A. Generally:

These afternoons & evenings of ”free-time" are, IMO, a traveler’s greatest, un-discovered “gold mine” hidden in plain sight.

“Free-time’ offers you a taste of the “independent travelers’ most freedom-driven, flexible & fulfilling form of travel because you can be fully in control of your travel experience. 

This ‘"free-time"’ offers guests 4 main opportunities: jlk.  ???
    1 personal rest & relaxation,
    2 BBTour Optional Excursions, 
    3. guest self-booked ‘"free-time"’ local tours. 
    4. OR, guest-designed self-guided walking tours.

So, "free-time" is an “free independent travel” option hidden inside your tour package giving you the best of both worlds.  

    B. Is ‘"free-time"’ a rip off or gift?
Some guests argue that when touring companies schedule ‘"free-time"’, guests are not getting the full measure of professionally curated & guided sights & activities that they paid for & are entitled to. IOW they are being short-changed and their valuable travel time is being wasted.

          —- that opinion might be a little short-sighted 

It is true that ‘open’ or 'free-time' afternoons & evenings DO reduce the tour company’s food, guide or transportation costs AND may or may not increase their profits because:
    1) it keeps their advertised tour package cost lower, 
    2) helps compensate for inflationary cost increases, 
    3) attracts ‘price’ shopping customers,
    4) probably reduces guides' workload.

Your most fundamental Large Bus Tour benefits
    First, A fully professionally researched & designed, planned & scheduled  tour of sites, activities & logistics (ground transportation, food, lodging, sights & activities.) INCLUDING ‘free-time’ for your personal flexible use. They have already done the heavy lifting. You just show up on time.

    Second, “free-time’s” occasional mornings, afternoons, evenings & pairs of both 'officially unscheduled'  let you create your own self-tailored min-travel experiences within your main tour. How cool is that? 

Anecdote: My 1st day in Prague: After settling into my hostel, I began my self-guided walking exploration of Prague’s Old Town area, strolled the riverside to early dinner at a local restaurant, then spent the evening loitering around Prague’s River’s famous Charles Bridge and the off- the beaten path at John Lennon graffiti ‘homage’ Wall. 

 [yt vid]

IMO, the wise traveler should view ‘"free-time"’ as a double-edged sword recognizing that it benefits the tour company, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, it equally benefits the traveler because: 
    1. jam-packed ‘jumping jack’ trips constantly drain your energy, 

    2. ‘"free-time"’ for relaxation or optional opportunities for personal exploration of local off-tour sites or activities (La Scala opera performance or a cooking class),

    3. freedom to craft your own “special’ self-guided walking tour experience,

CAUTION: Unethical tour operators sometimes ‘pad’ or fill afternoons & evenings with sub-par Tier 3 ‘filler’ sites not worthwhile to most. 

So , if you think of 'free-time' as a rip off or as ‘dead time’,
consider changing your attitude & perspective and exciting new opportunities blossom.
Let me show you how to 'prize' & open this Easter Egg.

Note: Please remember I don’t get benefits from tour companies.
I only write for you.

C. How to determine your Tour’s Available ‘"free-time"’ segments:
         a) Check Bus Tour's itinerary for ‘free-time’ segments: mornings (rare), afternoons & evenings AND particularly,
              pairs of both.. 

         b) Know BEFORE you book. Ask tour company for a written itinerary with published ‘free-time’ segments.

D.  How pros design ‘free-time’ packages? 
                          Why should you care?

Your most fundamental benefit of a package tour is that the terribly time-consuming design, research, planning & logistics to create a safe & time/cost efficient tour package at a reasonable cost has already been done for you by travel professionals. You just book your trip and show up at the appointed time & place.

Anecdote: Itinerary creation: I know, because I have done it many times. As a solo, independent traveler, I have spent months researching & planning 2-3 month long trip itineraries for 1-4 countries at a time, many cities, and hundreds of sites & activities and all logistics.    [pplk: DOC] [pplk: Resources: DOCs > itineraries] 

I easily invested 6 hrs of planning for every day of travel, IOWs, 540 hours (90 days @ 6hr/day).1 mo Research & Planning for every month traveled.

Each tour package reflects the tour designer’s balance between logistics & site touring costs and profit. By design that cost/profit balance includes some ‘free-time’ afternoons & evenings.

So, ….again, …Why would you care? You might care because understanding a Tour Designer’s competing objectives will allow you to design your own simplified & effective 'free-time' itinerary. 

    E.  How to research & plan YOUR "free-time" segments? 
         There are 4 main “free-time" opportunities: 
             1. Personal rest & relaxation,
             2. BBTour Optional tours, 
             3. Guest booked Local Excursions 
             4. OR, self-guided walking tour.

How to Plan your 4 ‘free-time’s Options 

1. Personal Rest & Relaxation’s Time:  Hour after hour of on/off bus & site walkabouts can be exhausting to some guests who may seek the solitude & relaxation of a ‘quiet corner’ or a stroll a nearby town’s parks.

How to find & choose your most desired Tier 1 & 2 sites & experiences [jlk: to ???  ]

2. Large Bus Tour Optional Excursions: It is near impossible for a Large Bus Tour package company to economically satisfy all 30 to 60 clients with a truly intimate & complete cultural experience.

So, Large Bus Tour packages often offer a variety of extra cost curated Optional Tours during '"free-time"' afternoons & evenings to enrich their overall tour experience
    - Argentina’s Buenos Aires flamenco dancing,
    - London’s Thames waterfront evening cruise & dinner. 

This strategy ensures a tour company’s;
     a) minimum required profit & perhaps a bit more,
     b) overall Tour package cost reduction and  
     c) REDUCES your tour price. They are a for-profit business,
         after all. 😀

Often, however, these Optional Tours are overpriced presumably because the tour designer believes guests will opt for tour's easy booking option, BUT you may just as easily book by yourself over the Internet.  Please read further below jlk ???

     How to choose a Tour company’s Tour.
         a. There are online companies allied with local Tour companies that may offer a greater variety of Local Excursions & lower prices not offered by your tour operator. Ironically, they may be the same & at a lower price’.
         b. Pre-trip Online search makes Local Excursion research & booking almost as easy as booking with your Tour Operator & perhaps for less money.
         c. Locals provide all necessary transport, meals when necessary, & maybe site entry fees. Enquire & confirm before booking.

3. Guest’s Self-Booked Local Excursions (during 'free time').. [jlk: "free-time"]. Guest-designed ‘"free-time"’ opportunities can be the most rewarding, fulfilling & exciting Large Bus Tour experiences because YOU decide what Local Excursions appeal to you. 

ANECDOTE: Tallinn, Estonia’s capital…  has several impressive historical sites & museums: Tallinn City Wall; Freedom Square, Estonia Maritime Museum, & on the far outskirts, Sagadi Manor, & Estonian Open Air Museum. All easily done on a tour or more flexibly on your own. I spent many days wandering these sights and the entire city, avoiding the cruise ship crowds during middle day.

Each city or town’s that a Large Bus Tour stops at overnight probably has a range of Local Excursions available to nearby Tier 1 & 2 site tours & unique local activities. Often these local excursions are the same tours as your Large Bus Tour company offers, but at significantly lower prices because they have to compete with your tour company.

The irony is that with simple research & planning AND sufficient time, you can book your own local Optional Tours for your “free-time” segments.  Kinda your own “tour within a tour.” Pretty cool, eh?

Your primary challenge is to research what Excursions you want and book them to fit your Large Bus Tour’s '"free-time"' schedule opportunities.

A. FACTORs for Guest Booked Local Excursions
    1. Greater Variety of Sites/Experiences: Often a larger, broader, less costly variety of all Local Tour options including same ones your Tour company offers.
        a. All Tier 1,2 & 3 tourist sites & experiences 
        b. Specialized Experiences: (French cooking class, hiking trails)
        c. Esoteric interests: more narrow interest options than most guests desire: Edinburgh Penis Museum) ignored by biggies.            

    2. Pre-trip Online Research: …. almost as easy & convenient as booking with same tour with Tour Operator uses.

    3. Lower Local price: may be less because they know they have to compete with your Tour company; the tour itself may even be the same tour as your company offers.

So, … consider changing your attitude towards ‘"free-time"’ 
& exciting opportunities may appear!

        Note: OTOH, to be fair & honest, a local could be ‘similar’, but food, guides & itinerary might be sub-standard.

   4. Local Guides: You may hire local guides for large & complex sites or to visit multiple sites quicky because local folks-turned-guides & local tour companies can be highly motivated & respected experts on their local turf because they have ‘lived’ everything local — sites, history, culture, local stories.

Local guides can offer specific & unique Itineraries or will craft one for you. Local guides are a great source of local ‘"free-time"’ options: authentic restaurants and solving minor issues: “I need to replace my lost hat?”    May also be the same guide as LBT’s Tours use. 

    a. Private Site guides:  If official, a popular site may have a formal queue like airport taxis queues. All take the next guide in line.
    b. Informal Local Site Guides: or, you may have to choose from a gaggle of pushy local guides clustered desperately around the site’s entry. 
    c. Private Guides: search guides who advertise their experience & expertise on the Internet giving them the credibility of past client reviews. Online scheduling & booking is usually simple.
    d. Informal Local Guides:

    Anecdotee: Albania’s _____ original residential fortress area’s occupant/guide)

    CAUTION: Confirm NO Shop Steering. May just waste your time & money.

    5. Booking Tips: book through reputable(?) local companies or use independent booking platforms which may offer both quality, safety & savings: 

     6. Local Cultural experience: Local guides can often slip in authentic experience into your tour if time allows. 

Anecdote: Inle Lake, Myanmar boat hire: I hired a guide & his roostertail boat to show me Inle Lake's small island communities & local 'floating' culture. Spontaneously he took me to his family's 'floating home' for coffee & to meet his family.   YT Myan: Inle Lk

Anecdote: Mandawa, India's 'painted havelis': My motorcycle taxi guide gained special access to several authentic original 'painted' havelis (homes) currently occupied by caretaker families. And then went on a self-guided walking tour of many other Havelis. An intimate look at the lifestyles of former super wealthy great Silk Road trade merchants. 

    7. Safety & Security: omes) Safer, more secure access to dicey sights/activities. 

Anecdote: St. Petersberg gypsy assault:  A goups of 8 of us were gathered outsaide Catherine's Palace awaiting entry when we were surrounded by a pack og gypsies trying to steal anything. I immedaiately warnind everyone. On man touched me and I instantly karate, chopped his hand away. They soon backed off. 

    8. Group Size: Tier 1 & 2 site’s are very often overrun by large tours between 10am & 3pm. Avoid some hassle by purposely booking a small tour or private guide with: 
    a. VIP or private access tickets, 

    b. ability to maneuver nimbly,

    c. a silent/private Tour Guide Audio System.

    d. …. or once at your hotel for night, immediately grab a
        Uber & get to top Tier 1 on your own before others.

9. VIP Site Access: Local Tours have arranged VIP access: 

 India’s Mandawa painted havelis interior access.

Anecdote: Varanasi: boat ride hustler & fee for wat gazing

11. Dining: included if necessary (e.g.: lunch on 6 hr excursion)

12. Peer-to-peer local private host & guide: Peer-to-peer is a relatively new option rapidly growing as travel demand has shifted from ‘destination’ to ‘experiential’ based vacations. 
            Reuters Events:  destination to experience-led vacations,