We just finished the last tour for the Winter Explorer 2009 and it was wonderful! I explored all my options with several tour agencies and decided to give Insight a try for a more deluxe tour option, and it delivered on all the promises and more! I was a little worried about spending so much time on a bus, but the bus was very deluxe, the driver Dominique was extremely skilled and very polite, our fellow travelers were wonderful, the places and tours were amazing and very well planned, and our tour guide was fabulous. As a huge bonus, we had great weather everyday, and we really were not expecting that. I was extremely happy to be able to come home and tell a few of my friends who said it wasn't going to be worth it, that they were WRONG!!! The only BAD thing was saying goodbye to everyone! Hopefully they'll connect with us on the bulletin board. Almost everyone on these boards love their tour directors and this one was no exception. Pierre Biller was really good in everything and we thank him for helping make this a beautiful trip! Our first trip to Europe was so GREAT!

Deb, welcome to the BB.
I've never done a 'Winter' tour, just because it's not the best time of the year for me to get leave, re the work I usually do. As I have recently changed jobs, maybe it's an option that I should start exploring, as I have read tour journals posted by some other travellers that have done Winter tours and their experiences have been great too.
Thanks for posting your comments.

Hi Pauline. Most of our group was from Australia and everyone on the trip was extremely pleased with the weather, and didn't have enough spring-type clothes along. It did say "Winter" Explorer but it was definitely spring, getting a little on the warm side. However, European hotels don't turn on air-conditioning until mid-June as we found out. Oh well, every hotel had windows to open. It was a wonderful experience!