Contiki Reviews 

I have done 3 Contiki so far each trips were unique and different. I made great friends. The reason I am giving 3 stars is that Contiki does not give a lot importance to individual experience of the trip.. for example in my trip group there were 53 people which is a lot and I felt your individual experience is at stake when there are so many people. Also, it was so hard for our trip manager to organise things as well,

Fun, exciting and electric.

DO NOT BOOK: I wish I could make this up. My partner and I did the London to Santorini Contiki Plus Tour, paying $10,000 NZD each for a “premium” experience, and what we got was anything but premium.

From day one, the Trip Manager bullied, mocked, and intimidated guests. We were left behind at a train station and then laughed at for being stressed. If you didn’t buy every overpriced add-on or drink every night, you were publicly ridiculed. At one point, we were told we had to “prove ourselves” by buying Aperol Spritzes. Really. As adults.

Safety? Forget it. We were encouraged to drink illegally and hide from authorities. We were pressured into unsafe behaviour while being told it was all “fun and part of the experience.”

Accommodation? The so-called “Plus” upgrade for the Adriatic Ferry was a joke. We were never told about the multi-share cabins until we boarded. We ended up crammed into a tiny room with three strangers and had to pay extra for our own private cabin, just to avoid getting sick and keep our privacy.

The itinerary was chaotic. Add-ons were rushed, free time was a nightmare, and key attractions like the Louvre and Colosseum were “scheduled” on days they were closed. Venice’s Burano Island excursion promised authentic seafood but delivered underwhelming plates in the heat while we waited around like cattle. And to find restaurants and bars? We were told to check TikTok. TikTok. Not a guide, not a map, TikTok.

Throughout, Contiki completely ignored serious complaints. Bullying, harassment, unsafe guidance, they framed it as “personal expectation” or “minor operational issues.” Their only solution was a tiny future travel discount, which does absolutely nothing to fix emotional distress or humiliation.

If you value your safety, your sanity, or your money, stay away. This is not a guided premium tour, it’s a chaotic, unsafe, emotionally damaging experience.

Recommendation: DO NOT BOOK. Contiki promises luxury, safety, and organisation. They fail on all counts.

Unreal time!! Made new best friends for life and had insane experiences! 10/10 would recommend!

Terrible customer service, constantly tried selling things with affiliated companies, and the add on activities are overpriced. Some of the included dinners were straight up horrific.

Just finished my first Contiki tour! Would 100% recommend to people who want to experience travel but aren’t sure where to start, everything is super easy to navigate and the people you meet, places you see and the experience you get is absolutely priceless!
Book that Contiki trip that you’re on the fence about, you wont regret it !!

First I went on a Greece contiki and it was okay but not worth the money. Thought it may be that I was alone and home sick but nope. I’ve booked a trip for Thailand and when wanting to add my 2 friends the trip has completely changed and I’ve been it won’t be updated and can’t be made the same as my friends without an additional charge.

WTF contiki !

I tried my first Contiki tour this year and I couldn’t thank Contiki more for the amazing experience. To begin with, our host was super kind, always willing to help. Accommodations, transport and all other included things were all reasonable and great. Meet a lot of cool and nice people in the group I was travelling with. From this experience, I look forward to and am more than happy to do another and possibly even more Contiki tours in the future. I strongly recommend Contiki to anyone looking for group organized trips for young adults.

I went on an amazing tour of Iceland! I enjoyed all the places we stayed and where we visited, the tour guide gave use good info and was really helpful. I also went alone luckily with Contiki I you meet up with a lot of other people from all over the world so I made friends to experience the brilliant tour with them.

I loved not having to really plan anything! All the accommodation was set, the transport to and from city centres, the day sheets sent out for what each city had to offer were so clear. It made my first European trip a breeze. I made so many friends! My trip manager, Jamie took the time to ask us individually how we are and if we had questions/ needed help planning our days.

This 4-day Oktoberfest tour was not worth the money. To begin with, our original hotel was overbooked, and we were placed in another hotel more than 45 minutes away from the festival. We were told that organized coaches would transport us to and from the event, and we were even asked to list who we were traveling with to ensure we were on the same coach. However, when the tour started, no coaches were arranged at all. Instead, we had to rely on public transport, which took over an hour each way, including a 28-minute walk from the station to the hotel — something that felt unsafe, especially when returning late at night due to various strip clubs and derelict buildings especially being a woman walking at night felt extremely unsafe.
We had also paid for an optional bike tour, which was poorly organized. The night before, we were suddenly told to arrive an hour earlier, only to be rushed through the experience. We didn’t stop at several of the planned locations, including the beer hall, due to time constraints.
Another major issue was the Oktoberfest table reservations. We had confirmed with the tour operator before booking that we would have a reserved table. On the day, however, there were no reservations — we were simply told to arrive early and hope to find a spot.
In the end, the only thing we received was accommodation — and even that was far away and felt unsafe. The tour guide was also disappointing. He didn’t keep track of the group, causing some people to miss trains due to poor coordination. He often walked too far ahead, leaving people behind and confused, without giving clear directions or letting us know which stations we were getting off at or what the plan was.
Overall, this tour was disorganized, misleading, and not worth the cost.

Contiki is the perfect company to use if you’re new to solo travel. I made life changing friendships and saw beautiful places with amazing and sweet people. My guide for the thailand hopper west was great as well

Perfect for young travellers! Made friends and saw amazing places.

Perfect for young travelers! Made friends and saw amazing places.

This has been the best holiday of my life. Perfect combination of being out in nature and doing very wholesome things, mixed with eventful nights out. We had the best trip coordinator, Josh, who made everyone feel seen and always resolved any problems in no time and most importantly, made the time we spent on the bus fly by with a lot of fun activities. Honestly can't recommend this particular trip and Josh more.

The best thing about Contiki is the fact that I don’t have to worry about planning a trip somewhere I’ve never been before. I solo traveled so I couldn’t imagine finding my way around a city in a different country alone. A lot of the included experiences and free time add one are cool and a really good way to see and do things you probably wouldn’t have without Contiki.

The most annoying thing about it is the fact that a lot of the time, we would get dropped off somewhere but then would have to find our own way back. It made it difficult because a lot of us couldn’t transfer money to one another due to different countries. It’s also kind of expensive outside of the trip price so just make sure you plan for that.

Besides that, I recommend Contiki to anybody for sure! It was a great experience and I’m gonna miss those 44 people 😭

Honestly, had the worst trip ever. As someone who has done a contiki before and really enjoyed it, I am very disappointed. I left early, due to the tour guide making me feel so unwelcome and uncomfortable. I would never do another contiki again or recommend to anyone.

Great trips for 18-35-year-olds. Fun and social but sometimes packed schedules.

Tour manager Reagen and driver moe did a great job was great enjoyed everything very well done

Super fun and organised, Josh made it a really good experience!