

As I envisioned spending Saskatchewan's bone-chilling month of February laying on the beach in Thailand, I remembered my experience on the Greek Island Hopping tour this past summer. After browsing the Contiki website, I stumbled upon the Thai Island Hopper East and Thai Island Hopper West tours. I hope that by reviewing my personal experience with Contiki my decision as to whether or to take part in an Asian tour will become a lot clearer.

Contiki stands as one of the most popular travel tour companies among people in my age range. While their most popular tours take a large group of 18-35 years olds on a bus through the European highlights, they also offer tours through Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Asia. During the summer of 2011 I decided to give the company a try and signed up for the Greek Island Hopping tour. I sandwiched this 12 day adventure in the middle of a 10 week trip through the Balkans. While the tour was a lot of fun and I got a chance to meet a lot of great people, you should be very cautious when deciding as to whether or not this company is the right option for you.



The tour itself cost $2049CDN for "14 days". This included most breakfasts, 4 dinners, accommodation, and transportation. The pace of the tour was fairly relaxed as we had 3 days on each of the islands (Mykonos, Santorini, and Ios) after a short stint in Athens.

The best part about the tour was the fact that it allowed a large group of like minded young people to relax and party without having any regular stresses that traveling sometimes entails. If you're the type of person who isn't confident booking transport, accommodation, or scheduling activities independently, than this should be a major advantage to you. We were basically herded between destinations but still given plenty of free time to explore each of the islands at our leisure. If you're going to the Greek Islands to lay on a beach and erode your liver, than this type of travel isn't all that limiting.



This will do doubt be a major negative for a lot of people; and rightly so. The structure of the tour made interaction with locals very minimal; which is sometimes a highlight of a trip. That being said, because Contiki structures their tours in this manner, your experience is very dependent on the other people that are participating.



I was fortunate enough to have a fabulous group on my tour. If you aren't as lucky as I was in this regard, you will no doubt leave the tour highly disappointed. This disappointment will be added to the inherent problems of every Contiki tour.



The first draw back was the value. The tour is quoted at being $2049CDN for 14 days at a daily cost of $146CDN. This price is quite misleading however because the first and last days on the itinerary are simply arriving and departing Athens. This reduces the actual tour to 12 days at a daily cost of $171CDN. This price also does not include the many "optionals" that Contiki offers.



Examples of the optionals for this tour are the Santorini Volcano Trip (32 Euro), Caique Boat Cruise in Ios (49 Euro), and the infamous Farewell dinner (45 Euro). Say for example that you purchase these three optionals. That alone increases the trip cost by $185CDN which still doesn't include over a dozen meals, liquor, and other miscellaneous costs. Some people on my tour spent several hundred Euros purchasing these optionals when I perceived most of them to be vastly overpriced. If you have this kind of budget for independent travel, you could be staying at some very upscale accommodations and eating impressive Greek cuisine.



The second issue with Contiki tours in the rigidity of the schedule. How am I supposed to know whether or not 3 nights in Ios is sufficient if I haven't ever been there? What if I don't feel like taking the 7am ferry to Santorini and would prefer the 2pm? Contiki locks you into following a schedule that may end up being vastly different than what you would actually prefer.



A third issue with Contiki is the transportation. This problem didn't apply to my specific tour due to the fact that we were island hopping. But for the most part, the popular tours use charter busses to travel between seemingly vast distances. One of the greatest positives to backpacking Europe is the comfortable, efficient, and flexible rail system woven throughout the contient. By using charter busses as the main form of transportation, this benefit of independent travel is lost. Moreover, I've heard some pretty horrific stories of people catching the "Contiki cough" that quickly spreads between travelers due to the unsatisfactory air circulation on the busses. While all of these negatives may not deter people from choosing Contiki, I would seriously consider whether or not being told what to do and when to do it is the kind of vacation you are looking for.



Would I ever do another Contiki tour? Sure. They're a really easy way to meet cool people and have a great time while in another part of the world. That being said the lack of value for the price and the rigidity of the schedule make me seriously doubt that I will ever participate in one again. These problems are further compounded by the use of charter busses as the primary form of transporation for most of the tours.



So in regards to Thailand, exploring the islands independently is the preferable option for me and will make for for a very memorable experience. Traveling independently is cheaper, more rewarding, and allows you to mold your adventure to fit your lifestyle.

