Madrid 19-Day Tours and Trips

We did not enjoy the tour when we were packed like sardines in a double decker bus with one tour guide and sixty people. Furthermore 55 of the 60 people were Indian, they were very loud, some of them smell very bad, they burped and farted like it was a normal thing to do. There was a huge clash of cultures and we believe the Indian people should be put together in their own English speaking tour, furthermore they did not enjoy the food and constantly complained about the breakfast and dinner, its a waste of money from Europamundo to pay for this food that is wasted. We have traveled with Europamundo several times but after this experience we will be considering other options such as cosmos, trafalgar. The Indian culture is very different and because we were uncomfortable we did not enjoy the tour. Once we went to Morocco we shared the bus with Latin people and the situation got better but we chose English because its my first language even though I understand Spanish, I feel more comfortable with English. Please customize English tours for the future for non Indian travelers. Please proofread all your communications and itineraries in emglish, the context is not accurate sometimes, you need a person that speaks English well and can translate correctly the itineraries and documentation. The hotel in Portugal was the worst, old, full of smoke, smelly, outdated, Europamundo should not send anyone ever there. The hotel in Rabat was also old and outdated with rude service. The hotel in fez was old, loud and also full of smoke, food was not good The excursion in the desert belmoune was amazing with the camel ride, the best of the trip in Morocco The worst excursion was fantasía in Marrakech, food was great, show was bad, too short, employees seen unhappy. Tour guides for Europamundo need to speak English better and the company needs to invest money in training them to speak better English

First of all, Europamundo has the best tour guides. They are super nice and knowledgeable. Some have difficulty speaking in English but it still works out. I also liked how we were able to visit many places but we felt like it was quite rushed. Our Switzerland itinerary was a bit of a waste as well since we used up the entire morning to try to get to ride the cable car but in the end it was replaced by waterfalls which I think is too different in terms of price and experience so that was disappointing.

An interesting experience for a first time solo travel, I can say for certainty that I have created some lifelong memories, and that even though there were ups and downs, I would 100% do another Contiki. The people are what make Contiki unforgettable, even more-so than the places. I would recommend picking Contiki for places which you don’t care too much to see everything, as you only get a glimpse of big cities.

The hotels were good. The buses clean. The optional excursion good except for the Berber Fantasy... The whole trip would have been fantastic for sure except that it was prematurely terminated with the international lockdowns... Considering the situation, I thank Europamundo for taking good care of all 100 of us in the group. You truly protected us Our tour director Pedro Vega and his colleagues made sure we all made it back to Madrid where we could get flights back home. Your company made sure we had hotels, food, transportation and continued support until we all got home. Europamundo will always be on the top of our list

The organization of the tour is excellent. Everything was coordinated effectively. A point for improvement to consider, consider replacing some of the hotels used as some of the hotels are old and dilapidated.

1. After travelling over 24 hours we arrived in Barcelona at our first hotel around 8am. Unfortunately our room was not ready until 3pm and the hotel was not in the best location for shopping/eating etc, so not a good start to our holiday. 2. We lost 3-5 hours of our trip because we had to turn around after driving for 1.5 hours to pick up passengers from another bus that had broken down. This obviously prevented us from spending more time in the places that we visited to sight-see, eat and shop. 3. Our bus had both a Spanish and an English speaking tour guide. Problems hearing the guides were encountered due to passengers speaking while the English tour guide was giving us information and vice versa. We also felt that we missed information about an item of interest because we had passed that item before the English speaking guide had a chance to say what it was. I do not recommend having tours with joint languages. 4. I personally missed a lot of what the English speaking guides said their Spanish accents are very strong. I suggest having English tour guides who speak Spanish as opposed to Spanish tour guides who speak English. 5. There were too many buses arriving at toilet stops at the same time making waiting times for women ridiculous. Staggering bus arrivals could perhaps avoid this. 6. At times, after being on the bus most of the day, we arrived too late to relax, eat and enjoy ourselves. One night we arrived at 9.15pm and had not had dinner. 7. In Madrid we were taken to a Plaza and told that we had to find our own way back to the Hotel. I did not receive any information prior to getting on the bus that this would occur. If information was given either before or on the bus then it was not imparted or received well. 5. The highlights for me were the Todra Gorge, the Sahara, the Atlas Mountains, the Seville Cathedral, the Medina in Fez and the bullring in Madrid. 6. As a general overall comment, I enjoyed the trip, had some amazing experiences, thought the guides were great apart from my comments above and thought the drivers were great too. I felt at times that parts of the tour were a bit rushed in that we would have preferred some more relaxation time to perhaps have a swim in the hotel pool and also that we went to too many cathedrals. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to comment. Kind regards, Susan.