Hi There

I have my sights set on doing the grand southern tour in early to mid 2009. I was hoping for all advice and tips I could get on this. Any and all input welcome. Especially from anyone that did it as a single as thats what I will be doing. Also anyone planning to go around the same time so I can have someone to lament with over the loss of social life while I save all my $$$ : )

HI
I did this tour in mid 2006-ask away!I have also done contiki tours alone in europe and america!
cheers
Lisa

hey thanks for the super quick reply.
Um did you go from LA to NY or the other way around?
Which extras do you recommend?
Do you notice the difference travelling alone or do you make friends quick?
Do lots of aussies do the tour or are their lots of other nationalties?

Hi
I am planning on doing the Grand Northern and Grand Southern as well. Mid next year!! I will be doing it myself as well!!!
I think I am going to do LA to NY for the GS and then NY to LA for the GN!!
I know all about saving its going to be a killer.
And i am worried about going by myself as well!! I want advice too!!!

Hi Tazzie
I did the GS as LA-NY as I figured the crazy stuff would be at the start and it wud be more relaxing at the end which it was! I did all the Optionals apart from hot air ballooning(cancelled due to weather), IMAX theatre in GC(not interested) and white water rafting(clashed with jeep tour). I totally loved all the optionals and think they add to the overall experience of this tour! I had no problem travelling alone infact I spoke to a few people via this website and for one of them it was her first contiki so we decieded to share a room(thinking it wud just be Anaheim)but we were actually paired up for the whole tour(we were able to change but chose not too) this was a really good thing as we both got along so well and we had a ball together! I think travelling with friends is a totally different experience but both are great. I am actually heading off the NY in less than a week to do the Grand Northern and Cali Highlights tour with people I met on my previous contiki tour in 2006. We’ve since caught up twice-here in oz and in nz.We had mostly aussies on our tour but also had british, kiwi, south African and European!
Any other q’s just ask away!
Cheers
lisa

I am super happy I decided to post here! Maybe I will be on the same tour as you Megs806! Dont worry you wont be the only one going alone then! Everyone seems to think people are great on tour and you make friends quick! I hope so.
I am so jealous!! Wish I had the cash to do both the GS and GN. I am hoping to spend a little time in LA first and some in NY after. I have been to the states once before in Washington State and loved it so cant wait to get back and see more. The sacrafice of saving will so be worth it!!

Thanks Heaps Lisa, your advice is INVALUABLE!! you seem to have such great knowledge of the travel experience
I am even more excited about going now!!

The grand norther and cali highlights.. colour me jealous!! Have a great time and look forward to hearing about your travel exploits when you get back! ENJOY

Hi i did the GS last year in July, the BAE in August and the grand canadian in august so if you have questions just ask

I 2nd what Lisa has writtin

I'll give you a run down on my experience of the GS
Firstly i would say that this was the best experience that i have ever had...i travelled on my own and it was scary to get there but once with the group it was great we all connected really well.
I did all the optionals except for the white water rafting as i opted for the jeep tour..if you are given the chance for a surprise optional just pay for it as it is so worth it...the tm will give your money back if you don't think it's worth it but i don't think anybody ever has so just do it.
As the tour i did was in summer it was really hot...there just happened to be a heat wave go through when i was there so i drank heaps of water.

Vegas was great (very hot) if you go in summer do not attempt to walk between casinos as they are not as close together as you may think.
Go to the top of the stratosphere in downtown vegas and do one of the rides at the top very scary but a great thrill i did the one that spins you out over the edge. I also did the roller coaster that goes through the New York New York casino and others it was exciting.
The reviews for the hotel in vegas are not great but it's not that bad a place it's basically just a place to sleep cuz in vegas you should spend as much time out as you can as there is so much to see and it's totally not possible to see it all in 2 days.
I wen with the group to see the caberat show in vegas...it was ok but it was really cold in there and by the end i was struggling to stay awake as i'd already had such a late nite the night before

The Grand Canyon is breathtaking. I did the day trip helicopter ride into the bottom of the canyon (heli hiker) very expensive but i would do it again. The waterfalls at the bottom are awseome and alot of fun to swim in..i couldn't recommend this enough...just very hard yakka walking back out..take lots of water

I loved the hot air balloon in alberquerque...just make sure you wear a hat as the flame gets hot on your head...the landings are an adventure we landed in a coldersack and had people from the houses taking photos of us and giving us drinks.

cadillac ranch was cool...got to spray paint the cars...The big texan steak challenge is funny to watch we had 4 people from our tour try to eat the 72 ounce steak and sides...its HUGE theres no way i was trying it.

Somewhere along the line you could organise to go for a ride in a hummer limo...we had a big group of us book on when in Dallas to drive us around it was fun

I found graceland interesting...thought i would be bored but i really liked it...
Memphis and new orleans has great nightlife
We saw a minor league baseball game in memphis which was great fun

Pensacola beach was hot...and we wern't able to go into the water as often as we wanted...there was an airshow on the next day so the planes were flying around above us practicing and while they were up there we weren't aloud in the water but it was good to be on the beach non the less...word to the wise..i'm quite pale and had a long sleeve rash sort on and got very burnt on my hands the onlybit not covered..can only imagine what i would have been like if not covered

Orlando - too many parks to choose from in the time you have to see them...i did Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom in 2 days...very full on.

Space Centre - can you say boring? for me this was very boring i wasn't interested

Washington has so many things to see...unfortunatley we had the bus tour around all the monuments when it was dark so it was too hard to take photos as my camera didn't take very good night photos...so the next day we spent the whole time revisting all the monument by foot which is a long way but worth it to get the photos and see the city
The next day i went back to see some of the museums

Tour finishes in NY and it's sad to say goodbye to everyone as you have spent so much time with them and will miss them

General info
Work on about $50 - $100 per day...some days are less some can be more...depends how much you shop
Meals are huge in US...i ordered starters often as they were big enough meals.
Send stuff home by post i did in NY and it wasn't that expensive...i was running out of room in my bag
work on the philosophy - see it, like it, buy it...that way there are no regrets later on.
It can get cold on the bus...i got a blanket along the way and a pillow..
The contiki cold- i got sick right near the end of the tour...then took the cold to my next tour...took heaps of cold and flu tablets and ended up having to forgo a day in quebec in my next tour to sleep and recover

Thats about all i can think of at the moment...
If you have any other questions let me know

Tracie

sorry that dot a bit long didn't it?

Hope it helps

Any q's let me know

Tracie

Hey Tracie
Wow, your post was fantastic. Thanks for all that information. Sounds like you had an absolute ball. Makes me really exciting about going on our holiday.

My boyfriend and I are planning to do the Grand Southern mid 2009, and I cannot wait. I have been to the US 3 times but never on Contiki.
I am looking forward to seeing who else is going at this time. We are both 24.

Just a question for you Tracie, were there many couples on your contiki trip?
Thanks so much for your trip review, I found it very helpful.

Thanks, Alicia

The average age on tours is mid to late 20's generally...contiki is great...especially if you want most of the time organised for you and than you can spend other time on your own as well..there's plenty of free time...as long as you guys don't exclude spending time with the group you will find you will make great friends

I think on the GS there was 2 couples from memory..then a few people travelling together...the rest travelling on their own...it's always a real mix...each tour i did had a different mix of people and all great

hey there, also planning on doing the grand southern tour next year probly around the same time frame. Did europe in feb thisyear and loved it, now wanna do contiki usa, although ive been to the states before but just love contiki
Luke

Hey everyone what dates are we all talking about in regards to early to mid 2009. I'm looking at going end of May.Early June.

yeh im looking at early june too