I mix and match. The first time I go somewhere I usually take a tour. Personally I have used Globus several times and always have had a good experience with them. Most guides in most countries are licensed and learned, at least where I have been. That being said I have traveled on my own, even driving through the south of France and the Bordeaux and Perigord regions with a French speaking girlfriend who had lived in France for several years. I have also spent several days alone in Budapest, Prague, Rome and the like before and after tours. Other than in the touristy areas of big cities it really helps to know the language and understand the culture if you travel independantly. In a few days I am leaving for France and Italy as the escort from the US for a singles travel company and will have to deal with 17 women with only 2 other men along to help me out! At the end of the tour I am taking a week off by myself in Florence before I return to the US. This is how I try to travel. For me a 10-12 day tour is too short and more than three weeks is too long.
Try to get a tour of fewer than 30 people. By the way, tour operators, the guides and the bus drivers all get commissions from the leather, pearl, jade, silk,woolen, cotton, linen, pottery, crystal, china, glass, cameo, rug, perfume and other "factory showrooms" at which they schedule stops so prepare yourself for that. It is like sitting through television commercials followed by long waits for the shoppers on the tour to buy as much as they can but oh well.
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