There has been a concrete debate about the advantages and disadvantages of traveling on a guided tour and traveling independently. In my point of view, despite the freedom that the independent option brings back, I agree that the benefits of planned tour outweigh the former one.
Firstly, traveling on tour is less concerned about some typical issues that visitors often get like misdirection or getting ripped off. Because of the well-organised itinerary, passengers are forced to follow the track strictly, get attendance checked at each spot and almost impossible to get lost. Moreover, the tour organisers usually provide translation whenever it is an abroad journey. As a result, travelers can easily approach the true meaning of different heritages from various cultures and that is beneficial for discovering the origins of the buildings, costumes, and traditions.
Nevertheless, traveling individually or with family and friends may has some hidden risks. For example, consuming strange and unapproved food that sold on street may results in food poisoning, so people must have well-prepared for those medical and emergency problems. Furthermore, tourists can unexpectedly get into trouble with the locals because of their taboos arent similar to theirs. To avoid that, they have to seek for those vital information on the internet whereas the guided tours often give their customers guidebooks which include most of the necessary knowledge.
In conclusion, traveling without tour guide has more drawbacks in comparison with the guided one. It also contains many threats and travelers must prepare carefully and have base-knowledge.