Contiki tour??????????

[CoverKing]

Just bumping this thread.

Im looking a bit in advance, but March 2012, im looking at doing a contiki tour, the 45 day Ultimate European plus Greek Islands, which will also have me at the Dawn Service on Anzac Day.

After this im hoping to stay in London for a bit for the Olympic Games.

Any advice or tips on what to plan for with Contiki tours??

[Dirko]

Any advice or tips on what to plan for with Contiki tours??

Just pack plenty of these;

[CoverKing]

Any advice or tips on what to plan for with Contiki tours??

Just pack plenty of these;

Or none, have some kids in each country and then have free accomodation for the rest of my life in numerous countries

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

Any advice or tips on what to plan for with Contiki tours??

Just pack plenty of these;

Or none, have some kids in each country and then have free accomodation for the rest of my life in numerous countries

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

Just bumping this thread.

Im looking a bit in advance, but March 2012, im looking at doing a contiki tour, the 45 day Ultimate European plus Greek Islands, which will also have me at the Dawn Service on Anzac Day.

After this im hoping to stay in London for a bit for the Olympic Games.

Any advice or tips on what to plan for with Contiki tours??

Worth keeping in mind that euro 2012 will be on in Poland & Ukraine during June if your into football.

[CoverKing]

May just have to do that! Thanks for that!

Contiki followed by euro soccer and olympics sounds like a great trip to me!!

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

May just have to do that! Thanks for that!

Contiki followed by euro soccer and olympics sounds like a great trip to me!!

Certainly does.

I'm planning on getting over for the full 3 and a half weeks of Euro, and exploring abit of the Eastern side of Europe, then heading back to London for some of the olympics where i will take full advantage of family members spare rooms

FWIW Euro runs from June 8th - July 1st

[Pat Malone]

First tip mate, 45 days camping is a long time camping and a long time with people you didn't choose to travel with. Having done a concept Contiki I saw plenty of camping Contiki groups and safe to say we weren't envious. Watching them all hover around their cameras, iPods or phones charging at campsites so they didn't get stolen didn't really appeal to us, we much preferred the powerpoints in our cabins. There are powerpoints on the bus but 4 or 5 powerpoints doesn't cater for all the electronics of a tour group. Prob the main thing I picked up from observing the campers at caravan parks and speaking to them but didn't hear too many complaints.
If you are looking at doing a Contiki I don't reckon u need to go for that long. Sure u get to see plenty of places but the structured plans don't make it so much of a holiday. When I went I travelled with a mate and our trip ended in Rome. He wanted to go to Spain and I wanted to go to Greek islands. So off he went with 5 or 6 Contiki crew to barcelona and I went with some other Contiki crew to Greek islands. The point is u will meet plenty on the trip to continue on with if u so wish.
Also I wouldn't do the Greek islands as part of Contiki. They all include a fair stay in Athens which is a dump and require you to do stuff every day which I guarantee is not the lifestyle you want there. Better off doing the Greek islands seperately imo, the place is packed with heaps of tourists to meet.

[sizeable lad]

I went on a 18 day contiki tour through New Zealand (both islands) with my girlfriend.
Everything was really easy as one big payment covers pretty much everything except for
a few extra activities and a bit of food.
Contiki tours also cover a pretty large area, so be aware there are early mornings.
We had one girl who was throwing up during whitewater rafting from too much alcohol the night before haha!
As far as going with my girlfriend, we had no problems partying with the rest of the crew.
In fact we made good friends from the trip.
There is no doubt that people on contiki tours want to party, so every night people hit the town.
If you want a quiet look at things, then contiki is probably not the best option but in saying that
you don't have to go out every night if you choose not too.
Overall, If I get a chance to do another contiki tour, I will do it!!!!!!!!

[Q.]

What Pat said. Maybe do a 20-25 day Contiki tour to start with and then, with a bit of travelling confidence under your belt, wing the rest of your trip. Flights between European cities are dirt cheap and with a little imagination you could go anywhere you want (and without being roped into the structure of a package tour).

[CoverKing]

Pat definitely not looking atthe camping option, the one I want is a concept tour which is the type of tour I want to go on!

Reason for the 45 day one, is I may not be able to afford staying for a couple months afterwards! Iv wanted to do the 45 day one for so long so I'm happy with the 45 days let's hope I have a good tour guide and tour manager for the trip!

[Pat Malone]

Ah no dramas CK, when I went last year I thought there was only one 45 day trip which was a camping one. For the record I did just over 3 months in Europe last year including a 22 day Contiki and then travelled freely for the rest. The contiki was awesome and I met people on the trip that I travelled around with for ages afterwards. I went to Greek Islands with some of them, then back to Croatia with some other crew and met another few at Oktoberfest. Contiki was a great way to meet people and travel around to see plenty of places but it was also good to do a lot of it at my own pace, without the structure and with the people I wanted to travel with. I had a great guide and group but there is always half a dozen people who dont fit the Contiki mould and just whinge the whole time. No matter how much you plan for this, they are so annoying. Financially you arent any better off doing a Contiki for 45 days compared to doing a 20 or 25 day trip and doing 3 weeks by yourself. If you look at sites such as hostelbookers and skyscanner you can travel for next to nothing in Europe and stay and live for bugger all as well. But it sounds like youre set on the 45 day trip and you would be unlikely to see as much doing it by yourself.

Not sure what tips to give you. A bit is just general travel advice as well as a lot of info you will find out when you go and cant really plan for but I will let you know a bit of the insight anyway.
- Buying a spare camera battery before you go is a must if you do Contiki, the opportunities to charge cameras and ipods is limited during the day and you might only charge it every couple nights if you plan on taking photos whilst you are out at night. One South African girl had an awesome camera, prob $5000 worth and took awesome photos but then got a flat battery at the Vatican and couldnt get any pictures. I left most of the photography to the arty people and then we set up an email address we could all access and all sent our photos to it so we could all share. Beats walking around with a camera all day.
- Take a backpack and not a suitcase. So much easier when you have to pack and repack everyday and you often stay at hostels with no lifts. You'll find yourself doing multiple trips every night bringing girls suitcases up the stairs for them anyway.
- Double adaptor/Power board. Nothing worse than when you have the opportunity to charge stuff you can only do one thing at a time due to having only one international/universal adaptor. And check your chargers first to see what you need, I needed a proper board due to the stupid way my phone and camera chargers faced, couldnt use 2 next to each other.
- Drugs. You will get sick at some stage on a Contiki, its a given. Always good to have some antibiotics or hayfever tablets organised before you go. I packed these in my backpack which you have on the bus as once your big bag goes under the bus at the start of the day, its way too hard to get anything out when you stop as you might have to remove 50 bags to get to yours. Also with drugs, try and do a trip that has Amsterdam as one of the first stops, then you should be stocked up for the rest of the trip.
- Washing. Doing your washing is the biggest chore ever when travelling and getting it done for you is bloody expensive. If you are looking to do a Contiki for the majority of your travels then luggage weight shouldnt be too much of an issue so pack heaps, and if not, befriend a lady early so she can do it for you. Or get really good at rock paper scissors.
-Bus trips. Everyone thinks everything is close in Europe. Wrong. You will find yourself spending 8 to 10 to 12 hour days on the bus so get a good seat early and fight til your death if anyone tries to sit next to you. The other option is to try and get the middle of the back seat so you can put your legs down the hallway. You could plan by learning to sleep in confined spaces, trying camping in your car for a week.

[Q.]

- Washing. Doing your washing is the biggest chore ever when travelling and getting it done for you is bloody expensive. If you are looking to do a Contiki for the majority of your travels then luggage weight shouldnt be too much of an issue so pack heaps, and if not, befriend a lady early so she can do it for you. Or get really good at rock paper scissors.

Most cities have coin-operated laundromats. You can get a whole load done in under an hour for 3-4 Euros. Bring with you a pillow case (or two) to use as a laundry bag and you can chuck it in with the clothes as they're washing

Alternatively, just wash your clothes in the sink and then hang them on THIS. Sometimes the bathrooms won't have a plug, so it can be handy to bring a couple of different sized plugs along with you or just stuff a sock down the drain.

[CoverKing]

Thanks for your help guys! Thats something i wouldnt have thought about, is the pillow case as a washing bag, along with a powerboard so you only need one powerpoint adapter thing! Good points.

If you think of anymore, especially stuff in the planning side, be good to hear them. EG: best to go through flight centre, or another travel agent?

[Pseudo]

Alternatively, just wash your clothes in the sink and then hang them on THIS.

From experience: those things work fine for undies and socks. Don't count on hanging a sodden pair of jeans from them though!

[Q.]

Alternatively, just wash your clothes in the sink and then hang them on THIS.

From experience: those things work fine for undies and socks. Don't count on hanging a sodden pair of jeans from them though!

I discarded those suction caps immediately and would just loop the hooks around something (anything!), leaving it taught and stretched across the room.

There were several times I feared a light fitting would rip from a wall in the middle of the night or that the elastic would give way and I'd end up with a hook lodged in my forehead.

I've got a picture at home of my best effort, I'll post it later this evening.

[Q.]

For some reason I remember it being bigger. Oh well, still a decent effort.

[Jim05]

Did a 24 day contiki through europe before 2006 wc and then went to wc after. Went with wife and had fantastic time, 4 other couples on board and even split of guys/gals. Did the trip where we stayed in hotels and they were all fantastic. Highlights were being in paris for champions league final arsenal v barca and getting scalpers tix. Also going to manaco f1 gp and losing 1000 euros in 1 hand at monte carlo but walking out 4000 up. The money came in very handy especially in amsterdam

[bayman]

Wandering through Europe by myself did me the world of good... Nevertheless there were several married couples on the tour, I DID and even a brother and sister

i didn't think you had it in you pseudo

[CoverKing]

Wandering through Europe by myself did me the world of good... Nevertheless there were several married couples on the tour, I DID and even a brother and sister

i didn't think you had it in you pseudo

classic