OT: Guided youth tour of Europe...any suggestions?

[adventure_woman]

I LOVED LOVED LOVED my Contiki tour. It was quite a while ago - 14 years ago. It was a 16 day through all of western Europe. I was studying abroad and wanted to travel around Europe first.

Why I did a tour vs. backpacking. This was my first time really traveling by myself. I thought about backpacking - it just made me too nervous not really knowing where I was going. I liked the idea of not having to worry about transportation, hotels, etc.

I found that the 'tour' wasn't a tour in a sense. It is geared so much towards the 18-35 year old range that it was so much fun. You had free time in every city you were in. They offered different excursions you could, or you could go off on your own.

I really wanted to go on another tour before I turned 35....unfortunately that didn't happen.

After my tour, I did go back to Rome a month or 2 later by myself for a week where I felt comfortable using the trains, finding a place to stay in a hostel, etc. I had enough anxiety go abroad by myself that I wasn't up for doing myself the first time.

 

[Green Tea]

I am about the most cautious parent around and I let my kid go traipsing through Europe alone (with a couple of friends) at 17. The group trip things I read about all seemed like drunken party binges. When they were on their own they had to keep their wits about themselves.

They did the hostels, trains, a couple of countries. Saw the big tourist things, and the other parts of the cities as well.

It was a great experience.