On your trip

Information on your trip start and end points can all be found on the specific trip page or on My Contiki. If you’re unsure or want clarification on this, you can contact your travel agent, our reservations team or chat to us online.

Some trips have a kick-start meeting, hosted by the Trip Manager, which happens either the night before the trip or on the evening of the first day. Other trips have a start time and meeting point, which your Trip Manager will share with you.

You’ll start by meeting your whole group for the first time, as well as your Trip Manager. Your Trip Manager will give you an overview of how things work on Contiki, plus a health and safety briefing. They’ll also take all necessary information/documentation that they need from you.

“The whole service was unbelievably easy. From booking to meeting the road crew at the pickup spot in London! The driver and Trip Manager both were exceptional and made sure our life was extremely easy” Ethan, Great Britain and Ireland

The first time you meet the group you’ll find out important information and meet your fellow travelers, so we strongly encourage you to be there. If you can’t make it, just let the Contiki reservations team know in advance and make sure you know all the necessary departure details in time for the beginning of the trip. 

Your Trip Manager will also send you a Welcome email, where they’ll share all the key info. You can reply to that email if you run into delays.

Transfers are not included in the trip (unless specified), so you’ll need to make your own way to the start point.  

In particular destinations or on selected trips, we do offer chargeable transfers and/or complimentary shuttles that can be added onto your booking.

Please read the trip itinerary carefully to understand available options.

It’ll be up to you to make your own way to the start point. We make sure our start points are in well connected and highly visible areas so it shouldn't be any stress getting public transportation, or jumping in a cab. 

Don’t panic if you’d like help planning this journey, just contact your Trip Manager (reply to the Welcome email they sent you) or contact our friendly reservations team and they can help you out.

We have a whole mix of accommodations, depending on the destination and the travel style you’ve chosen. You can stay in hotels, hostels, boats, tented safari camps, jungle lodges, eco lodges, beach resorts, and even our very own 16th century French Château. 

All our accommodations is vetted and chosen by our expert trip planning team.

Looking for a specific type of accommodations for your trip? If you like, you can filter the Search results by accommodation style. 

“The properties we stayed at were brilliant. Outdid my expectations to be honest. Nothing but love!” Riddhi, European Magic

“The Accommodations were AWESOME” Jaclyn, Japan in a week

You can access this via My Contiki as part of your pre-travel documents. Otherwise, you can request it from our friendly reservation team by calling us on 0808 281 1120 or by chatting to us online.

Want to know more about the accommodations before you book? You kind find this on the relevant trip page on our website, usually listed at the bottom of each day in the itinerary.

In most cases, yes. Sharing a room is part of the Contiki experience. How many people you share with depends on the region, travel style and type of accommodations you choose, but twin or multi-share (up to 6 in one room) sharing according to gender is the norm. 

Festival accommodations is the only instance where up to 8 people could be sharing, and this may be mixed gender. 

Want a room to yourself? On many of our trips (especially twin-share), you'll have the option to upgrade to a private room for an additional cost.

“The connections formed with my fellow travellers were unmatched. I made friends and memories that will last a lifetime.” Abigail, European Contrasts

Absolutely! If you’re part of the same booking, select the ‘Twin room’ option and you’ll be put into a room together. Note: don’t select ‘Twin share’ or you’ll be automatically assigned a room with one other traveller of the same gender.

If you’re travelling with a partner/friend but you’re making separate bookings, you can select ‘Twin share’ and then contact us to let us know you’d like to share a room together.

In most regions and on most trips, you’ll have the option to upgrade to a private room for an additional fee. 

Please note: on many of our multi-share hostel trips, this may not be possible due to limited availability.

Your Trip Manager will assign each member of your group to a room, and this will be your rooming formation for the duration of the trip. If for any reason you want to switch rooms, just ask your Trip Manager and they’ll do their best to arrange it.

Long days exploring can often = a necessity to do laundry. The good news is, lots of our accommodations offers laundry facilities so you don’t need to be known as the traveller with stinky socks. There is a small fee for laundry services and detergent (top tip: if you want to be super saving savvy, bring some laundry powder with you). 

If your accommodations doesn't have a laundry service and you’re really desperate, just ask your Trip Manager to help you find a local laundrette.

Yup! Don’t stress about keeping connected to all your friends and family from afar; almost all accommodations offers free WiFi, so you can gram/Tok/chat to your heart's content.

They sure do. All of our Contiki branded coaches offer free WiFi to keep you up to date on the road. However, this isn’t unlimited, so we ask that you save any heavy internet usage (streaming etc.) for when you get to your accommodations.

Breakfasts are included on most trips, plus a handful of dinners. For all other meals, we like to give you the freedom to explore the local culture and cuisine… and even go on your own foodie safari.

“Learned so much about Mexico and the culture, and ate a lot of great food!!” Ashley, Yucatan Highlights

If you have any specific diet requests, allergies or intolerances, provide details of these in My Contiki and we’ll do our best to cater to your individual needs. Please also discuss your dietary needs with the Trip Manager at the start of the trip.

Please indicate any allergies in My Contiki, and tell your Trip Manager at the start of the trip too. If your allergy is severe and may impact the group (for instance a nut allergy), let our Reservations team know before your departure tell your Trip Manager too – they’ll make the rest of the group aware and take appropriate precautions to make sure you’re not in any danger.

Contiki trips balance planned-out activities with free time to explore in your own way. In other words, we provide the best framework for you to build on with free time of your own. You can choose to explore, relax or eat your way through these blocks of time, and you can do it alone or with members of your group.

“The layout and activities of our trip was phenomenal, each day was filled with fun activities as well as opportunities to try new things.” Julian, The Lava Line

The amount of free time you have will depend on the travel style and individual trip you choose.

“Our Trip Manager was amazing and very organised, and allowed us to have maximum time everywhere.” Jessica, London to Athens plus Greek Island Hopper

Your free time is yours to do as you please, but your Trip Manager will be able to help and advise.

You can also take advantage of our Free Time Add-Ons. These are experiences we cherry-pick for you in each destination, designed to take your trip to a whole new level of awesomeness. Please note that as they’re add-ons, they’re not included in the cost of your trip.

“We had a decent amount of downtime to explore on our own, but were also guided in things to see. I would recommend doing ALL the add on experiences.” Hollee, Italian Espresso

“Absolutely amazing trip! So many free time activities to choose from, all of which were 10/10 experiences” Sonja, Northern Choice plus Kaikoura

Free Time Add-Ons are optional activities that take your trip to a whole new level. The experiences are built around activities or topics we know you’ll love: think food, adventure, exploration, history, culture, fashion, music – you name it. 

Examples include:

• A cruise down Amsterdam’s iconic canals
• White water rafting in Innsbruck, Austria
• An Italian feast in the Tuscan hills
• A half day snorkelling cruise in Koh Tao
• A Thai cooking class in Chiang Mai
• A polo day experience, Buenos Aires
• A sunrise hot air balloon ride, Byron Bay 
• A skydive over the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

“Definitely do all the free time add ons if you can, as they are the highlight of your trip. You see the best cities that Europe has to offer” Hollee, Italian Espresso 

“All the included activities and the free-time add-ons were amazing experiences, and I don't regret a second of it” Anastasie, European Inspiration

“So many free time activities to choose from, all of which were 10/10 experiences.” Sonya, Northern Choice plus Kaikoura

No. Because they’re optional, these experiences will incur an additional cost. Having said that, thanks to our longstanding relationships with suppliers, you can be safe in the knowledge that you’re getting the best deal for each experience you join.

“You are basically paying for travel within the country, accommodation, all breakfasts, some dinners and some included experiences. The rest: flights, other meals, shopping is your own money. If you choose not to do these activities, you spend the day exploring the town/relaxing. Thank you Contiki - it was an adventure for sure! :)” Amber, Sweet as South

Nope, it’s totally up to you. Our Add-Ons happen during your free time, so if you’d rather do your own thing, we’re totally okay with that – the choice is yours!

The specific trip page itinerary will show inclusions and add-ons for the day you are viewing. A full list of Add-Ons and approximate costs will also be included with your travel docs on My Contiki. 

Your Trip Manager will take you through all of the available options at the start of your trip, and you can then decide which you want to do.

You can pay for your Add-Ons with a debit/credit card or cash once you’re on your trip. Our Trip Managers will help you out, so there’s nothing to worry about ahead of the trip.

In terms of spending money, you’ll need to budget for the below (as a minimum):

• Any meals (normally lunches and dinners) that are not included. You’ll be able to see the total number of meals included on the itinerary page
• Any Free Time Add-Ons you’d like to do
• Any additional sightseeing or activities you plan to do in your own time
• Any additional personal expenses like alcohol, shopping and evening entertainment

Depends on where you’re traveling to, how long for and how much you like to splash the cash when you travel. It’s also a good idea to read up on our incredible Free Time Add-Ons and decide how many you’ll want to do. You should set a daily budget based on these factors, as well as doing some research on: the region you are traveling to (for instance Europe and Australia will be more expensive than Asia, or Latin America), and how much you anticipate spending on personal expenses like alcohol or shopping. 

Consider the:

• Cost of a local lunch
• Cost of a local dinner
• Cost of a bottle of water
• Cost of a beer
• Cost of an ice cream
• Cost of entry to a sightseeing spot

Bring some cash in the local currency of the destination you’ll be traveling to first, and then use your debit or credit card to withdraw money along the way (don’t forget to let your bank know you’re traveling!)

Cash cards are also a good option if you want to reduce conversion fees.

“Worth every penny - I didn't worry about spending money as I knew that this was once in a lifetime experience. So glad I did everything I wanted to!” Katherine, Southern Africa Safari

That depends! If you’re heading to America, tipping is a big part of the culture and is expected when paying your dinner bill, buying drinks at a bar, and even getting a taxi. However, if you were heading to Japan, tipping would be seen as impolite. 

In most parts of Europe, leaving a tip of around 5-10% of the total bill is the standard, although make sure you check the bill first, as a tip may have already been included in the total cost of the bill. It’s generally worth reading up on the tipping culture of the region you are travelling to prior to your trip, or just ask your Trip Manager about the general etiquette (even though they’ll probably tell you anyway).

In terms of tipping Contiki staff and Local Guides, this is entirely up to you! If you think a Trip Manager, Driver or Local Guide has done an awesome job (and they usually do), you might want to tip them for this, but this is at your discretion and no one else’s. Just tip what you think is right.

Depends on the tipping culture of the country you are in. Read up on what’s expected prior to your trip or ask your Trip Manager if you’re unsure.

Tipping of Contiki Trip Managers and Drivers is completely optional. If you think your Contiki crew have delivered an outstanding level of service throughout your trip (and we hope you do), you may wish to tip them, but this is at your discretion and no one else’s.