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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Do you organise everything?

    We are here to help you to organise your trip. We use our industry contacts and experience to find you the best prices for hotels and coaches, but it is then your responsibility to actually make the booking and meet the terms of your contract with your chosen hotel and coach. Throughout the process we offer guidance and assistance where you may need it. Your only contract with us is for our guiding and consultancy service, you will pay the hotel and coach directly (including a room for a guide where needed) and your only payment directly to us is £25-£35 per adult for our tourism services (museum tour, boat trip and live commentary through London).

  • How much does a trip cost?

    The total cost of your trip will vary according to the choices you make. We will provide you with a range of hotels and coach hire options with various negotiated discount rates and you can choose those that suit your group and their budget. We anticipate the total cost of your trip averaging around £270-£300 per adult. Usually, single rooms are extra, children are cheaper, and very young children may be free.

  • Do the members of my group pay a fixed price?

    That's up to you. You may decide to break down all the individual costs and charge each passenger per item. However, this can get very complicated very quickly. Our suggestion is to take your hotel, coach and guiding costs and then calculate an average fixed price for each adult and child. We can assist you in costing and pricing your trip before you share any prices with the other members of your group.

  • Who can come on the trip?

    It’s entirely up to you who you choose to approve for your trip, ideally in agreement with responsible brothers in your congregation. If any non-baptised, interested persons are approved to join the trip, they should be reminded of any expected standards of behaviour eg. no smoking, appropriate attire etc.

  • Can we visit Kensington/Greenwich/the theatre etc?

    We will provide you with a suggested itinerary based on years of experience of what is practical and enjoyable to include in the limited time you have available. If you want to include any alternative locations in your itinerary, just let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you in consultation with your Tour Manager/Guide. We reserve the right to refuse to organise or supply a Tour Manager/Guide for certain locations or activities if we deem them impractical or outside of the available budget. You may need to take responsibility for organising and managing those portions of the trip if you decide to include them anyway.

  • Will I receive a free trip/part of a trip?

    As the local organiser of a large group, we can waive your Betheltours fee as long as there will still be a minimum of 40 full-paying adults in your group. As for the rest of the trip, how you choose to price and charge for the trip is entirely up to you. You may choose to only charge each passenger the cost price, or you may choose to adjust the prices so that there is an “equalising” (2 Corinthians 8:14) to make the trip more affordable for families or those with limited funds, this may also include covering some of your own costs.

  • Why are you taking this new consultancy-led approach to the trips rather than just organising it all for us?

    When we sell the whole service to you as a complete package, that makes us legally a package travel operator with all the associated costs, fees and administration that entails to meet the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018. Aside from the extra work and complexity that involves, it also increases the costs that are passed on to you.
    Conscious of the difficult economic times in which we are all living, as well as the need to keep our own lives simple so that we can be focussed on the more important things in these turbulent Last Days, we feel that this new approach offers you the best value for money as well as avoiding the many complexities that could easily entangle us and take up our time that could be better spent in spiritual pursuits.
    With this new arrangement, you still benefit from the specially negotiated deals we have with hotels and coach companies, but by making your own selection and booking directly with them you no longer incur the additional costs that would arise from having us as a package travel operator. That allows us to focus any available time and effort on developing and offering our guide services for the part of the trip where they are most needed, while you can be sure that you’re getting the best price possible and retain control of all the personal data of you and your fellow passengers.
    Please note: While this arrangement does now technically place you in the position of being a package travel operator for the purposes of your trip, the Package Travel Regulations include a legal exemption for private individuals arranging one-off trips for groups such as clubs or “church groups”. You would not be expected to meet the costs and requirements that would usually be expected of a commercial package travel operator planning the same trip.

Coach Travel

  • Are coaches wheelchair accessible?

    For those with moderately limited mobility, all coaches have sufficient storage space to stow wheelchairs away and seats can be reserved close to the door. For those with severely limited mobility, some coach hire companies have access to specialist coaches with a wheelchair lift, although this may add significantly to the cost of hire.

  • How often do we stop on the journey?

    This will depend on where you are travelling from, the route you take and your coach driver. Usually you will not drive any longer than 2.5 hours between stops. Agree stops with your driver at the start of your journey, and if an extra stop is needed in an emergency, just inform your driver.

  • Can we take food on the coach?

    This will depend on the coach hire company, check with your driver at the start of your journey if you haven’t been informed ahead of time. Usually cold food is permitted but hot food may not be. Please remember to keep the coach tidy and to regularly remove rubbish when you have a stop and at the end of the day.

  • Is there a toilet onboard the coach?

    The coach hire companies on our recommended list will all provide Executive Coaches which, generally, include an onboard toilet. It’s best to think of the onboard toilet as “emergency only” and remember that frequent stops will be made throughout your journey for comfort breaks. 

  • Who has to wear a seatbelt?

    The coach company is required to announce that seat belts are provided and tell you to wear them, if over 14 years of age. Seated passengers 14 years of age and older are responsible to ensure that they wear a seat belt if there is one available. As a passenger you may get a fine of £500 for not wearing a seat belt and can be awarded two penalty points.

  • Should child seats/booster seats be used on the coach?

    Child car seats and booster seats are not required by law when travelling by coach and are not provided as standard, however, if you wish to bring your own child seats and booster seats then they should comply with all the usual regulations and must be compatible with a standard three-point safety belt.
    There is no statutory requirement for children under the age of 14 to wear a seat belt or child restraint when travelling by coach, but they should always be actively encouraged to wear them when they are available. This is not only for their own safety, but the safety of others in the vehicle.
    Children under the age of 2 may travel on a parent/ guardian’s lap. Subject to the size of your group, you may decide to allow children under 2 to travel free, unless the parents wish to reserve a seat for them.
    Some coach companies may have more stringent safety policies than required by law, they may require parents travelling with a child on their lap to sign a disclaimer before being permitted to travel, please cooperate with any requirements of the coach driver.

Hotel Accommodation

  • Are accessible rooms available at hotels?

    All hotels on the recommended list have accessible rooms, but they may be in limited supply, so remember to inform the hotel as early as possible if any are required.

  • Are family rooms available?

    This will depend on your choice of hotel, please check with the hotel when making your choice, and confirm when finalising your booking.
    Most hotels on the recommended list will accommodate 3 or 4 persons in a room, but family rooms are usually the same as twin rooms, containing two queen-size beds. Most hotels will not be able to offer 3 or 4 completely separate beds in the same room, so you will need to consider sleeping arrangements in making your choice of room. Almost all hotels will allow you to request neighbouring, or even adjoining, rooms where family rooms are not available. Hotels may require at least one full-paying adult per room.
    A cot for very young children can usually be added to any room at no extra charge.

  • What ages are classed as ‘children’?

    To some extent, this will be up to you. Each hotel may have different conditions, often children under 2 may stay for free and children aged 2-16 are charged a lower rate, but this may vary. To cover the cost of fixed charges such as the coach hire, or to provide some assistance with the cost for families, you may choose to set your own child prices and age ranges - just be sure that you will still collect enough from your group as a whole to cover the total price of everything.

  • Is there a single supplement charge for rooms with only one person?

    As with the prices for children, this will depend on you to some extent. Most hotels will charge a single supplement for a room that is below full occupancy. You may decide whether to charge a similar fee, or whether to set an average price for everybody that is enough to absorb such fees.

  • Does the hotel have a swimming pool/leisure facilities?

    Most of the hotels on our recommended list include a swimming pool and leisure facilities, but we may offer some that do not have these facilities to allow for a range of budgets.

  • Will my dietary requirements be catered for?

    Hotels are generally very accommodating to most dietary requirements, but it would be prudent and considerate to give them plenty of notice when first placing your booking so that they can be prepared for your needs.

Guided Time in London

  • Are all areas of the time in London accessible?

    All the main venues we visit are wheelchair accessible, this includes British Museum, the boat on the river Thames and the majority of museums, art galleries, shops and restaurants where free time is available. The British Museum (and some other venues) have a limited supply of wheelchairs available for visitor use.
    Around London, it would be best for each wheelchair user to have an assigned helper to assist with kerbs, ramps, roads and crossings.

  • Is it safe in London?

    We recommend exercising the same precautions you would exercise in any large city. Know where your belongings are, take good care of any valuables and be alert to your surroundings. Your guide will supervise your group for most of the day, and you will be in the company of trustworthy friends and family, but in public spaces it is still advisable to “prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet as innocent as doves.”
    The coach should be either attended or locked at all times, so you may be able to leave items securely on the coach during your free time. This can be confirmed with individual coach drivers on the day.

  • Is there a dress code?

    At the British Museum we ask that you dress more smartly. We recognise that you must dress comfortably and practically for the rest of the day, so we do not expect very formal clothing. Open collars are permitted for brothers, and smart trousers for sisters similar to the current ministry/meeting standard.
    During the "sight-seeing" parts of your tour, we ask that you still dress “smart casual” with no visible slogans on clothes. We suggest no jeans, t-shirts, leather jackets or trainers, but this is not a strict requirement. We require that you wear no ripped, faded or customised jeans, excessively oversize or overly tight clothing. We want you to feel comfortable, appropriate to the weather, yet neat and respectable.
    When you visit Bethel, it is generally expected that you will dress as you would for a theocratic school or a platform assignment, this includes collar and tie for brothers and skirt/dress for sisters, similar to the former ministry/meeting standard.

About Betheltours

  • Are you officially endorsed or approved by Bethel/Watchtower?

    No, we are not, and nor are any other tour operators. A tour of Bethel can be booked by anybody at any time completely free of charge through jw.org. We simply support your visit to Bethel with a range of associated and supplementary services.

  • Are you connected with Meander Travel or Magnify Tours?

    No, we are not. We have known and respected Meander Travel (and later Magnify Tours) since their inception and have often used them to deliver our Museum tours. These days our Museum tours are delivered in cooperation with our sister company, Bible Tours.

  • Are you connected with Bible Tours?

    Yes, we are. The only other company we have any direct ties with is Bible Tours.

  • How long have you been doing tours like these?

    We first began guiding tours of the British Museum and assisting others with planning their visits to Bethel over 40 years ago. Since then we have helped with 100s of tours and over the years we have built up a wealth of experience and knowledge that we can use in helping you to plan your trip.

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© Created by Philip Osborne | All rights Reserved

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© Created by Philip Osborne | All rights Reserved