New Europe Approach for Contiki

Contiki has a great new approach for Europe.

Contiki Holidays launches six brand new Europe trips including three new train trips, new boutique accommodation and new conscious, wellness and active experiences. In its biggest product release of the year for Europe 2020, the new trips hit up some of the major trends in Gen-Z and Millennial travel.

Travellers looking forward to their epic summer 2020 adventures can save up to 25% off* Europe Summer 2020 Discoverer, In-Depth Explorer and Iconic Essentials itineraries when booked before October 31st, as well as 15% off* Sailing, Ski and Snowboard, Short Trips and Festivals and select Winter departures when booked before February 27th.

“Contiki understands social travel has changed and what young travellers want is constantly evolving – which is why we’re constantly evolving our product. Though we already use a variety of transport styles around the world, introducing train trips is a first for Contiki in Europe,” saif Sheralyn Berry, president of Contiki Canada. “We still love our coaches and we’ve released a new fleet with Euro6 engines – the cleanest on the market – but the key driver for our latest release is to provide travellers with a variety of options. I’m extremely proud of the new product our team has pulled together for 2020 and we can’t wait for travellers to join us on our newest trips.”

Contiki’s game-changing 2020-21 Europe program provides more choice than ever before, featuring brand new accommodation in partnership with leading youth brands like Jo&Joe, Selina and Moxy. It’s also introducing new ‘Special Stays’ including Noah Surf House in Santa Cruz, Portugal and a traditional Moroccan Riad with an indoor pool and cooking classes in Marrakech, alongside the newly renovated Contiki-owned Gasthof Schoneck. It also includes new smaller group sizes of 24 on train trips, optional start and end locations and a range of new cultural, local, food, wellness/active and conscious experiences designed especially for travellers aged 18-35.

New cultural experiences include youthful and exciting alternatives to the traditional walking tour such as an E-Scooter guided tour of Paris, a Kick-Bike guided tour in Vienna and an E-Bike tour in Porto, a day trip to Windsor and Stonehenge in the UK and a guided visit to the Montmartre district of Paris. New local experiences include learning to row like a Gondolier in Venice, an evening seminar at the Prostitute Information Centre in Amsterdam and a Venetian mask-painting workshop with aperitivo in Venice. Travellers will also enjoy epic new experiences such as a surf camp in Portugal and exploring the Croatian Islands and National Parks.

New food experiences include learning to make Pastel de Nata in Lisbon, perfecting homemade pesto in Cinque Terre, a Catalan cooking class in Barcelona, dinner at the Time Out Food Market in Lisbon, an EatWith dinner with locals in Porto and an Icelandic farm-to-table meal in Efstidalur.

New wellness & active experiences include Base ‘flying’ off a building in Berlin, bungee-jumping off a crane in Amsterdam, surf lessons and yoga classes in Portugal’s Santa Cruz, stand-up paddleboarding in Santa Cruz, Dubrovnik and Nice and a glacier adventure in Iceland. New conscious experiences include a Cascais street art tour with local residents in Lisbon, an ‘Unseen tour’ of Covent Garden hosted by and supporting formerly-homeless people in London, a Refugee Voices tour of Berlin guided by Syrian refugees and the chance to take part in a reforestation program in Iceland.

Contiki’s new and improved Europe product for 2020 has been radically streamlined, with 23 trips cut to improve quality and efficiency of itineraries, as well as updates made to a further 33 trips. All new trips launched in Europe are seven to 12 days in response to a global trend for shorter trips, with an average trip length of 11.8 days predicted for 2021. There is also more opportunity for travellers to start and end in different locations, like Split or Dubrovnik on the new Croatia Islands & National Parks trip.