I was having a hard time deciding between Euro Contrasts and Euro Panorama, but I'm finally booked on the Panorama tour! This will be my first trip to europe (definitely not the last, although the beaches and reefs tour is next in line). I'm traveling solo.

I'm a little worried the tour will be cancelled... I haven't seen many posts on the message boards for this tour. Anyone out there taking this tour / tour date???  If it gets cancelled, I'll hopefully be able to change to one of the May EP departures. I'm so excited to go paragliding in Austria (shhh... don't tell my insurance agent)!

I've surfed some of the posts and travelogues here and have made a list of comments on the optionals.  This is what I've read so far (in no particular order):
-Buffet in Florence is great
-Corfu greek dinner / show is great
-Corfu has something called "george's boat" which is a lot of fun
-Monaco dinner is good
-Florence Disco is fun
-Venice gondola ride - mixed reviews... some liked the group bonding, others thought you could get a better deal on your own if you wanted a small group.
-Vienna dinner and show is good
-Amsterdam canal cruise and last dinner are a must
-Munich beerhall is a definite for me (I love new / interesting beer!)
-Paris museum card is a good deal
-and of course... PARAGLIDING in austria!
-Paris cabaret is overpriced and just so-so
-Barcelona Flamenco Dancing is not good

Any other thoughts or comments on the optionals? Any advice on the best way to get from London (Heathrow) airport to the royal national hotel (with luggage in tow)???

Hope to meet some fellow EP'ers soon!
Lauren

hey lauren

im daniel, 26 from melbourne, aus

im thinking of doing the panorama sometime in april but at this stage not many (if any) people have shown interest in it......

im kinda restricted with the dates i can do because of work so april or may are my only real options.

thanks for that info too

daniel

My friend heidi and I are going !!!!!! We just put in our last payment, so I hope they are not going to cancel it. You are going on the EP from April 28th-May 28th ( I believe those are the dates)?

Yes... those are the dates posted for the U.S. website (4/28 - 5/28).  The brochure for the Aussies says May 1st for the same trip, I think.  There's another post on this board for May 1st departure.

The trip is now listed as a guaranteed departure, so I don't think it will be cancelled.  It was not listed as guaranteed when I first booked the trip back in December.

6 1/2 weeks to go! 

hello guys

we put a message on the other post for May 1 departure.
In our contiki books it states Monday may 1 as day tour begins - and may 28 tour ends.

so i'm sure we are all on the same tour. we leaving SA on 29th april and arrive at heathrow early on 30th.
wouldnt be that ha ha funny if our dates were incorrect  :-/  but u said i think Oz also has May 1 as the date (Lara can u confirm?)

thanx for the info on the optionals!  getting our info packs this week i hope.

plan to be in EU for about 2 months in total. but have not planned what comes after the tour. you guys staying longer????

JL

I wish I could stay in europe longer!  I will be flying out of amsterdam on the 28th. Then back to work to earn money for my next contiki trip!

I'll be in London (at the Royal National) for a few days before the trip departs. I'm looking forward to getting the travel documents / official information! 

I'm a little worried about the weather.  For May, the range of low and high temperature can be anywhere from 9 - 23 celcius in the various countries we are visiting (mid 40s - high 70s farenheit). That's quite a range! It's going to be a challenge packing for this trip!

Hello,

My name is Tiffany.  My friend Lindsey and I will be heading out on this trip.  Very excited.  We are both from Montana, in the USA and have graduated college in the last year.  We will also both be celebrating our birthdays early in the trip.  Good to "meet" some of you before the trip.  Thanks for the post on the optional outings that was very helpful.  Hope to hear from everyone and will see ya'll soon!!

It is going to be hard to pack. I didn't know it would be down in the 40's. I thought(well more like wishing) it would be around the 70s by may. You might be able to answer this.... is it better to just carry a credit card or is it better to get travelers checks...if it is better to have a credit card do you know like what company is better to have over there ? Where i live, they take visa everywhere.

Great to see more people on board  :-)   all girls so far.

Packing...will be interesting!  the weather world wide lately has been so strange..who knows what to expect

Credit card vs T cheques......finding out myself. think we will go with 1/4 cash; 1/4 travellers and rest on CR card but will let u know if im advised differently

Birthdays!  awesome how old will you guys be????

speak soon

Packing will be difficult, but for me, it doesn't seem to matter what I pack, it's never right.  I will make sure to bring my winter coat, then it will probably be like 80 degrees the whole time. 

I, too, am going to bring a combo of cash, t-checks, and credit cards.  I think Visa and MasterCard are the two most popular, my brother has travelled much more than I have and says everywhere he's been has accepted Visa for sure.

I will turn 25 during the trip and my friend Lindsey will turn 24.  This is the best birthday present I have ever given myself, I am no longer depressed about being a quarter of a century old. 

Talk to you later.

Tif

I turned 25 in feb and my sister Lisa turned 23 in feb - i just reckon in todays world 25 is the new 18  :-))   LOL.

it will certainly be a bday to remember!    are u staying longer in the UK?

we tying to work on our budget at the moment & i tell you converting South african Rand to Euro's sucks!!!!! 

surprised there seems to be many americans on this tour, we thought there would be more people from Oz.  but i guess there's still many people out there somewhere that don't even know about this site ( to be honest we only find out a few weeks ago...and thats after looking at the flippen contiki book a zillion times)

well its 930pm in Jhb and got a hectic day at work 2moro so cheers!!

i think i just replied to you on another post but i will reply again. I will be 22 by the time this trip rolls around and my friend heidi who is also traveling will be 22 also. I am not sure if you have a myspace or not but here is my address http://www.myspace.com/140596 excuse some of the horrible pictures. I am really nervous about packing, we can only bring 44 lbs!!!!! I also over pack and its stressing me out that i wont be able to do that for this trip. I really can not wait!!!! oh my name is katie by the way. It is nice to meet everyone.

Hey katie, heidi, tiffany, lindsey, lauren & lara

They just delivered our Contiki stuff to my work!!!!!!!  havent opened it yet coz my sis would kill me. Have any of you got yours yet?

I won't spoil it for u but if we read anything that i think u need to know, ill post it this weekend k  :-)

have a cool weekend everyone!!!!

bye bye

PS:  Your myspace site is really cool katie!  though there are a few things like your music choices that we have never heard of in SA. but movies & TV  - pretty similar to what we like. we really loving Prison Break & that gorgeous human being Wentworth miller!!! oh my!

Hey Everyone,  me and my buddy will be going on the European Panorama tour which begins April 29, and heads out of London May 1 ending in Amsterdam May 28.   Is this the same tour everyone here is on?