Recommendations for 10 day tour package England, France, Italy needed for April 05
 

Please help- I need to book a 10day tour package for England, France and Italy for April 20-30 for a party of 5 departing from Miami, Florida. We are on a budget. Three members of our party will stay an additonal 24 days... and will need an extention on airtravel (plan to stay with relatives in Germany April 30-May 24). This is our first European trip. among the best prices found are packages from Contiki, and Vacations to go - All other recommendations are welcome. Thanks,
Jackie

CAREFUL..when you compare tours carefully read what is really included ..to see likely means the bus will pass..check location of the hotel..if in suburbs may add a bit when you want to go ito the city..Cosmos is another low cost provider..Globus, Insight and Traffalger are midddle of the road..get you pencil out to really figure what is included THEN compare the price. I think there are some websites that sell all of these at a discount.

3 countries in a 10-day tour sounds like a bit of a horror show to me!
You could easily plan your trip on your own, without being part of an organized tour, and save a lot of money, not to mention get the trip you want. Then the extension would not be a problem.

If you do elect to go with a tour, make sure you do a lot of research into where the hotels are located. Often they are on the outskirts of cities and you waste a lot of time travelling to sights. Being stuck on a coach is NOT the way to see Europe.

I presume you know Contiki tours are limnited to 21-35 year olds (you didn;t mention your ages)? Have no personal experience - but some reports indicate that these can be "party tours" - if that's what you're looking for.

3 large countries spread that far apart (now, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg might be a different matter), 10 days on a coach, sounds like absolutel hell to me.

What sorts of things do you like, why are you going to Europe (a "party" trip, scenery, major cities, museums, history, or whatever) ?

to do this in 10 days you will either have to be on buses all day long most days, or traveling by bus during the night and trying to sleep on board. And even then you will only have about 2 1/2 days in each country.

I sure wouldn't do it . . . . . .

This sounds insane and I echo the posters' comments above. I know your desire is to see as much as possible on your first trip to Europe but you will not really go back home with much of a feel of anywhere you have visited.

Have you looked at a map to see the distances you will travel in that short time? You will then see that you are going to spend a lot of time travelling.

If it were my first trip to Europe I would concentrate on one country or pick a couple of major cities in different countries (such as Paris and London) and possibly do a day trip from each one to see other parts of each country.

If you are on a budget, a tour may not be the best way to do this. if you are prepared to put the research in, you can probably get better deals yourself.