Contiki is for party animals, G adventures travel by rail in Europe and miss many sites. Intrepid are expensive and Globus are for older people. When it came down to it, Top Deck had the right pricing, right destinations and right mode of travel. Sure, my first tour were very young and I found it a little hard to relate to many of them, but that was only one element of the tour.
At the end of the day, everyone is there to enjoy themselves, and you are there to see the sights. If you’re not keen on hostels, you can choose hotel based tours and they even have some smaller more boutique trips to choose from as well. Both of my tours were hostel based and I am probably at the point now where I don’t mind a hostel, but I would prefer a hotel!
It sounds like you had a blast. I hadn’t heard of Top Deck before, so it’s good to know about so I can look into it for our 18 year old 🙂
Love this! I have never heard of Top Deck either, but GO YOU for using it as a “more seasoned” traveler. I am way past my 30s, but hope to make it back to Europe before too long.
I really enjoy travelling alone but I’ve never done it on a tour. I think it’s a great idea though, especially when travelling to certain countries where you’d really want a guide or a translator.
It sounds like you had fun! I’ve never heard on Top Deck but definitely want to let my teenage daughter knows about it. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Laura!
I am in my thirties as well and it is often hard to find friends and family to travel with. Schedules are tough to match and sometimes traveling solo is the only way to go. This sounds like a great tour for some adventure with likeminded folks!
xo Gennifer
http://www.GenniferRose.com
I will have to check out Top Deck, I haven’t heard of it before but it sounds amazing!
well done on braving new countries. Great adventure.
I would rather travel myself, it doesn’t matter if I’m alone but I normally invite friends and see if they could accompany me, if not, then solo is fine. I’ve never tried this tour, I sure would love to.
Not in my 30’s but still interesting to read!
I’m not one for organised tours- but you do a good job of convincing me that top deck could be an option! Old age- please!!
I am still in my early-mid 20s. I should take notes of this so when I am in my 30s, I can go to an adventure.
Wow, so glad to know about this. My sister turned 32 last month and I will share this with her.
So glad you wrote about this! I noticed a Topdeck tour bus in Venice last month, but had never heard of them before. I’ll have to take a closer look now.
I will note, however, that Contiki is gradually taming itself down a bit. I’ve been on two tours with them that had very different dynamics. On the first, the average age was perhaps 21 and it definitely had all the trappings of the stereotypical Contiki tour. But when I went on another tour the year after, the average age was more like 27, and I noticed the company had made some policy changes. Things like tour manager-organized icebreakers and games on the bus were no longer allowed, and I also learned that they got rid of some optional activities like skinny dipping in Greece. It’s been a while since I’ve traveled with Contiki, but I think after some complaints from customers, they’re trying to class up their act (for better or for worse.)
I hadn’t heard of top deck before but this sounds like a great adventure. Thanks for sharing!
— DT | <a href=”www.hereiscribble.com”>Here I Scribble</a>