Kontiki tour help!!!!

Hey people

Im really in a rut and Im really really wanting to go travel.

Even if its just a 3 week trip.

Have you done contiki tour, where to, was it worth it etc etc, After all advice please

do one of eastern trekkers trip to eastern europe.

5-8 day trip so many eastern european countries.


a load of fun, and some some pretty chilled out people.

And how about going to a country of another language, as I only know the english

piece of cake, get a little guide book by lonely planet, and start reading.


not speaking the langauge is 1/2 the fun.


dont let that stop you from going to random countries.


because if you do, there is no point being here.


alos make sure you always try the food, stay away from maccers and kfc, local food, local drink, getting chatting , you cant go wrong!



come join us for mysteryland in holland, and i'll teach you how to speak to dutch!

Thanks sounds all good, I have money that I want to spend and mates in uk at the mo, so im gonna look up contiki for maybe two weeks in aug

I would recommend doing a 2 zone 22 day train pass with Interail -

http://ibe.statravel.co.uk/AniteXmlGateway.aspx

or check out Eurail (if you have lived in UK only a short time).

However if you are by yourself then maybe it might be better to do a tour?.... Haven't been on Contiki (only heard the stories!) so not sure how bad it is!

Have fun

Well now I have people saying its a lot of money to go there just for two weeks (tour 3 g flights 3 g)
Maybe a month would be more worth my while. so many decisions!

Never been on a contiki, but heard nothing but great things about them.

If you do go on one, just remember to take a box of condoms with you.

Are you coming from NZ!?

Definately make it at least a month if you can!

LOL!@!!! Why do you think Im gonna get luckY???? hahahaa

Theres only one way to find out.

that's the whole point, isn't it?

ha ha, I went on a Contiki 3 years ago and had a fabulous time. It was great to have things organised for you. altho... I prefer to go with smaller groups now... like Eastern Trekker as Forest mentioned. I did a tour with them in April and it was really good.

to be honest contiki is about how many people you can shag in the time frame.


and going to some 'cities' to see some shit.


u'll either be hang over or too tired from the last nights activities to see or rembember anything.


top deck is probably the same.

if your keen to to tour with loud mouthed fat guts aussie blokes, and kiwi girls that just sleep with anyone then be my guest.


if you want to enjoy the country your touring , either get a group of mates and go along at your own pace, or go on a smaller random country.


ive had loads of girly mates go on contiki, and besides getting hunted down by every desperate guy on there they havent seen much.


people go on contiki purely for a shag session or to get boozed in a random country with the idea they'll have a tour guide to come clean then up in the morning.


something i wouldnt want to be doing whilst traveling.


but hay.. each to there own

ha ha Forest, I didn't quite go on Contiki to shag as many guys as I could!!! in fact, I wasn't interested in that at all. and... I actually managed to see quite a lot and I remember it all!! but that was just me, I prefer to make the most of things.

Man I hope its not like that

My brothers girl is going on a 36 day one with another chick mate, hopefully the guys have respect when she says she is already taken.

Contiki is great.

Excellent way to see lots of stuff in a short amount of time and have an awesome time while doing it. Nothing to organise, no stress, just see cool stuff, eat nice food, drink heaps, party hard, sleep and then jump back on the bus.

Has anyone done that bus about thing?

I've never been on a Contiki tour myself, but from the range of things I've heard from others, I would never do one.

One of the things I love about weekend/weeklong trips to Europe from London is the flexibility and ability to be impulsive. To get out of the tourist traps and see the suburbs, villages and people that give you a real feel for the place you're visiting.

Contiki seems like a good way of seeing lots of Europe quickly (in a drunken state), and with a 'tick that one off 'cause I've seen it' attitude. You also get the security blanket of a tight schedule and a manager who (supposedly)knows what they're doing.

I'd recommend seeing fewer places but for longer with a small group of good mates. It'd be cheaper and loads more fun IMO.

Except I dont have mates that can afford to do any travlling ;-(

I went on a two week contiki just after I arrived in the UK - I'm not sure that I would do it again. If you get in a good group of people I'm sure it would be fun, but no way is it the best or cheapest way to actually experience Europe.

I had the misfortune to be with a group of rugby-obsessed Aussies and complaining Americans who just found the nearest bar to drink in in every place we went - so if I wanted to actually experience a city I had to go by myself (which usually involved a long train or taxi ride, because you will never be staying in the city center)

Also no matter which trip you do, you will going to far too many places for the time you have - you will feel rushed and get very annoyed at the Contiki Management machine... Another thing to realise about them is they are getting commissions for all the places they "reccommend" - so they won't neccessarily be the best or the cheapest.

It was an ok introduction to Europe for me - but I've been back to pretty much everywhere we went to experience it properly. I did have fun, but I've met more interesting people backpacking around (for a lot cheaper).

In many of the places we stayed (usually campsites, though I wasn't on the "camping" tour so we had cabins) there were people staying from the "Bus About" which seemed to be a good option if you were a little more independant but wanted to see a lot in a short time.

Yeah, I haven't done either, but the general consensus from a lot of friends that have done both is that Bus About is probably the better option if you want to do things your own way, and Con Tiki if you want more of a socialising-party trip.