It might sound extravagant, but there are lots of benefits to securing the services of a personal driver when you’re traveling away from home.

To convince you that this is a smooth move rather than an unnecessary luxury, let’s look at the reasons why hiring a driver is wise .

You’ll avoid stress

Getting from A to B is tough when you’re new to an area and you don’t know the lie of the land.

With the help of a company like Echo Limousine, you can steer clear of the hassle of having to navigate unfamiliar routes and let an experienced professional take care of this for you.

You can soak up the sights

Another problem with having your head buried in a map or your eyes glued to your smartphone’s mapping app is that you won’t be taking in any of the amazing sights that you’re passing by under your own steam.

One of the selling points of travel is the sight-seeing, and if a driver is ferrying you through congested city streets or to further afield destinations on country roads, you’ll have the freedom to absorb your surroundings unhindered.

You can access local knowledge

Want to know which hotspots are actually not-spots, or which undiscovered gems lurk in a particular area? A personal driver will have the inside scoop on what to see and do, and what to avoid.

This kind of local knowledge is invaluable, and in many cases a driver will effectively double up as a tour guide, giving you two roles for the price of one.

Your luggage won’t weigh you down

Even if you’re comfortable with the idea of handling navigation yourself, there’s the issue of hauling luggage with you, which can be a real burden on public transport.

If instead you’ve got a car and driver standing by to shadow you, you can afford to avoid packing light and even pick up more souvenirs during your adventuring, without worrying about whether you’ve got the strength to lug it back to the hotel.

Your safety will be taken seriously

Every traveler has experienced the terror of flagging down a random taxi in a new city and finding out too late that the person behind the wheel isn’t exactly eager to stick to the rules of the road.

Hiring a driver, on the other hand, will put you in the care of a professional whose livelihood is reliant on keeping customers happy over longer periods than a single journey.

They’ll typically have extra training, as well as the knowledge and understanding of passengers to keep you safe, regardless of the road conditions ahead. This is doubly important if you’re traveling with a family group.

You can sample local beverages freely

Even if you choose to hire a car to drive yourself, there’s still the issue of not being able to have a few internationally renowned beers or glasses of wine with your lunch or evening meal. It can feel like a limitation in this context, rather than a liberation.

A personal driver can be your chauffeur for those times when you want to indulge yourself, and not be concerned about getting back in one piece.

You won’t be late for connections

If you put your travel plans in the hands of public transport, you could end up scuppered by delays and cancellations that come out of the blue.

Missing connecting flights because of a snafu that was out of your control is another reality lots of travelers face up to every day.

Being able to rely on a driver to hustle you to the airport with plenty of time to spare, or take you to any other transport hub for your onward journey to continue uninterrupted, is invaluable.

You’ll feel special

Ok, this last one is really about the indulgent element of having a personal driver at your beck and call.

But that feeling of being pampered will never really go away, especially if you’re not usually someone who gets whisked around by someone else in everyday life.

So if you want to tour in style and travel without any encumbrances other than the cost, recruiting a driver to accompany you is an obvious choice.