On tours, it's tough to have a trip that feels like your own. In a nutshell, if you have more money than time, I say, take a tour. With more time than money, travel independently.
Tours are the most efficient way to see Europe.
If you want to eat three restaurant meals a day, stay at a modern hotel, ride a bus and have a guide, a tour may be for you. Large tour companies book thousands of rooms and meals year-round and can, with their tremendous economic clout, get prices that no individual tourist could even come close to getting. But while you may get fancier digs and meals, it's at the cost of real experience. For me, the best travel values in Europe are enjoyed not gazing through the tinted windows of a tour bus but by traveling on your own. Traveling independently, you have freedom to come and go as you please.