Contiki Guides: Europe Optionals

Welcome to another Contiki Guide! One thing I was very keen to find about was the Contiki ME time Optionals. Basically Contiki tours offer a list of extra activities that are run by other parties that you can choose to pay for or not during the tour. They include dinners, shows, boat trips, bike tours and everything in between. You get to pick and choose which optionals you want to do and what you don't want to do. If you're on a budget it can be really difficult to decide which optionals will be worth doing and which won't be. It all depends on what kind of a person you are, what you enjoy doing and how much money you have to play with. In this blog post I am going to write a detailed description about all the optionals I did on my European Contiki tour and review them. 

Paris

Parisian Dinner:

This dinner is one of your first experiences of Europe. It's in a sweet little upstairs restaurant with big tables and you get a choice of meals. One of the choices was Duck L'Orange and it was amazing! The food was all really good, they gave us bottles of wine and we all fell in love with this one bottle that we may have paid the waiter to sneak us more of (guilty). There was also a French lady who came in playing an accordion and she played some tunes we knew and some cool French music and made us all dance and it was good fun!

Cabaret Show:

The usual cabaret show was cancelled for some reason when we were in Paris, so we got to go to the Moulin Rouge instead and it was such an amazing experience. I've heard average reviews on the standard show but if you get a chance to go to the Moulin Rouge then go! There is lots of boobs and bums and dancing but the dancing is amazing! There are also really spectacular acrobats and stunt people that make you so nervous they're going to die or fall but they just nail is every time and you're left with your mouth hanging open. We also got free champagne and got to take the left over bottles home :D

Barcelona

Flamenco, tapas and drinks:

They told us to eat before hand for this optional but then we got SO much food that I felt like I could have not eaten and been fine. Sangria was a favourite for sure and this place was very generous with it. The tapas were nice and the Flamenco show was a mixture of spanish guitar, singing and flamenco dancing which I was so impressed by. It was a really good night and on the walk back to the coach we stopped by an amazing fountain that sprayed jets and lights in time with songs.

Venice

Venice Walking Tour:

I personally didn't find this optional very interesting. Venice is the kind of place you really don't need a tour guide for. It was quite boring and I didn't feel like I learnt or really saw that much. I would recommend just doing your own exploring in Venice.

Gondola Ride:

The Gondola ride in Venice is on a lot of people's bucket lists and I think it's a must do! Its an experience you will never forget and Venice really is a beautiful city to watch float past you as you glide along the canals. You get to choose your gondola groups and going in the Gondola's with all your friends is really fun. Our Gondola paddler sung Italian to us and it made it so much more authentic feeling.

Florence

Souvenir Photo: 

There is an amazing sunset view point that Contiki take you to in Florence and they take a group photo that you can buy a physical copy of. It's really up to you if you want a physical copy or not. Otherwise most people put it on Facebook but everyone dresses up and get a nice photo and a silly photo and it is a lot of fun as well as a good memory keep sake.

Tuscan Dinner:

This dinner was pretty average but all the dinners were good fun because the whole group went and it was always nice to try different cities foods. Usually wine is included in the meals but this one kept charging us every time we wanted more wine or WATER which was really crappy. The food was good but it wasn't amazing.

Rome

Vatican Tour:

If you're interested in seeing the inside of the Vatican then definitely go on this. It was so amazing to see all the art work and marble statues and the grand hall ways and rooms. We did have to wait around for ages in the sun and it was really hot inside except for the Sistine Chapel which was aircon for some reason, but you weren't allowed to take photos in there. I honestly wasn't that impressed but unfortunately the alternative was sitting outside in the sun waiting for everyone to come out...

Colosseum Tour: 

Sadly I was so sick on the Rome free day I was literally bed ridden and felt like I was going to die. I heard from my whole group though that the Colosseum was amazing and so historic and interesting. Plus you get to skip the lines and go straight in which saves a lot of time. I think if you're in Rome you would be crazy to miss out on exploring this amazing ruin (I know I regretted missing it so much but didn't really have a choice :( )

Pompeii:

Guided Walking Tour:

If you ever learnt Italian or did history in school you will know all about Pompeii- you may even have seen the movie. This Optional is a walking tour of the ruined city as well as a history lesson. The guide takes you through the streets, to old amphitheatres, houses and even a ruined brothel with a penis statue (bit random). There are old relics and statues and even skeletons to look at and you can honestly imagine the people running through the streets as the menacing volcano explodes in the background. The guide also takes you up to a view point where you get to look over the ruined city and get a really cool view of Mount Vesuvius. Despite its traumatic history it was a really beautiful place. You get to go and buy lunch at an Italian Mafia run restaurant afterwards.

Corfu

Captains Cruise/George's Boat:

This optional was by far my absolute favourite! Basically it's this amazing boat tour run by this old Greek man who is super sexual and it's hilarious. It's all in good humour, nothing overly creepy but he plays good music, you get lunch with amazing tzatziki and he sails you around to three really beautiful swimming spots with crystal clear water and you can swim to the beaches, jump off the boat  or just sunbath on the boat. He throws floating noodles and balls into the water with you and tells you not to play with his balls! He does some really fun and cool activities with your group you will really love and you can also buy a George's boat singlet or dirty key rings like "Bend over no babies" :|

It's all in good fun like I said, and the boat trip itself, rain or shine (ours was a bit cloudy but the sun came through for us) is so much fun. 100% go on this!

Ionian Dinner Experience:

This dinner was a fun experience where you get to eat greek food, do Ouzo shots, participate in some crazy Greek dancing and smash some plates! Everyone participates in this huge circling dance and it's quite entertaining. Then you get to do this dance in pairs where you have to try and keep a potato in between each others foreheads and it's hilarious. It was a fun night!

Ios:

Sailing Spectacular:

Ios was my favourite place & this boat tour was on a pirate ship was so much fun. We sailed to an island where we could choose to swim to the beach for lunch or get the smaller boat over. The beach was lovely and we got a little BBQ lunch to eat on the shore and swam and snorkelled and sunbathed and it was such a beautiful day. The boat trips were the best optionals because they were spent sailing the ocean with the whole group, jumping in and out of the sea and soaking up the sun as well as always getting nice lunches and they usually had bars on board.

Santorini:

Oia Sunset:

Santorini sunsets are must-sees. There's something about that view that is unmissable. The food and wine provided was super average and not worth paying for at all, but the location and the sunset and the views were amazing.

Volcano Cruise:

Another pirate ship sailed us over to an amazing Volcanic Island with incredible views. To see the views we had such a long intense hike up these steep gravelly slopes but that may have been due to the hangover we all had. The views were worth it and exploring the island was fun. When you get back to Santorini they drop you at the very bottom and to get back up you can either take the chair lift or donkey ride up the cliffs. The donkey ride was so hilarious. It was scary when your donkey got close to the cliff and you looked over to your impending death. Plus some of the donkeys were crazy and tried to race each other and at times you feared for your life but it was so much fun and such a laugh that it's definitely a must do!

Istanbul:

Turkish Evening:

Turkey wasn't one of my favourite destinations because it was a bit of a dodgy feeling place. I literally felt like I might be in the Taken movie and be stabbed or sold into prostitution (maybe a little dramatic). The Turkish evening was a dinner whilst watching belly dancers and it was entertaining but not amazing. If you missed it you really wouldn't have missed out. There was also a guy who could sing songs in heaps of different languages and it would be a song that that country was well known for or knew. 

Budapest:

River Cruise with Dinner:

Budapest by night was absolutely stunning. If you go around the same time as me I'd recommend bringing a jumper because it does get very windy and chilly. The food is like an authentic Hungarian buffet and was so good. The desert was even better and you got champagne on your arrival as well as wine and soft drinks. We all had a nice dinner below deck and then went on the top to watch the lit up city float by and it was a lovely night.

Vienna:

Old Vienna Schnapps Museum:

The schnapps museum was kind of average but the schnapps tasting at the end was pretty good. You were meant to get 3 shots each of different flavour but you get away with lots more (they don't realllyyy keep track). The flavours range from apple crumple to absinthe and everything in between,  sweet, sour, intense and even a chilli flavoured one. That side of the tour was the rewarding part. 

Schnitzel & Screams:

After the schnapps museum you go to a pop-up kind of theme park and get to go on a giant swing which basically takes you up super high and gives you an amazing view of Vienna. It isn't fast, it's super relaxing but slightly chilly up so high (so take a jumper). The theme park is so much fun though and you can try all and any rides you want. You also get a free schnitzel dinner as well as the free rides which are the swing and a roller coaster in the dark which was average and really short. The theme park as a whole was a lot of fun though and I would definitely recommend doing this optional.

Austrian Tyrol:

Tandem Paragliding:

Paragliding over the Austrian Alps was one of those experiences in life where you have to take a step back and appreciate your life. It literally feels like you are flying and soaring through the clouds like a bird. You feel free and light and I can't even describe the feeling to do it any justice. You get a ski lift type thing up the mountain and you literally just walk off and start flying. The instructor is with you and they usually do heaps of twists and tricks if you want them to and it feels like a roller coaster. It was an unforgettable experience. 

 

Mountain Bike Tour & BBQ Lunch:

This was another really good optional. Austria definitely delivered the goods. We did a 20 km bike ride up steep hills, along flowing mountain streams, past huge fields and mountains and so much beautiful scenery. It was tough in some points but mainly just a lot of fun and if you aren't a strong rider you can literally jump off and just walk your bike which a lot of the group did anyway and it was fine. It was so much fun and we all got muddy and a bit cold and very sore bums, but came back feeling amazing. Then you get to eat a BBQ lunch in a marquee and watch a slideshow of all the pictures that the guys takes of you on the ride which you can buy and everyone usually laughs at.

Munich:

White Water Rafting:

This optional for us was absolutely freezing but hilarious and exhilarating! The tour guides make it sound terrifying because they warn you of all the things that could go wrong and literally scare you to death. Our tour guide was english and was quite entertaining and even he admitted it was freezing. We all felt our faces and fingers freezing and thought they might drop off. It was raining and windy and we got soaked but over all it was really fun. You basically are in this huge blow up raft and you have to navigate through these intense rapids and then when you get back you all frantically run to the showers and everyone huddles together praying to get a splash of hot water. There's also a canteen that sells hot food which is a god sent.

Swiss Alps:

Jungfrau Mountain Visit:

Jungfrau (pronounced young-frow) is basically this huge snowy mountain place where you can see mountain peaks and go out into the snow and there's an ice palace and an ice maze. It's expensive as hell up there so bring your own snacks, and you get a train up there which takes ages but is really scenic and they stop at view points for your to take photos. We didn't get to go to the main snowy bit because it was closed though and because we paid so much to go up there it was really disappointing. I'm not sure if I should even recommend it because it really depends on how much you want to see and touch snow. Some of the boys booked a sky diving trip instead and it sounded amazing. Maybe try and check if you'll be able to go and play on the snow because there is meant to be a huge snow access point where you can ski and snow board and play in the snow. We did go into one little area and had some snow ball fights but the snow was quite icy so it wasn't super great. Again though, every ones experience will be different. 

Rhine Valley (Saint Goar)

Wine Tasting:

This was soooo random. We literally went into this underground cave-like room and this German guy with a lisp and his wife showed us a slide show explaining in detail about different wines and then let us drink them but they weren't really that great... we got told to shhh so often because we just kept talking amongst ourselves. I feel like it was super average but we made it our own kind of fun so if you have a good group it wouldn't be too bad, but if not, don't worry too much about missing it.

Amsterdam

Canal Bike Tour:

You get a free actual bike tour which to be honest I had dreamt of for years- riding casually along the canals of Amsterdam next to the cute houses and the picturesque streets and it was really fun! One of the guys on our tour had portable speakers that he hooked up to his phone and played music as we cruised along. This "Canal Bike Tour" that you pay for however, is actually a paddle boat tour where you get into groups of four into these paddle boats and you get a map and a snack bag and you have to navigate your way to the I AM STERDAM sign and you're allowed to "raid" other groups boats and steal their snacks so it is so much fun!

Canal Cruise:

This was just a booze fest on a boat with big windows. We watched Amsterdam sail past us as we got drunk on beer and wine and chatted and joked around. I think if it had of been at the start of the trip it would have been average but because ours was our second last night we all just loved having a big group drinking session together so we enjoyed it.

Sea Palace Dinner:

This was our last night together so it was amazing! Basically you go on this huge floating chinese restaurant and the food is amazing if you love chinese. To be fair a lot of us were drunk from the canal cruise or high from other ... means. So I'm not really sure if the food was amazing or if I was too drunk to notice, but from what I remember it was a really fun night and the food was super tasty. We went for a few drinks at a sky lounge afterwards with amazing views of the city and then went clubbing including a visit to a shots bar which did super amazing shots including a Harry Potter shot that they make burst into golden dust and flames like the phoenix. It's a really good night to either say goodbye or get to know your group.

I hope the descriptions/reviews of these optionals were enough to give you a good idea and help you decide what you might want to participate in. If you have the money, I would strongly recommend just ticking yes to all of them just to make the most out of your tour and experience as much as possible! Just because you read a bad review doesn't mean the optional is bad because everyone's experience will be different. So give them a go if you can and if they sound like your cup of tea!