How old are you? EF Ultimate Break and Contiki skew VERY young, mainly 18-24 year olds. For mid to late twenties travelers or older, I’d look into G Adventures or Intrepid Travel. I travel independently 95% of the time, but I’ve done several group trips where I’ve felt the culture/language/safety barrier is a little too high. They can also be a good way to make friends as a solo traveler.
I would avoid EF at all costs. Once they have your money they stop communicating, their customer service is terrible, if the trip gets canceled is takes forever to get a refund or to even hear from someone, they have high high turnover so you may get bounced around between booking people (which gets annoying fast), and most of the tours are seniors in HS/college freshman. I used to work for them and then made the mistake of using them to try and book a trip for my students when I was a teacher. I do suggest Intrepid Traveler, or Culture Trip. Both are fairly solid and it’s a great way to make friends.
I’ve done a company called “U30X” who are well rated and had great experiences both times. Smaller groups and more local. Actually available 22-35, mostly female. It’s like solo travel with a group since most people are strangers. They do the housing and most meals + cultural stuff - you just do the flights.
Contiki is social travel for 18-35 year olds with highly rated Trip Managers, experiences and itineraries across the world. There are a lot of young professionals who book with Contiki and depending on what their travel needs are, they have different trips so you could choose a discovery trip that ticks off your bucket list and visits many countries or if you prefer to dig deep and immerse yourself into a place then you could choose one that only goes to one or two places.
I would avoid EF at all costs. Once they have your money they stop communicating, their customer service is terrible, if the trip gets canceled is takes forever to get a refund or to even hear from someone, they have high high turnover so you may get bounced around between booking people (which gets annoying fast), and most of the tours are seniors in HS/college freshman. I used to work for them and then made the mistake of using them to try and book a trip for my students when I was a teacher. I do suggest Intrepid Traveler, or Culture Trip. Both are fairly solid and it’s a great way to make friends.
For the Love of Travel is a great company for younger professionals (25-40) and way nicer than the trips you’ve mentioned. Their South Africa trip was phenomenal
How old are you? EF Ultimate Break and Contiki skew VERY young, mainly 18-24 year olds. For mid to late twenties travelers or older, I’d look into G Adventures or Intrepid Travel. I travel independently 95% of the time, but I’ve done several group trips where I’ve felt the culture/language/safety barrier is a little too high. They can also be a good way to make friends as a solo traveler.
Rising Star
Is 30 too old for Contiki?
I would avoid EF at all costs. Once they have your money they stop communicating, their customer service is terrible, if the trip gets canceled is takes forever to get a refund or to even hear from someone, they have high high turnover so you may get bounced around between booking people (which gets annoying fast), and most of the tours are seniors in HS/college freshman. I used to work for them and then made the mistake of using them to try and book a trip for my students when I was a teacher.
I do suggest Intrepid Traveler, or Culture Trip. Both are fairly solid and it’s a great way to make friends.
I’ve done a company called “U30X” who are well rated and had great experiences both times. Smaller groups and more local. Actually available 22-35, mostly female. It’s like solo travel with a group since most people are strangers. They do the housing and most meals + cultural stuff - you just do the flights.
Rising Star
Also interest d
Contiki is social travel for 18-35 year olds with highly rated Trip Managers, experiences and itineraries across the world. There are a lot of young professionals who book with Contiki and depending on what their travel needs are, they have different trips so you could choose a discovery trip that ticks off your bucket list and visits many countries or if you prefer to dig deep and immerse yourself into a place then you could choose one that only goes to one or two places.
I would avoid EF at all costs. Once they have your money they stop communicating, their customer service is terrible, if the trip gets canceled is takes forever to get a refund or to even hear from someone, they have high high turnover so you may get bounced around between booking people (which gets annoying fast), and most of the tours are seniors in HS/college freshman. I used to work for them and then made the mistake of using them to try and book a trip for my students when I was a teacher.
I do suggest Intrepid Traveler, or Culture Trip. Both are fairly solid and it’s a great way to make friends.
For the Love of Travel is a great company for younger professionals (25-40) and way nicer than the trips you’ve mentioned. Their South Africa trip was phenomenal
I had an awesome experience with EF