The post that everyone has been waiting for: an official review of our 14 day tour across Europe! I have to start by saying that this post is in no way sponsored by the tour company, hotels, airlines, etc. All of my opinions are just that, my own!
I’ll start with a little background on how we decided on this trip. Alex and I have been dreaming of a European tour for years! In fact, this was supposed to be our honeymoon, but considering we were married in the midst of the pandemic, we decided to put it off until a time when we could travel and explore comfortably, without pandemic restrictions. Since we both work remotely now, we decided that this fall would be the perfect time to take the trip. We began researching tours, companies, flights, etc. at the start of this year, and booked our trip in May. With that being said, we considered a lot of factors when finally selecting a trip. We knew exactly what we wanted, and also understood that this was going to cost a lot of money and be our big trip for the year, so we wanted it to be as perfect as possible.
Both Alex and I have been to Europe before (separately); I studied abroad in Rome while I was in college, and had the opportunity to travel around Italy, Greece, and had a weekend in London while I was abroad. Alex also took a tour in college, where he stopped in popular places like London, Paris, Rome, etc. Although we both adore Italy, we wanted this trip to visit places that neither of us has been to before. When choosing to go the tour company route, we knew that we wouldn’t have a ton of time in each city, which was okay for us. We saw this as an opportunity to explore lots of different places in a short amount of time, and get a feel for where we want to return to someday.
With all of this being said, after much research, conversation and consideration, we finally decided on the 14 day “East to West” tour with the group Europamundo (click for exact tour). The main reason why we selected this tour is because we felt we were getting the most for our money; it ended up costing about $2,000 per person (a little less, I think), and for the amount we were traveling, that was a steal compared to other tour groups! With that being said, you definitely get what you pay for, and while the majority of our trip was positive and a great experience, there were some disappointing moments…but again, you get the service you pay for. Below, I’m going to review different aspects of our trip with Europamundo so you can get a clear idea of what we really enjoyed, what could have gone better, and determine if this is the right trip for you to consider!
Itinerary
We’ll start off first with the most important part: the itinerary! One of the main reasons we chose this specific tour is because of the various stops we made. Our tour began in Vienna, then went to Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Rothenberg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruge, Paris, Rouen, Canterbury, and ended in London. Now, that is 14 cities, so we didn’t get to spend a ton of time in each city. Bratislava, Rothenberg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Brussels, Bruge, Rouen, Canterbury were all “pit-stops” on our trip, where we would stop for a few hours for a meal and a little bit of time to walk around. We didn’t get to really explore these cities too much, but honestly, that was okay with us. With the exception of Brussels and Bruge, we felt like making a pit-stop in those cities was just enough for us to get a taste of it. Of course, there is beautiful architecture and history in each of those places, and you certainly can spend more time there, but we personally didn’t feel the need to.
However, I will say that the “pit-stops” along the way seemed very thoughtful and well-planned, as there was a combination of history, shopping, and plenty of restaurants in each of those cities to keep us occupied for a few hours. The other cities (Vienna, Prague, Amsterdam, Paris, and London) were absolutely beautiful. Something we loved about this tour was that the guides gave us a lot of “explore” time, meaning we could go off on our own to a museum, restaurant, etc. and take some time to explore the city a little more on our own. However, something we found disappointing was the time management in some of these cities. For example, on our second day in Prague, we had from noon until three to explore on our own, then the bus was taking everyone back to the hotel…at three in the afternoon! If we wanted to stay in the city (which we did), we had to find our own transportation back to the hotel. We ended up taking an Uber, which was totally fine, but it just seemed odd to us that the bus was taking everyone back at such an early hour. It seemed like wasted time.
One consistent part of the itinerary was a guided city tour in each of the “major” cities we stopped in. Some of these tours were fabulous (Vienna and Paris were excellent and very detailed), while others were very disappointing (Prague and Amsterdam). Honestly, it all comes down to the tour guide that you are given in each city. Some of them are experts, friendly, and incredibly knowledgeable and want to share everything in the city with you! The guides we were given in Prague and Amsterdam honestly gave the impression that they didn’t want to be there. They barely gave us any information, and failed to point out major tourist attractions in the cities, which was disappointing. That is one downside to booking through a tour company such as this: details are out of your hands, so you are left with what the tour company books, hoping it is good!
Travel
We did 95% of our travel on a Europamundo coach bus, which was very nice! The bus was spacious and luckily our tour group wasn’t full, so we had plenty of room to spread out on our longer journeys. The bus driver always had snacks and beverages for purchase (like $0.50, much cheaper than convenience stores in Europe), the seats reclined and were comfortable, and there was a charging station with each seat. However, Europamundo claims that their busses offer WiFi, but this was not the case. No one on our trip could connect to it, which was disappointing.
We took a “ferry” from France to the UK, and it was not what I was expecting! I anticipated a ferry like the Long Island ferry, but it was more like a mini cruise ship. The ship had WiFi and multiple restaurants where we could choose a free meal, as well as lots of spacious and comfortable seating areas. This was a pleasant surprise!
Accommodations
One thing I really appreciated about our trip was they gave us the list of hotels we would be staying in ahead of time. I’m pretty picky when it comes to accommodations (it’s the clean freak in me- I cannot stand dirty hotel rooms!), so I was able to look at each hotel online ahead of time and prepare for the conditions I would be walking into. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with almost all of the hotels we stayed in. They were 4 stars, had comfortable beds, clean rooms and bathrooms, and were overall perfectly fine for the little time we stayed in them. The only hotel that didn’t meet my standards was in the city of Rouen, where we stayed in an Ibis hotel (I guess this is a European hotel chain). The bathroom was dirty and room was just outdated, but alas, I survived! (ha). I think for the amount you pay for this trip, the hotel accommodations definitely exceeded my expectations. They all included a complimentary breakfast as well, and while some were better than others, they all provided some fresh fruit, pastries, coffee, and proteins that had us ready for our day ahead.
Company Guides & Organization
Now, I already mentioned that in each major city, we had a tour guide give us a tour of the city, but we also had a guide through the company along with us every step of the way. Just like the city guides, some of these company guides were fantastic, and others were just so-so. We started off strong in Vienna with our guide, Tony, who was very organized, punctual, friendly, and knowledgeable! He shared lots of details of the cities with us and added to the information that the city guide gave. Our final guide, Manuel, was with us from Paris to London and was also wonderful! In between, though, we had two other guides that were disappointing. To start, in Prague, our new guide picked us up 30 minutes late and spent more time on his phone than he did interacting with us. Our guide in Amsterdam was almost two hours late, unapologetic, and seemed angry and annoyed to be there. The two guides who were late blamed it on lack of communication from the company, but it was still frustrating as we up early and ready to explore.
It’s important to note that all of the guides are bilingual, which is truly remarkable, in my opinion. The company, Europamundo, is based out of Spain, so their guides speak both Spanish and English. Our specific tour we were on started with a mix of English and Spanish speakers (tourists from Australia, America, Canada, Spain, and South America), so the guides would give all of the information in both languages. Towards the end of our tour, we broke off into just English and Spanish groups, so our guide just spoke English with us. However, our first guide, Tony, said that he had given tours before that also included a Mandarin speaking guide, so there are options out there!
Although there were hiccups and miscommunication among the guides, I will say that I appreciate the organization the company provided for us along the way. As mentioned, we were given a list of our exact hotels prior to the trip. In each hotel, the guides would post the itinerary for the following day by the front desk, so we could check and ensure we knew exactly what was going on and where to meet.
Conclusion
Overall, Alex and I loved our time in Europe, and are happy that we decided to take this tour. We accomplished our goal of seeing a lot of different cities in a short amount of time, and at a very reasonable price point. However, we both agreed that if we were to do a tour like that again, we probably will go with a different tour company. This trip was okay because Alex and I are both flexible and tech-savvy, so we were able to get around on our own, stay out later than the group, and overall see the cities with ease on our own, without relying on the company bus or transportation. In the future, though, we are willing to pay a little bit more to get a little bit more, specifically consistency with the quality of tour guides and overall organization among the group.
If you are comfortable traveling on your own or with a partner, and have a goal of seeing a lot of different places, then I would absolutely recommend Europamundo. You truly do get a lot for your money (considering the cost of travel alone can add up to be so much!). I would warn you, though, to be prepared to figure some things out on your own, such as transportation and using Google maps abroad. If you are someone who would prefer every little detail to be planned for you, then I recommend looking into other tour groups!