Group information: 31 people, majority from Australia, a few Americans (including myself). . Ages varied from 22-75, avg 36.
Dates- 29 Sept-15 Oct.
Tour Guide: Luigi, from Italy. Driver: Jon Francesa, from Brussels.

Day 1 Flight

Day2 Arrive in London.
You can explore London on your own, since the tour does not technically start until the next day. Depending on your flight, you don’t have a lot of time to explore. A London Extension might be a better option. Prior to leaving, you should research London. The Tube is easy and cheap to get around in, 5.50 pounds for a day pass. The station is only 2 blocks from the hotel. There is also plenty of eateries, bars, and mini-marts within a blocks distance, in every direction.

Day3 London-Brussels, Belgium.
Short 1-1/2 hr trip to the Sea Ferry; where you cross to Calais, France. The Ferry ride is only about 1 ½ hrs long. There is a lot of Duty Free Shopping and not a much to see, since it was foggy. We arrived in Calais, where we met our group and tour director. 2hr ride to the hotel in Brussels, Belgium. The hotel is centrally located, 3 blocks from the Main Square. No Optional needed.

Day4 Brussels-Rhineland, Germany-Ulm.
The 9hr journey from Brussels to Ulm was long and uneventful. Most of the time was spent listening to the tour guides long explanation of the “very importantâ€

Suggestions:
-Get an Cash card w/ no credit card logo. No extra charge.
-Travel Pillow/Blanket (for cold and long rides in the coach)
-Ear plugs (for roommates that snore)
-Book/Music (long rides or not wanting to listen to the tour
guide)
-Extra batteries for Camera
-London Trip Plan (Your own your own for that part)
-Garbage bags (for Dirty clothes)
-Tide to go (good luck finding time or laundry-mat)
-Small travel umbrella
-Tissues/TP
-Cold medicine (I’ve never been sick until this trip)
-Clothes that dry fast after a washing

Note: Optional: Do not sign up unless you know you really want it. It is hard to back out, if you change your mind, but easy to get in latter.

Great review! Thanks for all the info. The only difference I saw on our tour was it was easier to book the excursion and back out than to try to get on to the excursion at the last minute. You were not charged until the end of the tour and if you didn't take the excursion, you didn't pay for it.

The Tour Director for our tour (early Sep) made it very clear that cancelation of optional excursion will not be easy. According to her, once we signed up, she makes calls to the local tour guide/restaurant/Cosmos' home office. If we want to cancell, she needs to undo all that plus process the refund request.
For us, we paid about 2/3 way into the tour.

Our Tour Director had so many problems with people backing out of their signed up optionals at the last moment. He finally just had us all pay up half way through the trip. But he wasn't mad if you added yourself with a little fair warning. I think that is more money for him.

Also, sorry about the multiple posts of the same. I've tried correcting the problem with the administrator, but no dice.

I just wanted to thank you for putting up this helpful review. (I loved Jeniceves's as well- and should have told her so.)

About 10 minutes before I read your review, I booked the same tour for next summer on the phone with affordabletours. I guess I knew I couldn't afford to see a lot independently and had previously warned my husband about long bus hours and timeshare-like marketing of shops. For me, it is either Europe this way or no way.

For awesome independent Europe trip itineraries, money-saving ideas, and honest answers, I recommend the Europe travel board ("Talk") at fodors.com. Those people come up with ingenious ways to see the "real Europe" beyond standard tours and even good tours like Rick Steves. (I'm a long-time lurker there.) They hate tours and are not afraid to tell you so, and who can blame them with their great ideas to see the most without dealing with crowds or paying a fortune. It sounds like you would love independent travel. I do too, but to see a place as expensive as Europe on a budget of little time and less money, I'm going to surrender to the lure of a coach and pray I'll get back to my favorite sights one day.

Thanks again.