Tour Firms Put Accent on Comfort

Eight years ago most tour companies competing to attract the 18- to 35-year-old traveler visiting Europe offered trips on huge buses that had the participant setting up and tearing down his own pup tent daily. Now the trend has taken a new turn.

Companies catering to young travelers offer a variety of options for more comfortable trips.

Trek Europa has taken the tack of offering travel in smaller groups. You still have to set up your own tent but you have the advantage of traveling in a customized 14-seat vehicle. Because the group is small and pre-booked hotel rooms are seldom involved, the company can be somewhat flexible with itineraries.

Equipment Provided

This company has been catering to the 18- to 35-year-old group for 15 years. It offers 36 itineraries in Europe, North Africa and North America. They provide the equipment, you just need a sleeping bag. On some routes, such as through the Alps, a few nights are spent in hard-top accommodation. That means rooms shared by two to four passengers at an additional cost of $10 each.

Trek Europa trips range from seven days to 10 weeks. Its European tours operate from April until late September.

This year some North American tours will use complete hard-top lodging and operate throughout the winter. A new brochure will be out in early November. A 10% discount is offered on tours booked before Dec. 15.

For further details contact a travel agent or Trek Europa, P.O. Box 127, Staten Island, New York, N.Y. 10909.

Easy-Stop Accommodations

On Auto Tours programs, passengers set up their own tents but the company does incorporate some nights at “easy stops.” At these stops, accommodation is in pre-erected tents, cabins, lofts and several hotels. This year the company also added one 21-day tour route in which every night was spent in easy-stop accommodations.

The tours range from 14 to 89 days. All tours begin and end in London and operate from April to September. Most groups are limited to 35 people but on Soviet and Scandinavian trips the groups may total 40 people. Longer trips tend to attract smaller groups and sometimes smaller buses are used. The average age of passengers is 25.

Auto Tours has been catering to the 18- to 35-year-old traveler for 25 years. For further details contact a travel agent or Weston Treks, 10918 88th Ave., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 021.

The accommodation couldn’t be cozier than with Top Deck tours. No tents to worry about here--all 22 passengers stay on the bus. One advantage of this youth hostel on wheels is that tours are operated year-round. The specially converted English double-decker buses have bunks for 18 to 22 travelers on the top deck and a fully-equiped kitchen and dining room/lounge area on the lower deck.

The company offers a dozen European routes, all beginning and ending in London. Ski weeks and traditional youth camping tours are also available. For further details contact a travel agent or Top Deck, 7531 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 90046.

Choice of Tours

Contiki Travel offers the 18- to 35-year-old traveler a choice of hotel tours, in twin rooms with private facilities, or concept tours, a combination of nights in camping villages with pre-erected tents and special stopovers in spots such as a Scottish castle, a Rhine River cruiser and a French chateau.

On the hotel tours, stopovers can also be made at places such as the Villa Torre di Gataia in Florence. It has a 13th-Century bell tower and was taken as a German headquarters in 1943. In 1968 it was a language school, attended by President Ford’s daughter, Susan. It’s now owned by Contiki and has a patio bar and swimming pool.

Hotel tour passengers could also find themselves in Chateau Fontager-St. Vallier, a 15th-Century chateau built by Henry IV for his mistress Dianne de Poiters in the Burgundy area of France; 7,000 feet above sea level overlooking Lucerne at Hotel Bellevue; in an Italian villa outside Venice; or on a 130-foot three-masted schooner sailing the Greek Islands.

Contiki has been operating for 25 years. It offers programs in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Hotel tours operate all year and winter European ski trips are available.

For further details contact Contiki Travel, 1432 Katella Ave., Anaheim 92805.