Hi! would love to hear from anyone doing this tour starting November 28th

Hi Ortal,

Looks like I'm going to be on the coach with you. I booked my airfare yesterday and will book my seat on the coach shortly. I'm a 32 year old male from Philadelphia, PA in the USA and this will be my 4th Contiki tour. Previously I've traveled on the European Encounter, Eastern Road, and Reefs & Rainforests tours.

My flight will arrive in Madrid at 9:20 AM local time on Nov. 28th and unfortunately I'll be flying home on Sunday Decemeber 9th as soon as the tour ends...

Zak

Hi, I am also planning on going on the 28th! But haven't reserved either flight or tour yet. Am I too late?!

Hi Bita,

I doubt that you're too late. I don't know how many seats on the coach are already taken, but I'm sure there is at least a few open seats...

Zak

If you want to chat about the tour feel free to write me at:

zbinder (at) yahoo.com

Well I called Contiki this morning to see what the deal is with our tour. No checkmark on the site, heck - the October departure is still there w/o a checkmark.

Well, we are on. The November 28 tour will leave as scheduled!

Although I am a bit annoyed at the US office. They have consistently refused to tell me how many people are currently booked on my tours. However, in the past, my Canadian tour mates have told me that they have called up and successfully found out exactly how many empty seats there were on the coach for the tour.

Maybe I should call Canada...

Zak

I'll be on the tour as well, along with two of my girlfriends, Melanie and Monica. We'll be coming from Phoenix, Arizona. Looking forward to meeting all of you.

-April

April,

Great to hear that you, Melanie, and Monica will be on the tour.

Have you done a Contiki tour before? If not, let me know if you have any questions. If I don't know the answer, I'm sure I've travelled with someone who will.

20 days until the start of the tour!

Zak
zbinder (at) yahoo.com

None of us have done a Contiki Tour but have friends and family that have and loved it. We're all very excited.

We're all 30-somethings and have never been to Spain.

We're flying into Philly so if you happen to be on US Air we may be on the same flight.

I think we're just worried about the bag limit and bringing back extra bags from shopping. Any ideas on that policy.

thanks - looking forward to meeting you.

Melanie

Zak,

Any thoughts on bringing a laptop along? Do you know anyone who has done this on previous trips?

April

With regards to packing and the weight limit, I'd strongly advise packing as lightly as possible. Of course, this is easier said than done...

Life on tour is a little different from real life. When I look at my tour pictures, I see basically the entire group wearing the same clothes every 4th day. I've never taken a winter tour before, but I'm planning on following the same plan as before. I plan to dress in layers during the day and have a limited set of going out clothes that will work for a nice dinner or a club.

One thing I always travel w/ on a tour is a small spray bottle of Fabreeze. If I spray the clothes I wore out at night w/ fabreeze before I go to bed, by the morning they are ready for the suitcase and ready to be worn again (if necessary) a few days later.

I'm going to see how much room I have (winter clothes will take up more room) but I plan to bring a small duffel bag in my suitecase that I could use as a second piece of checked luggage on the plane ride home if there is no room in my suitcase for souvineers.

I am 99% sure that Contiki will not weigh your bag in Madrid (I believe they only weigh in London), but I'd strongly advise that you pack as light as possible. On past tours, some hotels are in historic buildings and do not have elevators. You do not want to be carrying an extra heavy suitcase up and down 4 flights of stairs...

W/ regards to a laptop, one person on each of my 3 prior tours has taken a laptop (3 out of 150 or so ppl) and each of them had a different reason. I'm not bringing mine because I don't want to have to worry about leaving it in my room and don't feel like carrying it around with me all day long. If you need it, feel free to bring it. But if you only want it for picture storage or perhaps e-mail usage, I'd bring an extra flash card instead and just rely on internet cafe's for communication with home.

I won't be flying out of Philly for this trip (I'm leaving from Newark, NJ) on Continental.

I'm scheduled to arrive in Madrid at 9:20 AM on the 28th. Let me know if your flight time is close to this one. Assuming there are no delays, I'd be happy to share the adventure of riding a foreign metro system with a few other people!

Zak

thanks for the tips. I was planning on bringing a backpack - without a metal frame and packing as light as possible.

We fly direct from Philly to Madrid so no English weighing.

I believe we arrive at 10 am so if you don't mind waiting that's great otherwise we can meet up in Madrid.

Hi, I'll be on the tour starting on Nov. 28th. Definitely excited about the trip

I'm pleasantly surprised that there other folks on the trip are heading to Madrid via Philly like me.

Zak - Thanks for the traveling trips. I live in Philly as well. Maybe we can meet up before the trip.

April, Melanie, and Monica - I think I might be on the same flight as you. My US Airwary flight is also non-stop, leaving Philly at 8:45pm and arriving in Madrid the next day at 10:10AM.

I'm also up for riding the metro together to get to the hotel. Feel free to contact me at my e-mail address is <Peter.K.Chan.Th05@Alum.Dartmouth.ORG>

Take Care,
Pete