22nd aug - 15th sept 2010

13 Dec 2009 Rachel E said

Looking to meet ppl heading off on this tour from 22th aug, 1st trip to europe and can't wait.. just under 8 months now

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• europe
• european escapade
• meeting places

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• 13 May 2010 Nat said

  

  Hi Everyone,
  
  Contiki have now put me into another hotel called the Imperial? Does anyone know what that is like?
  
  Im going to be there for four days prior to the tour. Looking forward to the sightseeing around london first.
  
  3 months to go – OMG <!--graemlin::)-->
  
  Shae cant find you on Facebook, just add me Nat Loudon im just drinking out of a coconut <!--graemlin::)--> anyone else can too?
  
  Is anyone going home straight after the tour?
  
  Hi Chloe, what do you suggest to pack for the weather over there?
  
  Cheers Nat

  Hi Everyone, <BR><BR>Contiki have now put me into another hotel called the Imperial? Does anyone know what that is like? <BR><BR>Im going to be there for four days prior to the tour. Looking forward to the sightseeing around london first. <BR><BR>3 months to go - OMG <img src="http://connect.contiki.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smiler" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin::)--><BR><BR>Shae cant find you on Facebook, just add me Nat Loudon im just drinking out of a coconut <img src="http://connect.contiki.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smiler" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin::)--> anyone else can too?<BR><BR>Is anyone going home straight after the tour?<BR><BR>Hi Chloe, what do you suggest to pack for the weather over there? <BR><BR>Cheers Nat or Cancel
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• 14 May 2010 Rachel E said

  

  I’m stopping in Seoul, Sth Korea overnight on the way to London, can’t wait, although I am starting to get a tad scared about the whole ‘flying across the world’ solo thing.. anyone else getting anxious about it?
  Be good for us to meet each other before the tour starts, so keep an eye out at the Royal National for me.. 13 and a bit wks to go, loving the rising euro too.
  Add me on facebook – Rachel Eustace (i’m the one with the happy face on lol)

  I'm stopping in Seoul, Sth Korea overnight on the way to London, can't wait, although I am starting to get a tad scared about the whole 'flying across the world' solo thing.. anyone else getting anxious about it? <BR>Be good for us to meet each other before the tour starts, so keep an eye out at the Royal National for me.. 13 and a bit wks to go, loving the rising euro too.<BR>Add me on facebook - Rachel Eustace (i'm the one with the happy face on lol) or Cancel
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• 16 May 2010 Kylie28 said

  

  Hi Everyone,
  
  Nat i know that the imperial is not that far from the National. It would be definitely be great to catch up with beforehand. I leave 3 months from today.
  Nat and Rachel i have sent you friend requests on facebook. If anyone else wants to add me Kylie Jeffery (I am in the Melbourne Storm Gear LOL).

  Hi Everyone,<BR><BR>Nat i know that the imperial is not that far from the National. It would be definitely be great to catch up with beforehand. I leave 3 months from today.<BR>Nat and Rachel i have sent you friend requests on facebook. If anyone else wants to add me Kylie Jeffery (I am in the Melbourne Storm Gear LOL). or Cancel
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• 16 May 2010 Ellerie said

  

  Hi everyone,
  
  I’ve just booked on this tour! Really looking forward to meeting everyone! I’m travelling by myself so a bit nervous, but still excited. Is anyone else flying out from Auckland NZ on Thursday the 19th then changing planes at Shanghai? Rachel I fully understand where you’re coming from! I’m petrified I won’t be able to find the plane I’m supposed to change on to and be stuck in Shanghai! I’m staying 2 nights at the royal national before hand as well, so would be great to meet people before the tour starts!
  
  Ellerie

  Hi everyone,<BR><BR>I’ve just booked on this tour! Really looking forward to meeting everyone! I’m travelling by myself so a bit nervous, but still excited. Is anyone else flying out from Auckland NZ on Thursday the 19th then changing planes at Shanghai? Rachel I fully understand where you’re coming from! I’m petrified I won’t be able to find the plane I’m supposed to change on to and be stuck in Shanghai! I’m staying 2 nights at the royal national before hand as well, so would be great to meet people before the tour starts! <BR><BR>Ellerie or Cancel
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• 30 May 2010 Explorer1185203 said

  

  hey, my friend and I are booked on this tour aswell. We get into london on the 15th and have a week before the tour begins. we are staying at a backpackers for the majority of the time, moving to the royal national the night before the tour starts. Cant wait to meet you all!
  
  Majella

  hey, my friend and I are booked on this tour aswell. We get into london on the 15th and have a week before the tour begins. we are staying at a backpackers for the majority of the time, moving to the royal national the night before the tour starts. Cant wait to meet you all!<BR><BR>Majella or Cancel
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• 13 Jun 2010 djhager said

  

  I am traveling alone on this trip. This is my first time going to Europe. I am from Colorado, USA. I was wondering if anyone had some tips.

  I am traveling alone on this trip. This is my first time going to Europe. I am from Colorado, USA. I was wondering if anyone had some tips. or Cancel
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• 15 Jun 2010 Aman said

  

  Hey Everyone,
  
  My earlier trip on 16th Aug has been cancelled and I am now booked with you guys on 22nd Aug. Learn my lesson of not booking a trip without sure departures.
  
  I am doing solo from Melbourne and it my first trip to Europe and looking forward. Just from this page it sounds like a fun group.
  
  Cheers,
  Aman

  Hey Everyone,<BR><BR>My earlier trip on 16th Aug has been cancelled and I am now booked with you guys on 22nd Aug. Learn my lesson of not booking a trip without sure departures. <BR><BR>I am doing solo from Melbourne and it my first trip to Europe and looking forward. Just from this page it sounds like a fun group.<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR>Aman or Cancel
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• 15 Jun 2010 Rachel E said

  

  Looks like the tours full guys! 2 months 4 days til i leave for London! can’t believe its happening

  Looks like the tours full guys! 2 months 4 days til i leave for London! can't believe its happening or Cancel
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• 21 Jun 2010 Explorer1185203 said

  

  Hey everyone,
  
  Just a tip from a friend who has just finished a tour- they check your bag at the start of the tour only, not throughout. One of my friends said the Royal National has lockers you can hire if you have to much stuff!
  
  Cant wait!! Majella

  Hey everyone,<BR><BR>Just a tip from a friend who has just finished a tour- they check your bag at the start of the tour only, not throughout. One of my friends said the Royal National has lockers you can hire if you have to much stuff! <BR><BR>Cant wait!! Majella or Cancel
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• 26 Jun 2010 Rachel E said

  

  hey hey 7 wks omg..
  
  does anyone have any thoughts on travelex cards vs banking cards..

  hey hey 7 wks omg..<BR><BR>does anyone have any thoughts on travelex cards vs banking cards.. or Cancel
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• 1 Jul 2010 Explorer1185203 said

  

  Hey,
  
  I picked up my contiki travel documents and folder from the travel agent today. Im just reading through it and they suggest travelex cards and credit cards! I have used travelex cards in the past and they work well, so im going to go with them again! Majella

  Hey,<BR><BR>I picked up my contiki travel documents and folder from the travel agent today. Im just reading through it and they suggest travelex cards and credit cards! I have used travelex cards in the past and they work well, so im going to go with them again! Majella or Cancel
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• 2 Jul 2010 Hordo said

  

  quote:

  Originally posted by Rachel E:
  hey hey 7 wks omg..
  
  does anyone have any thoughts on travelex cards vs banking cards..

  
  
  Hi Rachel,
  
  We have used Travelex cards in the past and will be using them again for this trip. We found them really great. You use it just like an ATM card and you always know how much money you have in Euros. You get 2 in case you loose or have one stolen. Hope this helps. Megan

  <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rachel E:<BR>hey hey 7 wks omg..<BR><BR>does anyone have any thoughts on travelex cards vs banking cards.. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Hi Rachel,<BR><BR>We have used Travelex cards in the past and will be using them again for this trip. We found them really great. You use it just like an ATM card and you always know how much money you have in Euros. You get 2 in case you loose or have one stolen. Hope this helps. Megan or Cancel
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• 2 Jul 2010 Nic Sullivan said

  

  Hey Folks
  
  My name’s Nic and i’ll be joining you, seems like there’s going to be a few first timers so I wont be the only one. Flying out of Perth WA and staying at the Royal National for 1 or 2 nights before, the onto oktoberfest and the greek islands after. Really looking forward to it, and hopefully catch up with you folks before we hit the road.

  Hey Folks<BR><BR>My name's Nic and i'll be joining you, seems like there's going to be a few first timers so I wont be the only one. Flying out of Perth WA and staying at the Royal National for 1 or 2 nights before, the onto oktoberfest and the greek islands after. Really looking forward to it, and hopefully catch up with you folks before we hit the road. or Cancel
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• 3 Jul 2010 Trent said

  

  quote:

  Originally posted by Rachel E:
  hey hey 7 wks omg..
  
  does anyone have any thoughts on travelex cards vs banking cards..

  
  
  Hey Rachel,
  
  I just got back from Escapade.. (well 4 weeks ago now).. i went the Travelex card option and it was without a doubt the best decision… on our tour a lot of people had them and had no issues getting cash out anywhere.. people using standard bank/visa card’s were having issues daily on limits, charges, or just plain not being able to get money out..
  
  Get the Travelex card, and load the money on via the Contiki Perks section to avoid the service charge..

  <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rachel E:<BR>hey hey 7 wks omg..<BR><BR>does anyone have any thoughts on travelex cards vs banking cards.. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Hey Rachel,<BR><BR>I just got back from Escapade.. (well 4 weeks ago now).. i went the Travelex card option and it was without a doubt the best decision... on our tour a lot of people had them and had no issues getting cash out anywhere.. people using standard bank/visa card's were having issues daily on limits, charges, or just plain not being able to get money out..<BR><BR>Get the Travelex card, and load the money on via the Contiki Perks section to avoid the service charge.. or Cancel
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• 3 Jul 2010 Rachel E said

  

  Thanks for all the tips guys, am going to go the travelex option (via perks ofcourse) see you all in 6 weeks <!--graemlin::)-->

  Thanks for all the tips guys, am going to go the travelex option (via perks ofcourse) see you all in 6 weeks <img src="http://connect.contiki.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smiler" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin::)--> or Cancel
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• 6 Jul 2010 Explorer1170298 said

  

  quote:

  Originally posted by Rachel E:
  I’m stopping in Seoul, Sth Korea overnight on the way to London, can’t wait, although I am starting to get a tad scared about the whole ‘flying across the world’ solo thing.. anyone else getting anxious about it?
  Be good for us to meet each other before the tour starts, so keep an eye out at the Royal National for me.. 13 and a bit wks to go, loving the rising euro too.
  Add me on facebook – Rachel Eustace (i’m the one with the happy face on lol)

  
  
  
  Chloe and I stopped over in Seoul, but over night so it made our flights easier, We have been here in the UK since April, have already been to Italy and France but to do things which we won’t in Contiki. We are staying on in the UK after our trip for a few more months and do some more travel. Not sure what the weather will be like then at the moment having a great start to summer here with most days hitting 24-30 degrees and have not had a cold /rainy day for a fair while now.
  
  If anyone needs any advice we can help if we can, I think i saw people talking about money/ atms, and I can say that in the parts of Italy, and France we went to , at most if not all attractions you can use debit/credit to pay for, and there is atm machines around but sometimes they can be hard to find, so would be best to always have some cash on you.
  
  We have felt safe everywhere we have been to, day and night time, no dramas at all, only had one incident on a very busy train in Sorrento, where a couple of kids had a go at pick pocketing me, but I had nothing in my pockets. My main concern when we first got over here and started doing some travel was getting pick pocketed/robbed etc, I brought a money pouch to go around waist over here, but I have only used it once and have not felt like I have needed it, but I would highly recccomend it for first time travelers who are worried about losing money/cards & worried walking around/ going on public transport in foreign countries which can be very daunting at first when you go off on your own etc.
  
  We are really looking forward to this trip, counting down the days!!
  
  Brad and Chloe

  <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rachel E:<BR>I'm stopping in Seoul, Sth Korea overnight on the way to London, can't wait, although I am starting to get a tad scared about the whole 'flying across the world' solo thing.. anyone else getting anxious about it? <BR>Be good for us to meet each other before the tour starts, so keep an eye out at the Royal National for me.. 13 and a bit wks to go, loving the rising euro too.<BR>Add me on facebook - Rachel Eustace (i'm the one with the happy face on lol) </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR>Chloe and I stopped over in Seoul, but over night so it made our flights easier, We have been here in the UK since April, have already been to Italy and France but to do things which we won't in Contiki. We are staying on in the UK after our trip for a few more months and do some more travel. Not sure what the weather will be like then at the moment having a great start to summer here with most days hitting 24-30 degrees and have not had a cold /rainy day for a fair while now. <BR><BR>If anyone needs any advice we can help if we can, I think i saw people talking about money/ atms, and I can say that in the parts of Italy, and France we went to , at most if not all attractions you can use debit/credit to pay for, and there is atm machines around but sometimes they can be hard to find, so would be best to always have some cash on you.<BR><BR>We have felt safe everywhere we have been to, day and night time, no dramas at all, only had one incident on a very busy train in Sorrento, where a couple of kids had a go at pick pocketing me, but I had nothing in my pockets. My main concern when we first got over here and started doing some travel was getting pick pocketed/robbed etc, I brought a money pouch to go around waist over here, but I have only used it once and have not felt like I have needed it, but I would highly recccomend it for first time travelers who are worried about losing money/cards & worried walking around/ going on public transport in foreign countries which can be very daunting at first when you go off on your own etc.<BR><BR>We are really looking forward to this trip, counting down the days!!<BR><BR>Brad and Chloe or Cancel
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• 8 Jul 2010 clairiebear said

  

  since you guys were talking about travelex cards, thought i’d put in my two cents as well.
  
  you get 2 cards for each denomination, each with a different pin number, so since i have euros and pounds that means 4 different pin numbers!!!! but thankfully you can change them when you log into your account so you can make them something you’ll actually remember!
  https://www.cashpassportcardlogin.com/index.cfm
  
  as far as i’ve been told, you only use the secondary cards if your primary cards have been lost or stolen (please correct me if i’m wrong – as i’ve never had to use my secondary cards before).
  
  but yeh just be sensible with all your cards and money, keep spare cards and cash separate – i’ve been a victim of theft before (in china, so completely different environment), but still scary and i was the only one out of my group that actually had spare cards/cash separate (which was considered “lucky” by the rest of my group – i didn’t see it that way!!!!!
  
  looking forward to meeting you all soon – i’ll be over there in about 3 weeks seeing family and doing a tour of ireland before this tour.
  
  Cheers,
  Claire.

  since you guys were talking about travelex cards, thought i'd put in my two cents as well. <BR><BR>you get 2 cards for each denomination, each with a different pin number, so since i have euros and pounds that means 4 different pin numbers!!!! but thankfully you can change them when you log into your account so you can make them something you'll actually remember!<BR> <a href="https://www.cashpassportcardlogin.com/index.cfm" target="_blank">https://www.cashpassportcardlogin.com/index.cfm</a> <BR><BR>as far as i've been told, you only use the secondary cards if your primary cards have been lost or stolen (please correct me if i'm wrong - as i've never had to use my secondary cards before). <BR><BR>but yeh just be sensible with all your cards and money, keep spare cards and cash separate - i've been a victim of theft before (in china, so completely different environment), but still scary and i was the only one out of my group that actually had spare cards/cash separate (which was considered "lucky" by the rest of my group - i didn't see it that way!!!!!<BR><BR>looking forward to meeting you all soon - i'll be over there in about 3 weeks seeing family and doing a tour of ireland before this tour. <BR><BR>Cheers, <BR>Claire. or Cancel
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• 10 Jul 2010 chouberries said

  

  Hey guys,
  
  My name’s Guan and am heading on my first solo adventure! I’m from Perth in Australia, I’ll be flying into London a couple of days before our tour departs and staying at the Generator hostel. After the tour, I’ll be heading to Oktoberfest (seems a pretty popular option!) and from there might explore the east side for a couple of weeks before returning home.
  
  6 weeks to go…can’t wait!
  
  Look forward to meeting you all.
  
  Cheers,
  Guan

  Hey guys,<BR><BR>My name's Guan and am heading on my first solo adventure! I'm from Perth in Australia, I'll be flying into London a couple of days before our tour departs and staying at the Generator hostel. After the tour, I'll be heading to Oktoberfest (seems a pretty popular option!) and from there might explore the east side for a couple of weeks before returning home.<BR><BR>6 weeks to go...can't wait!<BR><BR>Look forward to meeting you all.<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR>Guan or Cancel
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• 1 Aug 2010 Bianca said

  

  Hi Everyone,
  
  Wow it is good to read everyones posts and realise im not the only one traveling for the first time and by myself.
  
  I wanted to reply to a lot of posts. Thanks to everyone for the packing/money tips.
  
  I leave from Brisbane on the 19th August. But my stop over is in Dubai.
  So im in London for a couple of nights before the trip but staying with friends.
  Ill be at the Royal National Hotel the night before we leave and staying the night after the tour.
  
  Ill also be going to Munich after for Oktoberfest.
  
  Looking forward to meeting you all.

  Hi Everyone,<BR><BR>Wow it is good to read everyones posts and realise im not the only one traveling for the first time and by myself.<BR><BR>I wanted to reply to a lot of posts. Thanks to everyone for the packing/money tips.<BR><BR>I leave from Brisbane on the 19th August. But my stop over is in Dubai. <BR>So im in London for a couple of nights before the trip but staying with friends. <BR>Ill be at the Royal National Hotel the night before we leave and staying the night after the tour.<BR><BR>Ill also be going to Munich after for Oktoberfest.<BR><BR>Looking forward to meeting you all. or Cancel
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• 4 Aug 2010 Aman said

  

  Hey everyone 2 week plus left before our big trip? Everyone excited? I am leaving melbourne this weekend stopping over in KL, Singapore and Dubai before I arrive in London on 13th Aug. Anyone else in london much before their trip and want to do some sight seeing or travelling around UK let me know we could plan something.
  
  Cya you all in london guys.
  
  Cheers,

  Hey everyone 2 week plus left before our big trip? Everyone excited? I am leaving melbourne this weekend stopping over in KL, Singapore and Dubai before I arrive in London on 13th Aug. Anyone else in london much before their trip and want to do some sight seeing or travelling around UK let me know we could plan something.<BR><BR>Cya you all in london guys.<BR><BR>Cheers, or Cancel
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