Alan, Charlotte and Mihai were incredible. Would definitely recommend this trip. For my first tour trip i was thoroughly impressed with everything. Alan’s history lessons and his knowledge about the countries were great. 10/10
The trip was EXTREMELY fast-paced and most days were spent on a bus (sometimes for up to 8 hours) Over time i realised how insanely overpriced the trip was for the quality of the accomodation. $4100 for cramped and tiny shared rooms with essentially no inclusions was wild. I was a little disappointed by the fact that there were so many extra paid activities which we weren't told about. There were dinners and tours which everyone else did but because we weren't told about them, I hadn't budgeted for them. The only thing that is included in your $4000 is a bed, couple meals and a walking tour in a couple of cities. if you've got the money to spend then go for it, but I wish I had flown and stayed in hotels as it would have been the same price!!
My sister and I travelled with Top Deck for 16 days around Southern and Eastern Europe. Our tour guide and driver were absolutely beautiful and very kind. We couldn’t reccomend them more. For us, it was incredibly history based and we didn’t realise that so that is something to be mindful when booking! There isn’t many inclusions which we found surprising given how much we paid. The accomodations were very hit or miss, no level of consistency. Ranging from dirty used sheets and broken aircons to absolutely beautiful and high quality. To be honest this was not reflective of how much money we paid and would be smarter to book by yourselves especially if you are confident with doing so. As a 21 year old and 20 year old we booked Top Deck to move away from the party scene that Contiki offers and make the most of the places we were visiting but found that this attracted a much older crowd mostly consisting of people in their high 30s. We were lucky because we had each other but if we were alone we would have felt so excluded as we were often spoken to like we were kids. There was one 18 year old and she left the tour early because of this. We found that the free breakfast was mostly just bread and cake and was randomly not included on some of the accomodations. Please be mindful that travel costs (trains/ferrys) when going to walking tours/group dinners ect are not included and there are next to no extra curricular activities. Withon our tour itinerary it said things like “bar hopping” and “winery’s” that we did not do or did not align with what was written - e.g for the bar hopping we went to one bar for 10 minutes and then did a history walk for the remaining time. The tour was well organised and would reccommend to an older crowd for the ease and being a single traveller but would not reccomend to anyone under the age of 26. we were provided often with great food reccomendations but not often on what there is to do in certain places - commonly told to “get lost within the city” as it was the best way to explore. My sister and I would have enjoyed a lot more if we had some more guidance with this and often found ourselves researching what to do. There was also dramas with extra curricular activities saying a specific price and then upon paying it was much more that told. We appreciate the time of our beautiful driver and trip leader, but the TopDeck experience was not for us! and in our opinion not worth the money and definately worth organising yourself to avoid false expectations 😊
So glad I did this trip! A perfect introduction to some places in Europe I've always wanted to see.
It was amazing seeing and getting to know places we went to, although wish we had another night in Florence and it felt too short I just really wanted more time with everyone but is an amazing trip that was 100% worth it
Perfect destinations, good time frame per city and wonderful recommendations from our guide.
Maddy was amazing at giving us a heap of facts and historical information. Her walking tours were awesome and I loved how she pointed out really interesting spots. The only thing I wasn’t too fused about was the perfumery stop we had to do
Maddie our topdeck leader was so awesome! All her recommendations, information, history and her passion really made for an amazing trip. It couldn’t have gone any better and exceeded all my expectations!
Was such an amazing trip! Got to see so many places and was a good taster for Europe. Our tour guide Maddie was amazing. She gave us so many good recommendations for places and was full of so much knowledge. All the people we met were so lovely and made so many great friends. Couldn’t recommend more!
The trip of a lifetime!!!! This was everything I wanted it to be and more, I ticked so much off my bucket list whilst making friends and memories that will last a lifetime.
This is a very fast paced tour, and it would have been nice to have longer in some locations (Florence in particular) however I knew the itinerary going into it. If your looking for a small teaser of each location rather than in depth discovery then this tour is ideal.
The accommodations were mixed. Most of the locations were clean and modern with the majority having private bathrooms as a pose to communal ones which was very convenient. Many were on the small side but this is expected in hostels. The worst stay was in Barcelona where the rooms looked like prison cells. A lot of our group did not enjoy our stay here. The best rooms, in my opinion, were in Florence and Venice. It would have been nice to have been warned before hand that a lot of the accommodations are an Uber or public transport ride away from the tourist spots but it didn't impact the enjoyment of the trip.
Be prepared for long hours on the bus. Travel days can be long, and we were unfortunate enough to get caught in traffic on the way to Nice which doubled our travel time. However, the tour leader kept us entertained as much as possible and travel days ended up being good bonding days with music and games.
Our trip leader, Michael was very helpful and approachable. He was knowledgeable and maintained a great balance between an organized and relaxed trip. Our driver was also very professional and polite.
The included meals could have been better.
I took part in most of the optional extras which I would highly recommend doing as they were all worth the money, the train ride and skydive in Switzerland in particular were excellent.
Some of the accomodation could have been better. The trip overall was quite rushed. Would've been nice to spend another day in florence.
Great way to see some of the highlights of Europe in a decent amount of time.
Excelente tour muy recomendable!
Best bus driver and best tour guide ever!
Mike and sis made the the whole experience super fun and adventurous.
We were all kept well informed and were happy to answer any questions we had
What a memorable tour! Thank you to our great tour leader and driver :) I would highly recommend this trip to anyone wishing to see Europe for the first time and have everything organized and sorted. Just make sure you've done some research and know what to expect.
Had a great time, felt as we were such a large group we didn’t have much engagement together and was to hard to do large dinners together unless the tour guide organised.
I had alot for fun on this tour. I would put in future booklets that the hotels has ore couples instead of single people. That was my main disappointment.
I didn’t realise the tour was part of a longer, more comprehensive trip until the first day when I met others who were staying on for the entire duration. I probably would have opted for the longer trip had I known.
The Classic Europe was amazing! I loved all the places we went to and really feel like you got to see France, Spain and Italy on a closer level. However, it was a bummer only spending on night in Florence and Sam Sebastian as they were beautiful places I would have loved to explore more of!
Great way to see the countries I wanted to see, would go back to all of them :)
The places we were, absolutely amazing!
Casey as a tour leader was awesome, gave heaps of good recommendations and looked after everyone really well.
Deyan was great, going above and beyond to look after people on nights out, and spend time with the group.
You spend a lot of time on the bus so prepare yourself for that, with the smaller cities you get almost no time to stop so unless the city has a dedicated stop over day don't plan to see much.
The accommodation really varies as does the quality of the meals provided. That being said the trip leaders try to make the journey enjoyable and keep spirits high.
Unfortunately the trip did take on a "contiki" feel which was what i was trying to avoid.
Places visited and amount of time were perfect
Wouldn’t of done anything different besides the hotels in Italy.
amazing trip, just need to up the quality of the hotels, especially in the developing nations like Italy. A room should have the ability to set the temperature at any time of the year.
A great short trip that gives you a taste of each location.
The tour was a good length and good value for money
Really glad I chose this trip. It went to a lot of places in a short amount of time!
Trip was awesome but I think we could have skipped Andorra. It's no point going somewhere for only one hour or two and not have enough time to visit. It's not just about ticking off countries off a list
Good length of time, places visited, activities and free time
Great trip, had an absolute blast!
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Amazing places! Itinerary was great some days a little rushed but couldn’t help this when you get to see so much in such a short period of time.
Able to cover various places in such a short time and gives a nice taster fpr where you want to go back in the future :)
As per the above information
Some items were expensive than others but of rare quality and quantity.
Worth While and great recomendations
Best trip if you dont have a lot of time of from work but enough time to see everything. Awesome
It included all the places we wanted to go. All the accommodation, activies and food that was included was fantastic.
Loved the countries that we visited!
So much versatility for a 13 day trip
As above
Prob wouldn't do it again
100% would book again, totally worth it
Same reasons noted in "customer experience "