My husband and I are looking for an 8-10 day escorted tour package to a European destination (not UK) this fall. We are 33-year-old-double-income-no-kids and while we don't want to club or bar hop (at least not every night), we would like a lively tour group. We're a little concerned that some of the larger tours (Insight, Trafalgar, Collette, etc.) will be filled with retirees and middle-aged couples. We would like first class or deluxe type tours/accomodations. We have looked at Contiki Superior and Trafalgar Break Aways. Does anyone have any experience with either of those groups? Are there other companies or tour packages we should explore? Any helpful hints would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a bunch!

If you really want to do a tour - can;t imagine why - I suggest that you double check some of the more upscale groups to try to get decent, centrally located hotels - a search above might provide some info. I believe I have read that Tauk is not bad. But, I would contact the company and get complete info on the group's make-up before signing on - to ensure that you are not the only non-wrinklies.

(I did a tour only once - in the days when you really needed one to go to Russia - and we, and the 30-something daughter of another member, were the only ones much under 70. I give elders tremendous credit for attempting this type of trip - but there was a LOT of napping on the bus.)

I don't know that you are going to be able to get on a tour for this fall. Most are booked well in advance. I am in my late twenties and have only been on a Tauck tour. Just about everyone was 50+. Although people were older, everyone was pretty lively and active. It was expensive, but the hotels were superb. I have heard negative things about Contiki...dirty hotels and a constant party. My next tour I will trying is Rick Steve's. I have heard the average age is 30's & 40's because there is a lot of walking. Give them a try...most of what I have read about the other tour companies is a lot of retired people.

Any chance we could convert you? I would assume most posters here completely love the planning portion of their trips and would never turn over 8 to 10 days of vacation to a group tour. I know I wouldn't. There's tons of advice and suggestions on this forum for a "design your own" approach.

Another idea - fly to a location, rent a villa for the time you will be there and take car/train day trips out and about from your home away from home.

I just returned from 10 days in France (Paris, Provence and Cannes) and now am planning 10 days in Italy using a villa in Tuscany as the base.

Consider...just consider.

I just did a Contiki Gateway tour in July, and I had a fabulous time. If you are interested with the deluxe type tour, stick with Getaway. We stayed at decent hotels with nice beds, showers, and breakfast -similar to what a lot of Fodorites have suggested in the past.

The best thing about this tour was that I was able to decide for myself if I wanted to go to bars every night and have a hangover the next day, or just maximize my time exploring the cities. They gave us a map and an idea of places to go, and we'd get free days in each cities we went to, to create our own itinerary.

You'd meet a wide variety of people in this type of group. There were three married couple in our last group in their late 20's and early 30's as well as high school graduates. Everyone is very friendly and open to meeting new people, and .

If I didnt have time to do all of the legwork of researching, making reservations etc for my trip, this would be a tour group that I'd definitely do again. Let me know if I could be of further help.

One more thing that I forgot to ask, when do you plan on going? When I decided late in May that I'd like to go in early July, I was put on waiting list and found out that I got it about a week later. These Gateway tours are sold out very quickly because some of my new friends told me that they booked theirs as far as 6 months in advance.

Good Luck.

You need to be specific on a couple of things. First, what is a destination under your thought process -- a city, a couple of cities, a country tour or region of a sizeable country (i.e., Cinque Terre, Andalusia, Loire Valley)?

Second, you need to know how much time you want to spend and where -- just town-to-town hopping, 3+ nights in a major city and trips elsewhere, etc. Escorted tours for 8-10 days will NOT spend much time in any given city and certainly will not spend 3+ nights in a major city. Therefore, you get a taste of each place, and a small one at that.

I've taken two Contiki Superior tours. The hotels are anywhere from decent to very good (and in Turkey they tend to be very good to exceptional b/c the country itself is so inexpensive). The crappy hotel reputation comes primarily from Contiki's Budget tours that tend to have tons of early 20-somethings who have no money and little deoderant. Contiki's tour advisors also will tell you that their country-specific tours tend to have older and more sedate groups (this does not count the hedonistic Greek Islands tour or the Mallorca-Ibiza tour).

I took the Spain/Portugal tour and the Italy (the whole country) tour. The Italy tour was very good, not partypartyparty, hotels were solid to very good and no dumps. The group had 5 couples, 30 singles; generally good people but mostly upper 20s and olders, and no Aussie men so it was not a drinkathon.

In Spain, the hotels were generally a step below the Italy quality, the tour had much more time in the bus, it did have more of a party atmosphere, a couple of perpetually liquored-up Aussies and was a VERY lively group.

Other tour groups tend to be loaded with what the Aussies call "oldies" -- early retirees (50s) to social security recipients.

As for your partypartyparty concerns, the fact is that you are a couple and the singles don't necessarily want to deal with you when it's time to rock out. Moreover, you're grown-ups, so there's no reason you can't do whatever you want every night unless you feel compelled to hang with the group. That's on you, not them nor the tour company.

Hi 2DogMom-

If you and your husband are relatively fit, would you consider taking escorted hiking or biking tours? I haven't gone on any myself, but I would imagine the people on those tour are somewhat younger.

Hello everyone, thanks for your terrific and helpful responses!

Sounds like many of you Fodorite regulars are against tour groups. Initially I resisted the idea too, but we have been saying we'd plan a trip since April and here it is July and we haven't made any progress. So there's some appeal to just paying someone else to do all the work and just showing up. Also, we haven't traveled very widely outside the US (4 days in Rome, 4 in Paris a few years ago) so are happy to do a city, a few cities, a region, a country--whatever fits the schedule, budget, and other requirements. Also, our foreign language skills stink--so there's the appeal of having someone else do all the logistical stuff.

Carrie K, I'm curious about the Rick Steve tour (7 days in Barcelona) but am freaked out by shared bathrooms in "quaint" hotels and 10 miles of walking per day, (though being that fit isn't an issue--just that active. ;-))

BigRuss and h2babe, thanks for the feedback on the Contiki superior tours! What is the difference between a gateway tours and a superior tour?I'm going to look into Tauk and Collette too (but am still concerned about the retiree thing), and will continue to explore our other package options (many still show availability, actually) so continued feedback would be very, very welcome.

If anyone has a good travel agent they would recommend who specializes in maybe selecting a villa and hiring a driver/guide in Spain, France, or Italy, I'd love to hear from you too. I might be persuaded to ditch the tour--as long as someone else does the hard work planning (or else it will be 2006 before we leave home!)

We're total travel novices, but we finally have the means to do so and hope to see and learn more!
Looking forawrd to more input, 2DogMom

..any interset in walking tours? ..if so check the HF tours on teacherstravel.com...re the escorted tours...if you go to western europe on globus/insight/trafalger, most people will be older. In eastern europe turkey, middle east this will not be the case...another tour group you might enjoy would be adventures abroad..(?adventuresabroad.com)..have fun!!

check out slowtrav.com and then Italy villa rentals and suggestions...just to get you started on considering a self-created plan

Hi 2DogMom,

With the Rick Steve's tour I am going to be traveling in France. From what I researched the tour I'm going on doesn't have any shared bathrooms and there is one day of strenuous walking. The other days are up to you...although you should know that whatever you decide, walking around a lot comes with any Europe trip. I'm not sure about the Rick Steve's trips to Spain though. I would call their number and ask your specific questions...they were very helpful. Go onto tripadvisor.com and look up the tour companies too.

Also, you may want to look into an option where you can plan your own activities, especially if you just want to see one major city and surrounding areas. I have heard some good things about go-today.com

My first thought was also to suggest Rick Steves, smaller groups, more emphasis on getting to know what you see (rather than driving by it).

My impression is on Contiki you'd be on the high end of the age group. So I appreciate not wanting to go with the retired set, but do you really want young 20-somethings partying thru your European vacation, get-to-know-each-other games for the group, etc.

I would *never* take a normal style tour because Europe is so easy to plan (for somewhere more 'exotic' or potentially dangerous maybe).

I hate to follow rules, get up early in the morning, have a set schedule imposed, ride around on a bus with people I don't know, spend only 1-2 days in each city, get dropped off at 'forced' shopping, stay at boring tourist class hotels not in central locations... I could go on and on.

Since most of us on Fodors LOVE the planning part, it's hard to imagine wanting to give that power away. A trip is such a personal thing, I'd never trust someone else to care about it as much as I do.

I with you, Suze! If I had any doubt, it was erased by a bike tour.

I've raved about the Fat Tire Bike Tours of Paris, but it confirmed that I am not cut out for spending my European vacation with the same group for days on end. By the end of the tour, I was ready to kill the blond with the ponytail. As hard as I would try to position myself far away from her, she would always pop up near me causing problems of one sort on another. The thought of 10 days with her, or the other professional (solo) traveler that kept a running commentary on her trips and adventures but never thought about actually listening or asking a question of another.... Just a few hours was enough of them both. I know I would kill myself or someone else out of frustration after several days of being stuck with them! In fact, the funniest picture of me on the trip was in front of the Louvre...you can actually see my clenched teeth. Torture for me = a bus tour of anywhere!

Getaway (not gateway, probably a typo) is a new feature since my last Contiki trip.

The difference between Getaway and Superior is none -- all Getaway tours are Superior class tours. The low-end hotels are on the Budget tours.

The Getaways are Contiki's answer to my comment that you don't stay very long in a particular city -- they are 3+ night stays with limited cities (Prague-Berlin, Paris-London, Madrid-Barcelona, etc.) Check out Contiki's website, contiki.com.

thanks gracieb! since i've never actually taken a tour, i realize i'm posting a bit out of line... but your observations made me laugh. i just know i'd hate that blonde with the ponytail too. like a bad high school field trip deja vu.

OMG! It was horrible. I must have done something early in the ride that bothered her, because no matter how hard I tried she always ended up next to me causing problems. Every time we stopped and then restarted I would deliberately try to get out of her way (move to the front, move to the back, move to the left side of the group, move to the right). Wherever I was, she was sure to me. Thank goodness my traveling companion was there to confirm I was not crazy. When we stopped at the Berthillon (sic?) ice cream shop, she created chaos when we were parking the bikes and delayed half of us. When I found myself at the end of the line of about 40 people, I looked around to see where Little Miss was. Sauntering around the bridge. BUT, sure enough, before #10 was served, she cut in line and had finished her double dip before the rest of us had even been served. After a lengthy stop to buy and enjoy ice cream and listened to the guide talk on the bridge, she was the last one to reclaim her bike and several of us had to wait until she moved hers to we could get ours.
Biking around the Louvre courtyard at night with virtually no one there was a treat. But, I hung back and waited on deciding which direction I would take until I found her...and then went in a different direction. Unbelievable...in the midst of the vastness that is the courtyard of the Louvre, sure enough she was back by my side just as the photo was being taken.
She was like a gnat or a bee that likes one person's particular perfume.
One of us WOULD have been dead or seriously hurt if I had to spend 10 days with her on a bus!

You might consider Imaginative Traveller. (www.imaginative-traveller.com) We used them to go to Japan a couple of years ago. They started with Asia, Middle East and Africa but have gone "backwards" to Europe, what with the Iraq War and SARS, but they have taken the same spirit of adventure "back" with them. They have tours, city get aways and villa rentals. If a tour, the groups are small, our group was only the 9 plus guide, and we traveled like you would independently with trains and local public transportation. Hotels and meals were authentic and comfortable. About half the meals included and half not, but we even as a couple liked our group well enough that we went to dinner or at least drinks first with our tour companions. It's a British based company and our tour included Americans (3), Canadians (2), Brits (3) and Swiss (1). Age was 30 to 70 (although the 70 year old had more energy and personality than any of us). We liked our guide well enough that we have met her again in London and had her to our house in Chicago. They seem to walk well the fine line between "independent" and "escorted". Enjoy your trip!

BigRuss-

Thanks for the correction on my typos. I think your thread definitely hits the major misconceptions that a lot of people have on Contiki's drinkathon. I didn't get drunk during the entire trip, and I didnt know of anyone who were completely wasted that they couldn't go on their next day excursions

Thanks Suze and gracieb. Your posts are cracking me up! We've got to find a happy medium between bus tours with the AARP and drunken sprees with the Britney Spears fan club (no disrespect meant ;-)). I'm still not sure which way to go, but I have a lot more great information because of ALL of your helpful replies. Any additional thoughts--especially from people who have done some of these tours--are welcome!