ballofur: The hotels you mentioned are on the list Contiki sent me. The tour is staying at the Izmailovo Beta Hotel in Moscow.

shellzy, cindy, or natka: Should I expect the contiki tour to have most days fully scheduled with little free time? What have your previous experiences been like? I went on a GAP tour to South America once and all they did was take us from one town to another.

With Contiki, the hotels are normally outside the city center. They will take you into the city and give you a brief walkaround and point out important things if there isn't a scheduled local guide. Sometimes you'll have an hour on your own and sometimes you'll have a whole day. If you choose not to do the optionals then you'll have even more time on your own.

quote:

Originally posted by Explorer1127091:
ballofur: The hotels you mentioned are on the list Contiki sent me. The tour is staying at the Izmailovo Beta Hotel in Moscow.

shellzy, cindy, or natka: Should I expect the contiki tour to have most days fully scheduled with little free time? What have your previous experiences been like? I went on a GAP tour to South America once and all they did was take us from one town to another.

If you choose to do the optionals, than most of your days would be fully scheduled with very little free time. This is especially true in the Russia part of this tour. Having said that, I would highly recommend doing all the optionals(in Russia). Contiki does a really good job of showing you all the highlights of both Moscow and St. Pete. I didn't do the ballet in St. Pete so me and the few others who didn't go ended up just hanging around hotel playing pool and bowling(there is a bowling alley in the hotel). If you don't speak or read any Russian, it's pretty hard to get around in the cities since not a lot of people speak English.

I found that I had enough free time on all my Contiki tours to do whatever it was I wanted to do in each place we visited. I tend to do a lot of the optionals, because they tend to be things I would want to do if I was on my own, but I have gone off to do my own thing if I wasn't interested in the optional. Usually you have a couple of hours in each city after a tour & before you meet up for activities or supper. It's really up to you how you spend your time!! Looking forward to meeting you!!

For those of you who've traveled with Contiki before...would you recommend that I bring a rectangular suitcase with wheels or my ultra handy travel backpack that can zip up to a duffle. I'd prefer to take my backpack, but I'm not sure how packed the luggage compartment gets and I'd hate for anything to break.

thanks!

Anyone else on the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Riga that departs at 9:35am? I know there are three of us on that flight already.
I would say to bring the bag that is easiest for you to carry. You may have to be lugging it up a lot of stairs. It's easier to pack the coach w/ normal suitcases, but some people do bring duffle/backpack type bags.
Only 20 days left!!!

Hi fellow travellers! I got my visa & Contiki info pack today, so will definitely be joining you on this tour!! I can't believe it's only 10 days away. I'm debating whether to bring my backpack or suitcase, I better figure that out soon, as well as what to pack.
Art, can't wait to hear about your SA trip with GAP!

Woo-hoo! We're down to less than a week from our trip fellow travelers! It'll be great to finally meet you all in person. Just by going on this tour I already consider you "cool". :-)

Cindy: Sure, I'll tell about my South America GAP tour or any of my other travels. Chile was a little expensive but very nice. I highly recommend that destination to everyone.

Is anyone joining this tour from a country other than US, UK, Canada, or Commonwealth?

-Art from USA