hi, i have just returned from 22 day camping - 5 th june

i had a great time, and i would be happy to help anyone else with any questions you may have before your trip, so please ask as much as you like and i will try and help

darth, during the day whilst out seeing the sights, where would you leave your pack/suitcase?

1. Did you have fun?
2. what's your best story from it?
3. What was the highlight?
4. Your most valuable piece of advice?

Whats up darth, darth was my tent buddy on tour, we had so much fun,

Well nibs, dering the day you leave your suitecase in your tent, most of the camps you stay have contiki reps at the site, so your bags are safe. dont worry about that, you are going to have so much fun.

Whosaidfun

I had the time of my life and made 46 life long friends, we became like a family and it was really hard to say goodbye to some in amsterdam and some in london, our tour finished last week this time and I still feel sad the tour is over.

Wont be able to tell you the best story, every single day on tour was a highlight, but a couple, paris, def switserland, nice, def the disco in florence, we were 9 contiki tours at the disco in florence, what a party. Rome campsite has its own bar and nightclub, venice bar is the best bar ever, you will have a blast in venice bar. Prague and the whole of germany, they have the best bear I have ever tasted. And amsterdam..............

Best highlights
paris
switserland
nice
monaco
florence
rome
venice
prague
munich
heidelberg
amsterdam

Go on the camping tour, you become like family, you cook and clean up together. Make friends, they will become your family. And enjoy the whole tour,. it will be over before you know it.

Anymore advice e mail me at Bloubulseun@Yahoo.com

we had south africans, ausies, kiwi's, american, welsh, english and a indian on tour

well nibbs, as my tent buudy says, you can leave your clothes bag in the tent, but i wouldnt leave anything valuable in there.

make sure you keep your money and passport on you all the time, i advise a money belt.

hope that helps

hi whosaid, so to answer your questions...

lets start with 1 hot tip

ITS MAJOR ADVICE

please take medication with you

you WILL get a contiki cough and cold, so please take cough medicine and throat lozzengers with you. dont forget headache and hangover pills with you - you was warned

also i highly reccomend you take a small washing line with you as you will need somewhere to hang your towel to dry

i had lots of fun, and met some great people.

my personal highlight was the 2 nights on the venice campsite. it was the best party night thanks to a girl called Melanie.

i have many stories about my trip, too many to fit in here

hi johan, hope you got home safely.

its good to hear from you again

dont you wish we was still away

stay in touch

1.what are the buses like? easy to sleep on them?
2.what was the ratio of guy to girl & couples to singles?
3.any good tours you went on?

sounds like you and melanie had some fun darth...

cheers

aussiedave are you thinking it's the same melanie as i am?

yuck she's spreading her seed!!!!

hi guys

first of all, do you both know melanie. lol

she is an amazing girl isnt she......

so, are the buses easy to sleep on? well if you have a pillow/travel pillow then the answer is YES. plus staying up late drinking and chatting also helps.

every tour is different as per the amount of people on tour. but rest assured you will meet some great people, as i did. and the mix of couples, singles should be enough to please you.

i chose to go on all the extra tours and enjoyed them all, but my 2 favourites was the gondala and the mozart concert. the 2 bike rides were also good fun.
i also advise to get the t-shirt and group photo - what great souvenirs

hope this answers your questions

any more???

heyyyy ther darthaliscious haha i have a few questions....

1.how did you wash your clothes?
2.how many towels did you take?
3.where did you charge your digital camera etc?
4.was the camping food good?
5.wat was your fav place?

i just paid my full money today!!! so excited leaving on the 28 of aug 4 32 days!!!!

ooxoxoxox rhia

Hi my lifelong friends Johann and Mark! It's Adriaan from your tour. For everyone else, just to add to my friends' comments, here are my HOT TIPS which might further answer some of your questions.

1. Get the tour manager to keep an eye on the bus' air conditioning and report any broken/stuffed vents as this might be a major contribution to you contiki cough. You don't want a constant flow of air down your throat.
2. Flap dry your plates and cuttlery properly for good hygiene.
3. Plan your free time in each city carefully as you will only have limited time to explore by yourself (only 4 hours in cities at times). Read your travel book the night before as a refresher and make your MUST SEE list the day before.
4. Take a multi plug/power deck with you (everyone used mine on the tour) everyone will be able to get their cameras etc. charged. Check with your tour manager first though whether it's ok as it could drain the battery or short things out . Prepare for the tower of Pisa stacks. You can also charge your batteries at various campsites, either in the toilets or power points.
5. Try and beat our tour's drinking record (money spent) in Switzerland's bomb shelter. Your guys won't be able to get close..heheh
6. Get a mirco fibre towel and as my buddy mark already mentioned, get a clothes line or lay your towel out to breathe in your tent. Some mould might form during the tour.
6. As mentioned before, invest in a money belt, your passport needs to be on you at all times.
7. Lock your tent with a paddlock (three zips mean easy locking)
8. Get your washing done in Rome it's totally worth it. Get your whole case washed. At the campsite they wash, iron, and fold it for you. You pay by weight.
9. Camp food is the best (bacon and eggs, continental and hot breakfasts). Dinners are delicious etc. fresh Spaghetti, BBQ
10. Don't set up camp underneath trees for bird droppings, plus you want your tent to stay dry in the sun and away from lightning attracting objects. Ditches cause flooding. Look after the rubber bands through which the pegs go, they tent to perish and there aren't always enough spares
11. Always keep some change with your for beer vending machines at campsites.
12. Buy enough souvenirs when you can and from day 1, even it's just a postcard, otherwise you will regret it later.
13. Do most of the optional excursion if you can, yes some might not be cheap, but you'll have a blast and remember that contiki knows where the best places are.
14. Keep a diary to be able recall and tell your family and friends about all the events that occured.
15. Take lots of individual/group photos of the people on your tour because they're what you miss most when it's all finished.
16. Squeeze your way through the crowded trains.
17. Take a raincoat, umbrella! Insect repellant
18. Keep your bag under 20kg, size is not too important

I can add plenty more but please don't hesitate to ask any further questions e.g. highlights on the trip etc.

Have a nice day and greetings again to Bloubulseun and Darthilicious.

Regards,
EU_Trotter

wow, that last message was a massive advice list. blimey, what more is there to ask.

however just incase it didnt cover all the info i will still answer your question, as i said i would do.
most, if not all campsites have washing machines and tumble dryers if you can find time to use them. i took a bin liner with me to store dirty clothes in. that way as soon as your tents up you can plonk your washing on. as has just been mentioned, the rome campsite has a service wash. that means they will wash and dry your clothes for you. it is really cheap, so give them all your washing, hopefully it will be about halfway through your tour..
WARNING - they wash 1 persons clothes together, so no new clothes(like a bright red tshirt from switzerland) in with your white shirts. not good

towels - i took 2 - 1 microfibre(as its quick drying and a cheap normal towel - dont forget on travel days you will be packing up a wet towel so will still be wet in the evening.

take a spare camera battery or 2, but you can charge on the coach - as everyone else will do - only 4 sockets on our coach between 46 people - take a 2 plug adaptor if possible - it may help

now thanks to our super cook Georgia - our camp food was AMAZING - INCREDIBLE - WELL WORTH THE MONEY - THE BEST IN EUROPE - you will also be well impressed - look forward to it

my favourite place is a hard question - venice has to be very high on my list

the switzerland campsite was also amazing

anymore questions, please ask

oh yeah, if my answers help, please let me know - i like feed back

Hey. I just sighned up for the 22 day tour.My camping tour starts on August 28th. I have some questions for you!

hey joey. bet your really looking forward to it. i know i was when i booked mine.
so, ask away my friend. as many questions as you like... thats what im here for...