My Winter Vista

Walking is the best way to orientate yourself in a new place. We took it slow and walked to Harrods. A day very well spent.

This was dinner for our first night in London. We went to the supermarket and bought cheeses, crackers and ice cream.

Before going on my contiki I’d been reading through the different tour options for almost ten years. My mother went on a three week Contiki when she was 21 and I knew I wanted to be away at least three weeks.
If looked at all the options and although the really long camping ones looked good, I’m not a camping person and I think it would make me miserable. Cabin tours looked better but I still didn’t feel that great about them. Time out (hotel) looked the best to me for my taste.
I think I would have booked a long tour if I’d had the time and money, but unfortunately I never had the cash while I was at uni and by the time I had cash I was working full time as a teacher. My school summer holiday was from Dec 11 to Jan 21. 
I chose the Winter Vista because it meant I could leave on Dec 12 and have a week in London before my tour started on the 22nd ( one day after my 25th birthday). I was in Switzerland for Christmas and Rome for New Year and had three more days in London at the end before heading home. I did try to work in a tour to Scotland too, but the time didn’t work out because of departure dates.
I do envy the people who spend more than three weeks together! Of course I know the the big name in the winter tours is the Winter Wanderer. It was 3 days more, but for the cost seemed a lot more than 3 days would warrant and the only extra location was Barcelona, which I had never wanted to see in particular. I booked my tour in February and got a nice discount at a travel expo. It pays to research and know your options inside and out so you don’t regret it later.