Euro Trip 2014

[max_boost]

I have Mar 25 to Apr 12th off.

Option 1: http://www.contiki.com/destinations/europe/tours/151-scotland

http://www.contiki.com/destinations/europe/tours/133-london-paris

Scotland---->London---->Paris

Option2:
http://www.contiki.com/destinations/europe/tours/109-european-discovery

Seems crazy to hit up: Belgium (in transit), Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland, France. All in 13 days. :nut: Back to London to finish up the trip.

What would Beyond do?!

Cost wise about $2500 but the intensity of option 2, all that time on a bus :nut: but enticing to hit up all those countries.

:dunno:

[nj2Type-S]

i'd be interested to hear what your thoughts are about contiki. i have never toured with them, but my wife and i are planning to. we were supposed to go last fall, but plans changed.

have fun!

[max_boost]

Everyone has told me it's a younger crew and they drink a lot during their free time. It's just not my style to do all the research, activities, transportation etc. I rather pay a bit more and join a tour.

[nj2Type-S]

that's what i've heard, too. we're really not into partying and drinking at every opportune moment, but at the same time, i don't want to be stuck with old people lol. we have friends who are in their late 20s who went with trafalgar tours, and they ended up touring with a bunch of people in their 40s.

what made you decide on contiki?

[403ep3]

I bet you can't fit 50lbs of protein in your trunk

[max_boost]

Originally posted by nj2Type-S
that's what i've heard, too. we're really not into partying and drinking at every opportune moment, but at the same time, i don't want to be stuck with old people lol. we have friends who are in their late 20s who went with trafalgar tours, and they ended up touring with a bunch of people in their 40s.

what made you decide on contiki?

I know of a couple friends that have gone with them for 3 week Europe tours and they said everyone was pretty much in their 20's. Like most tours there is down time and during that time everyone would just get drunk which is expected (I guess) given the demographics.

I have previously booked with GAP and Intrepid and had good experiences with them but this is basically the only tour that fits my schedule so I think I pick it by default. I have never been to Europe and this is my once a year chance to go somewhere so I don't wanna squander it haha

[max_boost]

Originally posted by nj2Type-S
that's what i've heard, too. we're really not into partying and drinking at every opportune moment, but at the same time, i don't want to be stuck with old people lol. we have friends who are in their late 20s who went with trafalgar tours, and they ended up touring with a bunch of people in their 40s.

what made you decide on contiki? Which tour were you looking into?

[SilverGS]

My wife and I went on a contiki tour in our early 30's. We wanted to see as much as we could with out having to organize it all ourselves as well. From the stories I was kind of worried about it being just a bunch of drunk early 20's that we wouldn't have a lot in common with. In the end this is what I found.

A few times during our tour we met up with other Contiki tours at the same place so I had a chance to see what the other tours were kind of like

Contiki has 3 levels of tours
Camping - Like it says you camp in a tent. Generally the youngest groups since it is also the cheapest tour for obvious reasons. Mostly under 30 I would say were on the tours we saw but I did see a guy easily in his 30's who was probably having a grand old time hooking up with all the young girls lol.

Camping/Hostel - You stay in a mix of camp sites or hostels sharing a room with at least 4 to a room I think. Again mostly younger age group from what I saw.

Hotel - This is the tour type we took. Of course the most expensive by Contiki standards but we had our own room with private bath facilities every where we went. I think around 25% of the people on this tour were in the 30-35 range. Outside of a couple of girls who tried t make a "cool" group I think everyone got along famously.

Indeed there was a lot of drinking in your spare time for most of them but with 40ish people on the tour you could really do your own thing if you wanted or just find people with similar interests as you and hang with them most of the time. We ended up drinking sometimes but others we would go with a few others and check out sites we wanted to see but the tour didn't cover.

Overall we both thought it was a great trip. We got to see a ton of places in a short amount of time and we still talk to a few of the people on the trip to this day. I would definitely choose this over Trafalgar tours. We passed a Trafalgar bus when the bus driver had cranked up our music and we were having some fun on the bus and the one young couple I saw on the other bus looked like they wanted to join us. Everyone else looked 50+.

Talking to one of the single guys later there was definitely a lot of hooking up going on with the singles and not so singles as well lol. Even the bus driver was hooking up with some of the girls. Nice job he had lol. He told us he has driven Trafalgar tours since the same company owns both Contiki and Trafalgar and he dreads it since they were so tame.

I'd say if you were looking for some fun definitely take Contiki over Trafalgar. Can't say for GAP or the others since I have never been.

[max_boost]

I have Mar 25 to Apr 12th off.

Option 1: http://www.contiki.com/destinations/europe/tours/151-scotland

http://www.contiki.com/destinations/europe/tours/133-london-paris

Scotland---->London---->Paris

Option2:
http://www.contiki.com/destinations/europe/tours/109-european-discovery

Seems crazy to hit up: Belgium (in transit), Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland, France. All in 13 days. :nut: Back to London to finish up the trip.

What would Beyond do?!

Cost wise about $2500 but the intensity of option 2, all that time on a bus :nut: but enticing to hit up all those countries.

:dunno:

[nj2Type-S]

Originally posted by max_boost
Which tour were you looking into?

we were looking into the European Whirl: http://www.contiki.com/destinations/europe/tours/126-european-whirl

i still want to do this, so hopefully soon!

[nj2Type-S]

this thread got my wife and i talking about going to europe. we're going to book 2 1/2 weeks off from work in may, so we've got to get going on our planning.

we're most likely not going with contiki as we're just not party-goers, and we don't want to be "the boring couple". i think we'd much prefer being stuck with an older crowd, than a rowdy bunch.

another thought is maybe traveling by rail. i'm more worried that we won't have much time, though.

[max_boost]

This is what I am doing now.
I am going to Italy for 9 days, first four in Rome checking out Vatican, colosseum, etc. Then 5 days "best of Italy tour" with viator which takes me to Florence, Vienna.
Afterwards I am doing the 7 day London Paris contiki tour.

Good luck with your planning, I am in for about $4k so far.

[nj2Type-S]

nice! looks like your planning is coming along just fine, hehe.

i'm still not fully sold on contiki, but this is what my wife showed me that she'd be interested in:

http://www.contiki.com/destinations/europe/tours/111-european-encounter

edit:
after doing some reading, i wouldn't even consider the "budget" type since the "superior" type isn't that superior lol. i'm not picky by any means! i just want the hotel to be safe, clean and private.

how did you find the general cost difference between the tour vs "winging it"?

this is the trafalgar tour that i was looking at. thoughts???

http://www.trafalgar.com/can/european-adventures-2014

[max_boost]

Yea superior isn't that superior lol it's like 3.5 stars at best!

You definitely save money by winging it. Basically everyone I talked to winged it! but for myself I am going solo so hoping to meet some fellow travellers :dunno: I guess it's as expensive as you want to make it. Transportation, lodging, food, makes all the diff.

[max_boost]

I will let you know the details of my trip after I go lol

[bleu]

Originally posted by max_boost
This is what I am doing now.
I am going to Italy for 9 days, first four in Rome checking out Vatican, colosseum, etc. Then 5 days "best of Italy tour" with viator which takes me to Florence, Vienna.
Afterwards I am doing the 7 day London Paris contiki tour.

Good luck with your planning, I am in for about $4k so far.

Fun fun fun! Sounds like you will have a good time. I would've winged it, but being on a tour would ensure you will see the things you want to see. Time to brush up on some French! :thumbsup:

[Type_S1]

If you are doing Italy definitely 100% do the Cinque Terre. It is amazing to just spend a day or two hiking between towns, swimming in the ocean, bridge and rock diving and drinking with locals.

Rome is definitely a highlight. Do the UNDERGROUND colloseum tour. It costs $10 more but you get access to places other people don't and get the best views for sure. The Vatican was overrated in my opinion but I am 0% an art guy.

If Milan is on your trip skip it....unless you are into fashion?

[Kobe]

Italy seems like a good bet, try to spend your time in a place rather than on a bus.. I would def not do Option 2, seems like a waste..


Never done Italy but the plan looks pretty good, I've heard you need like 4-5days for rome alone..



If you're a pretty social person than staying as hostels as super fun, I'd prob never stay in another hotel again if I had the option between the two!

Vienna is really amazing and tons to see as well!

[rage2]

Italians aren't fans of us chinks. France, they're not fans of anyone that doesn't speak French, but money changes that quickly. Money can't change shit in Italy. Just a FYI haha.

[98type_r]

Originally posted by rage2
Italians aren't fans of us chinks.

:rofl: :rofl:

Too many mainlanders ruining it for the rest of us now.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by 98type_r


:rofl: :rofl:

Too many mainlanders ruining it for the rest of us now.

They weren't too fond of us even before the mainlander got out. Pretty sure they hate our guts now.

[ercchry]

i'd stick to the south during that time of year... its not overly warm. i've done london>amsterdam>paris>nice(day trips to monaco, cannes, and a day trip into italy)>switzerland (geneva>murren>geneva)>london>home that time of year within a similar time frame, no bus though, planes and trains... and yeah. not enjoyable, snowed in paris, the alps were pretty nice, fresh powder and blue skys ~1 degree out... it was just too bad i was broken and couldnt ride... amsterdam was around 10 degree, south of france was around 14 degrees, london just sucks... (this year its extra wet too) and not enough time, it felt like constant travel

this year i'll actually be flying into london on the 11th of april, but then its straight south to a villa in portugal (algarve) for me :D

[nj2Type-S]

i've convinced my wife not to go on a contiki tour bus haha! yes! i'm just dreading the time spent on the bus getting to places. we're now looking at taking the train around europe. we'll just have to look at the cost of the independent travel via rail route vs contiki.

from what i can tell, it looks pretty straight forward. any thoughts?

http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes

[AzNxHyDrA]

Originally posted by nj2Type-S
i've convinced my wife not to go on a contiki tour bus haha! yes! i'm just dreading the time spent on the bus getting to places. we're now looking at taking the train around europe. we'll just have to look at the cost of the independent travel via rail route vs contiki.

from what i can tell, it looks pretty straight forward. any thoughts?

http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes

I'm going with my family during the summer and we were deciding between a rail route and renting a car.

Does anyone have experience driving around Europe? We planned our trip out on google maps and it doesn't seem like too long of a drive between our destinations.

Our current plans are London->Paris->Brussels->Amsterdam->Frankfurt->Munich ->Zurich->Geneva->Lyons->Paris.

We're probably taking the train from London to Paris and not picking up a car until we leave for Brussels.

[msommers]

Originally posted by nj2Type-S
i've convinced my wife not to go on a contiki tour bus haha! yes! i'm just dreading the time spent on the bus getting to places. we're now looking at taking the train around europe. we'll just have to look at the cost of the independent travel via rail route vs contiki.

from what i can tell, it looks pretty straight forward. any thoughts?

http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes

Where are you planning on going?

In some cases, buying tickets from the ticket office is cheaper than using the Europass. On the other hand, Germany is very expensive to use the DB and it's well worth it there.

Getting around Europe is very straight forward. I mean the very first time I really travelled anywhere outside of Canada, was all over Europe, on my own. Between the two of you, you'll be fine.

[Xtrema]

Driving is fine until you get into the major cities. The tightness of streets, building blocking GPS signal, lots of 1 way and high volume traffic may be stressful.

Major rail lines are fine. I did get stuck in Italy for a few hours on the minor lines due to problems to Cinque Terre and the always threat of strikes.

[Feruk]

I did the rail pass on my first trip. Skip! Flights between European cities are DIRT cheap and I'd recommend flying any time a train ride is over 4 hours. Especially critical in Italy which has the WORST train system of Western Europe.

http://www.skyscanner.ca

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Feruk
I did the rail pass on my first trip. Skip! Flights between European cities are DIRT cheap and I'd recommend flying any time a train ride is over 4 hours. Especially critical in Italy which has the WORST train system of Western Europe.

http://www.skyscanner.ca

I think it's an experience if you have not done it before or like if you like trains. It does give you time to enjoy some scenes along the way.

But next time I'll drive.

[Feruk]

It's an experience once or twice, not after that. If you do take the train OP, do so through the Alps.

[Kobe]

Originally posted by nj2Type-S
i've convinced my wife not to go on a contiki tour bus haha! yes! i'm just dreading the time spent on the bus getting to places. we're now looking at taking the train around europe. we'll just have to look at the cost of the independent travel via rail route vs contiki.

from what i can tell, it looks pretty straight forward. any thoughts?

http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes

EURail is a huge rip off, don't waste your money on it, you are better off just using all the trains instead of limiting yourself.. I've never actually heard of someone saying they used the pass to the full extent...

[msommers]

If you travel enough in Germany, or make use of overnight trains + additionals the next day on the same "stamp", it can definitely be cheaper. Just depends where you are. But more often than not, it's cheaper from the ticket office.

[nj2Type-S]

wife changed her mind again. we ended up booking this:

http://www.trafalgar.com/can/european-impressions-2014

ahh well..there's always next time. funny because we weren't even planning on going to europe until next spring lol. i showed her this thread, and BAM!

[max_boost]

Originally posted by nj2Type-S
wife changed her mind again. we ended up booking this:

http://www.trafalgar.com/can/european-impressions-2014

ahh well..there's always next time. funny because we weren't even planning on going to europe until next spring lol. i showed her this thread, and BAM!

Awesome! :thumbsup:

[msommers]

Originally posted by nj2Type-S
wife changed her mind again. we ended up booking this:

http://www.trafalgar.com/can/european-impressions-2014

ahh well..there's always next time. funny because we weren't even planning on going to europe until next spring lol. i showed her this thread, and BAM!

Money well spent! Report back when you're home, really like hearing about people's travels.

[nj2Type-S]

definitely! we decided to fly to london a couple of days before the tour starts. we're stoked, for sure!

[max_boost]

A couple questions.

Euros, get it here? Get it over there?

Phone data cause you can't live without data lol

I have iphone5 with Rogers. Can I unlock it here and buy a sim card in London? Paris? Italy? Is it reasonable?

Or I can just use wi-fi. I am ok with that too.

[Kobe]

Originally posted by max_boost
A couple questions.

Euros, get it here? Get it over there?

Phone data cause you can't live without data lol

I have iphone5 with Rogers. Can I unlock it here and buy a sim card in London? Paris? Italy? Is it reasonable?

Or I can just use wi-fi. I am ok with that too.

Get Euros in Europe will be cheaper.. bring cash or just an ATM

Some phones can be unlocked for $50 via rogers (I think you need to have the phone registered for 90days with them 1st)

If not you can unlock it from Apple but it's around $130 (not worth it better getting a used phone)

I bought the Nexus 4 only becuase it came unlocked, and it works in every country..

Wi-Fi is pretty good in most places in Europe, I haven't had any problems, it depends what you need it for..

[nj2Type-S]

has anybody here been to the RAF museum in london? or rented a car in london?! cab rides are gonna kill me!

[rage2]

I never rely on wifi. Get a SIM card because you'll want google maps to help you get around. I'm not sure if nano SIMs are readily available yet, so I bring my travel 4S in case I can only get Micro SIMs.

[dubhead]

Originally posted by nj2Type-S
has anybody here been to the RAF museum in london? or rented a car in london?! cab rides are gonna kill me!

Grab an Oyster card and take the tube it's so easy to get around London.

[dubhead]

Originally posted by max_boost
A couple questions.

Euros, get it here? Get it over there?

Phone data cause you can't live without data lol

I have iphone5 with Rogers. Can I unlock it here and buy a sim card in London? Paris? Italy? Is it reasonable?

Or I can just use wi-fi. I am ok with that too.

I had no problem finding free wifi. There were also pay for options that had pretty good coverage in the cities in England.

[JPB]

Definitely cheap to buy a SIM card in Europe. I'm in Italy now, and for 250 min in country/250 text + 3 GB data + 120 min calling back to Canada (gotta stay in touch with wife) is 19 Euros a month. Without the international calling, 15 Euros. This is with Wind.

We are getting so hosed in Canada by comparison.

[max_boost]

tipping in europe.

this is what i gather, anywhere from $1-3 euros is plenty, regardless if it's daily for hotel maids, taxi drivers, tour guides, dinner for one etc. looks like i better go get a bucket of coins.

some restaurants have service included if not up to 10% is plenty.

all i got out of it was, do not be a beyond baller over seas and tip like you do in calgary. :nut:

[TomcoPDR]

Updates, pics?

[nj2Type-S]

how 'bout it, max? any feedback from your trip? ours is coming up quickly, and it'd be nice to hear your insights.

being asian, how were you treated in europe? sounds silly, i know, but yea haha

[TYMSMNY]

they aren't racist towards foreigners. With them being in a tour group, it's usually to places that are tourist-centric. with any of those "western Europe" tours, it's a lot of hustle and go. Lots of places to see and lots of travel time = early mornings and tight time schedules.

Did a two week europe trip with my parents awhile back and man... did we hit country after country. Decent food in general and well... visited too many castles and churches.

[nj2Type-S]

we're in montreal right now waiting for our flight home. we had finished our 2 1/2 week tour of europe.

overall, we were VERY pleased and VERY lucky with our tour group! i say "lucky" because we went with trafalgar, and i totally thought that we'd be stuck with boring, old folks haha! our group of 43 travelers consisted a wide range of ethnic and age groups. we pretty much hit it off from the get-go, and had a blast.

we did all of the optionals, and they were so worth it! i was somewhat disappointed in the food, though. maybe i set the bar too high, because i was pretty disappointed most of the time haha! i didn't go to any high end food establishments; we just went to moderately-priced establishments.

would i travel with a tour group again? why not? virtually no lining up, best seats despite showing up just minutes before the shows start, plenty of free time, safety net of a group, and meeting awesome people.

[max_boost]

nice. glad you had a good time. i can't wait to go back. i'm literally counting down the days. another 300 or so before next vacation. i'm thinking berlin/vienna/austria or some combo of it and extending to budapest or wherever. it's seriously the only thing i am looking forward to. fml lol

[nj2Type-S]

you and me both, brotha! haha! we're counting down to our next one already.

we were only in austria for 5 days, but it was my favourite country of the trip. vienna was so laid back; we were just walking around aimlessly, just looking at the architecture.

i didn't like venice as much as i thought i would. it was so crowded, that i just wanted to get my pictures taken and leave lol.