High School EF Tours Trip or GAPP Exchange Program?
 

What are your experiences with EF Tours? I can't find any really recent ones anywhere online.
I'm signed up and paid for about a third of my EF Tours trip with my high school. We leave summer of 2017, and spend about 12 days. The only problem is, my school's exchange program with our German partner school happens about the same time, except it lasts for 3 weeks and costs a third of the EF trip, and we have tons of freedom. I'm really conflicted about what to do. I know I could also spend a semester abroad in college over in Germany, and also taking the DSD would make a great addition to any resume. But I'd also like to visit England and France and everywhere else as well. I know the EF tour is going to be condensed.
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The schedule (tl;dr)
Day 1: Fly to England
Day 2: London- Walking tour of The Strand, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Covent Garden
Day 3: London-Guided tour of Big Ben and Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Changing of the Guard, and then an optional excursion to Windsor Castle.
Day 4: Canterbury-tour of Canterbury, Canterbury Cathedral, Cross the English Channel by ferry from Dover to Calais, Travel to Normandy Region
Day 6: Visit D-Day Beaches; See Pointe du Hoc, American Cemetery, Arromanches;Visit Caen Memorial, Travel to St. Malo
Day 7: Paris-Visit Chartres Cathedral, continue to Paris
Day 8: Paris-guided tour of Paris; See Place de la Concorde, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Les Invalides, Eiffel Tower, optional excursion to Versailles (which I'm definitely doing)
Day 9: Paris-Lourve, Latin Quarter, Notre Dame Cathedral
Then we have a 2 day optional addition to Amsterdam.
Day 10: Amsterdam-travel by train, walking tour, city canals
Day 11: Amsterdam-guided tour, Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum
Day 12: home

While on the exchange trip, we'll stay with a host family in Berlin, visit the school a few times, travel to Iceland, and then have lots of free time on hand, while doing other things with our host families.

Sorry if this is a lot, thanks!

I feel like I'm leaning more towards the EF trip, mainly because two of my friends also signed up, and we kind of agreed to do it together as it is a huge trip. I also got the last spot after being on the waiting list until someone dropped out, so I feel a little guilty. I know you should pick what you want to do the most over friends sometimes, but I just don't know. It'd be great if the GAPP trips happened in the same school year, but instead they had to alternate who visits who every other year.

Know nothing about EF but have seen reports here - you might do a search for them to see what those who have been say. There are stories of inedible food and hostels at the end of hell and gone as well as the obvious problem of that totally chaotic itinerary. (Which looks like you spend well more than half of your time just sitting on a mobbed bus.)

If I had a choice of a trip to one place for 3 weeks I would grab that instead.

I went on a EF tour with my daughter in high school to France 3 years ago. We had traveled on our own the year before to Germany and Austria. My experience with them was terrible. The hotels we stayed in were not nice and they were not near any sites. The meals that were included were in dumpy restaurants that offered everyone the same meal- you had no other option. I would never go on one of their tours again- I could have gone on my own for less money, stayed in better hotels and been able to eat in restaurant I chose and an entrée that I wanted.

Just looking at the itinerary left my head in a whirl. This is very rushed and you aren't going to have much time to see anywhere. There is no way you can push all of Day 3 London into one day PLUS and optional visit to Windsor, unless all you are doing is looking at the outside. I wouldn't decribe that as a guided tour. Day 4 isn't going to give you much time to see Canterbury Cathedral either.

I agree that the EF itinerary looks very full e.g. day 3 is a whole day's worth before you ever get to Windsor, unless of course a "guided tour" means 5 minutes inside or not going inside at all

Day 3: London-Guided tour of Big Ben and Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Changing of the Guard, and then an optional excursion to Windsor Castle.

[Parliament, St Paul's and Westminster Abbey would all take at least an hour to tour properly, IME].

[oops, just read what ESW wrote - so we agree with each other]

The other trip you get to stay with a family in Berlin AND to go to Iceland - which would be very much my preference. You will have the rest of your life to tour the UK and France at a more sensible pace, but once you leave school/college home-stays with foreign families will be much less easy to organise. AND [did I read this right?] you go to Iceland.

I know which I'd choose.

You have to read tour brochures very carefully:

"View" means seeing something out of the bus window as you drive by
"Stop" means a 5 minute photo op out front
Only "visit" actually mean you go inside - and even then it's often a very quick walk through and leaves out much of the sight

Just based on the number of places each day you are getting mostly "views" and will be completely insulated from the natives of the country and the actual culture. IMHO a very expensive waste of time.

I have read literally dozens and dozens of posts on forums ( there are many travel forums ).. and I think about 85% of them are negative about EF tours. Bad hotels, bad food, rushed sightseeing, and guides who are less then average.

My own daughter had a chance to do an EF tour in highschool. We looked at the price.. the payment conditions... and laughed our heads off.. she agreed she would rather save her money and do a much better real trip on her own. ( she was only interested initially as of course some of her friends were going) .
We had the advantage of all having already done Europeon travel on our own.. so were well aware of the issues with the itineraries being rushed,, and the prices.. wow.. they wanted to charge extra 50 euros for a visit to Versailles.. but Versailles is FREE to ALL students under 18,( which all the kids would be) and even adding having to pay for transport they were gouging the kids terribly.

She is only 19 yrs old now.. graduated last june ( 2015) and she is preparing for an almost 3 month visit starting end of April this year, with her friends. Smart girls. They have learned a ton to prepare for this trip, done all the research ( I do help with suggestions of course) . Her money will go much further doing the trip this way.. and they can schedule their days according to their interests.

I know these school type programs are popular.. but I don't know why ( other then kids like to travel with their buddies).. I did read a post by a mom who said she felt it was "safer" if her child was on an escorted tour.. but all the information I have ever seen about these tours is that the kids are not really that well supervised, and that some parents would opt to go on the tour also to be sure their child was taken care of.. extra expense to a family and a poor trip to boot.

Anyways, sorry for my long post.. but I am coming from a place of why go on a tour??

My daughter started working when she was 15 ( her choice, not ours,and we told her if schools suffered she had to quit.. but she was a smart hardworking kid and maintained excellent grades all through hs.. and worked part time ) ..
She is now just finishing her second college semester.. and works part time going to full time for next two months to pile up the cash.

So.. if she could do it working at Mcdonalds, and as a coffee barista.. then I think most kids can save enough for a nice trip once they have tucked in a few years of work. We of course do not charge her rent.. so her expenses are low. Once you move out though expenses get in the way of piling up cash( so stay home as long as you can.. lol )

So ( finally ) my point is.. neither tour sounds appealing.. but I would choose anything over the EF tour..

>>>I know these school type programs are popular.. but I don't know why ( other then kids like to travel with their buddies)<<<

They are popular with the organizer (usually a teacher) because they get a free trip for every 6 kids they sign up. For every additional kid, the earn $$$. EF is bottom of the barrel budget for student tour groups (along with Explorica). They are cheaper than the better student tour groups (ACIS, NETC, etc.) so it's easier to sign more kids to go. The better tour groups include more sightseeing, have less extra cost excursions, have better meals and use better hotels (better location).

>>>I'm signed up and paid for about a third of my EF Tours trip with my high school.<<<

Check the refund schedule and see if you can get most of it back. Did you take any travel insurance (perhaps a cancel for any reason policy)?

Parents who think that the tour directors act in loco parentis are not reading the documents carefully.

They will deny any responsibility as does a university with underage students. I recall when i went away to college (17) my parents had to sign a document stating that I was emancipated and responsible for myself and that the university was not responsible for anything more than normal safety as for apartment renters. Naturally even in the last ice age there were no curfews or regulations about guests in one's suite or room.