In January 2020, I took my first Contiki trip. A couple of friends who had gone on similar youth group travel adventures told me I would love it, and explained how their trips went. Now after I’ve completed mine, I can compare and report back.

I’ll tell you about the trip logistics, so you can determine whether or not a European Contiki is the right travel style for you.

Contiki is a travel company that provides group travel options all around the world for people ages 18-35. They have trips that go many different places and for various lengths of time, but I chose to take the European Quest tour that would hit 11 countries in 25 days.

I loved the entire experience, but I’m also aware that this style of group travel isn’t for everyone. So here’s my deep dive into Contiki life.

Travel solo with other solo travellers

First things first, Contiki is a great way to travel solo without really travelling solo.

On night one, you’re alone with a bunch of strangers, but by Day Two, you’ll have connected with your group and made at least one new friend. I’m a Canadian who met new friends from so many different countries – Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Portugal, the US, South Africa, India… and more.

I’m not a fan of travelling completely alone. I like having someone to experience things with — to turn to and say “wow, this is amazing”. This trip gave me the opportunity to do something completely outside my comfort zone, without having to live up to the expectations of who I am at home, and without having to experience any of it alone. Best of both worlds.

Living the bus life

Being on the bus is a huge part of any Contiki trip.

We were on the bus every other day for around 6-7 hours. I thought I’d be bored on the bus, but I never was.

Our trip manager had “get to know you” games for us to play to pass the time. Or we’d listen to music or play card games. Or just talk. Or take a nap. In the whole month of travel, I don’t think I ever took a quiet bus day for granted. That being said, I know sitting on a bus for 7 hours may sound like torture to some people. But I think with 50 people on a bus, you’d never get bored.

We also stopped every couple of hours for a stretch and bathroom break (there is a bathroom on board the bus in case of emergencies). Breaking up the time on the bus with these stops also helps pass the time.

There are also two songs we got to know very well over the course of the trip due to time spent on the bus: our morning song and our wake up song.

The morning song is a song they’ll play first every morning you’re on the bus – it’s your group anthem, your pump up song. They also played it as we pulled back into our final stop of the trip, and we all cried.

The wake up song was one we developed a Pavlovian response to. Our trip manager would play it when we were 10 minutes away from a bathroom stop, or our next destination. Anytime I hear “I’m So Excited” now, it makes me react like my alarm has just gone off in the morning.

Your Trip Manager and Bus Driver

Now is probably the point at which I should give a huge shout out to our trip manager, Laura, and our bus driver, Paulo.

Laura was an incredible trip manager, giving us such great to-do lists of recommendations for things to do in each city, organizing amazing nights out, figuring out what to do in the face of a few detours along the way.

I’d never have had such a great time without Laura being part of our Contiki fam.

If it was me organizing my own trip, I would have been so anxious the whole time, but with Laura I could sit back and relax and know that whatever we were going to do next was going to be super fun.

Paulo was an impressive driver sure, getting us through all of the tiny, winding roads throughout the trip, but our travels would have felt empty without his supportive and welcoming energy, and of course, all of his jokes.

Drinking Culture

Because of the age group Contiki caters to, they have a fairly accurate reputation for having a high drinking culture.

Every meal add-on included more wine than I could drink; every night out included drinks; thirty to fifty young people wanting to have a killer time on vacation, and often times people will buy their own alcohol and have hotel room parties, too.

That being said, I got a good group who was respectful of everyone else’s comfort levels with regards to alcohol.

I also did my Contiki in my late-twenties, as a secure adult.

So on the nights I wanted to stay in, or not participate in heavy drinking, I hung back and I wasn’t judged for doing my own thing. I never felt pressured to go out with them.

On nights everyone went out drinking, our group also had a great Take Care of Each Other policy. No one took a cab back to the hostel alone, and everyone was welcome to hang with everyone.

On one of our last nights on the trip, I was saving a table at the bar (alone) while my friends got another round of drinks. A couple of people in our trip group who I’d never spoken to before that night stopped to make sure I wasn’t on my own, and asked if I needed to head back to the hostel with them.

There was a lot of drinking, yes, but there was never pressure to do so, and nothing but respect passed around.

Activities as a Contiki Group

Full group activities were a great way to meet and connect with new people.

On our Contiki, there were only a handful of activities we did as an entire group (of 30-50 people at any given time). We had dinners together, we went on walking tours together, but most of the time, we could go where we wanted with who we wanted.

If it wasn’t for full group nights out, I would never have talked to a few people who would become close friends. But that being said, you’ll never be forced to spend too much time with people you may not want to. It’s a group trip, but you’ll have the freedom to do the things you want with the people you want to do them with.

*Contiki friends in Sorrento, Italy, Jan 2020*

The same group, all day every day

With so many people in such tight quarters for such a long time, Contiki really is conducive to a pressure cooker lifestyle.

I was only on this trip for a month, but you share everything with this group – you share rooms, share milestone experiences, share drinks, share secrets – within days you feel like you know these people better than anyone else.

You feel so connected. By the end of a month, I felt like I had ten new best friends. It’s amazing, but it can be hard if you’re in a group with people you don’t particularly get along with.

Lots of experiences, little time to dive deep

Contiki is great for having a lot of bucket list experiences rather than finding your new favourite place.

We spent a day and a half in any given city. It was never enough time to fully explore and fall in love with a place. But it was a good opportunity to see a snapshot of each one and decide where you’d want to return someday.

Honestly, I appreciated that about this trip – I discovered places I’d never thought about visiting and now know I want to return to (like Nice, France – loved it), and I visited cities that I’ve always wanted to see, but now after having seen the basic sights, I don’t really care to go back.

All in all, I am really happy that I got to see a lot of Europe in one trip and did get to check a lot of experiences off my bucket list.

*Koisi Hostel in San Sebastian, Spain, Jan 2020*

Hotels and Hostels

It’s also important to talk about accommodations on the Contiki trip.

We stayed mostly in hostels that ranged from grungy and small, to boring and basic, to clean and modern, to busy and alive. I had no qualms about any of these hostels, because we really were only ever in the hostels to sleep.

I don’t need a huge comfy bed to sleep, especially not when I’m already exhausted after a day of trekking around Europe. You get used to living with what you need. And sometimes the hostel nights meant a poppin’ time at the lobby bar, but sometimes they just meant sitting in your bunks with your roommates chatting about anime and drinking coffee-flavoured schnapps.

We shared rooms with three other people at any given time. I’d never really shared a room with girls before, but I have to give very specific shoutouts to the roommates I had on this trip: Lydia, Amy, Haruna, Audrey, and Rachel.

They were all great people and amazing roommates – super considerate of other people’s space and time, always kind enough to share snacks or give you a pep talk after a rough day. I got lucky with great roommates, but if you happen to get stuck with people you don’t want to be in tight quarters with, that would have an affect on how much you enjoy your trip.

*Pizza with friends in France, Jan 2020*

Contiki Magic

On one of our last days, Paulo got up in front of the busload of passengers and told us how much he appreciates every single Contiki trip he gets to work with because of something he referred to as Contiki Magic.

The magic of meeting a group of people you’d never have otherwise met in your life, people from all over the world, sharing once in a lifetime experiences with them that you’d never forget.

I really liked that. The whole thing felt like magic to me.

Overall, I think Contiki is a great option for young travellers to solo travel with a group and see the world.

If you’re a person who needs specific methods of travel and accommodation, maybe it’s best for you to plan your own trip.

If you’re a person who is okay with roughing it sometimes, and is laid back enough to be open to any kind of activity or travel experiences, a Contiki is a great way to make friends and try new things.