Should you travel as part of a group trip Contiki Tours, Gap Adventures, etc. Well, it depends. Our goal is to help you make an educated decision on the matter. All the companies below are reputable group tour operatorsβthey have been doing this for decades. Our purpose is to connect young travellers to the time of their lives. The people I met were amazing, and it was essentially like a road trip through Europe. It was a great gateway for someone like me who had never been to Europe and was nervous about planning everything and getting between places.
If you are a solo traveler, it is a great way to meet people. It was my first time travelling and went with a few friends and had a good time. Lots of drinking and such. It was expensive, but easy to organise. My guy was incredibly annoying and seemed to use the contiki tour as his own personal pick up joint. The hotels we stayed at were reasonable, but not awesome. My tour was only ten days unfortunately, and it only left me wanting more. The trip managers are pretty cool, the coach is comfortable enough.
We had a good enough mix of people: those wanting to party and those just wanting to see sights and experiences. I definitely had a good mix of both. And I have traveled 3 times with Contiki. Highly support it. Great for people in their mid 20s. Fast paced, get to see a lot. Tour guides are generally super knowledgeable. I think they do Europe the best. You usually share a room with 1 person or more if hostel accommodation , but always same gender, and never with strangers.
You always have people to hang out with if you want no force. Finally, their trips can be really good value. Look at their website for tours on offer. Some tours are limited to year olds. I went to Egypt and Jordan and I did one of the all ages trips.
I went as a solo traveller 28 years old. For my Egypt group the range was I was one of 3 solo travelers. You spend a lot of time together socially. Typically after you tour the location with your guide you get like an hour or two to walk around on your own and typically you stick with a couple of members from the group so you have a buddy to explore with. Our tour leader was also great at arranging large group dinners with the whole squad, but that was optional. A lot of younger people who want a party atmosphere will do the trips specifically for younger people.
