My Contiki Experience as a 33 Year Old

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I think it was about May when I booked a Contiki trip as a 33-year-old around Europe for 37 days that started in August of that same year.

And I did it knowing I would be one of the oldest on that trip. Knowing that I would get tired. That I would need sleep, which I sometimes wouldn’t be able to get. That the younguns would run circles around me in nearly all aspects of the trip.

And I booked it anyway. 5 weeks. 36 nights. 32 strangers (and my friend, a trip manager and our coach driver).

And it was an absolute blast.

But first, let’s just address …

Am I too old for Contiki? 👀

Okay, so if you’ve landed on this post, there’s a good chance you’re in your 30s, or you’re nearing 30, you’ve been eyeing off a Contiki trip, and you have a little voice in your head going “…but are you actually allowed to still do this? Will your back make it through long days on the bus? Can you actually keep up with the 21-year-olds?”

I hear you. I had the exact same voice. And it’s why it took me a hot dang minute to make the decision and book it. And even then, I wasn’t sure.

What is the Contiki age range?

Contiki tours are open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 35. That’s the Contiki age requirement – and it’s a hard cut-off. And it does make sense, because of the nature of the tours. Once you hit 36, you’re out of the running for a standard trip (though they do now have trips for travellers aged 35 – 45).

At 33 in 2024, I was two years away from ageing out entirely. Which, depending on how you look at it, is either a bit sad or a perfectly good reason to just book the dang thing.

So, is 30 too old for Contiki?

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: Also, no, but let me explain why.

The assumption most people in their 30s make – myself included – is that Contiki is going to be wall-to-wall 18-year-olds who just want to drink their way through Europe and get bored at even the thought of a museum trip.

And look, I won’t pretend that version of Contiki doesn’t exist. It probably does! But on my trip, the average age was about 24 I think, and there were people in their late 20s and nearing 30 scattered throughout the group. I was the oldest at 33, but I was not as out of place as I thought I’d be.

The reality is that the Contiki age range is broad enough that your group is going to be a real mix. And every group is going to be so, so different.

And if you’re specifically worried about being the oldest person on the trip, Contiki also offers trips designed specifically for the 27-35 age bracket and the 35 – 45 age bracket – which means you’d be travelling with people who are much more on your wavelength from the start.

👉🏻 Check out: Things to Think About before Booking Your First Contiki Tour

What it’s actually like doing Contiki as a 33-year-old

The social side of things

I’m going to be honest – those first couple of days were a bit awkward. Meeting 34 strangers at 5am outside a London hostel is nobody’s idea of a good time, regardless of your age. But the awkwardness passed quickly, and by the end of the trip, there were actual tears as we said goodbye.

Thankfully for me, I was actually doing the Contiki trip with my friend, whom we picked up when we got to Paris, rather than her coming back from France to start it in London. There were a couple of friend groups, actually, which were really nice to see and experience over the course of our 37-day trip.

What I noticed as someone in my 30s is that I wasn’t as stressed about the social dynamics as I might have been ten years ago. I knew who I was, I knew how to have a conversation with a stranger, and I wasn’t particularly fussed about whether I was in the “cool” group or not.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m confident at all the time, but I can say that once you reach 33, you have a pretty good idea about who you are, what you stand for, and you’re pretty confident in that. (Not everyone, and that’s totally fine! I just mean that it’s likely a different story at 33 than it might have been at 18).

Did I have loads in common with the 20-year-olds? Not always. But did we have a brilliant time together? Absolutely. And they became friends.

The party situation (and the real talk about energy levels)

Here’s something I was not expecting: I discovered quickly that I was not bothered about being the first to call the Uber to go back to the hotel at night. I was not bothered that I wasn’t out until 3am. I was not bothered that I probably had the most sleep out of every single person on that trip. FOMO didn’t matter when I was getting at least 7 hours of sleep.

But I did make it a priority.

Out of 35 nights on the trip, I was in bed by 11pm on all but three of them – and two of those late nights were at the very end of the trip when I was trying to soak up the last few nights with everyone. The third was in Paris, where our Free Time Add-On was a cabaret that didn’t even start until 10pm. So that one was completely out of my hands.

The thing about Contiki is that the pace of the trip itself is genuinely tiring – you’re up early, on a coach for hours, mayeb jumping on a Hop On Hop Off bus, sightseeing, eating, back to the hostel, and then you’re choosing between sleep and another night out. Most nights, sleep wins. And that’s true for people of all ages on the trip, not just the 33-year-olds.

I knew the only way I was going to be able to actually enjoy the trip was if I was getting a decent chunk of sleep each night. And no, it didn’t happen every night, and many nights were interrupted, but on the whole, sleep was had.

I even got an ‘award’ at the end of the trip for being the one who got the most sleep. And I’ll take it.

And I did notice that near week 3 or 4, people started joining me on the early-night bandwagon and there were a few of us catching the coach or an Uber back to the Contiki accommodation earlier in the night than anyone else.

The hostel situation

This one I want to be straight with you about, because if you’re in your 30s and you’ve been used to booking your own hotel room with a functioning shower and a door that locks, hostels are a bit of an adjustment. Those first few nights were something, and it took a little getting used to.

On the European Adventurer, most of the accommodation was hostels, and you’d generally be sharing a room with three to five other people. Your personal space is basically your bunk and whatever you can fit on it. That’s it.

Was it fine? Yes. Was it always comfortable? Not always. There was one hotel where the shower was so small I ended up washing my hair leaning over it from the outside. That was an experience. But then there were other rooms that were really nice, and the Contiki Special Stays were a lot of fun.

When you’re surrounded by people you’ve spent weeks travelling with, the hostel situation stops feeling weird pretty quickly. You develop a system, you figure out the shower schedule, and you get on with it.

My friend and I were lucky enough to be in the same room as another pair of friends for nearly the entire time. If we didn’t have room to ourselves (about 3 times), we were with these two other girls, even if there were a few others in the room, too. So we got to know each other well, we got a One Open Suitcase on the Floor At Any Given Time system happening when we were in tiny hostel rooms, and it was genuinely really fun.

👉🏻 Check out:  How To Share Your Space On Contiki with 30+ People And Stay Sane

The practical stuff: what changes when you’re older

Your budget is possibly better sorted

One of the advantages of doing Contiki in your 30s rather than your early 20s is that you’ve had more time to save, you know how to manage your money, and you’re less likely to blow your whole spending budget on the first weekend in Paris. (Though Paris will absolutely try its best to make you do exactly that.)

The European Adventurer full price is around $11,475 NZD, but you can get it for closer to $9,000 NZD if you book early. On top of that, you’ll need to budget for flights, accommodation before and after, insurance, food, activities (the Free Time Add-Ons add up fast – I spent about $1,600 NZD on those alone), tipping, and any extras that come up along the way.

You can read more about that in my full review of my Contiki trip here.

Being in your 30s doesn’t mean you’re rolling in cash (especially if you’re like me and you work part-time and contractor roles!) but it does mean you’ve probably thought about money a bit more than your 22-year-old self would have. I definitely wouldn’t have had the money when I was younger, unless I had been specifically saving for it. And considering I booked this trip a few months out, I had definitely not been saving for it, and to pull together the money.

👉🏻 Check out: Everything You Need to Know About the Wise Travel Card and 5 Tips for Keeping Your Travel Budget on Track

Going with the flow gets easier

My dad has always said “take the adventure that comes to you” – and travelling in your 30s means you’ve had enough life experience to actually do that without it feeling forced.

When we got flooded out in Dubrovnik, I took the adventure (picture above was one of the few I got before torrential rain set in and flooded the old town). When the temperature dropped from 37°C to 5°C overnight and we all had to do an emergency H&M run for extra layers, I took the adventure. When we ended up sharing a bar with a very enthusiastic elderly gentleman at a port in Greece – you guessed it, adventure taken.

Contiki is a trip where nearly everything is organised for you, which means the main thing you have to do is show up and go with it. And the older you are, the better you tend to be at that.

On the flip side: The older you are, the more likely you are to have some routine in your life and be very particular about it. White noise machine, room at a certain temperature with your weighted blanket and eye mask, specific mug for your specific coffee …

Yeah you can’t hold any of those when you’re on Contiki. Sorry. 🤣🙈

The number of cups of absolutely terrible coffee I had in hotels and hostels … too numerous to count. But the type of person who would rather have some caffeine than no caffeine at all. So you know … you win, you lose.

Some things ARE harder in your 30s

I don’t want to paint this as entirely rosy, because that wouldn’t be honest.

The pace gets tiring. Towards the end of the trip, we were moving faster between locations – sometimes just one night somewhere before packing up and heading off again – and that takes a toll. A 22-year-old might bounce back faster (if they didn’t contract gasto or were hungover). But perhaps I noticed the fatigue more than the younger travellers did.

Hauling your suitcase up and down cobblestone streets and hostel staircases also hits differently when you’re no longer in your early 20s. Pack light. Seriously. Your back will thank you.

Everyone around you is dropping like flies coz they’re getting sick, and you’re trying to hold it together and not be the next victim (thankfully, I only got sick at the end of the trip! But some people got gastro and we had to leave them in Germany while we carried on to the Netherlands. Don’t worry, they did catch up).

And there were definitely moments where I craved a bit of alone time or a quiet night in a hotel room – neither of which were really on the cards for most of the trip.

Contiki for older travellers: is there a better option?

The Older Age Range-specific trips

Something worth knowing if you’re reading this as someone in your late 20s or early 30s: Contiki actually has a selection of trips specifically for the 27-35 age group, and also for 35 – 45s.

These are the same style of trip, but with departures that are limited to the older end of the age range – so you’d be travelling with people who are much more likely to be at a similar life stage to you.

If the idea of being in a group of mostly early 20s feels like it might stress you out, these specific trips are worth looking into. I don’t know what they’re like as I haven’t done one at the writing of this blog post, but I’m definitely keen to check one out.

Would I do it again as an older traveller?

So, with all of these things in mind, and me writing these blog posts about my experience of Contiki as a 33-year-old traveller, and reflecting on the trip, even a few years later … would I do it again, as an older traveller? You know my answer already.

100% yes.

In fact, I think, knowing who I am, that I have enjoyed the entire trip a lot more in my 30s than I would have in my early 20s. I knew what I wanted to do, I knew what I didn’t. I don’t give in to peer pressure at all, whereas I might have been a bit more pliable in my younger days.

While I knew that I was going to be one of the eldest in the group – if not the eldest – it didn’t faze me too much. Yes, it was a factor in my decision, but at the end of the day, I am so glad that I made that call and went.

I would absolutely do another Contiki (although I’m older than the 35 cut-off now).

My advice to you if you’re in your early 30s, wondering if Contiki is still “for you”?

Book the trip. You will make friends. You will see sites and experience some incredible things. You will learn about different cultures and the history of the countries you visit. You will eat delicious food, witness beautiful cultural moments, and understand more of the world around.

Yes, you will get tired.

Yes, you might get sick (it’s a thing).

Yes, you might be hungover if you’re not looking after yourself.

But it’ll be worth it.