ef tours 18 35

7 Best Group Travel Companies for Young Adults and College Students in 2024

These guided tour companies offer the very best group tours for young people..

The Scoop: What to Know About EF Go Ahead Tours

With stress-free itineraries, travel dates built around school schedules, and even flexible payment plans, the best group tours for young people give travelers of a similar age the opportunity to vacation together all over the world. Most travel companies for young adults offer summer vacation, winter break, spring break, and even semester-long or gap year immersions geared toward college-aged young adults. Some of the most popular excursions include ski tours in North America and Europe and island hopping in the Caribbean or Greece.

2024’s Best Group Travel Companies for Young Adults

If you’re a college-aged young adult looking for a guided trip with similarly aged people, consider one of these travel tour companies for young adults whose group tours rank among the very best in the world for people between the ages of 18 and 35.

WORLD’S BEST: 15 Best Group Travel Companies for Guided Tours around the World in 2024

Tour operator Contiki has specialized in group travel for people ages 18 to 35 since 1962. Today this popular group travel company for young adults offers more than 300 trips to more than 50 countries, encompassing many different trip styles. A favorite tour among college-aged adults is Contiki’s 11-day Greek Island Hopping  adventure around Greece’s most popular islands. Other popular tours include its  Cape Safari and Falls tour  in South Africa and  Balkans Discovery tour  in Central Europe. Contiki is currently booking trips for both 2024 and 2025.

WHERE TO GO: 10 Best Contiki Tours to Take in 2024

Contiki throws in all of the essentials in its group travel tours, including lodging in hotels, hostels, lodges, or boats. Trip managers, drivers, local guides, on-site team members, and on-road cooks are all trained, knowledgeable, and have a strong passion for travel to make each experience hassle-free. The company’s tours for young adults also include air-conditioned coaches (all with free Wi-Fi) in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and comfortable mini-coaches in Asia and Latin America. Some tours include an internal flight, a boat, or even a bullet train.

Contiki is dedicated to sustainable travel with “Make Travel Matter” experiences on many trips and ongoing initiatives to reduce food waste, source electricity from renewable sources, eliminate single-use plastics, and ultimately achieve carbon neutrality.

Quick Facts about Group Tours for Young Adults with Contiki

• Average guided tour group size:  12 to 50 people depending on location; no more than 16 on Detour trips led by a local host.
• Price range:  Most of Contiki’s trips are in the $1,000 to $3,000 range, but some are as low as $187 (for a four-day ski trip) and some as high as $7,600 (for a 45-day European adventure).
• What’s included:  Accommodations, transportation within the trip, admission prices, most breakfasts, and many dinners.
• What’s not included:  Pre-and post-trip transportation, activities during free times, some meals, and tips.
• Primary audience:  Contiki is a specialized group travel company for young adults that exclusively offers group tours for people ages 18 to 35.
• Destinations:  United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

2. G Adventures

One of the world’s largest independent adventure travel companies, G Adventures provides 750 small group tours across all seven continents. With such a large portfolio, G Adventures attracts a wide range of travelers, but two of its travel group styles in particular are perfect for young adults: 18-to-Thirtysomethings and Roamies .

FAR AND WIDE: 10 Best G Adventures Tours to Take in 2024

Partnering with Hostelworld, G Adventures created Roamies specifically for 18- to 35-year-olds, offering small group tours with the social atmosphere found in hostels around the world. G Adventures currently offers about 40 Roamies itineraries in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For example, the  Yucatan Adventure  in Mexico lets young adults explore the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and Tulum while staying in hostels along the way to keep the trip budget-friendly.

The tour company’s 18-to-Thirtysomethings trips specialize in fast-paced and affordable itineraries that appeal to young people. Some popular tours include  Paris to Rome: Picnics and Pizza ,  Peru: Ancient Cities and the Andes ,  New Zealand: Mountain Biking and Black Sand Beaches ,  Southern Africa: Bush Camps and Wildlife Spotting , as well as multiple U.S.A. road trips such as California’s Highway 1 .

Quick Facts about Group Tours for Young Adults with G Adventures

• Average guided tour group size:  10 to 12 people.
• Price range:  Depending on the destination and length of trip, tours range from $169 to $8,949.
• What’s included:  Accommodations, activities listed on the itinerary, and some meals.
• What’s not included:  Airfare, some meals, and tips.
• Primary audience:  Roamies and 18-to-Thirtysomething are specifically geared towards the traditional college-age and young adult market.
• Destinations:  More than 100 countries across all seven continents.

3. EF Education First

Founded in 1965 in Sweden and widely recognized as a leader in group tours for young people, EF Education First is a global education company specializing in language, academic, cultural exchange, and educational travel programs. EF Education First has grown to become one of the world’s largest international education companies, offering every imaginable way to see the world, experience a new culture, learn a language, or earn an academic degree. 

FIND A DEAL: 17 Best Flight Booking Sites for Cheap Airfares

Programs specifically designed for young adults include EF Gap Year, EF Ultimate Break, and EF College Study Tours:

• EF Gap Year  offers experiences tailor-made for young adults taking time off between high school and college; programs range from short-term to semester-long to full academic year. A 10-week gap year program called The Voyager (running in spring and fall 2024) visits Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Japan, and it includes language learning, internships, and service. 
• EF Ultimate Break  trips are vacations for 18- to 35-year-olds ranging from a week to a month or longer. These popular group tours for young people include  Ultimate Europe  (14 cities in 35 days),  Japan: Tokyo and Beyond  (nine days, four cities), and  Scandinavia  (11 days, three cities). 
• Specifically for college students, EF College Study Tours are faculty-led study abroad programs that include  Anime and Manga in Japan ,  Intercultural Studies in South Africa , and many more.

Quick Facts about Group Tours for Young Adults with EF Education First

• Average guided tour group size:  10 to 40 people, depending on the specific program.
• Price range:  $2,800 to $19,450 (for 10 weeks).
• What’s included:  All flights and local transfers to each stop of your itinerary, all accommodations and some meals, one-on-one mentorship and 24/7 travel support before and during your program, program leadership and direction by full-time EF Field Directors and Student Life Coordinators, guided excursions, and hands-on workshops with local experts.
• What’s not included:  Some meals, optional activities during free time, and some tips.
• Primary audience:  U.S. college students and young adults ages 18 to 35 years old.
• Destinations: EF Education First has tours in more than 60 countries around the world.

4. Intrepid Travel

For more 30 years, Intrepid Travel has helped travelers experience local cultures around the world while creating positive change in the communities its group tours visit. Intrepid’s nonprofit foundation, The Intrepid Foundation , has raised more than $11 million for 130-plus charities worldwide.

All of Intrepid Travel’s group tours utilize experienced, local leaders to handle the trip logistics, and those leaders offer unique insights and take groups to places where the locals frequent.  Getting from one place to another each day is included in the trip experience, and utilizing local transportation is part of the cultural immersion, which can mean anything from a Japanese bullet train to a Thai tuk tuk.

GO WITHOUT THE GROUP: 4 Great Tour Companies with Independent Tours

The company’s trip itineraries for young adults are called 18 to 29s Adventures . These tours build in plenty of free-time to explore your own way. Understanding the limited budgets of college students, Intrepid’s group trips for 18- to 29-year-olds offer simple, well-located accommodations, tasty local food, and local transportation in order to help your travel budget stretch further.

Popular destinations for college-age students and young people include traveling from Casablanca to Marrakech in  Essential Morocco , visiting the Taj Mahal and Himalayan Mountains in  Real Delhi to Kathmandu , and discovering the heart of Bohemia passing through seven countries in  Real Central Europe . Because Intrepid believes in giving back to the community, it plants 50 trees in Kenya for every 18-to-29s trip booked.

Quick Facts about Group Tours for Young People with Intrepid Travel

• Average guided tour group size:  10 people.
• Price range:  $1,000 to $5,000.
• What’s included:  Local leaders, admissions to big-ticket attractions, simple accommodations ranging from hotels to guest houses to hostels, local transportation, and some meals.
• What’s not included:  Airfare, some meals, optional activities, and tips.
• Primary audience:  Traditional college-age students and young adults 18 to 29 years old.
• Destinations:  More than 40 itineraries in Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, Middle East, North America, and South America

5. REI Adventures

You’re familiar with their outdoor gear, but did you know REI also offers guided outdoor trips for young adults throughout North America? REI Adventures ‘s tours are a great way for young travelers to get first-hand experience and guidance as they’re getting more into backpacking and adventure travel.

DECIDING FACTORS: 9 Tips for Choosing the Best European Tour for You  

The company has many curated itineraries specifically for 18- to 35-year-olds that are designed to be more affordable and flexible. These shorter under-35 tours last three to six days and visit popular national parks around the United States, such as the Great Smoky Mountains , Joshua Tree , Yosemite , and Zion . Camping, backpacking, hiking, and rafting are among the featured activities on these under-35 trips for young people.

Quick Facts about Group Tours for Young Adults with REI

• Price range:  $1,149 to $2,999 for members; non-member rates are slightly higher.
• What’s included:  Camping gear, meals, and national park fees.
• What’s not included:  Transportation to the trip’s starting point.
• Primary audience:  REI’s Under-35 tours are intended for 18- to 35-year-olds.
• Destinations:  National parks in the United States.

6. AdventureWomen

Offering more than 50 trips to 65 different countries,  AdventureWomen  is a women-owned, women-run company that exclusively offers travel tours for women . While not specifically designed for college students, the itineraries are perfect for female college friends or young adults looking to travel the world together in a safe and empowering environment.

GIRLS TRIPS: 9 Travel Companies That Specialize in Women-Only Tours

On the company’s trips, young women can expect small, multigenerational groups that allow bonding with each other as well as connecting with local women along the way. Trips are specifically designed to engage women in the regions visited, such as female artisans in Thailand, an apprentice geisha in Japan, or rose farmers in Turkey.

Popular destinations include week-long  trips to Iceland  to chase the Northern Lights, a multisport adventure in Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks , and even a trek to the  Everest Base Camp in Nepal . Adventure trips range from moderate levels that engage your brain more than body to challenging trips for seasoned outdoor enthusiasts. The women-only adventures include lodging, ground transportation, most meals and activities, guides, and some gratuities.

Quick Facts about Group Tours for Young People with AdventureWomen

• Average guided tour group size:  12 to 15 people.
• Price range:  Upscale.
• What’s included:  Accommodations, most meals and activities, ground transportation, tour guides (called Managers), some gratuities.
• What’s not included:  Pre- and post-trip transportation, alcohol, some gratuities, certain meals.
• Primary audience:  Women seeking to travel with other women.
• Destinations:  Europe, Africa, North America, Central America, South America, and the Middle East.

7. IES Abroad

While not a tour company, per se,  IES Abroad  is notable among the best group travel companies for young adults because it’s one of the leading providers of cultural education opportunities for college students. With more than 130 programs throughout Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and Africa, its offerings run the gamut from short-term summer programs (one to two weeks) to full academic year immersion. 

WHAT TO PACK: 10 Essentials for Your Carry-on Bag

College students can find places to study abroad based on subject, interests, lifestyle, or hobbies. Interested in food? Then perhaps a  study abroad program in France  or  Tradition and Cuisine in Tuscany  summer program is the way to go. Consider yourself an environmentalist? Browse the company’s list of environmentally focused study abroad destinations .

If you’re currently a college student, consider this your reminder to also check out the study abroad options at your school. Even if you don’t use IES Abroad, oftentimes colleges and universities will offer their own study abroad programs that cost the same (or less) than a semester at your home institution. And if your college or university doesn’t have a study abroad office, it will still have access to IES Abroad’s programs.

Quick Facts about Cultural Education Opportunities for College Students with IES Abroad

• Average guided tour group size:  Varies depending on course size.
• Price range:  Cost of a semester at a U.S. institution.
• What’s included:  Personal advising before you go, access to academic opportunities, guaranteed housing, and health and safety support.
• What’s not included:  Pre- and post-trip transportation, meals, optional tours and weekend activities.
• Primary audience:  Traditional college-age students.
• Destinations:  IES Abroad partners with 500 colleges and universities around the world, including in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and South America.

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The Scoop: What to Know About G Adventures

Award-winning small-group adventure-travel tours are the G Adventures specialty.

The Scoop: What to Know About Intrepid Travel

Local experts, a focus on sustainability, and immersive small group experiences help set Intrepid Travel apart from other tour operators.

How a Group Tour Changed My Whole Approach to Travel

When my vacation plans changed at the last minute, I finally decided to try a group tour for the first time.

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Welcome to Plus

Stay in hotel-style accommodations, room with just one other person, and enjoy more included meals. Designed for friends, couples, or anyone that just values their me time.

Everything you love about EF Ultimate Break trips…

Plus comfort

Curated to the max.

Maybe this isn’t your first rodeo with group travel. Or maybe you just really need your beauty sleep in order to function the next day. We get it.

On a Plus trip, you’ll stay at hotel-style accommodations only. If you prefer the comforts of extra privacy, quiet time, and increased amenities, then Plus is for you.

The Moxy Paris, France Trip: Rome, Paris & London →

The Hendrick Dublin, Ireland Trip: Grand Tour of Ireland →

El Andalous Hotel & Spa Marrakech, Morocco Trip: Highlights of Morocco →

Plus privacy

Only one roommate for the whole trip. Mixed gender allowed.

Did we mention that a Plus trip means you only have one roommate, maximum? It’s true. For the whole trip, benefit from rooming with the same person every night. It’s perfect for friends booking together, couples (whether you’re married, just dating, or "it’s complicated")—or anyone that just wants a little more quiet time when at the hotel.

To book a Plus trip with someone else, both of you simply select a Plus date on your desired trip—then go through the booking process and fill in each other's names in the "roommate" field. Voilà!

Plus OMG that tastes good

Authentic meals at hand-picked local restaurants.

Your Tour Director will always point you toward must-try local cuisine, from the best cafés and street food to hole-in-the-wall pubs. But with Plus, you’ll have even more opportunities for that perfect #foodporn Insta post—without the effort of finding that perfect local spot. Along with welcome and farewell dinners, Plus travelers get additional meals throughout the trip at restaurants hand-picked by our team. We’ll handle the reservations—and the tab (three courses plus drinks!).

Venice, Italy

Barcelona, Spain

Athens, Greece

See the Plus difference

We’re here to help

Need help deciding which Plus trip is right for you? Give one of our expert Trip Consultants a call at 1-800-766-2645

EF Ultimate Break Review (My Personal Experience)

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If you’re looking for curated travel experiences without the hassle of planning a trip yourself, then a group tour may be for you.

This EF Ultimate Break review will walk you through my personal experience traveling on the Ultimate Europe Trip, how reliable EF Ultimate Break is, and what sets them apart.

EF Ultimate Break is a great company to go with for young adults who want to see as much as they possibly can without dealing with the mundane details of planning a trip.

However, if you want to slow travel, don’t like groups, or if you’re over the age of 35, then this isn’t for you.

Disclaimer: This post ma y contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through this link, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for keeping Stuck On The Go going!

My Experience With EF Ultimate Break

The summer after I graduated college, I took the Ultimate Europe trip with EF Ultimate Break (previously called EF College Break) and it lasted 35 days. This was in every way the trip of a lifetime.

The map below shows you which destinations were included when I took the trip. This was the order: Athens, Paros, back to Athens, Rome, Florence (day trip to Cinque Terre), Venice, Innsbruck, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, Marseille, and Barcelona.

As you can see, this is an incredible amount of ground to cover in only 35 days. We traveled via bus, trains, planes, and once in the big cities, by subway.

There were so many highlights of this trip but just a few were the Acropolis, Roman Colosseum, colorful Cinque Terre, Neuschwanstein Castle, the Palace of Versailles, and I could go on.

On each EF trip, they assign a guide to the group so you have someone there to answer questions and give you a bit of direction when you arrive at each new place.

I loved having all the logistics planned out for me because I didn’t have time to deal with that myself. I was also an inexperienced traveler, so it was great having help on a trip that big.

All I had to do was research the things I wanted to see and do during my free time.

What Sets EF Ultimate Break Apart?

Before I chose EF, I did an incredible amount of research on whether to go by myself or with a tour group.

My family played a big part in my decision to go with a group because they were loaning me some money to pay for part of it.

They were very worried about me taking a solo trip, especially since it would have been my first one. I looked at various companies like EF, Contiki, G Adventures, and Intrepid Travel.

I narrowed it down to EF and Contiki as they were marketed most toward young adults, and they were the most budget-friendly options that I could find.

I chose EF Ultimate Break vs Contiki because it seemed EF stayed in better quality locations and it was less of a “party trip.” Not that I didn’t want to drink, but I wanted to focus on other things also.

The price was comparable and EF had more items included like tours, subway tickets, and some meals. I do not regret this decision at all.

They had great customer service, were very responsive, and gave me all needed information at the very beginning. They were a great company to work with.

I haven’t personally taken a trip with Contiki so when comparing EF Ultimate Break vs Contiki I can’t say much. But I do know that I had a great experience with EF.

What Do You Get When Booking With EF Ultimate Break?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with EF Ultimate Break, I’ll give a short overview of how booking with them works. They offer a wide variety of trips of different lengths to many different countries on six continents.

You can filter the trips based on these categories plus when you want to leave. Once you figure out which trip you want to take, you choose your airport and pay the deposit. I believe the deposit is typically $150. They set up a payment plan for you based on how many months you have left until your trip.

Once you send in your deposit, EF books your plane tickets, hotel rooms, and works out any travel between destinations. We were on a bus most of the time, but we did fly between Athens and Rome, took a ferry to Paros, and took trains in Germany and France.

Other items that are included in the price are walking tours of each city, almost all breakfast meals at the hotel, a couple of dinners, and subway tickets in most larger cities.

Another helpful inclusion is a tour guide that stays with you throughout the whole trip. My guide was awesome and gave us great insider tips for each location and it also felt safer when I had someone to check in with each day.

This was a huge plus for my parents, and it helped give them peace of mind.

Pros: EF Ultimate Break Review

• You have very little, if any, of the logistics planning left to do. They plan all of the transportation and accommodations.
• You get to see many of the big-ticket items, aka Eiffel Tower , Roman Colosseum, and the Acropolis . The best part is you also get to stop at off the beaten path places that you wouldn’t have known about otherwise. A couple small towns that we stopped in were Dresden, Germany and Verona, Italy.

• In the Ultimate Europe trip, I got to see 14 cities in 35 days. This doesn’t include the smaller cities that we stopped over in during our travel days. This type trip is a chance to see so many different cultures in a short amount of time.
• If you want to go check out a different city or a special event that’s in the area, then you have the chance to do that. While we were in Paros, Greece there was a group that took a ferry over to Santorini for the day. In Belgium there were two girls that rented a car and drove to a music festival in the area and then met us in Paris.
• There are about 30 to 40 people in the group so every day there is a good chance that someone will be doing something that you’re interested in. If you want to go off and do things by yourself though that’s fine too.
• This was my first trip overseas and it was so easy to let someone else plan everything. It made for such a smooth trip. I felt safe with a group and I had a great guide who was very knowledgeable about each city that we visited.

Cons: EF Ultimate Break Review

• There is no way to “make your own trip.” You have to choose from the options that they offer and sometimes you have to sacrifice a few things you wanted to do or places you wanted to go.
• You are with the same group of people for 35 days. A majority of the group are girls so there is always the possibility of cliques.
• This is a very fast paced trip. You get to see a lot of different places, but you don’t get a deep connection with any of them. This trip barely skims the surface of what’s there.
• Depending on the group, it could be a party centered trip. But depending on who you are that could be a pro or con. I wasn’t interested in partying when I went and by that I mean going to a club until 2am. I definitely did my share of drinking there. It all depends on what you’re looking for.
• Trips are expensive. You can definitely plan your own trip cheaper, but you’re going to spend so much more time if you do it that way. It’s all a trade-off so just depends what’s most important to you.

Is EF Ultimate Break Legit?

Yes, EF Ultimate Break is definitely legit. Obviously, I used them before and loved it.

Post-COVID, I think they have dealt with their fair share of issues though, as there have been many complaints about cancelations or things going wrong on a trip.

I’ve also spoken to people who have taken the Ultimate Europe tour recently and absolutely loved it. No matter if EF plans your trip or if you plan your own, there is always the chance that something will go wrong.

Tips for Your Trip

EF Ultimate Break runs deals all the time so follow them on social media and check their site often to see what they are offering.

I highly recommend trying to go carry-on only! Pack enough for a week and then plan to do laundry while there. You’ll want to pack a few layers too – even in summer.

While EF takes care of all the logistics, you’ll still want to do some research on each place you’re visiting to figure out what to do in your free time. Leave room to wander though!

Be very aware of your surroundings and trust your gut. Many of the large cities are known for pickpockets. I didn’t have any issues but a couple of people in my group did.

Make sure you save up some money to bring on the trip! You’ll still need to pay for some meals, excursions, souvenirs, and such.

FAQs for EF Ultimate Break

How much free time do you have.

You actually get a considerable amount of free time! Typically in each major city, a walking tour is included in your booking and that’s about it.

Sometimes the tour guide will organize other activities, but you aren’t required to go to them. You don’t even have to go to the walking tours, but I highly recommend that you do.

I would say about half of your time in major cities isn’t scheduled. You get less free time on travel days and if you’re only in a location for one or two days.

Should I go alone? How is it traveling with other people?

I signed up alone and don’t regret it a bit! There are tons of other people who will likely sign up alone and it’s easy to make friends.

With a group of 30+ people, there are bound to be people who you don’t align with and some that you really like. If a person annoys you, then don’t spend time around them.

You have the opportunity to make some lifelong friends, though!

Do I need to know the language?

While that always helps, you don’t need to know the language! Our tour guide taught us a few words in the language of each country we visited just to get by. Hello, goodbye, thank you, and things like that.

I never ran into a major issue and even if I did come across someone who didn’t speak English, we made do.

What is the age limit for EF Ultimate Break?

EF Ultimate Break recently raised their cut-off age to 35! Previously, the age was 29 so if you were 30 or older you had to book elsewhere. Now the range is from 18 – 35.

While on my trip the average age was definitely in the early 20s, but this new policy may shift that to be a bit more even.

This change could also be due to the rise of digital nomads post-COVID and with most digital nomads in the younger age bracket, they can travel for longer now.

If you’re older than 35, then you still have the option of booking with EF but it will be through their sister company – EF Go Ahead Tours. They don’t have an age cap but these tours cater to people 35+.

They also have a Grand Tour of Europe but theirs is a bit shorter. EF is always running deals and you can usually sign up for their email list to get a certain dollar amount off.

Check Prices for EF Go Ahead here: Grand Tour of Europe

Are EF Ultimate Break trips worth it?

If you don’t have the time or bandwidth to plan your own trip or want a different option than traveling solo, then EF Ultimate Break trips are definitely worth it.

If you want to slow travel and make a deeper connection with the culture or if you’re comfortable traveling alone and planning your own activities then you may want to skip this.

Wrap Up: EF Ultimate Break Review

If you’re considering the Ultimate Europe Trip or any other EF Ultimate Break trip then I hope you’ve found this EF Ultimate Break review helpful!

Reading reviews like this is really what solidified my decision to book my own trip. Just remember that this is 100% based on my own experience and many people have had a totally different experience traveling with EF.

I would definitely go on another trip with them if the opportunity presented itself. Since traveling with EF, I’ve also come across a few other programs that help people travel and one of those is Worldpackers .

If you’re on a budget, I would totally check out Worldpackers as an option.

Have you taken a trip with EF Ultimate Break before? What was your experience?

Anna is a North Carolina native who grew up traveling the southern US with her family. Now she is a full-time travel blogger who road trips the US and shares about outdoor adventures and epic things to do. Want to know more? Read her full story here.

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Hi!! I am actually looking at doing this trip next year sometime (once covid-19 has been handled lol) and was wondering if I could pick your brain about your experience! I want to go once I graduate college as well, and I am planning on going alone in hopes to make some new friends! Do you feel like you got a good amount of time in each city to explore and enjoy your time or do you feel like you were more often rushed while you were travelling? I have never traveled outside of the US and I am debating between doing the full month in Europe or picking a shorter trip where I can spend more time in the cities that we go to. And how tired did you get on a daily basis? I’m sure travelling for an entire much is exhausting, but would you say it’s totally worth it? Also, did you stay in more hotels or more hostels? If you stayed in hostels, how were they?

Hey! I would highly recommend this trip! Sorry COVID is putting a damper on your plans for the time being lol. I thought it was the perfect balance of time in each city. It is super fast paced, and no you don’t get to see everything but you would be surprised how much you can see in 2-3 days. It was nice though because the travel days are broken up by staying in one place for a few days so it doesn’t seem like you’re constantly on the go. If you’ve never been outside the US this is an incredible introduction to Europe. On a daily basis I didn’t get too tired, but by the end (for me it was Barcelona – I think they’ve updated the cities this year) I was a little worn out. Just plan some down time in and you’ll be okay. If you take anything away from this: YES IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!! Those are some of my best travel memories. We stayed in a mix of hotels and hostels and you couldn’t tell a big difference between the two. I actually came to prefer the hostels because the rooms were the same, but there were more community spaces to hang out in. I’m happy to answer any other questions you have!

Hi, I’m also looking into a trip next summer as a post grad student but for about 2-3 weeks. I was wondering if you felt like the EF service was bad? And if you had any trouble with the flights. I read some pretty bad reviews that mentioned 2 flights booked with only 1 hour of sleep in between and lack of help with EF. Or, waiting hours for a bus and missing their day trip. Wondering if that’s typical or not. I know a lot of it had to do with covid but I’m nervous to book this and then get a huge cancellation fee or not realize how disorganized the program is. Did you feel like there was anything “scam” worthy?

I can only speak from my experience and say that I had absolutely no issues and was super happy with how everything was handled. But that doesn’t mean that nothing could happen while you are on your trip. To me, the difference is that if you book the trip with EF then they are the ones figuring out a solution when things go wrong instead of you having to figure it out on your own. That was one reason I chose to go with EF since it was my first time out of the country.

What is the average age of the people on the trip?

The average age on my trip was probably 23-25 I believe. There were outliers but that’s what I remember.

Hey, I’m going along for 11 days to egypt how we’re the people that you traveled with was it any bonding with anyone or was it awkward most of the time?

It wasn’t awkward! Most people go on the trip expecting to make friends and are pretty outgoing.

i went on my first solo trip last year, October 2019, to Egypt for 2 weeks. for the experience- well i have 2 trips book when them already. have to move them to 2021 due to Covid. my Egypt trip felt like a once in a life time experience. love it. made a lot of friends that i still talk to this day.

A couple of friends and me are looking into booking the Egypt trip now! Did you do the Egypt Expedition or the Cruise? Would love to hear about your experience!

I actually went on their ultimate europe trip 2 years ago as well as a shorter trip to Costa Rica. I would highly recommend the longer trip. The community you get with your fellow travelers is insane. I definitely made lifelong friends with my tour guide as well as fellow travelers and saw so much. The shorter trip was still super fun but didn’t allow for those close friendships. It was also way more geared toward people who just wanted to party as opposed to people who want to see the world. (Not that I don’t like going out a few nights, but I can do that at home in chicago)

Hi! I’m 28 and am looking at an EF euro trip this summer. I’m wondering what the age range was when you went, and around how many people were in your group. I’m very close to the cutoff age so I’m worried I will be with mostly college students!

It was mostly people who had just graduated college or people in their mid-20s in my group and there were around 25 – 30 of us I believe. There were a few in their late 20s though so I would go for it!

Omg, I am thinking of doing the same trip! And I want to go solo to go on a self-discovery trip I guess. It just seems like the safe way to go aboard.

Are these trips only to go and be with a group of people you haven’t met before or can you plan to go with a friend?

With EF Ultimate Break you would be with a group of people that you haven’t met. If you and a friend chose to go though you could actually choose to do your own thing in each city. The trip and guides are pretty flexible. Another branch of their company -EF Go Ahead Tours – offers private/customized tours but I think the group has to be of 7 or more. They also have options for solo travelers if you wanted to do a solo trip.

Hey, thank you for this, this is soo helpful. I am planning a trip for Europe for next summer. It will be my first time traveling alone and traveling to Europe. Do you have any tips? Also, I am planning on getting a single room, I was told I’d have a roommate. I do have my doubts and fear of having a roommate but also I’m very introverted so I don’t know what to choose, what would you recommend?

Hi, thanks for commenting! 🙂 When I took this trip it was my first time traveling alone as well. My biggest tip would be to do a bit of research before you get to the cities so you know what you’d like to do when you arrive. You don’t have much time in each place. If you’re nervous about going places by yourself then there will likely be someone in the group who shares at least a few of your interests. Go a few places with them until you work up the courage to explore a city on your own. As for the roommate situation – I totally understand that. In a way I wish I had gotten a single room, but it isn’t bad staying with other people and it’s much cheaper. They let people take turns signing up for roommates so sometimes you will be with people you’ve made friends with and other times you’ll be stuck in a room with whoever you get. If you REALLY don’t like dealing with other people, I would get a separate room but many of us on the trip that I took were introverts and we were fine rooming with other people.

Hello, thank you for posting this! I am worried about going on this trip as a plus size woman. It has caused fear or weight limits or activities or feeling “ostracized” from the group. Do you think this is an issue with EF or that I should worry about?

Hi! I don’t think it would be an issue at all. Everyone is usually very welcoming and nice. I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think there were any weight limits on any of the activities that we did.

Is this company only for woman because I see women commenting about their trip

No, it’s for men as well! There aren’t as many men that use the program but there are usually a few on the trip.

I don’t drink and as a result I don’t like to hang out in bars. Did you find that there were people who did things at night other than drinking?

Hmm I will say that the majority of people on my trip did drink so that was the most common thing to do. There are all kinds of things that you can do that don’t involve drinking though. If you do choose to go on the trip I would just try to find a buddy or two who isn’t into drinking either. There are about 30 people total who go on the trips so there should be someone else who isn’t that into it.

Hi did you ever worry about your safety while staying in the hostels? Did you ever feel unsafe at any point on the trip?

Personally, I did not. Our trip leader was fantastic and gave us lots of great tips. The majority of the time I was with another person from our group but I did go off on my own a couple times and never felt unsafe. EF also chooses hostels/hotels in great locations so I was never staying in a bad part of town.

Hello, so me and my girlfriend are interested, and although we like to think we are pretty flexible, we do like our privacy… How did the whole accommodation stage work? Did you guys share rooms? Or did you have the option to be alone? Also, how do the prices work exactly? Do you pay by month? Got a bit confused when I went in the website and saw “as low as $117” For a 35 day trip of Europe.

For the package that I chose, I shared rooms with other people. We passed around a sheet of paper to sign up to be with the people we wanted. I believe that there is an option to get a room to yourself. Their customer service is fantastic especially with answering any questions you have before your trip like this. Depending on how far out you book your trip you can either pay the full amount up front or pay by month.

Hi I want to plan a trip next year for my birthday but I have seen some comments on Instagram how they been taking people’s money and not returning them. I want to make sure it’s not a scam because I really want to do this.

Hi Jada, it is not a scam – I’ve traveled with them before. My guess is that there have been some issues recently with how COVID-19 is impacting travel with them and refunds related to that.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!! I am looking at honeymoon options for summer or fall 22. Would this be something good for a honeymoon? Or is it more for solo travel?

Personally, I wouldn’t do this as a honeymoon. It’s a great thing to do solo or with a small group of friends. There was one couple on our tour but they didn’t get much alone time and I don’t know that they got a room to themselves.

Hi! I’m thinking about going on an EF ultimate break trip fresh out of high school next summer when I’m 18. What is the typical age range of people that go? Are there many college students? I’m worried I’ll be stuck with a majority of people in their late 20’s and will have trouble making many friends.

Hi! I can’t remember exactly how old most people were but I believe it was mid 20’s leaning toward early 20’s. It was a lot of people who had just graduated college but there were a few who were still in college on my trip.

hey! i booked the ultimate europe trip for 2023 and i’ll be 20 when i go, i was worried about a similar thing being around a bunch of people quite a bit older than me so if you’d like to coordinate trips, if that’s something you wanna check into let me know:))

Hi!! I am thinking about doing the Ultimate Europe trip as a solo traveler. I am just super nervous about making friends, and having people to go out and explore cities with. Would you say it was pretty easy to make friends with other people on the trip as a solo traveler? Thank you so much for writing this article, it is super helpful!

Yes! I found that if you wanted to make friends and hang out with people then it was super easy. Probably 1/3 or a little more of my group went solo and the rest came in groups of 1 or 2. It’s all about what you want to get out of it but most people go into the trip wanting to make new friends I think. So glad you found this helpful!

Hi! I’m going on a EF long trip this summer and was wondering what you/people found to be the best type and size of bag to pack in?

Most people on the trip took a checked bag but I had the Osprey Farpoint 40L backpack for a carry-on and loved it. I didn’t have to wait on checked luggage and wasn’t dragging a bag across uneven sidewalks. Highly recommend going carry-on only but that’s not for everyone, I know.

Hi, I’m looking to travel with EF next summer. But I’m on the older side (28). I know summer is usually when all the younger people travel lol, since school’s out. However summer’s the only time I will get to travel. Do you think age would be an issue? Thanks

Hello!! Your review has been so helpful to read, so thank you for taking the time to do this for people looking into this trip. Im trying to budget & see how much I would need to take on the trip as well aside from the overall costs. I read that breakfast is given daily & some meals that are on the itinerary are included. So how would you go about the other meals? I also read that you tip the tour guide, how often were you tipping them? I also heard that if your the last person to show up to dinner, that you’d be responsible for the tip… etc. What other additional costs/expenses did you have aside from doing things on your own & souvenir/personal shopping???

Hi! Thank you, I’m glad you found it helpful! Yes, when I went breakfast was included daily but only a few of the other meals were included. There probably weren’t even 5 lunches/dinners included. So you’ll need to budget for most lunches and dinners and that number really will depend on the type of places that you go. You can find cheap places but just to be on the safe side I would budget €15 – €20 per meal. You tip your tour guide at the end and I believe the standard was around $100 maybe more if they are really good. You could ask your contact at EF Ultimate Break though and they may be able to give you a better idea on what the right tip is. I haven’t heard that rule about being the last person to dinner and that isn’t how we did it. Tipping in Europe is different than tipping in the US so you may just want to search Pinterest for those rules. Other than meals, additional activities that you are interested in, and souvenirs I think that was it!

Hello and thanks for a great review! I’m looking to do one of the EF trips, specifically the Greek Island and was wondering if there was decent amount of people in their late 20s? I’m about to turn 29 but still love going out to the bars and having fun and want to be able to travel with a big group to meet new people. However, I don’t want to be that one old gu when everyone else is 24. Thanks!

I can only speak for the tour that I went on and I will say the majority of people were in their early to mid-20s. Don’t let that discourage you though! There were still a couple people in their late 20s and no one thought it was odd.

Hello! I am worried about not being able to exercise while on the trip. What time of day did the day of travel usually begin? Did you feel you would have time to exercise or drop into gyms while in cities? Thank You!

It’s been a while since I went with EF so I don’t quite remember details about the itinerary. I believe 8 or 9 but like I said I’m not positive. Thinking about how fast-paced this trip was, I don’t think I could have fit exercise in. However, that wasn’t something that was important to me personally so it’s all about what you prioritize. There is a good bit of free time but I always spent that exploring the city. I will say – I walked an average of 6-7 miles most days so I considered that my exercise.

Thank you for all the informative insight on what EF has to offer. Just out of curiosity, I was wondering how many guys went and also, are you able to do your own personal itinerary or do you have to stick with the group at all times? I’m thinking about doing the Barcelona, Ibiza, and Valencia Trip this summer 2022, and it’s only 10 days. The itinerary that they provide, doesn’t really match what I’m looking for and wanted to know if there’s a bit of leniency with free roam. Thanks in advance!

There were significantly less guys that went on my trip and I think that’s common for many EF Tours. I think there were 5 guys out of 25 – 30 people on my trip. The itinerary is flexible and a few people did go off on their own for a couple of days but honestly if the itinerary doesn’t fit what you are looking for then I would plan your own trip or find a different company that does offer what you want. You are paying for many daily activities in the price you pay EF so if you aren’t going to do them then it isn’t worth it (in my opinion).

I am thinking about going on this trip next year with my boyfriend, would you say this is a good couples trip? Was there mainly singles? Also what was the ratio of boys and girls, I wouldn’t want him to be uncomfortable if it was a mostly girls trip

There were mainly singles but we did have one couple on the trip. It all depends on how you guys are as a couple and what you enjoy/your preferences. The ratio is usually always a lot of girls to a few boys on the trips. I don’t think that made the guys uncomfortable, they just stuck together more.

Hi I just got back from another trip with UB, the Grand Tour of Turkey. I love them and can’t recommend enough. I’m about to book a few more tours through them next year. I think you worded it perfectly, Anna! If you’re considering booking a first time tour, you set such great expectations. BTW – if you need a code for an extra $100 off you can use UAAvery100! I am about to book a tour through Ecuador if anyone has experience there? Since it’s been a while since your trip, have you taken any other with them? Or have you tried Contiki yet?

I haven’t taken another one with them but have really considered it! I haven’t tried Contiki yet either. I was planning to do another international trip in 2020 but of course that didn’t happen. Now that I’ve gone full time with the blog, I’m not sure I’ll be able to travel internationally for a while because I focus heavily on the southern US now.

EF is the absolute worst company and I’m pretty sure it’s all a scam. I booked a trip back in March and found out two months before I was set to leave that they had canceled my tour due to “low enrollment”. Due to their policy, I was supposed to be able to be rebooked for a similar date. THEY RESCHEDULED MY TRIP 4 TIMES AND WERE UNABLE TO CONFIRM ME FOR A TRIP ALL 4 TIMES. They had my money for two months and were unable to rebook me each time, despite telling me I would be prioritized to be booked. They also kept trying to charge me an extra “adult fee” every time THEY had to reschedule my trip. I absolutely regret not canceling sooner, as they took 2-3 weeks each time I rescheduled to inform me that I wasn’t able to be booked. In the amount of time I spent on hold and calling those incompetent clowns over the course of my rescheduling process, I would have been able to book my own trip a dozen times over.

Fortunately, I ended up being able to book a trip through G Adventures at the last minute. G Adventures was able to book me and get me a flight ticket in just an hour. G Adventures was able to do in ONE HOUR what EF literally could not do in TWO MONTHS. EF is literally a scam. Don’t ever give them your money.

Hate to hear that you had a bad experience. So glad that you were able to book with G Adventures though – I’ve heard great things about them!

Hey Anna, great review of pros and cons! I agree with you. I took a trip with EF a couple years ago and it was a great experience. I can still say that even with so many good companies out there EF still stands out in all inclusive group travel. I would suggest to do more grand tours of one country or 2 with them to get the best feel for the place in a short time. That being said, as a solo traveler, any company should be merely training wheels in this travel life because you can save so much money doing it yourself! I learned a lot with EF though and studying their ways did jumpstart my solo traveling and planning like a champ.

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EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Is EF Tours right for you?   

So your kid just came home from school with a gorgeous full color brochure about an upcoming trip to Europe with EF Tours that one of their teachers is leading.  He or she is super excited about all the cool things they get to do and is just begging you to let them go.  

It sounds great, but as a responsible parent, you want to know exactly what you’d be sending your child off to do, and how things would actually work on this trip.  

Well, lucky for you we took a 12 day visit to Europe with EF Tours, and have all the details to decide if taking an international trip with this company is right for you or your teenager.  

We’re going to start with the breakdown of how things work with EF and what to expect as a participant or a parent, and then move on to our specific experience with our tour.  

I always like to start my reviews by reminding you that I was not compensated in any way to write this post.  All opinions are my own, and all costs were paid out of our pocket for this experience.

What is EF Tours? 

EF Tours is a travel company that specializes in international tours for students.   

According to their website , EF Tours has been in operation since 1965 and offers trips for students and teachers designed to “provide immersive, life-changing education.”

Basically, EF Tours organizes international trips for students to a wide variety of destinations, promising “compelling itineraries” full of “experiential learning.”

They also promise to have the “lowest price on the market” for this type of travel.  

EF, as a company, offers may types of tours ranging from group trips for adults to organized gap years for high school graduates.  While these options are available, the bread and butter of the company is the basic high school student tour which is what we took.  

How do EF Tours work?

EF Tours have a pretty straightforward process during the sign up period, prior to departure and during your trip. 

Before we get into that, it must be said that EF Tours operate fully independently of the local school district, and are not endorsed or supported by them whatsoever.  

While this may seem like a school trip, it is not.  It is a trip run by a business who just happens to recruit participants through the school system.  Your local principals, school boards, etc. have zero control or influence on these trips.  The school is only involved in the process as far as whether they allow teachers to hand out information in schools or not. 

The EF in EF Tours stands for Education First.  According to their website, EF claims to “design tours to help educators teach, and so students can learn more—about tolerance, other perspectives, and themselves.”

The Sign Up Process

EF Tours are set up to be “hosted” by a local teacher who is then designated as the “group leader.”  Teachers are incentivized with free and reduced price travel to recruit students to join their tours.  

Tours are advertised by the group leader/teacher to students at their school and to their local community.  Interested students and parents are invited to attend informational meetings either in person or virtually where the group leader/teacher goes over the itinerary and any questions potential participants may have.  

Students and parents can then sign up directly through the EF Tours website, and submit all payments directly to the company.  

Trips are usually initially introduced about two years before the travel date so that participants can make smaller monthly payments to cover the cost of the trip.  Costs for these trips can range widely, depending on the destinations and length of the trip.  

EF has the group leader/teacher set up deadlines for signing up to go on the trip, sometimes including small discounts to encourage enrollment.  This tends to give a false sense of urgency to the sign up process. 

We found that participants can sign up just about any time before the trip departs.  We signed up about a year out from the trip, while another student who traveled with us signed up just a month or two before we left.  

Anyone was allowed to sign up for the trip.  We were encouraged to invite friends and family to join us on the tour, whether or not they were associated with our school or even local to our area.  

Adults did need to pass a background check in order to participate in the trip, since adult tour participants are traveling with minors.  

We were not given specific dates for our trip, but instead we were given a window of time during which the trip would occur.   Our dates were finally confirmed about two months before our departure.  

There are usually two or three optional excursions that can be added to any tour.  These usually include some special activity or visit to an additional landmark.  

Tour participants may also choose to upgrade the insurance for the tour. 

Before Your EF Tour

Once you’ve signed up for your EF Tour, you’ll be given access to a tour portal on the EF website where you can track your payments and what steps you need take next to participate in the trip.  They also provide a fundraising page, where friends and family can pay EF directly to offset the cost of your trip.  

Our group had a few in person meetings at a local restaurant prior to our trip where we discussed issues ranging from passports to packing for our trip to Europe , and got a chance to meet our fellow travelers.  This may or may not be true or all groups that are traveling with EF.  

Each participant in our tour was required to submit a copy of our passport to EF to insure that we had the proper documentation to travel.  

Information about our flights was not available until about a month before our departure, and information about our hotels was not available until we were about three weeks out from leaving.  

EF Tours uses a wide range of airlines, and travelers do not get to indicate a preference.  EF books all travelers in economy class seats for all transportation methods.  EF will book with whatever airline has space available for the lowest price for the group.  

As for hotels, travelers know very little about where they are staying ahead of time.  Per the website, tour participants are assured that “travelers can count on safe, clean and comfortable hotels with private bathrooms” but much beyond that the info is sparse.  

Students can expect to room with one to three other students, and possibly have to share beds.  Adults can expect to share a room with one other person.  For a fee, a single room can be requested for the tour. 

EF does indicate up front that hotels may have small rooms without air conditioning, television, or elevators, and that WiFi may not always be available.  

During an EF Tour

All transportation arrangements are made by EF Tours, including flights, buses, trains, etc.  They book all accommodations and attraction admissions for tour participants. 

Two meals a day are included in the cost of a trip with EF Tours.  Breakfast is provided each day at the hotel, usually continental style, but sometimes with hot offerings just depending on your hotel.  Dinners are are pre-arranged with a preset menu by EF at local restaurants.  EF will make accomodations for those with specific dietary needs, such as gluten free or dairy free meals.

While the teacher recruiting students is designated as your group leader, they don’t actually lead the tour once you start traveling.  EF provides a Tour Director to accompany your group through the entire trip.  

This Tour Director is supposed to handle just about everything on your tour, including all your pre-booked accommodations, meals, excursions, tickets, and transfers.  This person is there to direct the group and handle any problems with logistics you may encounter along the way.  

During the tour, your group will meet up with various local guides who will give you some sort of tour of the city or historic site that you’re visiting.  These tours are usually walking tours, but sometimes are bus tours, depending on the location.  

Tour participants are also given access to an EF Tours App, that just lists your daily itinerary for your trip.  

Our EF Tour Review

Our specific tour featured quite a daunting itinerary.  We toured Europe for 12 days, visiting sites in London, Paris, Florence, Rome, Pompeii and Capri, with no more than two nights in any destination.  

Our tour consisted of 26 travelers from our high school: three teachers, seven adults and 16 students.  We were combined with a group from upstate New York consisting of 14 travelers: one teacher, one adult, one child and 11 students.  There were a total of 40 people on our tour.  

What EF Tours Promised

Before our tour, the group leaded made sure every person who showed an interest in going on the trip got the glossy, full color brochure that outlined our itinerary and told us what to expect on the tour.  

The brochure promised that participants would be “surrounded by the people, the language, the food, and the way of life” of the destinations on our itinerary.  We were assured that our tour director would be “with us around the clock, handling local transportation, hotels, and meals while also providing their own insight into the local history and culture.”  

We would be spending time in three different countries, seeing some of the most beautiful and historic cities in Europe.

The brochure also claimed that students could earn educational credit while on tour, and that all tours feature “experiential learning activities.”

Our tour left some of these promises unfulfilled, but did give us a glimpse at some fantastic destinations in Europe and some amazing memories.  

Our hotels along the trip started out stellar but seemed to go downhill from there, unfortunately ending in truly unacceptable accommodations.  

Even though this wasn’t guaranteed, all of our accommodations had some sort of air conditioning, with some that functioned better than others, and all of them had WiFi.  

For the first four nights during our stays in London and Paris, we were sent to Hilton Hotels .  They both were on the higher end of what I expected based on the descriptions provided by EF Tours of what our hotels would be like.  

The rooms at these Hiltons were very new, immaculately clean and extremely comfortable.  They were both located about an hour outside of the city center, but that wasn’t too much of a problem.  

When we reached Italy, things changed a bit.  

For a quick overnight in Milan on our way to Florence, we stayed at and AS Hotel in Limbiate.  This hotel was a bit older than the Hiltons we’d stayed in, but it was clean, spacious, and comfortable.  

Between Florence and Rome, we spent the night at the Hotel Villa Ricci (not pictured).  This hotel was significantly older than the other three we had stayed at, but it was still clean and comfortable.  While the room wasn’t much to write home about, some members of our group lucked out and got spectacular balconies. 

Once we arrived in Rome, the Villa Aurelia was our home base for two nights.  We learned that this hotel had once housed men studying to join a monastery, which explained the doritory feel of the place.  Again, we found these rooms to be clean and pretty comfortable.  

On our way to Southern Italy, we spent the night in Sorrento at Sisters Hostel .  This was the only true hostel on our trip.  While they still stuck with four students to a room, several of the student rooms had enough beds to sleep up to 12 people. 

Though not quite as refined as the Hiltons, and a little slap-shot with the furniture, we found this place to be clean and welcoming.  While it wasn’t quite as comfortable as some of the other places we’d stayed, it was completely acceptable and had a spectacular view of the Gulf of Naples from the rooftop terrace. 

Things took a turn for the worse on our last night of the tour, when we stayed at Hotel La Pergola in Rome.  This place was truly one of the worst hotels I’ve ever had the misfortune to stay at (and as a travel blogger, I’ve stayed at a LOT of hotels).  

Things started off badly when we discovered that the lights in all the hallways were not on, and that we had to hunt around with our cell phone flashlights to find our way to our rooms.  I asked the front desk to remedy this, but it was never addressed, and we had to repeat the blind search for our rooms every time we went up.  

Upon arrival in my room, I found it to be extremely dirty.  There was a layer of dusty film all over my bathroom and my pillow had an unidentified crusty stain on it.  My daughter’s room had the same layer of dirt in the bathroom, plus a shoe print from where someone killed a bug on the wall.  I checked our beds for bedbugs and thankfully did not find any. 

The front desk did not seem to care and we were told no one was available to come clean the bathrooms.

But the worst experience in this hotel went to a dad on our trip, who’s single room contained only a sofa.   Not a sleeper sofa, but just a hard couch.  There were no linens or towels available to him whatsoever. 

When he asked for these items at the front desk, he was told that we should have called earlier to request them since they were all locked up in a cabinet by the time we arrived at the hotel.   He ended up sleeping on a towel laid out on the sofa with a travel neck pillow, that had been provided to him by his daughter from her room.

The front desk attendant seemed more than annoyed anytime someone from our group would approach them, and insisted that we all leave our keys at the front desk when leaving the hotel for dinner that night.    

We weren’t left with much recourse, since this was a group trip and we were on our last night, so we decided to just grin and bear it, and did our best to get some sleep.  

Overall, I’d say that the hotels provided were quite good, with the exception of Hotel La Pergola.  For ten of the eleven nights of our trip, we were provided with clean, safe accommodations that lived up to what the EF Tours website told us to expect.  

At the time of this publication, EF Tours has been notified of this unacceptable hotel and has yet to respond.  

Meals on the tour ran the gamut from weird to stellar, but overall were not to bad.  Breakfast and dinner every day were included in what we paid for our tour.  

All breakfasts were served at our hotels.  Sometimes they were just continental breakfasts with cold offerings, and sometimes we were given hot breakfasts with eggs, bacon, and such.  Sometimes it was quite obvious where our group was supposed to go, and sometimes it wasn’t. 

Overall, breakfasts were adequate throughout the trip.  

Lunches were not included in the initial price of our trip and were paid out of pocket each day.   

Lunches were always a gamble.   It all depended on where we were and what was going on whether or not we’d get to select a restaurant on our own or if the group would be directed to eat at somewhere specific, and if we’d have lots of great choices or really limited options.  

For example, on our first full day of the trip, we visited the Tower of London.  We told to make sure we ate lunch after our tour, before rejoining the group to get on the bus.  The only options available to us were food trucks along the river right next to the Tower complex.  

It was the worst during our travel days.  We were frequently told we could just grab a bite to eat at the train station or the airport, only to be left with minimal time and very limited options.  

But some days lunch was great.  During our time in Rome, lunch came with some free time to wander, so we were able to go out and select the restaurant of our choice.  

Some days our tour guide would set up a lunch option for us, having arranged a preset menu and price with a local restaurant.  Those options were usually something like a burger, pizza or a cold sandwich.  

I’m not sure if the lunch situations were like this because of our tour guide or because of EF itself.  Sometimes it seemed inevitable, like when we were stuck in an airport or train station.  Other times it seemed like our guide might be creating these situations by not fully informing us what was available near by.  

All dinners were set up at local restaurants before our arrival.  We did not get to select from a menu and were all served the same thing each night, with the exception of those who had special dietary needs.  Each meal came with water, but we were allowed to order additional drinks at our own expense if we choose to do so.  

The worst dinners EF provided happened during the first few days of our trip.  During our entire time in London, we were not once served any traditional English food.  Our Tour Director said it was because “London is a melting pot of cultures,” but our group didn’t buy that.  

Our first group dinner in London was at a Korean restaurant where the group was served a hot stone bibimbap with chicken.  I’m normally a big fan of Korean food, but this wasn’t great. 

The next group dinner was at a Polish restaurant where the group was served a fried chicken patty and french fries.  

When it became apparent on the second night that we weren’t going to be getting any traditional English food, my daughter and I made arrangements to go get dinner on our own, and pay for it out of pocket.  Four other members of our group chose to join us.  

We simply got information from our Tour Guide when and where to meet up with the group after dinner and selected a nearby local pub so we could have a traditional English dining experience.  

Dinners seemed to improve when we got to France. During our first night there we had a lovely traditional French meal of chicken with mushroom sauce in the back room of a small picturesque cafe with a ton of ambiance.   On the second night we had a traditional Alsatian dish called Flammekueche, which was sort of like a pizza with a creamy sauce.  

In Italy, the dinners were quite good.  Of course we were served a lot of pasta, but we also had braised beef in tomato sauce, gnocchi, and pizza.  

According to the folks on our trip who had special dietary needs, the dinners were pretty good for the most part.  Although it did seem that everywhere we went in Italy, anyone who was gluten free or dairy free was served watermelon for dessert.  

Before we left on our trip, we were told by our group leader that we shouldn’t need more that $25 US dollars per person per day for lunches and snacks.  We found that that number was not quite accurate for us, especially if we ever wanted to stray from the planned meals that EF Tours had set up for us.  

We also found that we frequently needed to buy water to stay hydrated in the high temperatures of Italy during the summer, and at most of the locations we visited, water was marked up quite a bit.  

Overall, the meals on our trip were pretty good, but could definitely have been better.  

Our Itinerary

We knew going into this tour that our itinerary would be extremely hectic.  With no more than 48 hours in any location, we expected it to be jam packed.  It was kind of like a tasting menu, where you got a little bit of each destination.  

What we didn’t expect was the significant amount of wasted time and changes to our itinerary that happened on our tour.  

Things started off poorly when our tour guide was an hour late to meet us at baggage claim and then our bus was over another hour late to pick us up at the airport.  

While our tour guide was a very sweet, personable woman, she didn’t seem to understand how to manage the timing logistics for a group of 40 travelers.  

Our group was quite good about being on time to meet up locations with a couple of small exceptions that could not be helped.  No one wanted to be the person that made us late.  

Our tour guide didn’t seem to have this mentality.  She was frequently the last person downstairs at our hotels to meet our bus 15 to 20 minutes after the time she told us to meet her, and did not budget in adequate travel time to most of our destinations. 

For example, while we were driving across Italy, she had our driver stop at a large gas station for a bathroom stop.   She told us we only had five minutes to use the restroom and get back on the bus.  It’s completely impossible for 40 people to make use of just a handful of bathroom stalls in five minutes. 

We were late to our tours in London, Florence, and the Vatican.  We were late to our tour of the Colosseum in Rome.  We were late to our appointment at the Louvre.  We were so late to our tour of Pompeii.  This significantly hindered what we were able to see at our destinations, and made the whole tour seemed very rushed every day.  

Things like this happened over and over again throughout the trip.  This resulted in our group being habitually late to most of the tours we went on, and significantly cut into our time at some really important places.

The only times it seemed like we weren’t late was when we had to catch a flight, a train, or a ferry.  

There were also some pretty significant changes to our itinerary. 

Several items listed on our initial brochure were changed before the trip due to pandemic restrictions and travel challenges, which was fine.  We had ample notice and knew what to expect.    

But there were several instances where visits to certain locations were dropped off our itinerary completely, and visits to other non-advertised locations were added.  

Sometimes this was a good thing, but sometimes it was incredibly frustrating.  

In London, a walking tour of Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden and Leicester Square was replaced with “free time” at the British Museum, which we really didn’t mind. 

But in Florence, visits to San Miniato al Monte and Piazzale Michelangelo were dropped off the itinerary with no explanation.  

On our way to Rome, our guide added a stop in Ovierto, a beautiful small town with picturesque views, wonderful dining and great little shops which we enjoyed immensely. 

But in Paris, a visit to Montmartre was abandoned, even though our dinner restaurant was within a mile of the historic location.  

The best unexpected addition to our trip in my opinion was the opportunity to see a musical in the West End of London.  Our guide was able to secure tickets (for an extra fee) for those who wanted them to a performance of Wicked during our free evening.  It was absolutely fantastic.  

But in the most frustrating example, during our time in Paris a visit to the Frogonard Perfume Museum was added to our itinerary.   No one asked to go there, and most of us seemed annoyed that we were stopping.  We were assured that the stop there would only last 30 minutes, but it ended up taking three times that, leaving us only an hour and a half to visit the Louvre before we had to be back on the bus to catch a flight to Italy.  

These added stops almost always involved additional costs as well, which we were not informed of before leaving for our trip.  This caused problems for a few kids on our trip who weren’t expecting these costs, and they unfortunately had to miss out on some of the better additions. 

There also seemed to be major sites in some of these cities that were not ever even an option to visit or see, due to our limited time in each city.   We didn’t go to Westminster Abbey or St. Paul’s Cathedral while we were in London, and there were too many things to count in Paris that we didn’t even glimpse.  While we were aware of this upfront before the tour, it really did feel like they didn’t allow enough time in any location to really see the cities we were in.  

Despite these frustrations, the itinerary did take us to some fantastic places and we had some absolutely unforgettable experiences.  We had a fantastic time seeing the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.  We enjoyed a truly magical and unexpected sunset under the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  We got to listen to an orchestra perform in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.  We were able to marvel at the unparalleled artwork inside St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.  We saw the stunningly beautiful sites of Capri from a private boat tour.  Those memories are truly priceless.  

During our trip there were extra excursions offered in any city we stayed in more than one night. 

In London, the excursion was a visit to the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel type ride that gives riders a birds eye view of the city.  In Paris, it was a trip to Versaille to tour the palace and the gardens.  In Rome, it was a tiramisu cooking class.  

We choose not to participate in the excursion in London because I’m not the biggest fan of heights, and in Paris because my daughter wanted the opportunity to spend some extra free time in the city.  

I’m extremely glad we made those decisions.   

While the London Eye excursion seemed to go well for those who went on it, it was over priced.  EF Tours charged each participant $60.  Tickets can be purchased individually at the ticket booth for just $42 USD or for groups ahead of time for just $24 USD.  I’m not sure what EF added to the experience to warrant that upcharge.  

By skipping the London Eye, we were able to have a bit more time to explore and plenty of time to enjoy our pub dinner that we mentioned earlier since the London Eye excursion was timed to happen right before dinner.  

In Paris, those who went to Versaille told us the experience was underwhelming because of the limited time available inside the palace, and the lack of lunch options available to those who went.  

The Versailles excursion seemed overpriced as well.  EF Tours charged $114 USD to each participant.  Tickets to the entire estate are free for those under 18 years old and cost under $30 USD for anyone else, and that’s without a group discount.  Even if every single person had to buy a ticket,  I can’t imagine that the cost for a group tour and the transportation to get the group there cost an additional $84 USD per person.  

The tiramisu cooking class in Rome was not optional for our group for some reason.  I think our group leader made that choice when she set up our trip.  We paid an extra $85 USD above and beyond the base tour price to experience it.  While I could not find information about individual class pricing, I highly doubt that EF paid that much per person for us to spend an hour making tiramisu. 

I will say that the class was a fun experience at a great location, and we all enjoyed the desserts we made together.  

Overall, unless an excursion is of special interest to you, I wouldn’t recommend participating in them, simply because they seem overpriced.  Having extra free time to see the sites of your choice seemed to be the best option during our tour.  

Education on an EF Tour

EF Tours makes a big deal out of their tours being focused on education.  We were promised “experiential learning activities” during the trip.  They even claim you can earn credit for going on these tour.  

We found that there wasn’t that much education attached to our tour.  

The local tour guides who showed us the sights of each city were the most informative folks on this trip, with extensive knowledge of the history and culture at each stop, but we were forced to use amplifying devices called Whispers in order to hear the guides.  These Whispers often had glitches or were garbled, making it very hard to understand our guides.  

Other than the local tour guides and maybe the tiramisu class, I wouldn’t call just visiting these historic places an “experiential learning activity.”  

We also learned that our high school would not give any credit to students who participated in these trips, even though much was made of the educational credit during the pitch to get us to join the tour.  

This isn’t to say that we didn’t learn anything on our trip.  We did have some great cultural experiences while we traveled.  But learning seemed to take a back seat to just being in another country in most circumstances.  

Safety with EF Tours

As a parent considering an EF Tour for my teenager, I know safety was a big concern for me.  

When my husband and I decided to send our daughter, we felt like one of us should go with her since she was only 15 at the time we went on the trip, and had not traveled internationally like this before.  

For the most part, I felt quite safe during our trip.  

Before our trip, our group leader did make sure to advise us about pickpocketing and theft at major tourist sites in Europe, and advised us to be prepared.  She did make sure we were always wary of our passports and where we were keeping them during our travels.  

While on tour, there was only one time that I felt like our group was taken to an unsafe area.  That was during our terrible last night in Rome when we had to walk from our hotel to our dinner restaurant through some pretty sketchy areas of the city.  

Although student were allowed to go out on their own during our free time, they were asked to go in groups of three or four and were left in pretty safe areas to spend their free time.  

The biggest problem I saw with safety was when our Tour Guide would take off walking at a breakneck speed, frequently leaving half our group stuck at crosswalks or a few turns behind.  She usually did a count to make sure everyone was there when we were ready to leave, but she did leave people behind at least twice during our trip and have to go back and get them.  

Most of the time we had no idea where we were headed when we were walking to different locations.  We were never given the names of the restaurants or addresses of where they would be unless we specifically asked for them.  I think communicating with the group more about where we’re going could have avoided some sticky situations that a few of our travelers found themselves in when they were left behind.  

We also didn’t have a way to contact our Tour Guide directly.  Only a couple of people were given her contact information, which made communication confusing and difficult during our free time, especially when she got delayed during our free evening in Paris and our meeting time had to be pushed back significantly.

Curfews and group rules were left up to our group leader, who didn’t set many boundaries for our students.  

Since the legal drinking age in the areas we visited was 18, student who met this requirement were allowed to drink alcohol on our trip, but were asked to limit it to one drink with dinner.  By and large, our students respected this request and did not take advantage of the lowered drinking age to go and party it up.  

Trips like this EF Tour require students to be pretty mature when it comes to safety.  We had a wonderful group of kids who took their personal safety pretty seriously, and didn’t take unnecessary risks that would put them in jeopardy.  Had it been a different group of personalities, I’m not sure how it would have gone.  

EF Tours:  Our Final Verdict

Would I travel with EF Tours again?  That seems to be the question at hand here.  

My EF Tours experience definitely taught me a lot about group travel.  As someone who travels pretty frequently , I usually make most of my own travel arrangements, from flights to hotel reservations to activities.  It was quite nice not to have to worry about any of that.  It really did take a lot of pressure off to just let someone else do all that work. 

But relinquishing that control does require a certain amount of trust.  There were some areas that I would definitely trust EF to arrange again, and other areas where I really think they could do better.  

For this trip it really came down to adjusting expectations once we were traveling.  I really did expect there to be more education involved in what we did while on our tour.  I really did expect to spend some quality time at these major historic sites. 

Once I realized that time would be much more limited at every destination than I expected it to be, the trip went much more smoothly.  

I think our experience would have been better with a more seasoned Tour Guide.  Ours just didn’t seem quite ready to handle all the pressures and logistics that are required for managing a group of 40 people for 12 days.  

EF Tours is definitely a budget tour company, and for the price, you do get a good experience.  

Did EF Tours create the trip of my dreams?  Not by a long shot. 

Did they create a good experience for students who haven’t done a lot of international traveling?  I’d say yes.  

Do I regret going on an EF Tour?  Absolutely not.  I had some incredible experiences in some amazing locations with my only daughter, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.  

Would I go on another EF Tour?  I think I would, but I would definitely choose a slower paced itinerary with more time in each destination.  

Do you have any questions about EF Tours that I didn’t answer?  Feel free to ask me in the comments!!

EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Thursday 14th of March 2024

Thank you so much for your insightful review! My daughter is headed to S. Korea in a few weeks and reading all these comments & your review...I'm just hoping for the best at this point. I wanted to ask about the tipping. Our group leader has requested $145 paid to her in cash, which I was completely caught off guard, considering the financial commitment of the trip itself, but reading this, it seems that it is quite normal. I contacted EF and the representative said that according to the tour itinerary, the total suggested guideline should be significantly less. Do you know what happens if there is a surplus or shortage with the tipping amount? I'm just wary about giving someone I don't even know (group leader) cash.

Louise Emery

Tuesday 2nd of April 2024

I really am not sure what would be done with a surplus. I would definitely ask the group leader about the discrepancy between their request and the recommendation of EF.

Melissa Levy

The parent in charge of the tour I’m about to go on is asking for $200 for tips from each parent going on the trip and $120 for each kid. Based on what I’ve read, this seems like a lot. What do you think?

I think it depends on where you're going and what you're doing. We paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 per person. We had a LOT of tours and there were many people to tip. My only concern is the different amount for parent vs student. I wonder why they are breaking it down that way.

Wednesday 21st of February 2024

Expectations make a difference!

Thanks for taking the time to go through all these details. My son did go on one of these trips in his junior year of HS and loved it. I can understand the concerns you mentioned and makes those points something to think about when scheduling a group tour. As an adult, I have been to Europe twice with groups (travel award from workd) I know EF Tours has groups for that as well, and have been apprehensive to just 'jump in". Trying to analyze what is the best option to finally get to the Grand Canyon. Thanks for your perspectives

1concerned Mama

Monday 29th of January 2024

Hi, daughter is going through EF summer of 2024 to Europe, she has been told by a teacher that students will have "free time" to walk around and do as they please. Do you know is this a Supervised free time? I am kind of weary about letting her go as it is, let alone being unsupervised in another country without me. I'm honestly leaning towards just canceling her trip after reading some of these comments.

I'm not sure how it will be handled on your trip, but on ours students were allowed to go out unsupervised. The teacher from our school asked that they stay in groups of at least 2. Most of our students chose to be in groups of 3 or 4, some with an adult and some without. We were given specific instructions on where and what time to meet up again. Most of the time, we only had a couple of hours. But my daughter and I did skip one of the optional excursions (the one to Versailles) which gave us an entire afternoon in Paris to ourselves. Our students handled this freedom quite responsibly, and we didn't have any issues. The only time we ever had someone not show up at our pick up spot, it was one of the adults on the trip who didn't plan accordingly. The group we were paired with from another school did not allow their students to do this. They all stayed together for their entire trip. I would get specifics from the the lead teacher organizing your trip as to how your group is going to handle this.

LILMSAWKWARD

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• Apr 17, 2023

I Visited Colombia With 34 Strangers- My Experience with EF Ultimate Break

I love traveling solo. It's not my whole travel personality, but it's a good chunk of it. So, going on an adventure with 34 other people I did not know just never seemed in the cards for me.

I was always intrigued by group travel companies. While I do find (some) joy in trip planning, my current schedule has made the idea of a group trip a lot more riveting. And when I saw the Colombia trip that EF Ultimate Break was hosting in March, I knew it would be the right travel opportunity for me.

But first, let's answer some questions.

What is EF Ultimate Break?

EF Ultimate Break is a travel company that provides 65+ trips around the world. You book, and they essentially take care of everything like flights, accommodations, local guides, and daily breakfast (depending on the package you choose).

Is there an age limit?

Yes! EF is open to adults ages 18-35. For my trip to Colombia, I was a bit nervous that I would be traveling with all spring breakers. To my surprise, majority of the people on my trip were in their twenties.

EF offers EF Go Ahead tours for those who aren't in that age group.

Are there also a lot of solo travelers?

Very, very few people on my trip to Colombia knew someone else on the trip. Most people traveled solo and were just excited to make new friends while gallivanting around Colombia together.

It's totally solo traveler friendly!

What was the cost of the tour? Is it budget friendly?

I collaborated with EF on this tour making this a hosted experience, but prices start for this tour at around $3100. This includes accommodations, local guides, round trip airfare, airport transfers, dedicated EF Tour Director, entrance fees, transportation between cities, support from EF reps abroad, and 24-hour worldwide emergency service.

Because of this, I do think the trip is more than worth it. And EF has some pretty great payment plans available as well.

I think this trip is perfect for those people who want to just show up and travel. You can use my code Alexa100 for $100 off your first EF Ultimate Break trip.

What are the accommodations like?

I'm a bit of a bougie girl, and I was really impressed by the accommodations. We stayed three nights in Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena. All three hotels were absolutely lovely, with great breakfast options. They were also all in really convenient and central locations, making dinner plans or an early morning walk.

What was the itinerary like? Is it really busy?

I found the itinerary to be really well balanced. You can find a link to it here . I loved that they put an ample amount of free time and more low key experiences, e.g., a sunset catamaran ride or boat day. Also- you don't HAVE to do everything, but it's heavily encouraged.

Are meals included?

Breakfast is always included! And a few dinners are also covered as well. Our welcome and farewell dinner were both at really nice restaurants. We selected an entree ahead of time, and we were allowed two free drinks with dinner.

It was also nice traveling to Colombia where the cost of food is pretty low, so the additional meals did not break the budget at all.

How was your guide?

Gregorio is not only a musical genius, but an incredible EF Tour Director. He was highly organized, and emphasized the importance of having a deep cultural experience in Colombia. He brought on some of the most talented and well informed guides, and really encouraged us to (safely) let loose and dive into Colombian culture and music. We had nearly 0 mishaps. And even if we did, Gregorio would've figured them out. I felt safe in his hands.

So here was my overall experience:

I loved my EF tour to Colombia. I had been to Colombia before, but never like that. Every day was a new exhilarating surprise. I came away with some amazing friends and memories. I would recommend EF to anyone who's wanting to dip their toes in and travel the world.

Especially those who have felt held back by friends and family who don't want to travel with them. Who needs friends when you can make memories with some incredible people?

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