Tuesday, 23 January 2018

Why you need to do a Contiki tour before turning 35


Because that is the rule, you can only book a Contiki tour between the ages of 18 and 35.

Loophole – if you are married to someone under 35 and travelling with them, you will still be allowed to join even if you are a little bit over 35 already!

My husband and I went on a Contiki tour in 2013 as a couple, and returned with the most beautiful ring on my finger! We had both been to Europe before, but wanted to see it together.






Contiki offers tours to 6 continents, including Europe, USA & Canada, Asia, Latin America, New Zealand and Australia. You can choose the type of tour as well as the pace, which could be an overview type tour, visiting many destinations in a short period of time to allow you to enjoy all the highlights, or an in-depth tour, visiting fewer destinations over a longer period of time to allow you to get to know the culture properly. You can choose to stay in more luxurious hotels, less luxurious hotels, camp or cruise. You can choose between extensive tours or short stays or tours based on festivals.

It was difficult to pick the ideal tour from all these options, but we were very happy with the one we picked. We decided for our first big overseas holiday together, we would prefer visiting more places, even if only for a short period of time. This way we could get a feel of each country and decide what we like most, and return later to explore the culture in depth.





We chose the European Discovery, including 9 countries in 12 days: England, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland and France. We were lucky enough to have family staying just outside London, so since the tour departs from London, we decided to stay there for a few days and explored on our own. While this was extreme fun, we were so relieved to get on that Contiki bus after four days of intense planning and scrambling to tick all the boxes off our list without wasting too much time getting lost! It was wonderful exploring ourselves, but Contiki just makes everything so much easier!! They arrange all the accommodation and most meals and of course, all the transport. In the bus, they go through the schedule for the next few hours, highlighting the must-see places and advising us on where to go for what type of experience, exclusive, budget, secret local experience or touristy attractions. You hardly have to think – you just get on the bus when they tell you to and enjoy the ride!

When we first got on the bus, we met our tour manager, Emmo, bus driver, Sandro, and 49 other keen travellers. There were people from all over, including 9 South Africans, Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Australians, New Zealanders, Brazilians, one Brit and one Portuguese. Singles, couples, married couples, friends, a little bit of everything. A bit overwhelming at first, but throw all of that into a bus visiting the most incredible places across Europe and it is impossible not to become close friends super quickly!

We travelled 4582 km in total, saw the most incredible places and met amazing people who we will never forget. 






Do yourself a favour and book a Contiki holiday as soon as you can! You will not regret it. #noregrets 


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