Hey guys,

I haven't been on either a Trafalgar or Contiki tour, but they were recommended to me by a friend. My boyfriend and I would like to go on a European tour this July.

Which do you think is best for a mid 20s couple on a romantic vacation? It seems from the message boards that Contiki is one big blur of partying, drinking and, uh, getting to "know" people. While we definitely don't want to miss the party scene, we're both very romantic and would appreciate some time to do the more mature stuff - sightseeing, romantic dinners, even just having time to sleep and sit down. Haha.

Any recommendations? And does anyone know about how which tours are better if you want to have some time away from the group when you want it?

Thanks so much everyone - I'd really, really appreciate your help!!!

Best,
Erica

My wife and I are wondering the same thing. We are 28 years old and wondering if contiki simply italy tour is too much of a partying tour. Which one do you prefer after being on both tours? And which other italy tour from Trafalager is compariable to contiki's simply italy tour?

Thanks,

Tom

[quote="Anonymous"]My wife and I are wondering the same thing. We are 28 years old and wondering if contiki simply italy tour is too much of a partying tour. Which one do you prefer after being on both tours? And which other italy tour from Trafalager is compariable to contiki's simply italy tour?

Thanks,

Tom[/quote]

Hi Tom.

I loved both trafalgar & contiki tours. Ive heard stories about european contiki tours and that was part of my reason not to do a contiki in europe.
On my european trafalgar tour there was drinking & partying but it wasnt wild if that makes sense and you didnt feel pressured to have to go along with the group.

Im glad i gave contiki a go otherwise i would have had bad impressions of it in my mind.

I think the tour director also plays a big part in how much you enjoy the tour. our contiki tour director was awesome like she would come to our pool parties and she would come around and chat at dinner and she was so approachable and easy going, my director on my european tour was also fantastic but sadly my director on my cost saver tour was HOPELESS and thats putting it nicely.

have you looked at trafalgar viva italia (breakaway tour for 21 - 38's) or italian dream?

Ive also done a trafalgar cost saver tour, i was a bit unsure at first as i was worried about the age groups but i had an amazing time.

Hi Jennifer,
Yeah, we are probably going to do the Vivia Italia tour on July 28th. I have also read on here that the cost of the optional tours are quite expensive with Trafalger. What is your take on this and what do you recommend doing?

Thxs,
Tom

[quote="Anonymous"]Hi Jennifer,
Yeah, we are probably going to do the Vivia Italia tour on July 28th. I have also read on here that the cost of the optional tours are quite expensive with Trafalger. What is your take on this and what do you recommend doing?

Thxs,
Tom[/quote]



Hi.

The cost of trafalgar optionals are high. For a 21 day tour i spent nearly $2000 AUD on optionals that was doing everything that was offered.

I looked at the optionals that would be offered on your tour and ive done some of the optionals in Rome, Florence & Venice.

Im looking though my travel diary for my thoughts on each optional tour.

Rome:

Evening Tour: Fountains & Dinner. Cost was 55 euro

Dinner was Spaghetti, Beef & Potatoes. Live music playing. Met up with our local tour guide who took us on a walk around the city. Saw the pantheon, spanish steps, trevi fountain , i think the tour ends in piazza navona. A few of us went and got gelato's after the tour, alot of shops & cafes in this square. this was an ok tour but like it was way to quick and didnt really spend enough time in each place.

Vatican Museums & Sistine Chappel

We left the hotel at 7am to be at the front of the line as our tour director said if we wait till later there are crowds of people. Looked at the vatican, st peters basilica & sistine chappell. One of these places you could not take photos but i know we could in st peters basilica, its stunning inside.
After that we drove to the colluseum, amazing place. We were given 90 mins of free time but honestly you dont need that much we were all back way before our meeting time. We had a look at the ruins near the collesuem, but it was so hot that we didnt feel like walking. You can get drinking water that is refreshing from these taps around the place. i think 2 optionals are combined and the cost is like over 60 euro's, if you add these places up individually you will get out of it alot cheaper. but its convenience of not having to line up and also transport.

there was another optional dinner for rome but i didnt do this one a group of us ended up at the local pizza shop and it was so nice just to be able to sit back and relax and not have to worry about a schedule.

Florence:

Jewels of Renaissance - visited the accademia, all did a little city tour but i honestly cannot remember anything else on this day all i know it was very HOT and we all just wanted to sit down & rest.

Medici evening & buffet in a renasissance palace - this was a great night, served delicious food, entertained by singing & dancing all following the medici era. get ppl from the crowd involved, would definately recommend this. but again the price is expensive something like 60 euro's.

Venice - Lagoon Cruise & Dinner - Travel in the lagoons of venice, seeing various islands on the way, we had dinner at the island of Burano, if your a big seafood lover this dinner will be perfect, i think we had like 5 courses all somethin to do with seafood, if you dont eat seafood they have another option to cater. on this island they have some shops as well as i think we were given a bit of time b4 dinner to do some browsing. this would be a recommended optional although a bit expensive at 63 euro's.

Gondola Ride - this day we caught a boat to st marks square and had 4 hours free time to look at shops and then met up for the optional tour at 3pm this was a good optional but if your with your partner you mite want to have a romantic ride through venice alone instead of being with a group of 5 ppl in a gondola, this optional was quite expensive, from looking at a guide book there were much cheaper rides available, and there are loads of gondola vendors available. make sure you buy a mask as a souvenir from venice ok coz they r an amazing piece of work.

venice by night - we had dinner before hand ( i think it was an included dinner) at a restaurant by the canal then took a river cruise through the grand canal, seeing all the magnificent palazzos, saw the rialto bridge, the ride ended in st marks square, had time to wander around and look at the buildings and take some pics, we had a drink at one of the restaurants, the restaurant had their own orchestra so we listened to that. the cost for that optional was 40 euro's and while it was good to see perhaps you could find it alot cheaper doing it yourself. even just getting a water taxi you would probably see the same sights. i couldnt really see the value in this one.


these are just my own thoughts on the optionals. i did them all because it was my first tour so i had no clue on what to do & what not to. sometimes its just more convenient paying a bit extra and knowing that trafalgar will drop you off & pick you up and also being with in a group might be another deciding factor.

my other main factor was i kept converting euro's back to australian dollars so im like there is no way that i would pay $120 AUD for 1 dinner so thats maybe why my opinion of some costings is harsh.

any questions just drop me a line ok. where abouts are you from?
is this your first tour?

xx Jennifer

Hi Jen,
I am from the US. I been on Globus/Brendan tour to london and paris 2 years ago.. .. . Thanks for your detailed opinions on the optional tour, that helps out a lot. When you travel, do you buy their travel insurance? I didn't do that before and the cost is 134.00.

Tom

i ALWAYS buy travel insurance, u never know what mite happen, i mean u could get sick, loose ur luggage, in my opinion its not worth the risk.

Jen,
Do you know if most of these hotels have wireless internet like here in the states?

Tom