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10th May 2012
We’re trying to organise our travel before our tour starts. This was going to be our plan. We have purchased a Eurail pass.
5-9 Sept Paris 4 Nights
10 – 11 Sept Brussels 2 Nights
12 – 14 Sept Amsterdam 3 Nights Berlin – start Contiki tour.
14 – 18 Sept – Munich – 5 nights
19th Sept
Want to use Munich as a base to go to Salzburg, Neuschwanstein and possibly Oberammergau on day trips. This would leave us with 1 or two days in Munich. Is this enough??
Came up with a bit of a dilemma. It turns out we would be in Munich for the 5 days before Oktoberfest. The average price for a hotel being 250 Euros. Eeek!!!
So is this a better idea or too much travelling or zigzagging.
Paris 4 Nights
Munich – 5 nights
Brussels 2 Nights
Amsterdam 3 Nights
Berlin – start Contiki tour.
From the 9th – 13th of Sept Munich hotels are around 60 Euros. Much better 
10th May 2012
Hi there
im looking at tours to russia for 08 and 09. Has anyone done europe/russia in winter? any advice? anyone done the dec tour over christmas??
thanks
10th May 2012
One thing I missed in part 1, When in chang Mai choose the cooking course, its a lot of fun and you get to cook great food, the host is a great guy and you learn alot. definitely do it!
DAY 4:
the usual early start here and you travel through more typical northern Thailand scenery, at this point you are used to it but nonetheless cool. the highlight of the morning is the stop at condoms and cabbages. I will let thoe of you doing the trip to find for yourself what this is. The hotel is OK, nothing to brag about but you are close to internet, massage and food, plenty of western foods to feel like home if you want (not mcdonalds though, i mean pizza, sandwiches…). This place isnt a highlight, the hilltribes optional excursion is a good experience but not that great, its basically a bunch of ethnic Thai people dumped in this piece of land donated by the king. Its good to see the culture but on ce you see one tribe, it gets old. Once again, you can choose to head out and have a fun night out, get some decent food or have an early night.
DAY 5:
an early start is in order but this time you head to what I think is the best part of the tour, laid back Laos. You get to spend 7 days here so enjoy it! Now the upcoming tours won’t have to worry about this but for us, the mekong river was extremely low and the part we were supposed to travel along by boat was unpassable but more about that later. A few hours in the bus sees you arrive at the thai/Laos border crossing over the mekong river. Now this is chaotic place as the border control is so relaxed and unorganised plus you have a ost of othee tours and backpackers trying to get visas processed at the same time. However once you get through that, its on to njoy the river cruise.
Now for my tour, at that time the river was too low so we had to travel the whole day in an old, crappy coach through a rather beautiful at times scenic route through rural Laos. it was good to see that part most people don’t but damn was it gruelling. Lucky for the rest of you china has had to let water out of their dams and fill the mekong back up. We arrived after dinner at the guesthouse which is very modest but when you are tired, any old bed will do.
DAY 6:
you wake up to a beautiful setting in Pakbeng, the guest houe overlooks the mekong and if you look across the gold tinged water you see a hillside covered in a light fog and you may see the odd elephant roaming the farmland. A good photo opp.
Now for those of you doing this tour you may be sick of the boat cruise i don’t know we but we enjoyed it, there is alchol to be bought (beerlaos, the beer of Laos and cheap as hell!) and good views to be seen. A good chance to talk to your fellow travellers or get drunk! You make one stop, that is to a cave I forgot th name of but basically its full of little buddha statues and is very sacred to the locals. Good photo opp aswell!
You then Arrive around noon at Luang Prabang, a great town you are gonna love. After settling in to your room, you get to go on a bike tour of the town. You cruise past cool colonial french/asian architecture and our favourite, you get to try snake whiskey! Big jars of laos whiskey filled with snakes, centipedes and lizards. awesome fun.
It is a free night so may I suggest you take advantage of the many restaurants and bars and just enjoy yourself in this cool town. You might want to check out the night markets and grab a bargain, have fun bartering but keep in mind at all these markets in laos, it is kinda all the same stuff.
If you are a drinker, beware of Laos Laos whiskey, it is brutal. You will soon find out it is customary to receive free shots of whiskey, enjoy the service if you wish! but beware lol.
DAY 7:
This day is incredible. You start ealry with the group being divided in two to ride elephants through the jungle. This is awesome, a great photo opp and it lasts for over an hour. You get to ride on the elephants neck aswell! You also pass by an incredible lake, so breathtaking. Get others to take photos of you on the elephants neck and just experience the amazing animals up close and personal.
After lunch you take buses to this waterfall that is preceeded by beautiful blue spring pools. Yet more photo opps abound and teh chance to swim or swing from a rope or dive from a waterfall, if the day is hot this will refresh you! A must do this place is great.
One tip, when on this tour take advantage of the massage parlours aswell the fish massage! it is a tank of certain fish that nibble on your dead skin cells. Truly Asian experience!
Day 8:
Today brings a rather interesting but gruelling trip from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. You drive past amazing scenery, the usual rice paddies with the odd buffalo strolling through right next to steep, jagged limestone cliffs that are synonomous with SE Asia. You arrive mid afternoon in Vang Vieng and your guide will tell you this place isn’t the real Laos. Vang Vieng is a backpackers town really, you see them everywhere and basically drive the towns economy.
Once you settle in to your hotel you go on a brief guide of the town and then basically it’sa free night. You will most likely follow teh group to one of the many restaurants that serve pretty much the same thing, sandwiches, pizza etc. The cool thing about these places is that they each play a specific sitcom all day and night. I only found it was either friends or family guy. The food is decent and gives you a real slice of home. The fun ensued later on when most people went clubbing at the Q bar I believe its called and you will see people getting stoned or buying “special drinks”, no need to explain that one lol.
My advice, don’t get too drunk tonight, you have plenty of adventure activities the next day aswell as tubing (which is the better opportunity to get drunk).
Day 9:
Today you awake to stunning views (if you face the back of the hotel) of the mountians shrouded in a fine mist. It’s really a free day where you can go kayaking, caving, rock climbing, or nothing at all. I suggest tubing, you basically pay for an old tractor tire tube and get dropped off out of town to float along the Nam Song river. great views but once yu get to the riverside bars, you can choose to hop off, get drunk on cheap booze and swing from ropes, slides or zip lines. This is epci fun and theres even mud volleyball/wrestling which is epic when your drunk. If your not into partying, don’t bother, just continue cruising down the river. youtube “tubing in vang vieng” if you want a better picture.
The night is up to you, if you got mad drunk in the day, you’ll wanna wind it up early.
Day 10:
The journey out of vang vieng to vientiane is rather boring compared to the journey in so catch up with your fellow tour mates or plug in your ipod.
when you arrive in town its a day of sightseeing with a rather depressing visit to the COPE centre which deals with people who have lost limbs, mainly from unexploded bombs dropped in the vietnam war or from landmines during the indochina war. Its very eye opening but also very depressing.
Next you visit another temple but by now I was over temples and seeing golden stupas lol.Following this you visit a monument built to commemorate the Laotiians freedom from the french and survival from attack by the americans. Its kind of like the arc de triomphe in france, very impressive and good views of the city. We were amazingly lucky when we were their because the prime minister and his officials rocked up fr some reason and it was quite funny because our local guide was scared of going to jail for looking at them!
In the free time in the late afternoon I walked around the city centre and grabbed some food, regretably because for dinner you visit a restaurant that employs street kids and teh food is good. You can finish the night off by joing the group for drinks in a bar next door to teh hotel, but it closes at 12. A few of us were lucky to be told about a rooftop party happening at another hotel so we whisked of over there and partyed the night away, only to find a few ladyboys!
Cambodia to come soon!
10th May 2012
double banger here guys –
i’ve heard mixed reviews on the rafting in the Austrian Tyrol? One of my friends said they were basically floating on a flat lake… yet all the posts said it was amazing!
also… the weather in europe in july? How does this compare to aussie summers?
yay! not long to gooooooo!
10th May 2012
Hi im going on an escapade tour on the 30th august and have been looking for a sleeping bag to take,
my tour starts on the 31st august,
should i be getting a summer bag, or one for temps betwween 7-12 degrees or 0 degrees.
there are so many on the market,
hooded and unhooded, tapered at the feet, in compact bags and not compact bags,
anyone have some info on the bags,
10th May 2012
Hi, im travelling the european vista is anyone travelling the tour on 30th of June next year?
Also those of you who have toured b4, just wondering if u can by another suitcase when ur over there to put shopping etc in. otherwise what do u do with what u might buy.
One more thing just to be a pain? How much spending do I roughly need?
Ta muchly Alana xoxoxo
10th May 2012
I leave next week for my European Encounter tour. I’m a vegetarian and I’m a little worried about the food situation.
Do the included/optional dinners include a vegetarian option? It seems silly to pay 20-40 Euro just to eat a few pieces of lettuce and a roll.
Also, are there any vegetarians out there who have travelled through Europe and can give me any advice? I eat eggs and dairy, but I do not eat any meat products (poultry, fish, beef, pork, etc). Any suggestions about dishes to order?
I know food is a big part of traveling and I would hate to miss out on the culture by just eating bread and salad the whole time.
Thanks!!
10th May 2012
Hey folks,
I’m going on the London to Athens concept tour this weekend!
Do I need 1)Towels? 2)Soap/Shower Gel?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Just
10th May 2012
Hello All,
Am a traveller who is looking for some new cool places to visit. Have seen a large amount of europe and would love to hear from you guys & gals out there that have experienced some must see places that you would love to revisit or highly recommend !!!!Europe or US
Mick
10th May 2012
Any other poor uni students who are only able to work part time got any advice/ideas/tips on saving for their holiday?
10th May 2012
hi, i was just wondering if we get customs checked on going into greece with the contrasts tour? i suffer headaches and my painrelief contains 8mg codine and asprin, i was told it is illegal in greece? do we get our luggage checked?
10th May 2012
Would like to know which port the cruise ship will dock and where we can go on shore for some activities, etc.
10th May 2012
Okay, so I have relavtives in Bratislava. I already tried to extend my ultimate european trip but I cannot do so without extensive penalties. So I was thinking about skipping over Bulgaria and/or Romania. Is anyone familiar with times that we get to these destinations? Or does anyone know how to travel out of these areas? Please let me know ASAP.
10th May 2012
Does anyone know how close to the airports the two hotels are? Also, we are supposed to provide our own transportation from airport to hotel so what is usually the best and cheapest mode of transportation to and from these airports? I asked the people at Contiki and they said that there are usually trolleys that come and go from the airport and to the hotels, but without knowing which hotel it is or the schedule or where to catch the trolley, this information is next to useless. Plus, I will be arriving in Sydney at about 6:30AM which for trollies I’m familiar with is before they start for the day.
Any helpful insights are appreciated, as always.
- Bruce
10th May 2012
Hey, my name is colton and im planning on going to a music festival wither isle of wight, reading, or if I can find a ticket to glastonbury and then doing a contiki tour, im traveling solo all my friends are too cheap some im looking to hopefully find some other people maybe doing or interested in doing something simular.
feel free to email me at col-ton@hotmail.com
10th May 2012
Hi guys,
I’m planning to join the European Horizon tour this first week of September. I am currently applying for a Schengen Visa here in Canada since I’m not yet a Canadian citizen. Does anyone know which consulate I should apply for the visa? Should I apply to the French or German Consulate. I’m really confused right now cause different people have been saying different things. Thanks.
10th May 2012
im going on a concept tour of britain and ireland in may with my partner and was wondering if contiki will split us when it comes to hotel rooms…. is it strictly boys with boys and girls with girls or can we stay paired together?? just curious…
