BigRuss, I appreciate you setting the record straight! What was the average age on your tours overall? How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

I realized if you want to see more than just the tours on www.imaginative-traveler.com, like the cities, villas and walking and biking trips, you want to click on "Imaginative Escapes" blue square in left hand margin. Have fun planning!

Now I'm about your age and attached. When I took the tours, I was 26 and 27 and single and there were a strong minority of folks (4-7 couples out of 40-46 folks on the tour) like you and your lesser half -- low/mid 30s couples. Plus the singles tended to be 25-35 and professionals, not 18-24, on those country-wide tours. The kiddies tend toward the AllEuropeIn45Days odysseys or the Euro-Hedonism of the Greek Island Hopping tour.

Note also that there are a lot of Canadians and Aussies on these tours and occasional Brits, Kiwis and South Africans (in Italy we also had three Dutch, German twin sisters and three Israelis). So the Contiki Europe tours tend not to have an overwhelming American post-college frathouse flavor.

Contiki also has forums on its website and Contiki groupies can answer your questions about their experiences there.

I was stuck in the middle of retired older patrons and giggly twenties on a Euro river cruise one time.

I wanted to gag or strangle one of the girls who was flirting with our tour guide non stop, asking him idiotic questions and flouncing around for attention. She, too, was everywhere, every group I was in, maybe she was one of triplets who knows. I was on the boat and busses with her for two weeks!

The older people were actually very nice but we had to walk very slowly in order to keep our groups together.

It was over all a nightmare and wasted money. Go on your own, pick a few cities, book the hotels and go from there.

We have the same concerns about escorted tours and seniors this year 2005. Jsut wondering what you ended up doing ...still there? We're planning for Italy off season '06, But have heard such negative things about tours lately. I've experienced both in the past tour/independant and it -was- a lot of seniors but as I remember they were great! /There see&experience eveything -totaly uninhibited and full of enegery. I guess it's all the neg. comments I have been reading recently while reserching and planning is making me hesitate. We Recently returned from a fly & Drive in Ireland the other couple was totaly opposed to a tour)it was "Grand" but MY husband did most of the driving...so Yeah! we were free to do as we pleased...had fun roaming the country roads but we also spent time geting lost, arriving to late and digging through our guidebook to find out just what the h_ll we were looking at! And just a side note the other couple were exhusted all the time and still didn't seem to have a good time (We loved it and can't wait to return)The two short guided tours we took (that w had to force the others on were the highlight of the trip! Go figure! I am from NYC and unfortunatly surrounded by Travel snobs...I see some lurking here! Yes - blend in,soak up local culture blah! blah! blah!though Ireland was great I think for Italy it is going to be an escorted tour just looking for info as you were... Honestly -I don't think I want to be around some of the people that posted here that were so against escorted tours either?! ha!
YGood luck and beware of Travel Snobs.
anyone ever hear of Goahead vacations and clubABC... recommend by a frind/school teacht that travels evey summer.

Yes, I have heard of GoAhead. I did a trip to London and Paris with them about 5 years ago and was very happy. What I liked best was that it wasn't really a "group" tour. No bus trips, being herded around like sheep, etc. The guide just met us at the airport, got us to the hotel, and met us in the lobby each morning to help us plan our day (sort of like a concierge service... this was particularly helpful in France, as we didn't speak the language.) There were optional day trips available through the tour company, but we didn't do any of them.

The other people on the trip were a variety of ages... several late 20s, a family with teens, some older couples, and we really didn't have much interaction with them.

Now, this was about 5 years ago, so things may have changed, but they might be worth a look. For me, GoAhead was a great balance of providing a little structure for my first trip to Europe, while also allowing the freedom to enjoy the cities on my own.

We did a GoAhead tour to London, Paris, and Amsterdam two years ago. Ages ranged from 30-50 and msteacher is correct that they are fairly unstructured which is what we liked. Half day tours in each city and the rest was on your own. The only thing we didn't like was the 2-3 star, tourist class hotels which were only moderately centrally located. They were comfortable and certainly clean, but we would have liked a bit more luxury. The price was good and the freedom was good. For novices, it allows a good overview of the destination and then the opportunity to go back to the places one likes with the assistance of a guide for advice. I'm not sure we'd do it again but for our first time, it was pretty good.

The higher end the tour company is, the older the people tend to be. I did a great tour for my first trip to Europe with Maupintour ( I was 50) and got to feel young. There were lots of great things about the tour, but you certainly are stuck with a "cast of characters", many who want to see Europe but not experience it. "I want my American breakfast, don't these people know how to cook bacon?", and that type of thing. Getting up at 6 am can also be a pain. I did it because I was afraid of all the planning, etc.
My next trip was self-planned with a lot of help from Fodorites. It was a little more stressful, but wonderful.