European Winter Vista - Contiki
- Ali Lucas-Chee
- Jan 27, 2012
- 23 min read
Updated: Sep 30, 2022
Although I had spent a year living in the Netherlands at the age of 16, the rest of Europe was quite new to me. So, to start my time abroad living in London, I thought I should do an European tour.
Beginning a bit of a naive Australian traveler, I booked a tour with Contiki, as it is a brand that is very well marketed here, it is what every young Australian does. It is exclusively for 18-35 year olds, so being 26 at the time, I thought it would be perfect for me. Out of 48 people on the trip, 43 were Aussies and the majority had just turned 18. Mummy and daddy had paid for their trip and they were only there to party. It was a bit sad really, especially when they would miss full days of touring as they were sick in bed with a hangover...rookies!
After the first few days, I soon found a group that were more 'like minded' and were all about experiencing the countries we visited, they became my little Contiki family.
Day 1 - Trip Meeting
I had been staying with my family in England for the past few days and they dropped me off at the hotel in London where the tour began. As I had opted to be in a share room for the trip, it was strange when I checked in and there was already someone's stuff in the room (turns out this was not the person I would spend the rest of the trip sharing with, it was just someone who had just gotten back from a trip, so random).
That night, we had a trip meeting at the hotel where they went through a lot of basic information. It was quite generic as there were a number of different trips (with different itineraries) at the meeting as we were all leaving the following day. I meet a few people on my trip, including our tour guide, Krista from Canada and our driver, John from Yorkshire.
Day 2 - London to Paris
It was a reasonably early morning, having to be down at the bus to get our bags weighed at 7am. We were only allowed one 20kg suitcase each. The funny thing was, they had to be weighed leaving but not coming back...I am sure everyone's bag weighted more after the tour!
After all of our bags were deemed acceptable to be loaded, we got on the bus. Being a solo traveler, I had to make a choice of who to sit next to. I ended up sitting next to a girl named Mandy, she was also a solo travel. She seemed pretty nice, and we chatted about how we were both worried about who we would be sharing a room with. Your roomie on these kinds of trips, especially a 22 day tour, can make or break some of your experiences!
We left London and after a couple of hours, the magnificent white cliffs of Dover came into view. Here, we took the 1.5 hour ferry ride over to Calais, France. Everyone seemed to keep to themselves for the majority of the trip, but I did have a couple of chats with a few people on my tour.
Once we arrived, we had our passports checked and then it was another three hours before we reached Paris. On the way, we did some ‘speed dating’, where we all swapped seats and had a few minutes chat with the person next to us. It was quite fun and allowed us to meet everyone on the bus. It was then, that I realised the lack of diversity in the group. Joining the 43 Aussies, was a girl from Japan, a guy from South African, a guy from American, a South Korean guy and a Canadian guy.
We arrived at our hotel and eagerly checked the room allocations. Low and behold I was sharing with Mandy. We were both super excited about that because we had become quite friendly during our 7.5 hour commute from London.
Once we had put our stuff in our room and had a little bit of time to freshen up, we were back in the bus for a night drive around Paris. Our guide told us heaps and heaps of information and facts along the way. My favourite part was when we got to the Arch de Thriomphe, which (in case you didn’t know) is situated in the middle of one of the busiest roundabouts in the world, with 12 roads that lead on and off of it and there are NO LINES!!! So, anyway that in itself was super exciting in a mega bus, but then our driver cranked up the music and had this really dramatic Mozart song playing as we went around and around a few times. It was just amazing!
We then drove to the Eiffel Tower, where we got out and took the lifts up to the top. This was my second time to the Eiffel Tower (the first when I was 16), but my first at night. It was absolutely freezing up there, but stunning to see the 360 degree view of Paris at night.
Tip: If you want to go up the Eiffel Tower, you can walk up the stairs instead of taking the lift. It will only get you to the second floor but it is a lot cheaper and the line is normally a lot shorter! You can walk to the second and then get a lift to the top, this also works out cheaper than catching the lift all the way to the top.
Day 3 - Paris
Today was a ‘free’ day, which meant that we could do whatever we wanted. So, with a map in hand, my newfound friend, Mandy and I, planned out our day and headed out. First up, we went with our tour bus and opted to get out at the Arch de Triomphe. Here, we climbed to the top and checked out the views. It was fascinating to watch the unbelievably synchronized chaos of the road below.
Next up was a stroll down Avenue des Champs-Élysées, one of the most famous and expensive shopping streets in Paris. This street is bustling with tourists and serious shoppers alike. We went into a few places, including the Disney shop, but didn't end up buying anything.
Nibbling on some freshly made pain au chocolat, we walked through Tuileries Garden to the Louvre. We didn’t go in because, not only did we have limited time to explore Paris, Mandy wasn't that interested and I had been there before.
Tip: I would definitely recommend putting a full day (if not two, depending on your love of art) aside if you want to visit the Louvre, there is a lot to see and you can spend hours walking around the multiple floors and wings of this amazing museum. I mean, it is the largest art museum in the world for a reason!
Continuing our walk, we made our way to Notre Dame. From the statues decorating every facet to the incredible colours of the stained-glass windows inside, the Notre Dame is truly a spectacular piece of architecture. We ran into some of our group while we were there and decided to go for lunch together. Being daring, we ordered some frogs legs and escargot for us all to try. I liked the snail, but that might have been because it was smothered in garlic butter, I wasn’t too fused on the frog’s legs though!
The last stop on our whirlwind 'Paris in a day' tour was to the Sacré Cœur. This was my favourite place in Paris when I visited at the age of 16 and visiting again made me realise, it still was. The view is breathtaking from the top of the stairs and the atmosphere is just incredible. From people picnicking on the stairs, buskers playing music and street vendors selling art and jewellery, it is just teeming with life.
Facing the Sacré Cœur, down the road to the left, there is another awesome view of the city and if you follow the road it will lead you to Place du Tertre. Here you will find a buzz of artist piled into a square, selling their work or offering portraits. There are also cafes around the square, so after you have a walk around, take a sit, order a drink and just absorb the ambiance.
After resting our legs for a short time back at our hotel, it was then time to head out for the night to Moulin Rouge. This was an optional extra and quite expensive, but everyone else was going so I thought, why not. The show was entertaining enough, although I did find the in between acts more enjoyable. I am also ashamed to say that I was surprised the whole show was performed in French, unfortunately this is quite a ignorant English speaking traveler way of thinking. We think everything should/will be in English. I will know better from now on.
Day 4 - Paris to Lucerne
Back on the road, today we would be crossing the boarder from France to Switzerland. It was a long 7 hour bus ride, but, in between naps, our guide helped to make the time pass a bit faster. Firstly by making us all get up and tell everyone a few things about ourselves. This was interesting as we got to know more about the people we were traveling with.
She then introduced us to our day song, which would be played everyday when we first got into the bus. It was Enrique Iglesias and Pitt Bull’s song ‘I like it’. We also had a 'wake up' song, this one was to tell us we were getting off the bus soon and wake us up if we had dosed off, it was called Banana. It was absolutely terrible, but it really did the trick in waking us up!
Just before we arrived in Lucerne, our guide handed out maps, went through a few phrases in Swiss German and explained a bit of the history and other interesting facts about our destination. She did this for each new place we visited on our trip, it was really handy and great to know some prior information before being set loose on the town.
By the time we arrived, we only had a small amount of time to walk around the town before it started to get dark. Luckily for us, it had just snowed, and as Lucerne is surrounded by the Swiss Alps, it really looked like a winter wonderland. Some of the people on our tour had never seen snow before, so this was really special for them and our accommodation tonight was in a beautiful wooden chalet.
Day 5 - Lucerne
Wrapped up in our warmest clothes, we took the gondola up to the top of Mount Pilatus. This is a 30 minute journey there and back, so it is a great time to sit back and enjoy the stunning surroundings. Once at the top, the views were just gorgeous and we had some fun playing in the snow. We made snow angels and even had a snow ball fight.
Once back down in Lucerne we spotted a great little spot that served us up some delicious cheese fondue for lunch. We then had a quick stop at the Swiss army knife factory, did a bit of shopping in town and then went and saw Löwendenkmal (Lion monument). This monument depicts a lion dying and the inscription above reads 'To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss'. It was build to commemorate the Swiss Guards who were massacred during the French Revolution in 1792.
That night we played in the snow outside our chalet and built a miniature snowman.
Day 6 - Lucerne to Nice & Monaco
With yet another long day travelling, we didn't arrive in Nice until late afternoon. Once we were checked in, we only had a short time before we had to get ready to go out again.
Back on the bus for 30 minutes, we arrived in Monaco and went straight to dinner at a
small alleyway restaurant. Our guide had recommended it and the food was very delicious.
After dinner we met with the group again and went to look at the Prince's Palace of Monaco. It was surprisingly small and we could walk within 50m of it without any gates or guards. We then thought, which in Monte Carlo, we had to hit up one of the famous casinos, Casino Monte-Carlo. It cost us €10 to get in and although the building was lovely inside and out, I found it very overrated. My little Contiki family and I decided to check out a different casino, where we played a computerised roulette which was heaps of fun. I won €1...needless to say, I didn’t spend it all at once.
Our group then headed back to Nice and we decided to go out to a bar. It was a fun night full of laughs, drinks and even dancing on the tables!
Day 7 - Nice
This morning, after 7 days of touring, I decided I really needed some exercise and went for a jog along the beach. The weather was really nice and I was able to catch the sunrise over the water, it was well worth getting up early for.
The Contiki family and I went out to the old town and bought a heap of different foods; cheeses, bread sticks, fresh fruit, dried fruit, meats, pestos, nuts, cakes and other stuff at the local market. We then climbed the Chateaux, which has a panoramic view of Nice, and had a picnic with all of our freshly bought produce. It was great!
With our bellies full with good food, we went for a walk and stumbled upon Monument aux Morts. This is a massive war memorial, built into the base of the cliff, honouring the people of Nice who died in World War I.
We continued our walk along the stone beach. Not seeing this before, it felt a bit odd to be walking along stones instead of sand. We then came to some huge cement blocks and we decided to follow them along the water. Jumping between each one as there was about 30cm or more between them. Thinking back now, it was actually pretty dangerous, but we were having a lot of fun. To get to the very end, we had to climb over a barrier, it was very pretty there next to the water. On the way back though, we found a sign saying ‘Dangerous, Do Not Enter'…Obviously we shouldn't have been climbing there!!
Day 8 - Nice to Florence via Pisa
Today we said Au revoir to France and Ciao to Italy! Our guide going though some Italian phrases for us and some history before we arrived. She also warned us to be wary of gypsies who may try and trick us, in all kinds of ways, to get our valuables.
We stopped off in Pisa for an hour and got some great snaps of the Leaning Tower. We
also had a walk around and checked out some of the other buildings there. I would recommend checking out the Cattedrale di Pisa, as it is quite spectacular.
While we were there we also witnessed, first hand, the tricks of the Italian gypsies!! A lady was carrying something wrapped in a blanket and threw it at one of the guys in our group, he didn’t know what she was doing and ran away. Turns out, it was a good thing he did as they try and throw blankets hoping people think they are babies and then as you go to catch it, someone drives by on a scooter and steals your bag!
A bit taken aback by this encounter, we got back on the bus and drove the rest of the way to Florence. We had a little while to relax in our hotel before we headed out to Tuscany for dinner.
The restaurant was great, and we were invited in with a very warm welcome from the staff. It was a delicious three course meal with Italian music playing and free flowing wine.
Day 9 - Florence
This morning we drove up to Piazzale Michelangelo to see the panoramic view of Florence, as well as the replica of David that sits on the top of the hill. It really is a great view of the city and I would highly recommend going up there while you are in Florence.
Once we were back down in the town, we meet our local guide and went for a walking tour around the city. This was the coldest day of the whole trip and there was snow everywhere! Usually I would say that walking tours are a great way to get to know your way around a city, as well as hearing some great stories from a local. However it was quite hard to concentrate on what he was saying as we were all freezing.
After the walking tour finished, we were all keen to get inside somewhere warm, so we went to the Accademia Gallery. Full of many famous and fantastic artworks and sculptures, this is also the home to the statue of David.
Feeling a bit hungry, we asked one of the staff members at the museum for a recommendation for lunch. He was more than happy to give us suggestions and then, he said, 'you know what, I take you there'. And he just left work and walked us down the road to a super cosy little restaurant. I had the spaghetti marinara followed by gelato, both were delicious.
Tip: It is always worth asking a local for restaurant recommendations, you'll end up somewhere you wouldn't have by yourself and they are usually spot on in authenticity.
That night we went to a place called the Space Electro Disco, where we started off with some karaoke and then danced the night away in the night club area.
Day 10 - Florence to Rome
After checking into our hotel, we did a long walking tour of Rome, passing many interesting and famous sites along the way. Just to name a few, we walked past the Roman Forum, Pantheon, Piazza Navona and checked out the view from the top of the Spanish Steps.
We also stopped at the absolutely stunning Trevi Fountain and threw coins in to ensure that we would all return there again one day. Legend says, if you turn your back to the fountain and throw one coin into the fountain, you will return to the city. If you throw two, you will return and fall in love and if you throw three, you will have it all, plus you will get married. Either way, the money that is collected from the fountain is given to a charity that helps the poor and homeless. So, why not partaking in a legend, you'll help the poor and homeless either way!
Tonight we had dinner at a restaurant right outside the Colosseum. It was awesome to see the Colosseum all lit up at night. Unfortunately, we were told at dinner that the Colosseum was closed due to the snow and ice inside it, something that was quite a rarity. We were all a bit disappointing as the Colosseum is a must when visiting Rome and we were due to see it tomorrow. Looks like I will have to come back to Rome again anyway!
Day 11 - Rome and Vatican City
This morning we set off to explore the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. Once we arrived, we were handed over to our 'expert guide', who was actually the worst guide ever! Half of the group went missing and she refused to stop and wait for them. Then near the end another group were left behind (I was in this group) because we needed to use the bathrooms and she refused to stop for a toilet break.
Other than that, the Sistine chapel was really nice, and the paintings were amazing. The halls on the way to the chapel were super hectic with tourists being shuffled through like cattle. Then in the chapel itself, the guards were yelling every five seconds, ‘NO CAMERAS’ because, despite the multitude of signs, people were taking photos away. Seeing Michelangelo's Painting on the roof of the Sistine chapel was incredible though!
After stopping for a 'hole in the wall' slice of pizza, we then went to St Paul’s Cathedral. We looked around for a while at the stunning interior and then decided to climb to the very top. Be warned that there are a lot of stairs and near the end they get very narrow and the walls are very slanted. I can imagine people that suffer from claustrophobia wouldn't do well here. It is however, well worth the multitude of stairs as the top offers a fantastic view of Rome.
On our way back to the hotel, we tried our luck by putting our hands in the mouth of truth (the Bocca della Verità ). This is a Roman marble disc with a face carved into it and can be found at the Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church.
Apparently back in the day, they would put people’s hands in there and ask them if they had committed a crime. The mouth of truth would either bite off their hand, if they lied or leave them be. Little did they know, there was actually someone behind with a giant knife slicing off hands as they pleased, so it didn’t really matter if you lied or not, it was luck of the draw.
The little Contiki family and I avoided any of the restaurants with photo menus (as these are normally not very authentic) and ended up in a cute little restaurant for dinner. They were very welcoming and gave us 2 litres of wine, 2 large garlic bread pizzas and Limoncello shots each all for free with our meal. They were really friendly and enjoyed having us there. The food was also delicious, I had a seafood risotto this time.
Day 12 - Rome to Venice, via Verona
On our 5-6 hour drive to Venice, we stopped off in Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet. We had a nice walk around the city and grabbed something for lunch. Then we visited Juliette's balcony.
On the way to the balcony, you walk through a tunnel that's walls are covered in graffiti. I really liked it as it was so bright and colourful. There is a statue of Juliette in the main square and everyone was rubbing the statue's boob. After some quizzical looks, our guide informed us that you rub the statue's boob for good luck in love. We all gave it a go, because, why not!
After another hour and a half in the bus, we arrived in Venice and had a quiet night with dinner in the hotel.
Day 13 - Venice
What better way to start the day then with a walking tour! Our local guide today was amazing and 110% better than the lady at the Vatican. She even gave us a toilet stop, oh the luxury! She was fun of knowledge and it was really lovely roaming around the labyrinth of lane ways that make up this fascinating city.
Then, because who doesn't do this in Venice, we went on a gondola ride through the canals (this was an optional extra). It was really fun, and our gondolier even sang for us. It was not romantic like in the movies as there are so many gondolas going around that, at one point, we even got in a boat jam!!
Our guide then took us to a lace factory where we were given a demonstration and then we had a look at all of the beautiful pieces they had handmade. Apparently, this is one of the only places left that still hand makes lace.
We then watched a glass blowing demonstration which was quite fascinating. The collection there was amazing and pretty awesome to think they had made all of the fantastic pieces there.
We then had some time to explore Venice by ourselves, something that is a bit daunting in as you can easily get lost here. However, I do think that part of the fun and charm of Venice is getting lost. This way, you find places you wouldn't have before. Remember though, if you find something you want to buy, get it then and there otherwise, good luck trying to find that place again!
We stopped in the main square for a while as the sunset and we waited for the rest of the group. Then it was off to our feast of a dinner where we had salad, cold meats, calamari, 4 different types of pasta and then panna cotta for dessert! We all rolled back to our hotel and I for one had a great sleep, I may have been in a food coma though.
Day 14 - Venice to Munich
It was a long driving day today as we said goodbye to Italy and crossed over into German soil. Arriving in Munich around 2pm, we went straight on a whirlwind walking tour.
It was absolutely freezing (as you can see from the photos above) so our local guide had his work cut out for him trying to hold our attention. Especially when we kept going past coffee shops that looked so warm and inviting! He must of known, as he ended the tour outside a Starbucks where we all piled in and warmed up with hot chocolates.
After checking into our hotel, we went back to the city for dinner at the Hofbräuhaus. Build almost 500 years ago, it is the perfect place for tourist, with traditional Bavarian music all year round, famous beers and staff dressed in Bavarian dress serving up schnitzel, sausages, pretzels and even a tasty pork knuckle. We had a great time at this iconic establishment.
Note: This was not my beer, just purely for photographic purposes.
Day 15 - Munich to Vienna via a surprise?!!?
As we drove to Austria our guide said we had a surprise stop before we got to Vienna. We were all wondering what the surprise would be, when we pulled up at Mauthausen Concentration Camp. We were all a bit shocked, which I suppose is a reaction from a surprise, but we couldn't understand why they would not have prepared us for this visit. Especially considering one of the girls on our trip had had ancestors that had been in this camp and was in a mess when she found out. She refused to go in and was crying.
The rest of the group however did go in, myself included. It was a very sombre and daunting hour, wondering around and reading the history and seeing the areas that people were kept and or tortured in. I am glad that we stopped there as it is such an eye opening experience, however, I do think that the way that it was announced could of been handled a lot better.
Once in Vienna we checked into our hotel, had dinner and then went to the optional Mozart concert. I found this quite breath taking and was surprised at the number of songs that I knew the melody to. We were in the front row and accompanying some of the songs were very talented dancers and an opera singer. We were even treated to a glass of champagne at the break.
Day 16 - Vienna
After a short driving tour on the bus of the outskirts of Vienna, we then went to the Swarovski store where we spent quite a while checking out the 3 stories of sparkling jewellery.
With the rest of the day to ourselves, Mandy and I looked around the shops before meeting the Contiki family for ice-skating! It was so much fun because it wasn’t just an ordinary skating rink, this rink was outside in the park and had all different ice-skating paths, which were almost like a maze, that lead to one large rink. It was also out the front of the magnificent Rathaus (town hall) and had an array of food stalls.
We spend a fair amount of time skating around the pathways and stopping for hot chocolates or a cheese kransky. Before we headed back to the hotel, we meet the rest of our group at a schnapps distillery where we were offered many delicious samples.
That night we went over to the shopping centre near our hotel and had dinner at an Asian restaurant…being half Asian, I really enjoyed a small break from all the pasta we had consumed.
Day 17 - Vienna to Prague
It was only a 4 hour trip from Vienna to Prague today, so when we arrived our guide took us on a short walking tour and then gave us the remainder of the afternoon to explore this city of 100 Spires.
We checked out the markets and then walked around the main square for a while. It was still quite cold, so we ended up finding a cute little cafe where we sat and drank hot chocolates.
That night we had a pub crawl organised with the group. The first bar belonged to the people who were organising the pub crawl, so they had free drinks for us for the first hour and a half. They just free pour spirits here and then add a dash of mixer, so you can imagine, the drinks were very strong.
So, after two drinks I was more than keen to be roped into playing beer pong. This ended up being such an error, as I ended up having to down two glasses of beer, YUCK!
At bar number two of our crawl (I was later told there were six bars), we were given a shot out of a test tube on arrival, I was starting to not feel great. One of the other girls was not feeling well either and her friends were going to take her back to the hotel. I quickly volunteered so they could stay, meanwhile I was thinking ‘shit I need to get out of here myself’! They were very pleased, and I looked like I was super nice and responsible.
Meanwhile, I rushed her in her room, took her shoes off and put her into her bed. Then I, hurriedly, went up to my room and proceeded to be ill for the next few hours. Lesson learnt: Don't mix drinks or play beer pong!
Day 18 - Prague
Let's just say I was quite tender the next morning, but turns out everyone else was in the same state. Lucky, it was a completely free day in the city, so we had the luxury of a later start to the day.
When we were finally ready to face the day, Mandy and I decided to go up to the castle. As it is on a hill, it has magnificent view of the city. After we had a bit of a walk around, we walked back down into town, crossing the famous Charles Bridge as we did so.
We ended up in the Jewish quarter, which felt a bit eerie due to all the war memorabilia. One of which was a wall with everyone’s name on it that had been sent to Mauthausen, the concentration camp we visited. It was massive and I couldn’t even tell you how many names were on there.
Day 19 - Prague to St Goar
Today was another long day driving and we arrived at St Goar just before sunset. This is a really cute little village that sits on the bank of the river Rhine, so it was nice getting out of the bus and watching the sun go down over the water.
After checking in, we walked down the main street of the village to a place where they have the largest collections of beer steins in Germany. They were all very cool and were decorated with all different things, some even had pieces of the Berlin Wall on top of them. We then went to a cuckoo clock place where they gave us a quick demonstration before we had a chance to look around at all of the different designs.
After dinner at our hotel, we went to an optional wine tasting. It was in a cellar and they talked to us about the different wines they produce there as well as giving us some tasters. As I am not a big fan of wine, I didn't enjoy them too much. However, then they brought out the ice wine and that was a game changer. As it is made from frozen grapes, the wine has a very sweet taste. I ended up buying two bottles of the stuff!
Day 20 - St Goar to Amsterdam
On our way to Amsterdam, we stopped at Edam and went to a cheese and clog making factory. It was awesome trying all the cheeses and I bought a whole log of the Dutch smoked cheese. This is one of my absolute favourite cheese, make sure you give it a try.
We were also treated to a clog making demonstration which I had seen before, but it was still entertaining and something that I suggest you do when you are in The Netherlands.
After checking into our hotel, I hoped straight on the train and was off to my friend's house (she is a friend that I made at school on my year exchange), while the rest of the group went to a sex show. My friend and her husband live an hour outside of Amsterdam in Apeldoorn, so I stayed at theirs for the night.
Apparently, the group enjoyed the sex show and even found out where our tour guide had gotten our 'wake up' banana song from...😳.
Day 21 - Amsterdam
With a free day to ourselves, I joined my Contiki family as we walked around this vibrant city. Discovering street art, amazing architecture, tasting Dutch delicacies and also a quick walk down the red light district. I introduced the group to FEBO, a place that has a wall, full of little windows where you put money in and then you can get hot food. It is essentially a hot food vending machine, they loved it.
I then met one of my other friends from The Netherlands for lunch and had a great time practicing my Dutch again. The surprising thing was, after 10 years, no one even knew that I wasn’t Dutch.
That night we went to the old fishing village of Volendam for a yummy three course dinner. It was a lovely last meal with the whole group before we traveled back to London in the morning. The rest of the night was spent back in Amsterdam cruising down the canals. This is truly a great way to see the city, especially at night.
Day 22 - Amsterdam to London
Today was a very long travel day, including the ferry back from Calais to Dover and then driving into London. We checked in to the same hotel where the tour had started and our Contiki family went to a little pub for one last supper together before we met with the rest of the group for farewell drinks.
Review on Contiki
This tour was well organised and ran very smoothly thanks to our wonderful driver and guide. Both were very helpful and knowledgeable, as well as approachable and good fun. They really helped in us to get the most out of our tour.
I personally wouldn't do a Contiki tour again as I felt the demographic (besides my Contiki family) only wanted to party. And even though I joined in a few of the nights, I felt like I valued exploring and see the places we visited more.
I also felt like we spend too much time driving. However, I suppose that is inevitable when you try and tackle 8 countries in 22 days. These types of tours are definitely more of a taste tester tour, so you can see some of the major sights and then decide which countries you want to explore more in depth later on.
If you are going on a Contiki, be prepared for all of the optional extras. They really add up and if you don't account for them prior to your tour you either miss out or end up with a big dint in your wallet.
Although my review isn't completely positive, I did really enjoy the trip, I just wish we had longer in certain places, and I am glad that I met my little Contiki family to enjoy the new experience in each country with.
Published 27 Jan 2012
