CONTIKI

Went to our tour kickstart meeting in the evening at the Royal National Hotel. Meeting was very brief; mostly dealt with Passport and Travel Insurance details. Everything else would be explained to us while we were on the coach.

There were a little over 50 travelers. A huge majority were Australian. There were a handful of Canadians and Americans; some Kiwi's, a couple from Mexico, a group of friends from South Africa and a solo traveler from Singapore.

Contiki is a tour company aimed toward traveler's between the ages of 18-35. They offer tours all over the world for various travel styles and budgets. We opted for the "European Discovery" which is a fast-paced tour that covers eight countries in 13 days. I heard about Contiki from friends who traveled with them before. The best thing about this tour company is you can pay in installments after putting down your initial deposit. You have up until 45 days before departure to pay off the balance. All hotels, tour transportation and most meals are included. Two weeks before the trip we received a packet in the mail with our final itinerary and further instructions.

Our team consisted of a Trip Manager and Driver. They were close in age to the rest of the group so that made it fun and interesting. The coach was descent with USB outlets for charging and a "#1 only" restroom onboard. We were allowed to store a medium-size luggage weighing no more than 44lbs under the coach and a carry-on bag to keep with us up on top.

Our mornings started early with an included breakfast at the hotel and our Day Song played on the coach. Our Day Song was "Verge" by Owl City. Usually after the song our Trip Manager would chat with us and pass back a Day Sheet of what was planned for us. After that he would hand out a map of the city we were visiting and discuss points of interests to check out on our own free time.

Coach rides were long and painful. We drove for at least six hours per day - taking rest stops every three hours. The rest stops are about 45 minutes at roadside gas stations. I know it sounds bad but these were some pretty serious facilities. A lot of them look like buffets. Some of the best meals (and cups of coffee) of my trip were at these rest stops. Although, one downside is the long restroom lines and you need to pay for most of them. The most I spent was 1.50 Euros.

Most of our downtime on the coach was spent napping. The Trip Manager would play a Wake-Up song just before our rest stop. Our Wake-Up song was "You Make My Dreams Come True" by Hall and Oats. This song is now my new alarm tone BTW...

Contiki also offers what they call "Me Time Optionals." These activities have an additional cost and are meant to "enhance" your travel experience. We participated in all but three. Some of the optionals included: a wine tasting in Germany, a Tuscan dinner in Italy, a lake cruise in Switzerland, etc. Most of them were awesome; some I could have skipped.

#photo #europe #contiki