For e-mail, web surfing and viewing documents, they are very convenient and light on power demands. I have a Nexus 7 and recently upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy note 8.0. The extra inch going from 7" to 8" translated into about 30% more real estate on screen. Since I expect to be using mine to read technical manuals, the extra screen space was important to me, as well as the quad core processor for rendering detailed diagrams. I still wanted something hand holdable, so 8" seems the sweet spot for my own needs. My wife has a Nook HD+, which is a 10" tablet that is more E-reader oriented, but is still a full fledged tablet.

The larger screen of a tablet compared to a smartphone allows you to (usually) use the full version of a site if desired, rather than being limited to the mobile version or an app.

For touring, I would think one of the smaller models would better provide what you need. Since you say you are not a techie type, the Ipad models may suit you better. Play around with the android and Windows Surface models however, and decide what you like.