No Regrets: Why Travelling with Contiki is the Best!
I’m definitely a bit of a social butterfly and love meeting new people, so I tend to thrive on group tours! I can’t talk about my own travel journey without talking about Contiki. The company has been an integral part in how I look at travel and how I became pretty fearless and intrepid when stepping out on my own! I’ve done six of their tours and am supposed to be headed out on my seventh later this year!
So back in the summer of ‘62 a group of young people in London wanted to travel round Europe but were short on cash. They put a deposit down on a 12 seater mini bus and advertised in a local hostel ‘only a few seats left,’ a clever marketing plot, and pretty soon all of the seats were filled and the trip was underway! It was such a big success that they advertised it the next year, and the next and by ‘66 Contiki Tours was officially a fully operating tour company! Since then its been helping 18-35 year olds see the world and have amazing experiences, one of whom is me! Here’s why I think travelling with Contiki is the best!
FORMING FRIENDSHIPS
Despite being a really social person, I was so nervous the day of my first tour in Berlin. Was my roommate going to like me? Were people going to be cliquey? Nerves are normal, but in retrospect I had zero to worry about. I got along so well with my roommate Priscilla that people thought we’d known each other for years! I have met the most incredible people from all over the world on my tours that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. Some of my very best friends in the world I met travelling on Contiki’s. The best part? Now we get to visit each other all over! After my first two tours through Eastern Europe and Croatia, I had made so many Australian friends that I though, “well I’m going to go visit all of them,” and I did! Two of my friends that I met on my Australian Contiki, we did our own road trip through the Scottish highlands last year. One of my boys from my first trip lives close to me at home, and we see each other all the time! We have group zoom chats, and stay connected as much as possible. You really do become like a family on those trips, even on the shorter ones. These aren’t just friendships for the duration of a vacation, having special shared experiences creates a lasting bond. Trust me, when your day song comes on at a bar or the car radio, you’ll miss everyone from those trips!
HASSLE FREE PLANNING - SO CONVENIENT
Before travelling with Contiki I was more or less a one stop shop kind of traveller. I would choose a city, plonk myself down there for a week, have a blast and come home. I was really yearning for more of an adventure. I wanted to move around, see a ton of countries and cities. This requires a lot of planning and organizational skills and research. Contiki does all of this for you! The trip route is planned out for you, they figure out how to get you from point A to B to C and at which times, literally all you have to do is roll out of bed at the right time and get on the bus or boat or plane. If you have dietary requirements they make sure the restaurants know ahead of time. All of the tours are organized as well as the Me Time optional experiences. Seriously, all you have to do is show up its unreal. While I am fully capable of planning and research, sometimes I just don’t want to and prefer to defer to a company that has more knowledge and experience than I do, so for me this is worth it.
HANDY DANDY TRIP MANAGERS
I love my trip managers! When you’re on a Contiki, there will be a trip manager helping to guide you along. They are experts in the region you are visiting and are a literal well spring of knowledge! The Contiki training trip that they go through is notoriously rigorous and hard, so trust me, they know their stuff from landmarks, to local history, to the best place in town for breakfast to how many bathrooms are at any particular rest stop…seriously. They make sure your trip goes smoothly and they want you to have the best time! If you want to go off and do your own thing that’s fine too, but they spend a lot of time in these cities and i’ve gotten some amazing suggestions and found hidden gems thanks to them! Thanks to my TM’s I know the best spot for gelato in Rome, the best pintxos bar in San Sebastian and how to spot the best silver in Peruvian markets. Before you even think it, they are not babysitters, they are working but they wanna have fun and get to know you too! I’m lucky to be able to call my former TM’s my friends. Big shoutout to Feddo, Ryan, Zach, Jill, Rachel and Joel!
SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY
I was pretty scared to go off on my own as a solo female my first trip. It sucks, but the reality is it’s more dangerous for women to travel alone than men. Most of us have been in a precarious position in our own home towns that make our danger light go off, and I was worried what it was going to be like in Europe on my own. Contiki makes you feel safe. Seriously, I have not felt in danger or afraid on any of the six trips i’ve taken with them. You are almost always with a group, or at least one other person, you have your trip manager and in some cases driver to help you out, and you are given so much information regarding how to get around and where to avoid that the fear just disapears. Of course, as with anywhere in the world there are risks, but I have always felt confident and secure as a solo female on their trips, and that is invaluable to me.
AMAZING ACCOMMODATION
Depending on which trip you take you will stay in hostels, hotels, campsites and more! Look, you wont be staying in a five star hotel, but for the budget, the hotels are really nice! Most of the time they will be basic, but very comfortable, clean and better than I was expecting honestly. The places I’ve stayed in have been all across the board. I was convinced my hotel in Budapest was haunted and definitely felt like it hadn’t changed since the 70’s, but the hotel in Vienna was so stunning and nice and filled with charm. Contiki actually has a few of its own properties and ‘special stays’ that are mind blowing. The most famous is probably the Château de Cruix in the Beaujolais wine region, yes you can stay in a full on French castle! There’s the Gasthof in Hopfgarden, Austria, the Swiss Chalet in Switzerland, The Jungle Treehouse in Thailand, and I actually recently stayed in the jungle lodge nestled into the heart of the Amazon in Peru! These are places you wouldn’t get to go normally if you didn’t book on these trips!
TRIP STYLES
No two journeys are alike and Contiki knows that, that’s why depending on what kind of traveller you are Contiki has a type of trip for you! They are broken down into these categories:
Adventure
Iconic Essentials
Island Hopping
In Depth Explorer
Volunteering
Discover
Short Trips and Festivals
Small Group
Beach Trips
Sailing & Cruises
Ski & Snowboard
Safari
Train Travel
Some are more self explanatory than others, its a good idea to check them out online. I really enjoy In Depth Explorer style trips. You usually get two nights and 2-3 days in each location, so you get to experience a little more! I’ve also done Island Hopping, Sailing, and Adventure! Their train trips are new and I’m super curious to try them! All are slightly different, but its really unique and cool to have a menu, not only of destinations but of travel styles to choose from!
ITINERARY
I love having a good itinerary when I travel, it makes me feel better to know that I’m at least somewhat organized. All Contiki’s have an itinerary that you can see online to get a sense of the route, how many days you will be in each city and what the breakdown is. Of course, this can be subject to change, but no matter what you’ll know what you are doing each day. You’ll get sent an itinerary along with all other info before you go on your trip. Once you’re actual on your trip, your TM will write out a ‘day sheet’ that details just about everything you need to know for the city you are in from the time you arrive, meeting times, tours, dinners and ‘me time’ optional’s. It literally makes your life so easy, all you have to do is show up at the right time and everything else is done and planned for you. If you want to go off and do your own thing that’s just fine too! In Santorini the days activity was to go hike a volcano, instead another girl and I went wine tasting and to the beach, so there’s no pressure to stick to it, but having an itinerary makes it easy to know where and when to meet up with your group later! Here are a few examples of day sheets i’ve had!
WHIRLWIND OF SITES + Experiences
When I say whirlwind I mean whirlwind! From UNESCO world heritage sites, to historic monuments, amazing architecture and more you will see just about everything on Contiki. Ive seen Machu Picchu, Kutna Hora, The Acropolis, Great Barrier Reef, the blue domes of Santorini, the Sydney Opera House, the Sagrada Familia, the old walls of Dubrovnik and so many more! When I think back I’m actually amazed at how much I’ve been able to see in such a short time. Often times these sites are included in your tour and because of that you’ll get to line jump! Yay! As I mentioned, included in the tour will be ‘me time’ optionals, these are experiences that Contiki organizes but they will cost extra. They range greatly in price and time. For example for €7 extra I did a tour of the schnapps factory in Vienna, it was a blast and only took up about an hour of time. Alternatively I went bungee jumping in Australia and it set me back about $168 and took a few hours out of my day. Some trips i’ve done all of the extras, some i’ve done almost none so there’s no pressure! Either way you have choices and options galore and will come back having seen and done so much.
SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL
Being 2023, its hard to ignore the carbon footprint that travel can have, and its irresponsible to not try to make changes where you can. Contiki Cares is the companies pledge to help protect the communities and countries they visit. They partner with TreadRight Foundation, which is a not-for-profit that focuses on promoting sustainable tourism! TreadRight has supported over 50 sustainable tourism projects worldwide! Not only do they support green travel, but the company themselves has removed all single plastics from their company world wide- so they practice what they preach. This has been an issue that’s been weighing on me the last few years, as someone who travels so frequently what can I do to make a difference, and it makes me feel confident travelling with a company that holds similar values to me. If you feel strongly about sustainable travel you can take the TreadRight pledge here!
What I know
A few years ago I was really excited to start my travel journey, but felt nervous about going off on my own. I’ve seen and done so many life changing things and I’m not the same girl who packed her bags and hopped on a plane in Toronto. Contiki provided me with the opportunity to travel, feel safe, meet amazing people, have independence, fun, party, connect with myself and all while being in the most incredible cities in the world. Travelling with them has helped shaped me into the woman and traveller I am. It has also provided such inspiration for my photography and my art - in fact my photos have previously been featured in their brochures! For those who are nervous to travel alone for the first time or unsure, you can expect to walk away with new friendships, and a life changing experience and having great confidence in the safety and security of this company. I believe in traveling with them, and as a Contiki Canada brand ambassador I can sweeten the deal by giving you a discount off $100 of your next trip! So get ready to go see the world and, trust me, you will have #noregrets.
