Hi there I did the European Adeventurer tour in 2001. I t was fantastic. I found that there was a good balance between the amount of time you spend in each city. The Greek Island part of the tour is fantastic as it is like a mini holiday within your tour. This tour was great value for money. I am planning my second tour this year and can't wait
Posts: 13 | Location: Adelaide | Registered: 12 Dec 2007
I did the European Adventurer tour in May of 2007. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!! We saw SOO much of Europe!! Our driver was fantastic. We stopped many times to take pics and food and rest breaks and all the rest. There were a few days where we spent quite a bit of time on the coach, but there's really no way around it. Some of the pointers I found helpful were:
- bring a travel pillow: this will make naps on the coach much more comfortable.
- make sure you always have snacks/drinks in your carry on
- hand sanitizer/ napkins come in very hand at rest stops
- make sure you bring your IPod and magazines/books. I brought a "guide to Europe" with me. It was great to read up on a city/region before we got there. Very very interesting and helped the time pass.
- pack some comfy clothes: sweat pants/comfy tees/sweatshirts do make the ride more comfortable
- have your camera handy..the sights you see while on the coach are AMAZING. the huge windows on the coach really do let you see everything
The Contiki crew do an amazing job of keeping everyone energized. Some of the tour's best moments happen on the coach. I found that it was such a good time to get to know everybody (great for be because I did the tour on my own). We did a ton of games on the coach that really made time fly. I would do it over a million times if I could. It was such a good way to experience so much of Europe (some of my favs were Paris, Barcelona, Florence, Mykonos, Dubrovnic, Amsterdam.. and the list goes on).
I also did the European Adventurer in 2007 and I had the time of my life! I have so many awesome memories and new friends from the trip. It was the best thing I've ever done! The highlights of my trip were Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Venice, Austria, Paris, OK pretty much the whole lot! But mykonos and croatia were the selling points for me when selecting this tour! As for your questions about the coach, some days are quite long on the bus, but you do stop regularly. Ifound the bus trips a good time to catch up on my sleep, its amazing the different positions you can come up with sleeping in a bus seat. Anyway I hope this helps, my advice is that the trip will be what you and your fellow travellers make it! Hope you have an awesome time
Posts: 11 | Location: Australia | Registered: 03 Dec 2006
I just finished this particular tour May-June 2008 and I loved it.All in all it was a great sample plate to figure out where you would like to go back to. I suggest most of the optionals because they were fantastic especially the ones in Austria I had the best time ever one the optionals.
This is pretty much the best tour you can choose! It's so amazing, you get to go EVERYWHERE. There are, indeed, a couple of days spent on the coach, but you stop in reallyyyyy cool places for a couple of hours, so it breaks up the day. The worst coach day was spent travelling through Albania! The highways there are literally DIRT ROADS. Just make sure you can handle travelling for 37 days... it gets a little bit long.
I did this tour in June/July of 2007 and it was spectacular!! I would recommend this tour to people who want to experience as much of Europe as possible in a fixed amount of time (you get to see 17 countries I think). However it is also great for people who really want to get to experience the culture of one particular country or city because multiple night stops are included nearly everywhere. Dubrovnik, Croatia is a gorgeous stop and this is one of the few trips that actually goes there - definitely a highlight. Rome, Venice and Florence were great - Italy really is everything it's all cracked up to be. There is a bit of time spent on the coach going from place to place but even that was fun! The sights you get to see spanning all the countries are amazing and I would suggest you always have your camera ready even when you are on the coach. If you are worried about time spent traveling, the driver stops regularly for pitstops which are great as they give you a chance to stretch your legs and relax. I don't have anything bad to say about this trip! I completely agree with Peta14, it is what you make of it! Cheers and Happy Travels!
A lot of people have said that it is a long trip and you have to be sure that you can take 37 days of traveling. Would you say that this is too long for someone's first solo trip overseas?
after the trip ends u will be so sad...u would think 37 days is enough but it really isn't....i wish i could have gone on this trip 4 times over...it was so much fun!
Thanks everyone
