Hello!  I'm a 24yo female from Melbourne, Australia travelling by myself on my first Contiki tour - departing London on 11th June!  Wondering if anyone else is booked in for this tour?  I've also taken the Mykonos resort option after the tour to have more fun in the sun

I'm booked on that tour as well! 29,f, from Montreal, Canada. I'm also travelling solo and will be staying at the mykonos resort for 3 nights.  I think this is going to be a great trip.  Can't wait to meet everyone... Do you plan on  visiting other islands besides Mykonos?

Karen

Hi Karen!
Yeah I think this is going to be a great trip too - I'm really excited!  Have you travelled around Europe before?
I'm keen to visit some of the other Greek Islands... like Santorini or Paros... I hear it's pretty easy to get ferries between the islands .. What about you?

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

I've been to London and Greece before on 2 separate trips, but I've never done a multi country backpacking vacation before... Greece is awesome and I'm totally looking forward to visiting the islands again. Last time I went, i visited paros, naxos, santorini, crete and mykonos. Each island was different with something unique to offer.  i fell in love with santorini so i know that i have to visit there again.  As for other islands, i don't really have a plan.  i might go back to some of the same islands i visited last time, but I might also use this chance to visit new islands. i really don't know. But you're right about the ferries, they are pretty easy to get. When i went in 2002 we based our itinerary on the ferry schedule- if we wanted to leave on a specific day we would choose our destination based on where the ferries were going that day. it was great. accomadation was easy to find and we were there during their busiest month- July.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to meeting you and everyone else on this tour. Who knows? We might want to end up travelling together or we'll meet people who have the same ideas and we'll have travel partners.  That's why i don't have any real plans- i just want to see where this trip takes me :-)

When are you arriving in London? Do you plan on getting there a couple of days earlier? How long do you plan on visiting the greek islands? i should be in London from the 8th and i plan on spending 2 weeks in the islands after the tour. Hope to hear from you soon...

karen

Hi girls

My name is Ali and I am 21 years old from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada!  I am taking the London to Athens Tour June 12th with my boyfriend (Shane - 25).  We are also spending 3 nights in Mykonos at the end of the tour and we are very excited!  I have never travelled before so this will be a great new experience for me.

Can't wait to meet you both!
See you there!

Ali

Hi all!

Wow - looks like a few of us are taking the Mykonos resort option! I'm very excited about the trip - don't worry Ali - it's my first trip to Europe too!!

Karen - I get to London on the 7th June! Are you staying at the Contiki hostel in London or finding your own accomodation? My plans after the Contiki are flexible (like you I'm hoping to see where the trip takes me!) - but I'm definitely hoping to travel around the Greek Islands, and possibly even Turkey!! I have heard great things about Santorini - but would definitely consider visiting some of the smaller/road less travelled islands too. Good news about the accomodation too - I thought July would be impossible to find anywhere to stay!

How are you guys going with packing for the trip? Do you know if they are very strict on the 20kg limit? Do you think we'll need anything terribly dressy for going out??

Hope you hear from you soon,
Michelle

Hi Michelle,

I'll be staying atthe Generator- it's a hostel very close to the Contiki hotel.  It's a hostel, but it's a lot cheaper.  it turns out that I'll be arriving in London on the 7th instead of the 8th as i had initially thought so we should definitely meet. Send me a private message with your email.

I'm probably not going to go as far as Turkey, but i definitely want to visit some of the smaller islands- they're a lot cheaper, just as beautiful, and you get exposed to the culture more.  i think after Mykonos I'll need that :-)

As for packing, haven't really thought about that yet.  I'm bringing a backpack because it's a lot easier to travel with. Apparently, they are very strict about the 20 kg limit so pack light.  They'll make you take things out of your luggage until you get down to the required weight. For going out, I'm bringing a pair of nice sandals (nothing too strappy- cobble stoned streets wrecks havoc on sandals), a black skirt and a couple of tank tops.  Most places aren't too dressy, but there are a few clubs in mykonos and santorini where it's good to be a bit dressed up. Bring a black tank top and pants/skirt and just dress up your outfit with jewellry.

I can't wait! I'm actually leaving Montreal on May 28 to go to couple of places before London. 17 days to go...

Karen

Hi Michelle,

It's Anna, i'm also 24 y/o, travelling solo for the trip! I'm fm Hong Kong.  It's my second time to Europe, I visited UK, France,Italy, Swiss and Germany before.  Spain and Greece are always my dream country and I'm also crazy about France and Italy, tat's y I've joined this LTA tour...i'm so expecting about it!

For the post-tour, i also wanna visit the islands, of cuz including Mykonos and Santorini.  Also, i'm 99% sure i'd go Turkey as well and I'm planning about my route to Turkey, either fm Athens or from Rhodes.  Michelle, are you going to Turkey? Maybe we can travel together!!  While for the period I plan to stay in each place, I'm still unsure, but maybe roughly a week in Greece and then another in Turkey as I'd have around 12 days for my post-tour ride.

Karen, thx for telling us the news that the hotel booking is easy in Greece even if its peak season like July, since I"m so headache about it. I've seen some room-booking website, but seems all of them are twin room, instead of single one, quite troublesome for me solo traveller unless I can find sb during the tour as my partner.  But anyways, I need not book any by now, right?

I'd arrive London on 9 Jun, London time, and has still not yet booked the hotel.  Hey, Karen, we can simply walk to Royal National from Generator right? How long it needs to take? I'm so worried I cant catch up if not staying in RN, cuz the meeting time is like 6 45 right?

here from you soon....

Anna

Hi Anna and Karen,

Can you believe it's only 4 weeks until our tour starts?!  I'm so excited, I got all my documents from Contiki on Friday which is a good sign the tour is definitely running!!

I would be happy to explore some of the Greek islands with either/both of you - who knows - we might meet even more people like minded people on the tour!  I'm not too concerned about booking anything at the moment, I'll just go with the flow and see where the trip takes me   If there's plenty of accomodation there's probably nothing to worry about

Karen - thanks for clothes advice - I agree - black is best and I intend to travel VERY light - backpacks aren't the most fun thing to lug around!

Have either of you done Contiki tours before?  Do either of you have any thoughts about valuables e.g. digital cameras, iPods.. ?

Talk to you soon!

Cheers,
Michelle

Hi Michelle/Karen,

yea!! only 4 weeks to go!!! i'm sooooo excited!!!....but i still have plenty of work related stuff on hand and an exam to go on early jun before my tour.....sigh.....

for valuables, i think digital camera is a must and you'd put it in your daypack together with your passport anyways, so just handle it with extra care....for i-pod, i'm still thinking...but seems i need it during the long travelling on our bus.

it's my first contiki......my frd did an eastern road europe trip before and highly recommend contiki to me....tat's why i'm joining ....

hey, btw, do we need to bring big towel for beach/shower? I'm just wondering if the hostels we're staying would provide towels like other hotels.

Michelle, i've sent you a private msg for my email address, I and Karen have exchanged email address before.

cheers,
Anna

Hey all

Thanx for the clothing advice too.  I keep seeing different shows on TV and everyone always looks so dressed up!  It's true, though, that you can dress up an outfit with some jewellery!  I'm just wondering about shoes.  I want a couple pairs of flip flops, some dressy shoes and some comfy walking shoes....I think that is too much but I'm having trouble cutting back.  Oh well, I guess that I can buy something if I need it!

As far a towels go, I was told to bring a big beach towel.  I'm hoping other towels will be provided, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Can't wait to meet you all!

Ali

Hi all,

Yes I agree - those ads always seem to portray backpackers in great outfits - how they fit it all into a 20kg pack is beyond me!  I'm going to be taking the same shoes wise, a pair of runners, sandals/slippers and some going out shoes...

Anna - yeah I think the iPod would be very handy for the long road trips, though the buses are equipped with cd players, we might not enjoy each other's taste in music!!!

I was under the impression we had to take both a beach towel and a shower towel.  I bought one of those microfibre towels for the shower, the ones that are really compact...

What is everyone going to do money-wise?  Travellers cheques, Bank ATM cards, credit cards or a combination of all three?

Cheers,
Michelle

I think that I/we will be taking a combination of travellers cheques, credit cards and Euros.  I was told to use mostly travellers cheques because of the off chance that they got stolen...they are the most easily replaced.

The two towel thing sounds like a good idea.  I'm going to try to find a microfibre towel too!

Are any of you bringing a purse at all, or are you bringing a money belt or something like that?

Talk to ya soon,
Ali

True true - I did hear that some areas of Europe were difficult to cash in travellers cheques though... I suppose if we had a combination of everything we should be alright!

Yeah I contemplated on the purse and money belt thing too - is it just me or is there something terribly unglamorous about a money belt??!!  I think I will bring both... the money belt will come in handy on sightseeing day trips...

Anyone taking a hairdryer?  Are the voltages/adapters the same for all of Europe?  I have a EU adaptor - just wondering if it was uniform in all parts of Europe!!

Only 24 more days to go!!  A gorgeous top of 25 degrees in Mykonos today - can't wait!!!