PTM // Contiki: European Vista Trip…

As most of you know that after I booked my plane ticket to Ireland back in September of 2007, I wasn’t exactly planning on turning this “vacation” into a full fledged trip of a lifetime. Once I realized that my dreams of traveling Europe were actually viable, I started to do some research on a few different companies that offer tours throughout Europe. Not just day tours, not through one country, but I was looking for more of an extended tour through multiple countries.

After researching for a few weeks I came across a company that really interested me. This company is called Contiki. They were the only tour company that I found to offer specialized tours designed strictly for 18-35 year olds. I found this to be great considering I will be traveling on my own and would prefer if possible to hang out with a few people my age. I had been reading some travel forums about a few other tour companies and many people said that the tours were filled with tourists from the age of 3 to 60, senior citizens, the whole lot. Not that I have anything against children or the elderly in any way, but if I’m going to drop a couple thousand dollars on a tour through Europe, I would simply rather travel with people my age. Pretty understandable, right?

Over time, after giving another look at a few other tour companies, I decided to choose Contiki. In January I went ahead and booked the Contiki: European Vista Tour. The European Vista tour is a jam packed 23 Day tour that starts in London on May 11th, and ends in Amsterdam on June 1st. In between London and Amsterdam we’ll be spending time in Paris, Lucerne, Nice, Florence, Rome, Venice, Hopfgarten, Munich, Vienna, Prague, and Rhine Valley.

In each city along the way there are what Contiki calls “Included Highlights”. These highlights are included in the tour package price of course. Some of many included highlights are:

• (Paris, France) - Tour of Illuminations, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Champs Elysees & Notre Dame Cathedral
• (Lucerne, Switzerland) - Wooden Chapel Bridge, and the Lion Monument
• (French Riviera) - Visits to Nice, Monaco, and Monte Carlo. French Perfumery, Royal Palace, Casino in Monte Carlo, and a scenic drive along the Riviera coast.
• (Pisa, Italy) - Leaning Tower of Pisa
• (Florence, Italy) - Walking tour with local guide, Florentine leather craft demonstration, the Duomo, Basilica Santa Croce, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry & Piazza della Signoria
• (Rome, Italy) - Piazza Venezia, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Colosseum & Roman Forum
• (Vatican City) - St. Peter’s Basilica
• (Venice, Italy) - Private motorboat to the historic islands, Piazza San Marco, Bridge of Sighs, the Doges’ Palace & St. Marks Square, Murano glass-blowing & Burano lace-making demonstrations
• (Brenner Pass) - Scenic drive past vineyards, orchards and castles
• (Tyrol: Austria) - See the picturesque area famous for adventure sports
• (Munich, Germany) - the Glockenspiel & Marienplatz, and visit to a beerhall
• (Vienna, Austria) - Schonbrunn Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral & the State Opera House, Scenic drive along the historic Ring Road
• (Prague, Czech Republic) - Hradcany Castle, Cathedral of St. Vitus, Charles Bridge and Wenceslas Square
• (Rhine Valley: Germany) - Scenic River Cruise, Lorelei Rock
• (Amsterdam, Netherlands) - See the Canals, Gable Houses, and city by night, Bicycle tour through the dutch countryside, visits to a cheese farm and clog maker’s house, and a visit to a fishing & cheese village.

There are also many extra Activities that everyone can choose to take part in or not along the way. These activities are what Contiki calls “Optionals”. The optionals are NOT included in the Tour Package price, if you choose to take part in the activities you will go through your Contiki guide to do so. Some of the many optionals that are available on the European Vista are:

• (Paris, France) - Famous Parisian Cabaret Show w/ Dinner
• (Lucerne, Switzerland) - Boat Cruise on Lake Lucerne
• (French Riviera: Monaco) - Dinner at a restaurant in Monaco
• (Florence, Italy) - Tuscan Hills Feast w/ Entertainment and visit to a Florence Nightclub
• (Rome, Italy) - Guided Imperial Rome Tour
• (Hopfgarten, Austria: Tyrol) - Tandem Paragliding / Mt. Biking Tour & BBQ
• (Vienna, Austria) - Mozart Classical Concert & Dinner
• (St. Goar, Germany: Rhine Valley) - Wine Tasting
• (Amsterdam, Netherlands) - Evening Canal Cruise, I also hear that depending on your Contiki guide you might also be invited to a special so called “Amsterdam Cultural Show”, but I’ll report back on that one. I can only imagine at the moment…

So as you can see above, there will be so much to do and see along the way. Most of the main attractions and sights over the course of the trip are for the most part included, which is pretty cool!

The fact is, is that most people tend to shun these types of tours due to not being able to spend enough time in a each city. I’m not too worried about that because I didn’t really choose to take a Contiki trip to see as many places as I could in 3 weeks, I decided to take a Contiki trip so that it would provide me with an idea of where I’d like to go back to for a weekend or two here and there near the summers end.

My Contiki trip is a little over a month away at this point. I head off to London on May 11th, stay the night and meet with all of my fellow Contiki’ers at the hotel. It should be a great time, and I’m sure I’ll make a few new friends along the way. Maybe even a few that I will get the chance to meet up with later in the summer…