ayeshaali23

female in my 30's looking to travel part of Europe SOLO . I have done a good deal of traveling, all over the world but with my family.. am looking for feedback on group tours
want to see sights and have a good time.. I would love to be on a group that likes to be active and explore the city during the day and go out at night..
looking for feedback on tour groups in my age range 30-45 ish , more single and in my age range.. is ideal.. The idea of hotels/hostels and transportation planned is most appealing. Although some places are shorter stays than what I might wants, eliminating planning stress seems worth it

any help, suggestions..
thanks

janisj

You are in sort of a black hole age-wise when it come to tours.

There are tours aimed at 18-30 party hardy types (and few w/ less partying). There are tours geared to families -- Disney and some Rick Steves. And there are most tours that don't have age requirements but end up mostly 50+ (and 65+ is really common).

What sort of budget are you working with?

(Having my hotels planned by a tour company is not the least bit appealing to me personally)

PalenQ

Contiki has plenty of gals your age - no many guys as many group tours they largely attract females -

http://www.contiki.com/destinations/...FQ2OaQodcoQKmw

Been around a long time and very reputable. Last I knew owned by a Swiss bank holding company so good as gold!

justineparis

My 18 yr old nephew did a Contiki,, its a booze tour.. lots of nickel and diming,, and average age was in fact more like 22 -23 from his photos and stories.. Now.. to be fair not everyone drinks and partys there way thru the tour.. but he was only on a 14 day tour .. which was from what I understand more party hardy then their longer tour.. a coworker and her sister took one of their 30 day tours.. and she said that while there was a lot of partying it wasn't half as bad as she thought it would be. She and sister where early 20s.

Personally if you plan to go solo.. go solo.. make it easy by just choosing a few key cities you wish to visit .

And if nothing else appeals I would look at a Rick Steves tour.. they have scrapbooks( photos taken on the tours by the tour members.. so they do show a pretty accuarate cross section of who takes their tours).. RS tours are not cheap though, but tend to include more things and are completely no tipping.

PS Contiki has been around since 70s.. so yes.. completely reliable. however. not a good match for everyone. They say 18-35 but its really 95% 18-25 .

janisj

>>Contiki has plenty of gals your age - not many guys as many group tours they largely attract females - <<

uh -- Contiki is what I was referring to and they are lots of men . . but when you say '30's' there is a HUGE difference on Contiki between 30 and 38. Contiki's absolute age limit is 35. So if you are 34 you would be at the very top end of their demographic. If you are 36 -- SOL.

>>Contiki has plenty of gals your age - no many guys as many group tours they largely attract females - <<

Not true -- if Contiki can be believed. From coktiki's own web page FAQs: >>The make up of every tour is different but generally speaking, the ratio of females to males is roughly 60/40. As is to be expected though, this varies from tour to tour and there is no way to predict what ratio of people will book on your specific tour.<<

But again the majority be in their early-mid 20's.

inspiredexplorer

I agree with justineparis that you can easily go solo in Europe. If you really want a group though, a good bet might be Intrepid (http://www.intrepidtravel.com/). From their website:

"About 60% of our travellers are female, and ages can range from 18 to 65. It’s hard to know exactly who you’ll meet, but that’s all part of the fun. Intrepid travellers are connected more by attitude than age. They’re a friendly, open-minded and curious bunch, usually looking for an alternative to solo adventure or a big bus tour."

So you could get a fun group to hang out with, or it could skew older/younger than you. It's kind of a crapshoot.

I've never gone on a group tour - always solo'ed on my own - but I would consider a group tour for places I'm a bit more nervous to visit on my own as a solo female like say India.

G Adventures is probably a similar demo as Intrepid, you could look into that as well.

janisj

I was posting at the same time as justineparis and didn't see her post. Agree 100%

BigRuss

Geez. I went on two Contiki tours. The first one was a 2-weeker in Italy with 5 couples and 30 singles. The singles ratio: 4-1 women. Party hardy? Not so much - two semi-loud nights in Florence but mostly hanging out and enjoying the sights otherwise.

In Spain, about 3-1 women among the singles, but a lot in an older 30-35 group. There was a core of about 6-8 who went crazygonuts with the drinking and dancing, and some really sober types (even Aussie women) who didn't partake of the lunacy.

Contrary to justine and janis, it's the BUDGET tours for Contiki, especially the 30+ day whirlwinds throughout Europe that have the scraggly and unkempt 18-22 year-olds hanging out in their gap years.

Most tours not specifically designed for younger tourists are awash in old buggers.

janisj

Can't be that old since 35 is the top age limit.

justineparis

Big Russ...its been a very long time since you took a Contiki tour..now hasn't it? The age limit is 35.

Blueeyedcod

Why is everyone just mentioning Contiki?

There is also TopDeck - they're not as rigid with the upper age limit (they say 'thirty-something')



Also try Peregrine - they are small group travel - not so many party people - more the adventure traveller but they go to some great destinations and attract mostly young(ish) people.

suze

Rick Steves is you want a tour group.

But personally I would encourage you to just go on your own, and find day tours in various places. The major cities of Europe couldn't be easier for a solo person traveling around.

BigRuss

<<Big Russ...its been a very long time since you took a Contiki tour..now hasn't it? The age limit is 35.>>

So? It was when I took the tours. She's in her 30s.

Any other big bus travel company (Globus) will have semi-ambulatory pensioners.

Peregrine could be a decent option - anything that labels itself "adventure travel" even if it calls itself "the lighter side of adventure travel" would keep out the coots.

justineparis

No Russ Wrong again.. things do change with time.

Rick Steves Tours do not have "semi ambulatory pensioners" onboard.. do some research . RS tours require you to be able to easily walk up to 5-10 miles a day, carry your own suitcases( and sometimes use hotels that have no elevators ).. etc. The average RS tour taker is fit and often no older then mid forties or fifties.. with a good mix of younger folks in the lot.. and even the "seniors" on those tours are fit, healthy, and young at heart. Look at the website.. they have a "tour scrapbook" section where actual customers post their own photos of the tours.. its most obvious everyone is young at heart at least.. no one who is decrepit would choose such a tour.. too much work for them. Plus RS has tours that just provide transport and hotel arrangements,, you are on your own for touring.. a sort of tour it yourself tour.

PalenQ

Rick Steves tours yes attract a wide usually active age group - but not as cheap nearly as they once were and have lost a little of their uniqueness and operate more like traditional tours but still with a major difference - lots of younger folks that Big Russ's 'Polident' crowd (or janis' 'old fogey' crowd).

emily71

Can you travel to different cities and then take guides tours? I've traveled solo and loved it but when needed I've taken walking tours of cities. I've found that people are usually very chatty on these tours and in London and Paris have both day and night trips.

It may seem daunting to choose a hotel, but looking at tripadvisor and asking questions on the board here are a good start. There are many 30 something solo travelers in Europe.