK ETA)
For Europe, entry requirements can change. The ETIAS system has not started yet; the official EU ETIAS site says it is expected to begin in the last quarter of 2026, and travelers should rely on the official EU ETIAS website for current timing and requirements.
The UK ETA is a digital attachment to your passport. It is required to enter the UK, even to transit through it. We recommend that travelers obtain a UK ETA even if they are not planning to transit through the UK, as flight plans can sometimes change unexpectedly.
Tour Information Sheets
General tour descriptions appear on our website. Before departure, travelers will receive a more detailed tour information sheet by email. That sheet may include arrival and departure details, hotel information, packing suggestions, weather expectations, money matters, daily timing, and other trip-specific details. Travelers are expected to read that material and bring it with them.
Flights
Sending a deposit or payment does not guarantee that a trip will operate. Certain minimum participation requirements must be met before a trip is officially designated as a “go.” Please do not purchase airfare until we have confirmed that the trip will run.
11. Tour Changes, Responsibility & Liability
We do our best to keep website and tour information accurate, but we reserve the right to make changes to accommodations, sightseeing, routes, schedules, and itineraries when necessary or desirable.
If a specific service, hotel, activity, or arrangement described in the tour materials cannot be provided, we will make our best effort to provide a reasonable substitute, but we cannot guarantee that a substitute will always be available.
We are not responsible for inconvenience, delays, or losses caused by weather, traffic, strikes, border issues, government actions, supplier failures, or other events beyond our control.
In operating our tours, we work with independent third-party providers such as hotels, cruise lines, transportation companies, restaurants, guides, and excursion operators. These companies are independent suppliers that we do not own or control, and we are not liable for their acts, omissions, or negligence.
We are also not responsible for the cost of travel insurance, passports, visas, or nonrefundable independent travel arrangements such as airfare booked separately by the traveler.
12. Photography & Video
Photos and videos may be taken during tours by us, our guides, tour leaders, or fellow travelers. These images may be shared with other participants and may also be used in our marketing materials, on social media, or on our websites.
If you prefer not to appear in promotional photography or video, please notify us in advance.
Travelers are not entitled to compensation, royalties, or other payment for the use of such images or videos.
13. Concerns, Complaints & Disputes
If something is not right during the tour, please let us know as soon as possible so we have the opportunity to address it.
Any unresolved concern or claim must be submitted to us in writing (letter or email) within 60 days after the completion of the tour. Both sides will then have up to 30 days to try to resolve the matter informally and in good faith.
If a dispute still cannot be resolved, it will be handled in the State of Texas, either through the courts or another mutually agreed dispute-resolution process.
14. Contact Information
Traveling Professor LLC
d/b/a Small Group Tours by The Traveling Professor
Email: info@travelingprofessor.com
Phone: 413-528-2125
Business Address: 3965 Cotton Gin Road, Frisco, TX 75034, USA
Websites:
smallgrouptours.com
travelingprofessor.com