Hey all,

I just finished doing the Escapade tour (started April 8), and just wanted to let all you guys know it was, by far, the best 25 days of my entire life

I was fortunate enough to be with an amazing group of people - everyone was friendly, all just there to have fun, and enjoy the experience. You don't have to party all the time if you don't want to (in fact, it's probably best to have a night off every now and then), but even if partying isn't your thing, you will still love this tour. All that matters is that you have the right attitude.

Just make the most of every day, do what suits you, but remember to try and get around to meet everyone. Even if you're travelling with some friends, make sure you try and associate with everyone else on the tour. That way everyone has fun together, and there are no little groups forming. We ran into a couple of other tours where people had formed little cliques, and they didn't seem to be having as much fun as our group.

A lot of the Contiki reps told us they loved the way we were clearly a very together group... these people become like your family! It's only been 3 days, and I'm having serious withdrawl symptoms already... missing everyone and everything

I just wanted to let you all know that all your excitement and anticipation is going to be wellworth it I've made friendships that will last a lifetime, and I really hope you guys get to have the awesome, amazing, experience I was lucky enough to have.

Hopefully you guys are fortunate enough to have Kiralee as your TM and Rich as your driver... they're absolutely amazing...

Oh, if anyone wants any advice on anything, just let me know and I'll try to answer in any way I can. It's still fresh in my mind (well, what I can actually remember, lol), so I'm happy to share any info you might want to hear...

Hope this makes you even more excited

hey!
im als doing the europe escapade in july..im so excited and after reading how much fun you had i whish i was going tommorw..
one question though?
how much should i budget for each day?is it as expensive as everyone keeps telling me?

Hey Sima!

Budget is very much a personal thing... it all depends on what you want to do! Having said that, I'll try and give you an idea on what to expect...

I did every optional (except whitewater rafting, which we couldn't do as it was too early in the season), and it came to (in Euros) €410.00. However, the Paragliding (amazing) was extra, and needed to be paid in Swiss Francs, which was 127.00 SF. I guess in total that is close enough to 500 Euros.

Now, spending money... hmmm... well, it all depends on how much you want to shop, eat, and party

Some girls on our tour shopped... A LOT, lol. I guess bags, shoes and the like are somehow different in Europe, so if you want to find brand names, etc, it is probably the place... But, it probably is the same as at home.... you get what you pay for.

Eating... well, keep in mind 2 things.

1. You're paying for ALL your lunches. See below for more...
2. You pay for quite a few dinners, too. I actually got sick of paying for dinner... I always thought Contiki covered more, but expenses kinda kept popping up... normally in the realm of around 15 Euros or so for a decent dinner.

Whenever we entered a city, a lot of us guys just kept looking out for McDonalds, because we knew what we could order and that it would be reasonably cheap Except Lucerne, where I paid 13 SF for a McChicken meal. Switzerland is expensive! But the rest of the tour isn't so bad... trying the local cuisine is def more of an exotic thing to do - and hey, that's the whole reason you're traveling! - but at the same time, the comfort of knowing what you're getting outweighs the desire to do the honourable thing But cheap local meals certainly exist, you just need to find what you want, that's all. The best meal I had on tour was lunch at a funky restaurant in Barcelona... total of 12 Euros... awesome! As a guide, I'd say keep about 20 Euros aside to cover meals each day. Remember you also make stops every 3 hours, which are mostly at service stations... and everyone always ended up getting snacks or a quick meal most of the time.

Partying... hmm, depends what you drink, how much and where. I drank a lot... every night. At nightclubs it is obviously more expensive. But we quickly worked out to drink at the campsite first was much cheaper. By the end of the tour, I just kept finding the cheapest red wine I could and bought a few bottles. The most I would pay for a 1 litre bottle by the end was 2 euros (less if I could find it!). I had become a connisseur of cheap ass red wine, lol. And I HATED red wine before the tour... Now I love it! Alcohol is very, very cheap if you buy it from supermarkets... so play it smart and you can probably get away with around 5 - 10 Euros on alcohol per day (when averaged out)... Unless you feel the need to drink lots and lots at nightclubs or bars...

Ok, sorry for the rambling post... so what do I think is a good budget?

Hmm, well, in total, I think I spent in the realm of around 2500 Australian dollars whilst on the tour. This includes all expenses. I DID NOT do any shopping. This is basically food, alcohol and optionals. One girl barely drank and just spent around 2000 on shopping

I think if you were really sensible, didn't want to drink or shop too much, you could probably get away with around an average of 60 - 70 australian dollars per day. Keep in mind the optionals alone average out to about 20 Euros (35 Australian dollars) per day.

But that is just an estimate. I was around 100 dollars per day, and had an absolute ball

Budget is a very personal thing, but I hope this helps!

Let me know if you want to know anything else!

P.S The 'Attitude Adjuster' drink in Venice is €8 Euros each. It should be called the 'Memory Eraser' Keep an eye on how many you have - it is lethal! But guarantees a brilliant night, particularly if other tours are there at the same time

P.P.S. Just writing about it is making me miss it SO much more! I wanna do it all again!

Hey thanks heaps for the advice its awesome.

im going to ask about the acc. coz stupid me thought the escapade was the hotel one when i booked it, i know its not now, my bad! im really concerned with it.

ANY advice on what its like, good, bad, look out for, etc?

also can u please tell me for each city which had twin share which had quad and which had private and shared facilities?? and also with the shared is it like shared close by or do u have to physically and walk to a diff place?

also anything else u wish u had known? how long between the day touring and night dinner/going out do u have to get ready?

Hey Danni,

Well, in terms of accommodation, please keep in mind the fact that it is a 'budget' tour... having said that, with the exception of Antibes (Nice), I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the accommodation we were supplied.

Now, twin share and quad share... , well, it wasn't necessarily a 'standard' across all locations, as the one stopover could have a mixture of quad, twin or three-share accommodation. Therefore, I can't really answer your question as to which city had what type. However, I do remember the following:

Paris: shower and toilet in your cabin. Small, but ok.

Chateau - communal, unisex showers and toilets. Having said that, no one really minded... the showers were big enough to let you get dressed in your cubicle, so there were no issues... Everything was aactually in the Chateau, so it was all good.

Barcelona - Twin share, communal same sex showers and toilets. Were separate from cabins, but only a short walk. Really, no big deal!

Nice... well, insulation wasn't the best (half inch gap between door frame and the wall), cabins were tiny, twin share things... communal showers and toilets (use the showers closest to the entry - they get the hot water first!). Only place I didn't really like, but even so, it's only a place to sleep! Bar has really, really cheap shots, so you're warm and too drunk to care anyway!

Rome - Twin share cabins in large campsite. It is quite spread out (unisex showers and toilets are a long stairway from the cabins), but it's truly not so bad! I'm incredibly lazy and hate walking, and didn't mind it at all

Florence - Umm... Awesome little cabins, quad or 5 share, but with own toilet and showers... a great campsite!

Venice - Triple share cabins, with own showers and toilets. Great accommodation, a great place to be - gotta have the 'Attitude Adjusters' at the bar!

Munich - Wombats Hostel. A really, really clean, really well organised hostel, based on quad share accommodation with own toilet and shower facilities. Great!

Hopfgarten, Austria - quad share rooms in a large chateau-like place. Amazing bar - get ready to party! Shower and toilets in rooms. In terms of beauty, for me (and a lot of others), Austria was our favourite... mountain bike riding, trout fishing (trust me - it's awesome and you have to do it! I hate fishing normally, too), and of course paragliding... Simply stunning, and the most fun on tour.

Launterbrunnen, Switzerland - Quad share rooms in another large single complex, though the bars aren't so great... the views, however, are Unisex showers and toilets separate, but in same complex.

St. Goar, Germany - Twin share accommodation with toilets and showers in the rooms. A lot of the guys beds were pushed together... interesting... but a nice little place. Only problem was the owners were buggers when it came to drinking in the rooms. But where there is a will, there is a way... awesome, cheap pizzas in the downstairs bar, by the way...

Amsterdam - Well, in terms of location, it was a slum. In terms of facilities and cleanliness, it was great! Quad share, with toilets and showers in your room. Just be warned that the area we were in really wasn't brilliant, but you spend most of your time in the city anyway, so it is basically irrelevant.

Now, things I wish I had known... well, nothing really, except about the whole budget thing I mentioned in my previous post. Oh, don't order the canteloni from the service place you stop at just over the border on the way to Barcelona... like powdered meat.... ugghhhh.

You don't always have long to get ready between touring and then going out - from memory one night we only had 45 minutes or so - but that came later in the tour and all the girls still managed to look amazing... maybe cos everyone has had practice at the whole 'packing/unpacking/dressing' thing, it becomes a bit of a refined process

Just keep your camera batteries charged, your minds open, and do things you want to do - don't just follow like a sheep! You'll often find someone wants to do what you want to do, and this needs to be YOUR trip! So enjoy it the way you want to - although I liked heading out in groups, some of my best days were just spent with one or two other people - large groups take longer to decide what to do, and no one is ever completely satisfied anyway.

Umm, that's all I can think of now... I'm in Krakow after a 13 hour journey from Berlin and have only had 2 hours sleep! I'll post more if I can think of anything...

But keep the questions coming, I'll try and answer them all as soon as I can. Unfortunately, travellingmakes internet access a little difficult at times, but I'll do what I can!

Hope this helps a little!

Oh, I forgot Vienna - another great hostel! Everything in your rooms... Clean, tidy, brilliant!

hey, thanks for these posts they've been v.useful!

thank you so much, that was exactly wat i wanted

No worries guys. If you can think of anything else, just ask. Kinda makes me relive it all, lol.

hey , loving the info your giving.

Just wondering as i want to see the heineken experience in amsterdam is the accomodation fairly close to this?

This info is SO good, especially finding out the bathroom situations and sleeping arrangments!!!
In regards to that, and please forgive me sounding like an idiot if this is a stupid question...do we need to take bath towels with us or are they provided at the accommodation???

Hey Damo! Ill help you with these questions :P
I went on the same Tour that Notleonardo did, he is a hell of a guy!

The accomodation in Amsterdam is not really in the city, its more on the outskirts of the city. But, you do get a full day in the city to explore and there is plenty of time to make your way down to the Brewery, altho unfortuneatly for us it was closed for renovations when we went i think. There is plenty to "look at" in amsterdam anyway hehe.

KT - You need to take your own towel yes.