Hi, I know this forum is about Spain and all, but I have been going crazy researching this for my husband, who is an American teaching English in Seville -I'm Spanish-.

We are thinking of taking a group of his students on a summer tour to the East Coast for about 2 weeks. I know there are organizations that specialize in this, but all I find is the opposite trip, american organizations that deal with trips to Spain. We don't want academic programs, we just want the trip, tours, excursions, hotels, transfers, etc. Before going to a regular travel agency, I wanted todo some internet research, pricing, etc.

Can any of you recomend such a company?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Your itinerary would probably include Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. We had relatives visiting us from Madrid last year. They stayed with us in Philadelphia and went on daytrips: 3-days to NYC and 1-day to Washington, D.C. They had a very enjoyable stay.

When I got the word that they were coming, I went down to 30th Street Station (you saw it in the Harrison Ford movie; Witness) to pick up some literature for them. Amtrak (U.S. Passenger rail service) has some info, not much. Bus companies may be able to help; and the American Automobile Assn. (AAA) Travel Service advertises bus tours among other things. I think AAA would be your best bet.

Try to include Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in your itinerary. That's where the Amish people still drive horse & buggy.

See this site on the internet for Blue Bird Tours:

http://www.infohub.com/TRAVEL/SIT/sit_pages/loc_usa.html

I am a teacher in NY state and have received their catalogues about student tours.

Here is another company, Onondaga Coach, that is 20 miles from my home in Upstate NY. I travel with them frequently (but not with students). They do custom designed student bus tours, book hotel, tickets, flights, etc.

http://www.onondagacoach.com/

Do a search on the internet for "Student tours USA".

Have you tried eftours.com? They usually do trips from the US to Spain, but they do US trips too. They specialize in student trips, so there is a lot of movement and educational sites.

I did a google search on Boston+Bus (because I believe Peter Pan Bus Lines is based there) and found a couple of links that may interest you: http://www.travelpackusa.com or http://www.peterpanbus.com

The only thing similar to what you propose with which I was familiar was when a Catholic Priest from Spain arranged for host families, in the Community where I was living, for a group of students from his home town (near Burgos). There were about a dozen students age 15-to-18: They stayed about 6-weeks and had a ball. There was no Chaperone travelling with them, just the Priest who was stationed here, in the USA.

I'm working with EF now, and recommed them for price and ease. They do have a number of itineraries for within the U.S. They also do custom tours, have a presence in Spain you could deal with, and would probably go for it. Check them online at www.eftours.com.

I used to work for EF in California. They are a reputable company that has been in business a long time and do many different things everywhere in the world. Here is a link to EF Espana and also a list of their offices in Spain. This web site is more suited to people in Spain looking to go to another country than the other EF web site mentioned here in this thread.

EF offices in Spain

EF Espana

My family hosted students coming to the US through EF for years. It is a good company from a host family perspective...offers a lot of support to its students and the kids always had well planned itineraries that included plenty of "fun" activities as well as the "historical" tours.