Usually, Road Scholars are lifelong learners over the age of 50.

No, you don’t need to be a member to enroll in our learning adventures. Road Scholar is open to all inquisitive explorers.

A Road Scholar adventure is the best kind of educational experience, with no prerequisites and no homework. It’s learning for the thrill of it.

That’s right. Apart from our educational focus, what makes us so unique is that we include most everything in the price of our programs. Why do we do this? Because a learning experience should include every element that is key to the curriculum. You shouldn't have to pay extra to enter a museum or to visit a must-see icon that will enhance your experience — so we include everything we believe is essential.

We do have free time built into most programs which you can see in our daily itineraries. For those looking for an enriching social environment with the group as well as time to strike out on their own, we recommend our Independent City Discoveries learning adventures.

Lodging on our programs is varied and is largely dictated by program type and destination. Your comfort is a top priority, but we also consider other factors including location, meeting room space, onsite dining availability, accessibility, amenities, etc. Whether you’ll be staying in a historic hotel in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter or on a river barge floating down the Seine, we put a lot of care into where you’ll spend the night.

Yes, on most Road Scholar programs we supply Quietvox assisted listening devices, so the Road Scholar Group Leader or instructor is able to speak to the group and be heard when out on the move. Our listening devices come with T Coil/induction loop for hearing-aid wearers. When using this method, you will hear the speaker directly through the hearing aid, but will not hear anything else happening around you. For this reason, the majority of participants use regular over-the-ear headphones.

In order to get the full Road Scholar experience we don’t encourage participants to skip planned activities, but understand it happens from time to time. Participants are welcome to opt out of a portion of their program, but we do ask they communicate this with their group leader to discuss when and where they will rejoin the group. Also, please note there is no refund for any portions of the program missed. Any transportation necessary to rejoin the group is your responsibility and at your own expense.

The group leader’s role is to help provide an enriching Road Scholar learning adventure.  They will be with the group throughout their journey every step of the way working to ensure everything runs smoothly, getting you to your planned activities and meals on time to shifting gears and making adjustments for any last minute changes.

We understand this request is a priority shared by many of our participants, and we will always do our best to accommodate this need by chartering motor coaches equipped with bathroom facilities. However, because we cannot guarantee that the motor coaches we use will have adequate facilities available, the group will be making planned stops every 2-3 hours so that everyone will have a chance to stretch their legs and use bathrooms if necessary.

The Group Leader(s) will also take care to point out restrooms at all sites, restaurants, etc. visited during the day, encouraging folks use them at disembarkation and before re-boarding the bus. Note: if due to the nature of an activity, we are unable to stop every 2-3 hours (example: a safari drive in the middle of the Serengeti or a 3 hour hike in Nepal) the exception will be noted in the daily activity notes on the sample program itinerary. 

We ask that all participants rotate their seats while traveling on the buses, however, if this is a concern please be sure to note this on under your “Personal Information,” found in the Upcoming Trips section for your online Road Scholar account.   This will alert your group leader, who will work with you to ensure your comfort throughout your adventure. 

Our programs do not always include porterage.  You should only pack what you can handle and come prepared to carry your own luggage.

If a meal is excluded you can see this clearly noted on the sample program itinerary.  This can be found by clicking into the  “Itinerary & Map” tab on the program page of your selected adventure. 

When the date of the program you want to enroll in has no more space available, you can add yourself to the waitlist for that date. We keep the waitlist in the order people are added to it, so the first ones on the waitlist are the first to enroll in the program if space becomes available. To get on the waitlist, we ask that you pay the normal deposit for that program, and we’ll refund your deposit should you not become enrolled. You can also call us and we can remove you from the waitlist at any time.

Many of our learning adventures offer extensions, either before or after your program. Usually a few nights long, sometimes even longer, our extensions give you the opportunity to make the most of your travel budget and dig deeper into a different location or topic with us.

If you want to make your own plans to arrive early or stay longer, you can take advantage of our special rate available through many of the lodgings we use. We’ll provide information about how to make your own reservations in the information packets you’ll receive after you enroll.

Every detail of every program is overseen by our hundreds of Road Scholar staff working across the globe to meet the needs of our participants. We work with a network of the world’s leading universities, museums and other organizations to operate our extraordinary collection of learning adventures.

Your safety is our greatest concern. For whatever the reason, if we decide to cancel your program, you’ll get a refund on your program or you can transfer your tuition to another program. For more information, please visit www.roadscholar.org/policies.