Photo is Liz, James and Roy at Vicar's Close in Wells.
Day 1 of our tour began by meeting our tour guides and fellow tour members, including my assigned roommate, on Sunday afternoon in the Brooks hotel breakfast room in Bath. Roy Nicholis was our tour guide and Elizabeth (Liz) Boardman was our guide in training. Roy has been with Rick for over 30 years and has a background in archaeology. Liz has been a tour guide for 20 years. She was shadowing Roy to see how a Rick Steves' tour is done, as this was her first RS tour. Later we would meet James, our coach driver.
Photo of our Rick Steves' Tour group at Royal Crescent in Bath.
After introductions, Roy lead the group on a short walk to the Royal Crescent, giving us a short-history of the area.
Photo of my buddy Dave and wife Sue at Bodnant Gardens in Wales.
RS tours use a buddy system to be sure no one is left behind on outings. Pick someone from your tour (not a friend or spouse). During the tour Roy or Liz would announce, "Buddy Count" and we would all find our buddies. It was reassuring to know if I was missing someone would notice.
Later that night I learned that I am the person Rick Steves' writes about. I learned I snore! Who knew! My roommate and I talked with Roy the next morning. He arranged for us to pay the single supplement, so we could have separate rooms for the remainder of the tour. Since room arrangements had already been made for the tour, this meant that our coach driver, James, was displaced for the remainder of the tour, usually to a different hotel. Every evening Roy or Liz would post the next days itinerary. Tip take a photo of this to refer back to. (Example below)
Our first group dinner was at The Hop and Pole, a gastropub, that specializes in serving high-quality food and local craft beers. That night we were all together in one room and the staff took our meal order. Roy educated us on ordering in a pub. That night we only had to go to the bar to pay for our drink. Tip: Ordering in a pub
Find your table
Go to bar to order and pay for food and drink
Take your drink with you and food will be served (May be given a number)