Hi all,

We are planning to take the Grand European Tour in May 2006 with Cosmos Tours. Can anyone tell me the average age group for this tour? We are 26 and 28 and wondering if we will fit in?

Would also love to hear from anyone actually booked to take this tour starting in London on May 19.

Thanks for your help!

I went to Ireland on a Cosmos Tour last summer. The oldest members of the group were in their fifties, the youngest were teenagers. There were plenty of moms and grown daughters on the tour. There were some couples in their twenties, thirties, and fourties. From what I read on this message board, the cosmos tours are less expensive than the globus tours and therefore attracts a younger crowd.

You will fit in.. .. .. . Everyone on a tour is there to have a good time so you all have that in common. We're going Cosmos best of Italy in April 2006 for 2 weeks. We are active and out to enjoy the experience. They say age 60 is the new 40, we're in our 50's so that makes us 30ish !!. .

Cosmos being the budget arm of Globus probably will attract the more active traveller, irrespective of age.
Some tours with young age limits are a pub crawl, Cosmos wil not be like that.

Yours sounds like a great trip - 21 days, just go with the flow. You do realise there will be more 'free time' than Globus! So this is an opportunity to do your own thing or take the optional excursions. Do some research to see which ones are worth doing. Also did you realise that Cosmos hotels are generally not in the city centre?. .. . so a taxi or public transport may need to be used.
Anyway, you may team up with others and go exploring or share a cab ride at times. Go with an open mind, stay cool and hope for a good Tour Director.

We found on the Cosmos tour the age range was widespread (as the other poster mentioned), but more in the teen to 30 brackets (averaged about 25% of the group) then the the Globus or Trafalger tours. Then the 30 - 50 group comprised the biggest part, with 6-7 over 50+ making the group more diverse that other tours. There will be people who party and those that like walking or taking the optionals. and there is always room for a couple more in every group type (at least from our experiances). . We are in our EARLY 50's now and find trafalger "too old" and globus a little old and more than we like to spend.Of course these are just my opinions.

>Some tours with young age limits are a pub crawl, Cosmos wil not be like that.

Pub crawl yes.. ..that's what I know I'm not interested in, hence not taking the Contiki option. A lot of our friends have been on Contiki - most loving it.. ..but then again they took that tour when they were 18-20. We don't mind partying sometimes but I definitely didn't want to miss anything my first time in Europe!

>Also did you realise that Cosmos hotels are generally not in the city centre?. .. . so a taxi or public transport may need to be used.

My parents did the tour last Sept and loved it. They said most hotels were a little out of the city centre except for the ones in Spain. That's ok as it's Spain that I'm most looking forward to see. My boyfriend and I don't mind a good walk.. ..how far would you say the hotels usually are from the city centre?

Thanks for your comments! I was feeling a little stressed last night almost thinking I should change our tour booking.

jecjec28 - I havn't used Cosmos yet but if you look at the web site, they indicate which hotels will be used. http://www.globusandcosmos.com/. .

From what I understand, the cities are not that big, except for Rome, where we will probably use a taxi or the train. Although, I don't think you are going to Rome! Otherwise getting around should be OK. For example, our Hotel in Venice is actually 30km out of town but the train station is very close to it.

I have seen on this and other travel boards that sometimes, depending on Globus/Cosmos bookings, more Central Hotels may be used for Cosmos. Some have said that they stayed at a classy premium hotel!, so that may be a bonus.
Cheers - Mario

HI all,

What about contiki? i heard that it is targeting only youngsters (18-30) only.

My friend and I are all booked in for the Grand European Tour in July. We are both 23 years old and very excited about this trip (especially I, who has never been to Europe before!!)

Due to other travel plans/flight connections we are actually jumping on board in Amsterdam and getting off in Paris for an couple of extra days in both cities.

Jecjec28: I look forward to reading your feedback on this tour when you return. So if you get the chance please share your experiences with the board, I would love to hear how it all went.. .

Have a ball!!

I have found that one of the fun things on "budget" tours is that they attract a very wide range of ages and travelers with different travel styles. On one tour of switzerland was a lady from india who was 92. She went on EVERYTHING! She was there with her grandson and grand daughter. I was traveling as a single and i shared bus time with her. She even went up the gornergrat mountain excursion and i held her hand as she stepped up on the top rock. She was a sage, and became the darling of the tour. The young people on the tour enjoyed her so much. The mix is what makes touring fun. the older ones bring experience and knowledge and the younger ones bring the passion and excitement. Tours tend to be a gathering place of nice and interesting people - but - its almost certain your tour will have, ummm lets say an odd person or two. that can be fun too. You can have a wonderful time no matter what age you are. Just get ready for that last night of sad goodbyes to all your new friends. Happy and many travels, mimi

hi everyone i just wanna say i took a trip with contiki and i had a blast on it they do target their age range only from 19-35. we did have like a 30 and 25 yr old but other than that we were all in our early 20's. I did the european trip that goes to egypt as well and i loved it.

[quote="kafos1"]My friend and I are all booked in for the Grand European Tour in July. We are both 23 years old and very excited about this trip (especially I, who has never been to Europe before!!)

Due to other travel plans/flight connections we are actually jumping on board in Amsterdam and getting off in Paris for an couple of extra days in both cities.

Jecjec28: I look forward to reading your feedback on this tour when you return. So if you get the chance please share your experiences with the board, I would love to hear how it all went.. .

Have a ball!![/quote]

Hi kafos1, I'm literally counting the days till I leave and start this tour. Our tour is now a guaranteed departure which is a huge relief. Actually the tour is just the start of our big trip. We're going to be in Europe for the World Cup after it. My parents took this tour last Sept and LOVED it. The hotel lists are up for this tour so check it out on the Cosmos website.