hello everyone,

I'm planning to tour europe with my girlfriend summer 2010 and came across contiki. To be honest we are new to coach travelling so would like to hear your views (especially the ones who tried it).

I heard contiki is very much dedicated to partying and drinking, does this mean if you're not travelling to drink or party you would be isolated from the group? I mean we wont be interested in clubbing or drinking as we could do that at home here in the UK, if this is the case would we enjoy our time?


It's the first time for us to travel in Europe and really hope if we went with contiki we don't regret it.

Last question, how do you book?! As far as I understood from the website you can do so either from contiki itself or through a travel agent, which one is more convenient? are there specific travel agents who can book contiki tours (speaking about the UK, Manchester in particular). Do you need a travel insurance if you're medically ensured worldwide? How much do they cost in general?


Your help is very much appreciated


Alaa

My friend and I booked our trip through a travel agency in the mall.

I found that there was definitely a lot of drinking and partying on my tour. I suppose it all depends on the group going but I did find that you were isolated if you did not partake in the above activities.

I would personally prefer to travel Europe on my own knowing what I know now.

Doing a tour has it's advantages with almost all of the details taken care of for you but it was really difficult being on someone elses schedule.

I don't agree with Melissa at all. I am not a big partier-drinker and I have loved my Contiki tours. I have actually done four coach tours in the past and on each have got along with everyone just fine regardless of whether or not I drank/partied.

The beauty of Contiki is that it's your choice. If you want to go out one night you can, if you don't want to go out, you don't have to! I spent my nights with a couple of others where we'd grab dinner and walk the city streets as opposed to getting trashed in a club.

If you are at least in a couple situation this should be safe for you to do in most major European cities. Just be smart about it. Don't walk in dodgy areas and if it's getting really late go back to the hotel, you always have the next day to explore something new. It's even better if you're open to having others go along with you...dont' restrict yourselves to just being by yourselves and you'll be fine!

The other great thing about Contiki is that it gives you the opportunity to see just a bit of what each country has to offer and then you can always go back (esp if you live in the UK) to the places you want to see more of. Also, with Contiki, you're travel is taken care, accomodation is sorted and you have breakfast everyday and abotu half your dinners included. That just makes travelling, for a first timer, easy and that's what I loved about it.

As for booking, any travel agent can book for you or you can call Contiki direct or book online. You do need insurance, can't say what that would cost you as it differs from country to country.

Good luck with your decision. If you have more questions just ask!

Pina

Melissa & Pina,,, great contribution, although your views weren't very similar but that's the point, I needed to hear different opinions and prospects.

Is the drinking/partying bit affected by the type of tour you book (concept/timeout)?? I guess concept and camping tours are actually about partying and having a good night life beside savings on accommodation.


I'm quite interested on European Panorama and European Adventure tours, those are quite long tours (28 days and above). I do believe if you didn't like the atmosphere from the beginning the whole holiday will be ruined.


Many thanks to both of you.

My sister and I went on a Contiki tour June/July 09 and we had a blast. We booked through a travel agent and it was so convenient to have someone else take care of that aspect of it. Which was also one of the draws of choosing a contiki tour. If you book through a travel agent they can answer all your questions about travel insurance as well.

As for the drinking and partying...I was not one to go out every night and get drunk. I did not see the draw of being hung over and sick for my whole trip. It just was not worth it. I did go out a few nights and had a great time but there was alot of nights that were either early nights at the hotel or on our own and I never felt isolated from the group. During the day, you are all there for the same thing, to see the sights!

I also found that the atmosphere changed as the tour went along. I was on a 17 day tour and at the begining everyone just kind of kept to themselves. As the tour went on, everyone got more comfortable around eachother and I met some great people. I'm not going to say we were all best friends by the end, there are going to be people that you won't get along with but the people you choose to surround yourselves with will make your trip!

I hope this helps!

During the summer the concept/time out tours can be a bit more party oriented, BUT it totally depends upon your group. I wouldn't make a decision about with way to travel based on that.

While you certainly don't need to "party" to have a good time on contiki, you should be willing to go out sometimes just to meet people and hang out. This could be hanging out in the hotel bar till 10-11pm with a soda. The evenings are a time when everyone gets to unwind and get to know people. If you're not into doing something like that some nights then you likely will feel isolated.

I have done two contiki tours and they were two totally different groups but I had a faboulous time on both of them. It doesn't matter if you don't want to go out and drink with every else.

On my first tour I went out a bit but on the second tour I didn't go out half as much as I did the first time and it didn't change the experience at all for me.

Drinking and partying is totally not what Contiki is all about. Yes when on tour alot of people go out each night but not everyone and the only reason it has this 'partying' rep is because it has a fairly young client base and we do enjoy going out and having blast! having said that it is possible to do that and not get wasted..
I went on a USA tour when I was only 19 and I still had a ball even though I couldn't go to clubs etc. there was about 10 of us on average each night that didn't go out so it was really good, we'd wander around and take the sites at night then we'd get a good nights sleep then laugh at the poor buggers that had hangovers on the bus..not good haha

quote:

Is the drinking/partying bit affected by the type of tour you book (concept/timeout)?? I guess concept and camping tours are actually about partying and having a good night life beside savings on accommodation.

I'm quite interested on European Panorama and European Adventure tours, those are quite long tours (28 days and above). I do believe if you didn't like the atmosphere from the beginning the whole holiday will be ruined.

Hi again

My tours have all been TimeOut tours and I found that there was a good mix of people on the bus both times (ie: there were those that wanted to go hard everynight and those that didn't).

From what I have heard the concept/camping tours can have "closer" groups because the accomodation can sometimes be a bit further away from the city so, nights are spent together, like around a campfire type thing! With TimeOut tours, there might be more of an oppotunity to go to the city and cab back so, people might go out more.

I actually did the Panorama and understand your comment about the length of time. I think you're spot on. I really think that it takes a good 2 weeks for people to relax and show their true colours! At the start of the trip everyone gets along and everyone is wonderful and fantastic but eventually, as with anything, the faults start shining through!

By the 3rd week of our Panorama we starting to see some clashing of personalities and it can be messy but you know what, if you're not involved then you don't have to let it affect your trip! Go with an open mind and go knowing that there will definitely be a handful of people you will love, a handful you will dislike and the rest just inbetween. Out of 52 people on your bus, you're bound to find some that will make your trip everything you want it to be, know what I mean?

About time on tour.. I think 3 weeks is ideal, with 2 weeks you're just starting to really bond with people and the tour is over. With 3 weeks you start to get a bit of drama, but it's not too bad and you've now bonded and made some lifelong friends.

Tour length doesn't really matter as long as you don't run out of $$. More importantly, is how well the group bonds together. Dysfunctional group and 1 week may seem intolerable. Tight group cohesion, and you won't want the tour to ever end ... that's most important than whether it's a drinking or partying group.

- Vic

I found that going out and "partying" helped to bond with people more, but it wasn't required to have a good time. That was on a concept.

Unfortunately there is no formula and every group of people is different, so there isn't a clear cut answer really.

Explorer,

I just came back this August from the European Inspiration tour, which seemed like the best tour with the most time offered in each city- I loved it. Best time in my life, honestly.

I have never been much of a drinker or much of a partier. Most on tour were (but not all). But I still had a great time. I found that 1)Everyone was really cool, and nobody really cared how much I drank.
2)I let myself loose a little bit. Even though I never, really ever, drink at home, I drank on the trip. Beer is pretty big in Europe, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I drank some great German beer, some good Italian wine, and the rest- I drank when I felt like it, and stopped when I felt like it. Nobody judged.
3)Some of the best times I had were taking off by myself. A couple of times I wanted to explore instead of hitting a club, or going to a bar. So I did. I went off by myself and had a great time. And when I came back we all discussed what we did with each other.

My basic point is that Contiki is a great trip, especially the European Inspiration. Yes, there's a LOT of drinking. Yes, there's a club or bar almost every night. But everyone can do their own thing, and even some of the bigger drinkers took a break every now and again.

Contiki is awesome. Don't worry. Enjoy.

I went on a time out tour with my partner and we were worried about the same thing. We had 5 other couples on our tour and none of us felt pressured into going out and partying every night. Everyone respected each other's decision to go out or stay in, but the invite was always open. Just do what you and your girlfriend want to do. It is your holiday! If you don't want to drink or stay out all night you don't have to! Plus being sick on the bus sucks!