Contiki Travel

chideltjen · #1 07-26-2004, 07:20 PM

Has anyone ever been on a tour with Contiki Travel?

Some friends and I are planning a two week trip to Europe for next summer. I know two weeks isn't enough but I have a job to think about now.

Anyway, the packages seem cool. They take care of transportation and hostels in different countries. And you travel with a group of people from 18-35 (at least that's the age limit.) There was a budget 2 week trip that covered a few countries of interest for about $1280.

My concern is that we sign up and the tour is crap or a complete rip off. So has anyone used them? Or maybe another travel group?

It's our first trip to Europe on our own so we kind of need the guidence.

navane · #2 07-27-2004, 12:42 AM

I have heard nothing but fantastic things about Contiki tours. I have never, ever heard anyone call any of their packages a rip off. I'm an independent backpacker myself. However, if I ever chose to do a group trip of this kind, I am very certain I would choose Contiki.

I'm not a Contiki employee, just an avid traveller,

.....Kelly

navane · #3 07-27-2004, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chideltjen

It's our first trip to Europe on our own so we kind of need the guidence.

P.S. - I knew a girl who really wanted to travel the world, but she was very nervous about it - especially since she was going alone. She decided to go on a 2-week Contiki tour across Europe as a way of "getting her feet wet". She could see lots of places, have people to go with, and not have to panic about finding accomodations and such. She went and enjoyed it very much. I hear that first-time travllers and seasoned backpackers alike enjoy the tours.

.....Kelly

chideltjen · #4 07-27-2004, 12:51 AM

Thanks Navane,

I only ask about the whole rip off thing because my mom got all concerned once I mentioned group tour. She didn't want me going to some shady dealer or something since this is going to be my first MAJOR trip out of the country. And I had never heard of Contiki until now so I wanted to check.

But they sound perfect for what I am going for... just an overview of it all and I can return on a later date and explore things in more detail.

#5 07-27-2004, 12:53 AM

I was supposed to take a vacation to New Zealand last year but it was postponed due to one of the girls getting pregnant.

Anyway, three of my friends did go to New Zealand through Contiki Tours, and they had great things to say about their experience. Their guide was fabulous, the hotels they stayed in were excellent for the price, and the attractions/hot spots they visited were well planned and they did not feel like they were being rushed at all.

They ended up booking a European vacation a year later and again they had a great time.

ZTAngel · #6 07-27-2004, 08:08 AM

A friend of mine used Contiki for an Australian tour and had a lot of fun. I've only heard good things about Contiki. I was actually going to use them last year after I graduated for a tour through Europe but my friend sold out on me.

Their tour packages look like a lot of fun!

AlphaSigOU · #7 07-27-2004, 09:36 AM

Always make sure that inclusive tour operators and travel agents have membership in ASTA (the American Society of Travel Agents); it's one way of making sure that a tour operator or travel agent is on the up and up.

Lady Pi Phi · #8 07-27-2004, 09:43 AM

My mother's friend has a son who went on one of their tours and according to my mum's friend, he had a fantastic time and absolutely loved it.

I'm think I'd like to take one of their tours, maybe next summer.

Xylochick216 · #9 07-27-2004, 08:56 PM

I've never used Contiki myself, but I hear it's fabulous for first-time travelers. They take you to all the touristy places you will want to see and organize it so you don't have to worry about a thing

I used a company like Contiki my first time to Australia and had a blast.

We used Youth Hostel Association (YHA) to plan our 7 weeks in Australia/NZ in 2002. They were great and cheap to work with, but we had to worry about a lot of details ourselves. The good thing about it was we got to see what we wanted to and spend as much time in certain places as we wanted. I'd definitely stick with Contiki if it's your first time, though. I hear they're a lot of fun, too

SigmaChiCard · #10 07-28-2004, 12:57 AM

People I met who did Contiki really enjoyed it, saying that you really bond with your travel mates and that you get to do a ton of things. The complaint is that you couldn't really enjoy the places you went to because it was far too fast paced and that they felt they only got an overview of several cities and that it mostly served as a means of telling them which cities they intended to later revisit and chill out & enjoy.

As a lone traveler or even a pair I think this would be a great option, but with a group of friends I think that Contiki would not suit your purposes because it is for the most part a social thing rather than getting to really see any city. I've not done it, but that is the message I received from the people I met along the way traveling post-contiki-traveling. As a group I'd recomend doing either the bus-about tour or doing the train thing. Bus-
about drops you off at the best hostels the city has to offer, and nearly always assures you a room (I believe). TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HOSTELS, They are beautiful. Avoid YHA hostels.....they are utterly devoid of spirit and life. Independent hostels have such personality and are cheaper, generally. They stick together too so where ever you are there will be flyers for the next cool hostel. Guide Books have good recs too. Bus-About takes you to these if you choose to do it. The fault with Bus-About is that your route is planned and while it's really great, you have limited say. Independent travel is the best because you can meet someone and decide to go to a different city than you planned or bypass a city they think sucks. Personal recs are very helpful.

Check out Rick Steves!

Cheers & enjoy your travels....

Cory

ms_gwyn · #11 07-28-2004, 07:21 AM

I did a domestic tour of NYC (1998) with Contiki and enjoyed it greatly, I still talk with some of the people to this day.

As you can imagine since it was domestic, most of the group were from different countries, but I enjoyed it nonetheless...it feed my passion for Aussie and Kiwi (NZ) accents.

I plan on using them again next year for my tour of europe (I think I still make the age restriction)

SigmaChiCard · #12 08-13-2004, 02:44 AM

ever make a decision?

chideltjen · #13 08-13-2004, 02:53 AM

I'm most likely going to do this tour. I talked to my friend today and she may only have money to go do an Aussie trip. So I may do the Europe thing myself. And I can chose a trip I want to go on as well. There is an Italy trip that takes you there as well as a few surrounding places. I really want to explore Rome and Vatican City and one of the tours covers both.

I am a big scardy cat when it comes to even leaving California. So this will be a big step. Since I get lost easily, I figure a group tour would be good to start and then maybe go back on my own a year later and explore things more in depth.

Thanks for the good reviews though. It helped.