Chaotically Yours

EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

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Is EF Tours right for you?   

So your kid just came home from school with a gorgeous full color brochure about an upcoming trip to Europe with EF Tours that one of their teachers is leading.  He or she is super excited about all the cool things they get to do and is just begging you to let them go.  

It sounds great, but as a responsible parent, you want to know exactly what you’d be sending your child off to do, and how things would actually work on this trip.  

Well, lucky for you we took a 12 day visit to Europe with EF Tours, and have all the details to decide if taking an international trip with this company is right for you or your teenager.  

We’re going to start with the breakdown of how things work with EF and what to expect as a participant or a parent, and then move on to our specific experience with our tour.  

Trevi Fountain in Rome during EF Tours

I always like to start my reviews by reminding you that I was not compensated in any way to write this post.  All opinions are my own, and all costs were paid out of our pocket for this experience.

What is EF Tours? 

EF Tours is a travel company that specializes in international tours for students.   

According to their website , EF Tours has been in operation since 1965 and offers trips for students and teachers designed to “provide immersive, life-changing education.”

Basically, EF Tours organizes international trips for students to a wide variety of destinations, promising “compelling itineraries” full of “experiential learning.”

They also promise to have the “lowest price on the market” for this type of travel.  

EF, as a company, offers may types of tours ranging from group trips for adults to organized gap years for high school graduates.  While these options are available, the bread and butter of the company is the basic high school student tour which is what we took.  

How do EF Tours work?

EF Tours have a pretty straightforward process during the sign up period, prior to departure and during your trip. 

Before we get into that, it must be said that EF Tours operate fully independently of the local school district, and are not endorsed or supported by them whatsoever.  

Queen Victoria Statue in London

While this may seem like a school trip, it is not.  It is a trip run by a business who just happens to recruit participants through the school system.  Your local principals, school boards, etc. have zero control or influence on these trips.  The school is only involved in the process as far as whether they allow teachers to hand out information in schools or not. 

The EF in EF Tours stands for Education First.  According to their website, EF claims to “design tours to help educators teach, and so students can learn more—about tolerance, other perspectives, and themselves.”

The Sign Up Process

EF Tours are set up to be “hosted” by a local teacher who is then designated as the “group leader.”  Teachers are incentivized with free and reduced price travel to recruit students to join their tours.  

Tours are advertised by the group leader/teacher to students at their school and to their local community.  Interested students and parents are invited to attend informational meetings either in person or virtually where the group leader/teacher goes over the itinerary and any questions potential participants may have.  

Students and parents can then sign up directly through the EF Tours website, and submit all payments directly to the company.  

Trips are usually initially introduced about two years before the travel date so that participants can make smaller monthly payments to cover the cost of the trip.  Costs for these trips can range widely, depending on the destinations and length of the trip.  

EF has the group leader/teacher set up deadlines for signing up to go on the trip, sometimes including small discounts to encourage enrollment.  This tends to give a false sense of urgency to the sign up process. 

We found that participants can sign up just about any time before the trip departs.  We signed up about a year out from the trip, while another student who traveled with us signed up just a month or two before we left.  

Anyone was allowed to sign up for the trip.  We were encouraged to invite friends and family to join us on the tour, whether or not they were associated with our school or even local to our area.  

The Colosseum in Rome on an EF Tour

Adults did need to pass a background check in order to participate in the trip, since adult tour participants are traveling with minors.  

We were not given specific dates for our trip, but instead we were given a window of time during which the trip would occur.   Our dates were finally confirmed about two months before our departure.  

There are usually two or three optional excursions that can be added to any tour.  These usually include some special activity or visit to an additional landmark.  

Tour participants may also choose to upgrade the insurance for the tour. 

Before Your EF Tour

Once you’ve signed up for your EF Tour, you’ll be given access to a tour portal on the EF website where you can track your payments and what steps you need take next to participate in the trip.  They also provide a fundraising page, where friends and family can pay EF directly to offset the cost of your trip.  

Our group had a few in person meetings at a local restaurant prior to our trip where we discussed issues ranging from passports to packing for our trip to Europe , and got a chance to meet our fellow travelers.  This may or may not be true or all groups that are traveling with EF.  

EF Tours Trip Portal

Each participant in our tour was required to submit a copy of our passport to EF to insure that we had the proper documentation to travel.  

Information about our flights was not available until about a month before our departure, and information about our hotels was not available until we were about three weeks out from leaving.  

EF Tours uses a wide range of airlines, and travelers do not get to indicate a preference.  EF books all travelers in economy class seats for all transportation methods.  EF will book with whatever airline has space available for the lowest price for the group.  

As for hotels, travelers know very little about where they are staying ahead of time.  Per the website, tour participants are assured that “travelers can count on safe, clean and comfortable hotels with private bathrooms” but much beyond that the info is sparse.  

Students can expect to room with one to three other students, and possibly have to share beds.  Adults can expect to share a room with one other person.  For a fee, a single room can be requested for the tour. 

EF does indicate up front that hotels may have small rooms without air conditioning, television, or elevators, and that WiFi may not always be available.  

During an EF Tour

All transportation arrangements are made by EF Tours, including flights, buses, trains, etc.  They book all accommodations and attraction admissions for tour participants. 

Two meals a day are included in the cost of a trip with EF Tours.  Breakfast is provided each day at the hotel, usually continental style, but sometimes with hot offerings just depending on your hotel.  Dinners are are pre-arranged with a preset menu by EF at local restaurants.  EF will make accomodations for those with specific dietary needs, such as gluten free or dairy free meals.

While the teacher recruiting students is designated as your group leader, they don’t actually lead the tour once you start traveling.  EF provides a Tour Director to accompany your group through the entire trip.  

This Tour Director is supposed to handle just about everything on your tour, including all your pre-booked accommodations, meals, excursions, tickets, and transfers.  This person is there to direct the group and handle any problems with logistics you may encounter along the way.  

St Peters Basilica in the Vatican

During the tour, your group will meet up with various local guides who will give you some sort of tour of the city or historic site that you’re visiting.  These tours are usually walking tours, but sometimes are bus tours, depending on the location.  

Tour participants are also given access to an EF Tours App, that just lists your daily itinerary for your trip.  

Our EF Tour Review

Our specific tour featured quite a daunting itinerary.  We toured Europe for 12 days, visiting sites in London, Paris, Florence, Rome, Pompeii and Capri, with no more than two nights in any destination.  

Our tour consisted of 26 travelers from our high school: three teachers, seven adults and 16 students.  We were combined with a group from upstate New York consisting of 14 travelers: one teacher, one adult, one child and 11 students.  There were a total of 40 people on our tour.  

What EF Tours Promised

Before our tour, the group leaded made sure every person who showed an interest in going on the trip got the glossy, full color brochure that outlined our itinerary and told us what to expect on the tour.  

The brochure promised that participants would be “surrounded by the people, the language, the food, and the way of life” of the destinations on our itinerary.  We were assured that our tour director would be “with us around the clock, handling local transportation, hotels, and meals while also providing their own insight into the local history and culture.”  

We would be spending time in three different countries, seeing some of the most beautiful and historic cities in Europe.

The brochure also claimed that students could earn educational credit while on tour, and that all tours feature “experiential learning activities.”

Our tour left some of these promises unfulfilled, but did give us a glimpse at some fantastic destinations in Europe and some amazing memories.  

Our hotels along the trip started out stellar but seemed to go downhill from there, unfortunately ending in truly unacceptable accommodations.  

Even though this wasn’t guaranteed, all of our accommodations had some sort of air conditioning, with some that functioned better than others, and all of them had WiFi.  

Hilton Garden Inn in Rungis, France, booked by EF Tours

For the first four nights during our stays in London and Paris, we were sent to Hilton Hotels .  They both were on the higher end of what I expected based on the descriptions provided by EF Tours of what our hotels would be like.  

The rooms at these Hiltons were very new, immaculately clean and extremely comfortable.  They were both located about an hour outside of the city center, but that wasn’t too much of a problem.  

When we reached Italy, things changed a bit.  

AS Hotel Limbiate, Italy, booked on an EF Tour

For a quick overnight in Milan on our way to Florence, we stayed at and AS Hotel in Limbiate.  This hotel was a bit older than the Hiltons we’d stayed in, but it was clean, spacious, and comfortable.  

Between Florence and Rome, we spent the night at the Hotel Villa Ricci (not pictured).  This hotel was significantly older than the other three we had stayed at, but it was still clean and comfortable.  While the room wasn’t much to write home about, some members of our group lucked out and got spectacular balconies. 

Hotel Villa Aurelia in Rome, Italy booked by EF Tours

Once we arrived in Rome, the Villa Aurelia was our home base for two nights.  We learned that this hotel had once housed men studying to join a monastery, which explained the doritory feel of the place.  Again, we found these rooms to be clean and pretty comfortable.  

On our way to Southern Italy, we spent the night in Sorrento at Sisters Hostel .  This was the only true hostel on our trip.  While they still stuck with four students to a room, several of the student rooms had enough beds to sleep up to 12 people. 

Though not quite as refined as the Hiltons, and a little slap-shot with the furniture, we found this place to be clean and welcoming.  While it wasn’t quite as comfortable as some of the other places we’d stayed, it was completely acceptable and had a spectacular view of the Gulf of Naples from the rooftop terrace. 

Viewing the sunset from the rooftop terrace at Sisters Hostel in Sorrento, Italy

Things took a turn for the worse on our last night of the tour, when we stayed at Hotel La Pergola in Rome.  This place was truly one of the worst hotels I’ve ever had the misfortune to stay at (and as a travel blogger, I’ve stayed at a LOT of hotels).  

Things started off badly when we discovered that the lights in all the hallways were not on, and that we had to hunt around with our cell phone flashlights to find our way to our rooms.  I asked the front desk to remedy this, but it was never addressed, and we had to repeat the blind search for our rooms every time we went up.  

Upon arrival in my room, I found it to be extremely dirty.  There was a layer of dusty film all over my bathroom and my pillow had an unidentified crusty stain on it.  My daughter’s room had the same layer of dirt in the bathroom, plus a shoe print from where someone killed a bug on the wall.  I checked our beds for bedbugs and thankfully did not find any. 

The front desk did not seem to care and we were told no one was available to come clean the bathrooms.

But the worst experience in this hotel went to a dad on our trip, who’s single room contained only a sofa.   Not a sleeper sofa, but just a hard couch.  There were no linens or towels available to him whatsoever. 

When he asked for these items at the front desk, he was told that we should have called earlier to request them since they were all locked up in a cabinet by the time we arrived at the hotel.   He ended up sleeping on a towel laid out on the sofa with a travel neck pillow, that had been provided to him by his daughter from her room.

The front desk attendant seemed more than annoyed anytime someone from our group would approach them, and insisted that we all leave our keys at the front desk when leaving the hotel for dinner that night.    

Pictures from Hotel La Pergola in Rome, Italy, booked by EF Tours

We weren’t left with much recourse, since this was a group trip and we were on our last night, so we decided to just grin and bear it, and did our best to get some sleep.  

Overall, I’d say that the hotels provided were quite good, with the exception of Hotel La Pergola.  For ten of the eleven nights of our trip, we were provided with clean, safe accommodations that lived up to what the EF Tours website told us to expect.  

At the time of this publication, EF Tours has been notified of this unacceptable hotel and has yet to respond.  

Meals on the tour ran the gamut from weird to stellar, but overall were not to bad.  Breakfast and dinner every day were included in what we paid for our tour.  

All breakfasts were served at our hotels.  Sometimes they were just continental breakfasts with cold offerings, and sometimes we were given hot breakfasts with eggs, bacon, and such.  Sometimes it was quite obvious where our group was supposed to go, and sometimes it wasn’t. 

Breakfast Buffet for EF Tours travelers

Overall, breakfasts were adequate throughout the trip.  

Lunches were not included in the initial price of our trip and were paid out of pocket each day.   

Lunches were always a gamble.   It all depended on where we were and what was going on whether or not we’d get to select a restaurant on our own or if the group would be directed to eat at somewhere specific, and if we’d have lots of great choices or really limited options.  

For example, on our first full day of the trip, we visited the Tower of London.  We told to make sure we ate lunch after our tour, before rejoining the group to get on the bus.  The only options available to us were food trucks along the river right next to the Tower complex.  

It was the worst during our travel days.  We were frequently told we could just grab a bite to eat at the train station or the airport, only to be left with minimal time and very limited options.  

But some days lunch was great.  During our time in Rome, lunch came with some free time to wander, so we were able to go out and select the restaurant of our choice.  

Pasta Carbonara at a restaurant in Pompeii, Italy, on an EF Tour

Some days our tour guide would set up a lunch option for us, having arranged a preset menu and price with a local restaurant.  Those options were usually something like a burger, pizza or a cold sandwich.  

I’m not sure if the lunch situations were like this because of our tour guide or because of EF itself.  Sometimes it seemed inevitable, like when we were stuck in an airport or train station.  Other times it seemed like our guide might be creating these situations by not fully informing us what was available near by.  

All dinners were set up at local restaurants before our arrival.  We did not get to select from a menu and were all served the same thing each night, with the exception of those who had special dietary needs.  Each meal came with water, but we were allowed to order additional drinks at our own expense if we choose to do so.  

The worst dinners EF provided happened during the first few days of our trip.  During our entire time in London, we were not once served any traditional English food.  Our Tour Director said it was because “London is a melting pot of cultures,” but our group didn’t buy that.  

Our first group dinner in London was at a Korean restaurant where the group was served a hot stone bibimbap with chicken.  I’m normally a big fan of Korean food, but this wasn’t great. 

Korean Food in London, England, provided by EF Tours

The next group dinner was at a Polish restaurant where the group was served a fried chicken patty and french fries.  

When it became apparent on the second night that we weren’t going to be getting any traditional English food, my daughter and I made arrangements to go get dinner on our own, and pay for it out of pocket.  Four other members of our group chose to join us.  

We simply got information from our Tour Guide when and where to meet up with the group after dinner and selected a nearby local pub so we could have a traditional English dining experience.  

Dinners seemed to improve when we got to France. During our first night there we had a lovely traditional French meal of chicken with mushroom sauce in the back room of a small picturesque cafe with a ton of ambiance.   On the second night we had a traditional Alsatian dish called Flammekueche, which was sort of like a pizza with a creamy sauce.  

In Italy, the dinners were quite good.  Of course we were served a lot of pasta, but we also had braised beef in tomato sauce, gnocchi, and pizza.  

According to the folks on our trip who had special dietary needs, the dinners were pretty good for the most part.  Although it did seem that everywhere we went in Italy, anyone who was gluten free or dairy free was served watermelon for dessert.  

Gnocchi in Rome, Italy, served during EF Tours

Before we left on our trip, we were told by our group leader that we shouldn’t need more that $25 US dollars per person per day for lunches and snacks.  We found that that number was not quite accurate for us, especially if we ever wanted to stray from the planned meals that EF Tours had set up for us.  

We also found that we frequently needed to buy water to stay hydrated in the high temperatures of Italy during the summer, and at most of the locations we visited, water was marked up quite a bit.  

Overall, the meals on our trip were pretty good, but could definitely have been better.  

Our Itinerary

We knew going into this tour that our itinerary would be extremely hectic.  With no more than 48 hours in any location, we expected it to be jam packed.  It was kind of like a tasting menu, where you got a little bit of each destination.  

What we didn’t expect was the significant amount of wasted time and changes to our itinerary that happened on our tour.  

Things started off poorly when our tour guide was an hour late to meet us at baggage claim and then our bus was over another hour late to pick us up at the airport.  

While our tour guide was a very sweet, personable woman, she didn’t seem to understand how to manage the timing logistics for a group of 40 travelers.  

Our group was quite good about being on time to meet up locations with a couple of small exceptions that could not be helped.  No one wanted to be the person that made us late.  

View of the coast of Capri, Italy on an EF Tour

Our tour guide didn’t seem to have this mentality.  She was frequently the last person downstairs at our hotels to meet our bus 15 to 20 minutes after the time she told us to meet her, and did not budget in adequate travel time to most of our destinations. 

For example, while we were driving across Italy, she had our driver stop at a large gas station for a bathroom stop.   She told us we only had five minutes to use the restroom and get back on the bus.  It’s completely impossible for 40 people to make use of just a handful of bathroom stalls in five minutes. 

We were late to our tours in London, Florence, and the Vatican.  We were late to our tour of the Colosseum in Rome.  We were late to our appointment at the Louvre.  We were so late to our tour of Pompeii.  This significantly hindered what we were able to see at our destinations, and made the whole tour seemed very rushed every day.  

Things like this happened over and over again throughout the trip.  This resulted in our group being habitually late to most of the tours we went on, and significantly cut into our time at some really important places.

St Pancras Train Station in London, England, on an EF Tour

The only times it seemed like we weren’t late was when we had to catch a flight, a train, or a ferry.  

There were also some pretty significant changes to our itinerary. 

Several items listed on our initial brochure were changed before the trip due to pandemic restrictions and travel challenges, which was fine.  We had ample notice and knew what to expect.    

But there were several instances where visits to certain locations were dropped off our itinerary completely, and visits to other non-advertised locations were added.  

Sometimes this was a good thing, but sometimes it was incredibly frustrating.  

In London, a walking tour of Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden and Leicester Square was replaced with “free time” at the British Museum, which we really didn’t mind. 

But in Florence, visits to San Miniato al Monte and Piazzale Michelangelo were dropped off the itinerary with no explanation.  

On our way to Rome, our guide added a stop in Ovierto, a beautiful small town with picturesque views, wonderful dining and great little shops which we enjoyed immensely. 

But in Paris, a visit to Montmartre was abandoned, even though our dinner restaurant was within a mile of the historic location.  

The best unexpected addition to our trip in my opinion was the opportunity to see a musical in the West End of London.  Our guide was able to secure tickets (for an extra fee) for those who wanted them to a performance of Wicked during our free evening.  It was absolutely fantastic.  

Entrance to Wicked in London's West End

But in the most frustrating example, during our time in Paris a visit to the Frogonard Perfume Museum was added to our itinerary.   No one asked to go there, and most of us seemed annoyed that we were stopping.  We were assured that the stop there would only last 30 minutes, but it ended up taking three times that, leaving us only an hour and a half to visit the Louvre before we had to be back on the bus to catch a flight to Italy.  

These added stops almost always involved additional costs as well, which we were not informed of before leaving for our trip.  This caused problems for a few kids on our trip who weren’t expecting these costs, and they unfortunately had to miss out on some of the better additions. 

There also seemed to be major sites in some of these cities that were not ever even an option to visit or see, due to our limited time in each city.   We didn’t go to Westminster Abbey or St. Paul’s Cathedral while we were in London, and there were too many things to count in Paris that we didn’t even glimpse.  While we were aware of this upfront before the tour, it really did feel like they didn’t allow enough time in any location to really see the cities we were in.  

Despite these frustrations, the itinerary did take us to some fantastic places and we had some absolutely unforgettable experiences.  We had a fantastic time seeing the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.  We enjoyed a truly magical and unexpected sunset under the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  We got to listen to an orchestra perform in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.  We were able to marvel at the unparalleled artwork inside St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.  We saw the stunningly beautiful sites of Capri from a private boat tour.  Those memories are truly priceless.  

During our trip there were extra excursions offered in any city we stayed in more than one night. 

In London, the excursion was a visit to the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel type ride that gives riders a birds eye view of the city.  In Paris, it was a trip to Versaille to tour the palace and the gardens.  In Rome, it was a tiramisu cooking class.  

ef tours bad reviews

We choose not to participate in the excursion in London because I’m not the biggest fan of heights, and in Paris because my daughter wanted the opportunity to spend some extra free time in the city.  

I’m extremely glad we made those decisions.   

While the London Eye excursion seemed to go well for those who went on it, it was over priced.  EF Tours charged each participant $60.  Tickets can be purchased individually at the ticket booth for just $42 USD or for groups ahead of time for just $24 USD.  I’m not sure what EF added to the experience to warrant that upcharge.  

By skipping the London Eye, we were able to have a bit more time to explore and plenty of time to enjoy our pub dinner that we mentioned earlier since the London Eye excursion was timed to happen right before dinner.  

In Paris, those who went to Versaille told us the experience was underwhelming because of the limited time available inside the palace, and the lack of lunch options available to those who went.  

The Versailles excursion seemed overpriced as well.  EF Tours charged $114 USD to each participant.  Tickets to the entire estate are free for those under 18 years old and cost under $30 USD for anyone else, and that’s without a group discount.  Even if every single person had to buy a ticket,  I can’t imagine that the cost for a group tour and the transportation to get the group there cost an additional $84 USD per person.  

The tiramisu cooking class in Rome was not optional for our group for some reason.  I think our group leader made that choice when she set up our trip.  We paid an extra $85 USD above and beyond the base tour price to experience it.  While I could not find information about individual class pricing, I highly doubt that EF paid that much per person for us to spend an hour making tiramisu. 

I will say that the class was a fun experience at a great location, and we all enjoyed the desserts we made together.  

Overall, unless an excursion is of special interest to you, I wouldn’t recommend participating in them, simply because they seem overpriced.  Having extra free time to see the sites of your choice seemed to be the best option during our tour.  

Education on an EF Tour

EF Tours makes a big deal out of their tours being focused on education.  We were promised “experiential learning activities” during the trip.  They even claim you can earn credit for going on these tour.  

We found that there wasn’t that much education attached to our tour.  

The local tour guides who showed us the sights of each city were the most informative folks on this trip, with extensive knowledge of the history and culture at each stop, but we were forced to use amplifying devices called Whispers in order to hear the guides.  These Whispers often had glitches or were garbled, making it very hard to understand our guides.  

Other than the local tour guides and maybe the tiramisu class, I wouldn’t call just visiting these historic places an “experiential learning activity.”  

We also learned that our high school would not give any credit to students who participated in these trips, even though much was made of the educational credit during the pitch to get us to join the tour.  

This isn’t to say that we didn’t learn anything on our trip.  We did have some great cultural experiences while we traveled.  But learning seemed to take a back seat to just being in another country in most circumstances.  

Safety with EF Tours

As a parent considering an EF Tour for my teenager, I know safety was a big concern for me.  

When my husband and I decided to send our daughter, we felt like one of us should go with her since she was only 15 at the time we went on the trip, and had not traveled internationally like this before.  

For the most part, I felt quite safe during our trip.  

Before our trip, our group leader did make sure to advise us about pickpocketing and theft at major tourist sites in Europe, and advised us to be prepared.  She did make sure we were always wary of our passports and where we were keeping them during our travels.  

While on tour, there was only one time that I felt like our group was taken to an unsafe area.  That was during our terrible last night in Rome when we had to walk from our hotel to our dinner restaurant through some pretty sketchy areas of the city.  

Rome, Italy during an EF Tour

Although student were allowed to go out on their own during our free time, they were asked to go in groups of three or four and were left in pretty safe areas to spend their free time.  

The biggest problem I saw with safety was when our Tour Guide would take off walking at a breakneck speed, frequently leaving half our group stuck at crosswalks or a few turns behind.  She usually did a count to make sure everyone was there when we were ready to leave, but she did leave people behind at least twice during our trip and have to go back and get them.  

Most of the time we had no idea where we were headed when we were walking to different locations.  We were never given the names of the restaurants or addresses of where they would be unless we specifically asked for them.  I think communicating with the group more about where we’re going could have avoided some sticky situations that a few of our travelers found themselves in when they were left behind.  

We also didn’t have a way to contact our Tour Guide directly.  Only a couple of people were given her contact information, which made communication confusing and difficult during our free time, especially when she got delayed during our free evening in Paris and our meeting time had to be pushed back significantly.

Curfews and group rules were left up to our group leader, who didn’t set many boundaries for our students.  

Since the legal drinking age in the areas we visited was 18, student who met this requirement were allowed to drink alcohol on our trip, but were asked to limit it to one drink with dinner.  By and large, our students respected this request and did not take advantage of the lowered drinking age to go and party it up.  

Trips like this EF Tour require students to be pretty mature when it comes to safety.  We had a wonderful group of kids who took their personal safety pretty seriously, and didn’t take unnecessary risks that would put them in jeopardy.  Had it been a different group of personalities, I’m not sure how it would have gone.  

EF Tours:  Our Final Verdict

Would I travel with EF Tours again?  That seems to be the question at hand here.  

My EF Tours experience definitely taught me a lot about group travel.  As someone who travels pretty frequently , I usually make most of my own travel arrangements, from flights to hotel reservations to activities.  It was quite nice not to have to worry about any of that.  It really did take a lot of pressure off to just let someone else do all that work. 

But relinquishing that control does require a certain amount of trust.  There were some areas that I would definitely trust EF to arrange again, and other areas where I really think they could do better.  

For this trip it really came down to adjusting expectations once we were traveling.  I really did expect there to be more education involved in what we did while on our tour.  I really did expect to spend some quality time at these major historic sites. 

Once I realized that time would be much more limited at every destination than I expected it to be, the trip went much more smoothly.  

Eiffel Tower at sunset in Paris, France

I think our experience would have been better with a more seasoned Tour Guide.  Ours just didn’t seem quite ready to handle all the pressures and logistics that are required for managing a group of 40 people for 12 days.  

EF Tours is definitely a budget tour company, and for the price, you do get a good experience.  

Did EF Tours create the trip of my dreams?  Not by a long shot. 

Did they create a good experience for students who haven’t done a lot of international traveling?  I’d say yes.  

Do I regret going on an EF Tour?  Absolutely not.  I had some incredible experiences in some amazing locations with my only daughter, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.  

Would I go on another EF Tour?  I think I would, but I would definitely choose a slower paced itinerary with more time in each destination.  

Do you have any questions about EF Tours that I didn’t answer?  Feel free to ask me in the comments!!

EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Wednesday 21st of February 2024

Expectations make a difference!

Thanks for taking the time to go through all these details. My son did go on one of these trips in his junior year of HS and loved it. I can understand the concerns you mentioned and makes those points something to think about when scheduling a group tour. As an adult, I have been to Europe twice with groups (travel award from workd) I know EF Tours has groups for that as well, and have been apprehensive to just 'jump in". Trying to analyze what is the best option to finally get to the Grand Canyon. Thanks for your perspectives

1concerned Mama

Monday 29th of January 2024

Hi, daughter is going through EF summer of 2024 to Europe, she has been told by a teacher that students will have "free time" to walk around and do as they please. Do you know is this a Supervised free time? I am kind of weary about letting her go as it is, let alone being unsupervised in another country without me. I'm honestly leaning towards just canceling her trip after reading some of these comments.

Louise Emery

I'm not sure how it will be handled on your trip, but on ours students were allowed to go out unsupervised. The teacher from our school asked that they stay in groups of at least 2. Most of our students chose to be in groups of 3 or 4, some with an adult and some without. We were given specific instructions on where and what time to meet up again. Most of the time, we only had a couple of hours. But my daughter and I did skip one of the optional excursions (the one to Versailles) which gave us an entire afternoon in Paris to ourselves. Our students handled this freedom quite responsibly, and we didn't have any issues. The only time we ever had someone not show up at our pick up spot, it was one of the adults on the trip who didn't plan accordingly. The group we were paired with from another school did not allow their students to do this. They all stayed together for their entire trip. I would get specifics from the the lead teacher organizing your trip as to how your group is going to handle this.

Sunday 3rd of December 2023

Thank you for this review. Based on your hotel photos, it looks like you opted for the single adult room. I will traveling with my teens to Paris, Nice, Florence and Rome with EF Tours in the Spring of 2024. Would you say the upgrade was worth it?

Monday 4th of December 2023

Yes. Having space of my own after being crammed in a very full bus for most of the day was VERY worth it. My daughter was fine rooming with the other kids, and preferred it to hanging out with mom at night. But for me, it was definitely a good choice.

Saturday 4th of November 2023

This was a wonderful review. As someone who has used EF twice in the past to lead trips, with two more trips planned for this current school year, I can say that this is pretty spot on. It's not that I dislike the trips, but the two I led were wildly different animals. The first one was a custom tour I created for students. We had 17 travelers total: Two teachers, three adults, and twelve students. It included a lot of free time to go around exploring and doing things in smaller groups. We had a wonderful Tour Director who realized this trip was largely planned out by someone who has been to those places before (Germany: Berlin & Dresden, Czech Republic: Prague and Brno, and Austria: Vienna), so his job was more to give a welcome and then give some insights as we went along when needed or if he felt I may have missed something.

The other tour was to Italy, visiting Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, and Naples. This was a trip for seniors who were graduating and it was all about just the experience of being in Italy, sightseeing, and enjoying a trip as a culmination of their school careers. We again had about 15 travelers: Two teachers, four adults, and ten students. We had a wonderful guide on that as well, but the itinerary was from the EF web site, not one of my own creation, which gave it a different feel overall.

The food situation was also wildly different. EF is infamous for their lack of options in regards to the food offered at dinner, and I have heard some horror stories. My first trip to Central Europe saw us having chicken and rice twice in the first four days. By the time we got to Vienna, we decided as a group to opt out of the dinner and our director found us a different restaurant where we could order our own meals as we liked. The Italy trip had good food that varied, and the director brought us to an incredible place for lunch on our way to Pompeii that was a multi-course meal with drinks and a gentleman playing guitar and singing a few songs for us while there. All for about $20 USD.

So far, I have been very lucky about the trips I have taken between the hotel locations and other issues, but that is another issue EF is infamous for. You have to pay an extra fee to get hotels "in the city center", which can still be pretty far from things. Spending an hour to travel to what you want to see because your hotel is outside the city is ludicrous. No one does that on a trip, but that is EF's bread & butter. In addition, if you have preferred hotels you may have stayed at before, EF will only use them if they are partners, but claim to "put them on your request sheet" in case they do add them as partners in the future before your trip. I have yet to have them ever say "yes, we work with them and can request that hotel!"

Lastly, beware the "EF Special". This is when they book your flight for the cheapest possible fare. What isn't mentioned here is that the cheapest often comes with between 1-3 layovers to get to your destination. I can understand one, but there should never be more than that unless it is 100% unavoidable...which it is never that, so there shouldn't be more than one layover. EF has a penchant for going through Heathrow in London. Pre-Brexit, this wouldn't have been an issue. I had traveled through there before 2019 and it was a breeze. Since Brexit, it is more of a hassle than it is worth, yet EF still continually chooses it as their transfer gateway, taking valuable time away from being on the ground in your first location.

Yet, I still like them as a company. They have been at this for a long time and know what they're doing. They HAD the lowest prices in the business until the post-pandemic inflationary period began. Now their prices have skyrocketed. I don't know if I'll be using them again going forward, at least not in 2025.

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EF Tours not a good company - Paris Forum

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EF Tours not a good company

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ef tours bad reviews

I apologize that you had a difficult time reaching our Customer Service Department. We have been experiencing a higher than normal call volume, so the wait time may have been longer than you expected. We are available Monday through Thursday from 8AM – 7.30PM MST, and Friday from 9AM – 5PM MST, and can be reached during those hours at 1.800.665.5364.

In regards to your inquiry about the $95 Enrollment Fee; this application processing fee is always non-refundable. Since we are a group travel company, we are required to book space far in advance of your departure, therefore the $95 Enrollment Fee is required to lock in your spot on the tour. Once you travel with EF Educational Tours, the $95 Enrollment Fee will guarantee you a repeat traveler discount of $100 towards future tours. We do our best to make this information clear, and I do apologize for any misunderstanding.

Again, I apologize for your experience and encourage you to contact us with any additional questions.

Best Regards,

Katie from EF Tours

' class=

Thinking of sending my daughter on an EF tour, but they will not even come close to telling us where she might stay. I have read much negative information on this company, so I am becoming concerned. Do they keep kids safe? Are the rooms clean or dirty? What about the food?

Help is appreciated. Why would they hide the places the kids might stay?

' class=

It may be that hotels are not disclosed because they are still negotiating hotels/rates or perhaps they hold out for last minute rates.

I would never book a tour without hotels disclosed (so as to be able to check location, reviews), but most tour companies do have disclaimers including that hotels are not definite and another "similar" hotel may be substituted.

Regardless, EF Tours has a reputation for using poorly located (usually distant), lesser quality hotels, and there have been many complaints regarding all aspects of these tours.

It has also been reported that not only are these tours not necessarily a good value, but in most cases where people have taken the time to calculate the costs of the components, they are not.

You can find plenty of comments with a search of this forum and others, the web, etc.

Here's one

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k3689208-EF_Tours_student_trips_to_France-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

Ridgekeeper...I replied to your post on the New York forum, but will repeat a bit of it here.

I would recommend EF Tours to any of my friends whose children want to travel the world!

' class=

We had no choice on the EF Tours program, as it was selected by my daughter's teacher. They chose the whirlwind tour option - Rome , Florence , Paris , London , which was in an of itself a mistake - very little time in each location, lots of time lost in transit. But the main problem was the horrific accommodations - flea bag hotels located far, far away from the cities - the one for Paris was particularly disgusting. Dirty rooms, inedible food, hour or more by bus from the city. Every meal they had was terrible. The only exception was the place in Florence was centrally located and okay.

But for the price, a huge waste of money. You are at the mercy of your trip's organizers and chaperones, who may or may not have their act together. Also, the other travelers on EF Tours may not be great ambassadors for their country - my daughter told horror stories of the kids from two other schools who traveled with them, and as coincidence would have it, I was just at CDG airport in Paris this week, standing in line next to a group of EF Tours kids. Appalling behavior - loud, vulgar, rude, with the chaperone doing nothing. Just confirmed my already low opinion of EF Tours. Do yourself and your kids a favor: research the companies before they go, consider organizing an independent group, or go with a good organization which really has education, cultural awareness and language skills at the forefront, such as EIL.

I did not set up our tour, but learned ifnyou do the custom option it really was not a bad deal as you have more control over hotels etc....

EF Tours can be lots of fun for young adults and teenagers. Believe it or not, some young people really aren't so much interested in the travel experience as they are in having fun and making new friends.

As a parent, I surely wouldn't spend all that on kids not so interested in the travel experience but more on having fun and making new friends, which can be accomplished closer to home for much less money. EF Tours may presume that kids won't notice substandard lodging, food, tours, itineraries, etc. (and, even, hope they're too busy having fun with their new friends to notice).

I appreciate any cautionary tale, and this one is to be sure to check all components of any organized tour for value and all available reviews before making a decision.

Unfortunately there are also other companies that pander to teenagers and their parents for similar 'educational tours'.

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ef tours bad reviews

ef tours bad reviews

EF Educational Tours   Reviews

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Reviews 4.3.

12,110 total

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It was smooth sailing from the beginning.

It was smooth sailing from the beginning of its start. From promoting the trip to being prepared for our arrival. The information EF shares with each traveler and Group Leader is endless. All the topics for travel are covered. EF was constantly in touch with me. The Group Leader we had went out of his way to help our group.

Date of experience : February 26, 2024

A safe and fulfilling trip and they back up their promise of taking care of things

We actually did have a couple of hiccups during our trip that were not the fault of EF tours, and true to their promise even though it was the middle of the night they took care of it. My son had an incredible time and I felt very safe about how everything was handled can't wait to do next year.

Date of experience : February 25, 2024

The places are quite incredible and beautiful to see in person and of course the tour guide being quite amazing explaining and showing us what Japan has to offer. However, I do wish to have more time but that’s just a school issue. Also, feel like we need a few more people that understood the language to be able to talk to people from Japan as I think it be nice of 2 entirely different people from 2 different countries to interact who haven’t seen the other side of the world.

Worth every penny!

Great tour guide and full itinerary with enough down time for the kids to have fun but not be bored. Very educational. This is my daughter's 2nd ef tour and I would happily sign her up again!!

Date of experience : February 27, 2024

Reply from EF Educational Tours

Hi Christy! We are happy to know your daughter had a wonderful time on her second (!!!!) EF tour! We hope to see her for a 3rd!

We loved our tour guide Patricia…

We loved our tour guide Patricia García! She was knowledgeable, friendly and compassionate. She also kept me posted every step of the way throughout out tour.

The tour guide was amazing and everything was made easy in terms of travel. I do wish there was a bit more time to do everything in each city but overall it was a fantastic trip and I would go on another EF Tours trip.

Nice trip set up!

Carolina has been great to work with. She’s been very helpful and responsive. The reason I removed one star is because I was not able to get the dates I wanted for my trip, even though it is not until summer 2025.

Great learning experience

My daughter learned so much on this trip. It was carefully planned out and the sites were very informative.

Barbara has been very helpful and direct.Her assistance has been invaluable, especially for us as teachers and principals, who, quite frankly, have very limited extra time to get this process moving. This trip would not be happening without her support, correspondence and communication with me, my principal and our families. Kudos.

Date of experience : February 19, 2024

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and the praise of your travel team! As educators with busy schedules, we deeply appreciate your dedication and aim to make each step of the process as easy as possible. Thanks to your efforts, this trip is becoming a reality for students and families.

The company provides all of the…

The company provides all of the materials needed to kick off the excitement and enthusiasm for the students. They are also very responsive to trip leaders' needs. It makes it easy to plan a great trip for students and families.

Thank you for your positive feedback! We’re delighted to hear that our comprehensive materials and responsive support have made trip planning a breeze for you. Here’s to many more memorable adventures with students and families!

Great way to share the joy of travelling

I felt pretty prepared to go out and advetrise for our upcoming trip to Portugal and Spain. The coordinator that I worked with Megan walked me through everything and went above and beyond as we worked hard to get two more people to sign up for the trip so that we could have a chaperone join us. I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to do this trip with students and parents at our school. Everyone is very excited to travel in 2025.

Date of experience : February 05, 2024

Thank you for sharing your positive experience! It’s wonderful to hear that your efforts resulted in additional sign-ups, allowing for a chaperone to join. We look forward to creating memorable experiences for both students and parents during your 2025 adventure!

STAY AWAY FROM THESE SCAMMERS

STAY AWAY FROM THESE SCAMMERS! My son registered for a tour organized by a teacher at his school. After we paid the full amount, the teacher cancelled the trip without letting us know. Now EF Tours is flat out refusing to refund us whatsoever, and is forcing a voucher upon us. We don't want a voucher, we want our money back!

Date of experience : February 21, 2024

WAY too many corners cut…

I just can't get over how many corners EFtours cuts. They take you to CHEAP hotels over an hour and a half away from the city you're visiting and serve you CHEAP meals at restaurants rated 3 stars. This might be alright for kids, but for adults that have any expectations, it's severely disappointing. It's been brought up countless times by other people and beaten like a dead horse, yet EFtours KEEPS DOING THE SAME THING. Please.... PLEASE change your business model! I'm tired of going to hotels that have roaches. I'm tired of eating 3 HOURS OF DRIVING per day round trip driving to and from the hotel!! I'm tired of going to hotels that claim that they have a gym/sauna and don't. I'm tired of going to hotels that have front doors that won't lock. I'm tired of going to hotels without working WIFI. I'm tired of going to dinner and getting served CHEAP no-topping cheese pizza and no drink options other than water. Diet anything or even tea would be great, but EF takes the free route with water. You'll pay $4000+ and they'll milk that for profits... that's all it is. On a positive note, our main tour guide was AWESOME.

If I could give 0 stars I would

If I could give 0 stars I would. There are some basic things you need to know before you sign up. 1. They will pressure you into making a decision immediately so as to 'not get a spot'. 2. They will sell you insurance in case you need to cancel, but when I canceled they charged me $95 for the sign up fee, $300 per person cancellation fee and $195 per person for the insurance. That's an $1,180 cancellation fee??? The prices are already very high for what you get, they're not a legitimate company in the year 2024, I would never sign up for them.

My daughter just wishes she could have…

My daughter just wishes she could have chosen her dinner. They didn’t have a choice and would have like to try different things.

Hannah is super supportive and provided…

Hannah is super supportive and provided a clear structure and pathway.

Excellent help and service

My experience so far with EF Tours has been great! Excellent communication with the person helping me set up meetings and sending out emails. They've been very supportive and have encouraged me tailor messages to my school community. Things have gone well so far and I look forward to working with them as we continue to planning of our summer 2026 trip to Belize!

Amazing! We are here to help make travel as easy as possible so Group Leaders and students can enjoy the fun parts. We're excited to travel with you! Thanks for sharing and for being part of the EF Tours family.

We had a fabulous time

We had a fabulous time! Everything was planned out perfectly! Our EF tour guide went above, and beyond to make sure all of our needs were taken care of! I would highly recommend this trip to all my friends and family!

Date of experience : February 10, 2024

Hi Allison! We are thrilled to hear you had an amazing time and you loved your tour director, they surely do rock! We hope to see you again soon!

The staff I have worked with so far…

The staff I have worked with so far have been very helpful and super knowledgeable. It’s been wonderful so far!

Date of experience : February 23, 2024

EF Tour was wonderful

Tour guide and bus driver were terrific. Very organized. Great communication preparing for tour. Daughter had a wonderful experience!

Hi Meredith! We are so happy your daughter had an amazing time! We hope to see her again soon.

Stuck on the Go

EF Ultimate Break Review (My Personal Experience)

Sharing is caring!

If you’re looking for curated travel experiences without the hassle of planning a trip yourself, then a group tour may be for you.

This EF Ultimate Break review will walk you through my personal experience traveling on the Ultimate Europe Trip, how reliable EF Ultimate Break is, and what sets them apart.

EF Ultimate Break is a great company to go with for young adults who want to see as much as they possibly can without dealing with the mundane details of planning a trip.

However, if you want to slow travel, don’t like groups, or if you’re over the age of 35, then this isn’t for you.

Disclaimer: This post ma y contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through this link, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for keeping Stuck On The Go going!

My Experience With EF Ultimate Break

The summer after I graduated college, I took the Ultimate Europe trip with EF Ultimate Break (previously called EF College Break) and it lasted 35 days. This was in every way the trip of a lifetime.

The map below shows you which destinations were included when I took the trip. This was the order: Athens, Paros, back to Athens, Rome, Florence (day trip to Cinque Terre), Venice, Innsbruck, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, Marseille, and Barcelona.

As you can see, this is an incredible amount of ground to cover in only 35 days. We traveled via bus, trains, planes, and once in the big cities, by subway.

There were so many highlights of this trip but just a few were the Acropolis, Roman Colosseum, colorful Cinque Terre, Neuschwanstein Castle, the Palace of Versailles, and I could go on.

On each EF trip, they assign a guide to the group so you have someone there to answer questions and give you a bit of direction when you arrive at each new place.

I loved having all the logistics planned out for me because I didn’t have time to deal with that myself. I was also an inexperienced traveler, so it was great having help on a trip that big.

All I had to do was research the things I wanted to see and do during my free time.

What Sets EF Ultimate Break Apart?

Before I chose EF, I did an incredible amount of research on whether to go by myself or with a tour group.

My family played a big part in my decision to go with a group because they were loaning me some money to pay for part of it.

They were very worried about me taking a solo trip, especially since it would have been my first one. I looked at various companies like EF, Contiki, G Adventures, and Intrepid Travel.

I narrowed it down to EF and Contiki as they were marketed most toward young adults, and they were the most budget-friendly options that I could find.

I chose EF Ultimate Break vs Contiki because it seemed EF stayed in better quality locations and it was less of a “party trip.” Not that I didn’t want to drink, but I wanted to focus on other things also.

The price was comparable and EF had more items included like tours, subway tickets, and some meals. I do not regret this decision at all.

They had great customer service, were very responsive, and gave me all needed information at the very beginning. They were a great company to work with.

I haven’t personally taken a trip with Contiki so when comparing EF Ultimate Break vs Contiki I can’t say much. But I do know that I had a great experience with EF.

The colorful houses of Manarola perched on a cliffside. The ocean is crashing into the rocks and cliff. EF Ultimate Break offered an optional excursion to the seaside village of Cinque Terre.

What Do You Get When Booking With EF Ultimate Break?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with EF Ultimate Break, I’ll give a short overview of how booking with them works. They offer a wide variety of trips of different lengths to many different countries on six continents.

You can filter the trips based on these categories plus when you want to leave. Once you figure out which trip you want to take, you choose your airport and pay the deposit. I believe the deposit is typically $150. They set up a payment plan for you based on how many months you have left until your trip.

Once you send in your deposit, EF books your plane tickets, hotel rooms, and works out any travel between destinations. We were on a bus most of the time, but we did fly between Athens and Rome, took a ferry to Paros, and took trains in Germany and France.

Other items that are included in the price are walking tours of each city, almost all breakfast meals at the hotel, a couple of dinners, and subway tickets in most larger cities.

A plate of falafel, pita, hummus, and french fries provided by EF Ultimate Break.

Another helpful inclusion is a tour guide that stays with you throughout the whole trip. My guide was awesome and gave us great insider tips for each location and it also felt safer when I had someone to check in with each day.

This was a huge plus for my parents, and it helped give them peace of mind.

Pros: EF Ultimate Break Review

  • You have very little, if any, of the logistics planning left to do. They plan all of the transportation and accommodations.
  • You get to see many of the big-ticket items, aka Eiffel Tower , Roman Colosseum, and the Acropolis . The best part is you also get to stop at off the beaten path places that you wouldn’t have known about otherwise. A couple small towns that we stopped in were Dresden, Germany and Verona, Italy.

ef tours bad reviews

  • In the Ultimate Europe trip, I got to see 14 cities in 35 days. This doesn’t include the smaller cities that we stopped over in during our travel days. This type trip is a chance to see so many different cultures in a short amount of time.
  • If you want to go check out a different city or a special event that’s in the area, then you have the chance to do that. While we were in Paros, Greece there was a group that took a ferry over to Santorini for the day. In Belgium there were two girls that rented a car and drove to a music festival in the area and then met us in Paris.
  • There are about 30 to 40 people in the group so every day there is a good chance that someone will be doing something that you’re interested in. If you want to go off and do things by yourself though that’s fine too.
  • This was my first trip overseas and it was so easy to let someone else plan everything. It made for such a smooth trip. I felt safe with a group and I had a great guide who was very knowledgeable about each city that we visited.

Cons: EF Ultimate Break Review

  • There is no way to “make your own trip.” You have to choose from the options that they offer and sometimes you have to sacrifice a few things you wanted to do or places you wanted to go.
  • You are with the same group of people for 35 days. A majority of the group are girls so there is always the possibility of cliques.
  • This is a very fast paced trip. You get to see a lot of different places, but you don’t get a deep connection with any of them. This trip barely skims the surface of what’s there.
  • Depending on the group, it could be a party centered trip. But depending on who you are that could be a pro or con. I wasn’t interested in partying when I went and by that I mean going to a club until 2am. I definitely did my share of drinking there. It all depends on what you’re looking for.
  • Trips are expensive. You can definitely plan your own trip cheaper, but you’re going to spend so much more time if you do it that way. It’s all a trade-off so just depends what’s most important to you.

Girl jumping in front of the Eiffel Tower on a bluebird day. EF Ultimate Break made it possible to see this.

Is EF Ultimate Break Legit?

Yes, EF Ultimate Break is definitely legit. Obviously, I used them before and loved it.

Post-COVID, I think they have dealt with their fair share of issues though, as there have been many complaints about cancelations or things going wrong on a trip.

I’ve also spoken to people who have taken the Ultimate Europe tour recently and absolutely loved it. No matter if EF plans your trip or if you plan your own, there is always the chance that something will go wrong.

Tips for Your Trip

EF Ultimate Break runs deals all the time so follow them on social media and check their site often to see what they are offering.

I highly recommend trying to go carry-on only! Pack enough for a week and then plan to do laundry while there. You’ll want to pack a few layers too – even in summer.

While EF takes care of all the logistics, you’ll still want to do some research on each place you’re visiting to figure out what to do in your free time. Leave room to wander though!

Be very aware of your surroundings and trust your gut. Many of the large cities are known for pickpockets. I didn’t have any issues but a couple of people in my group did.

Make sure you save up some money to bring on the trip! You’ll still need to pay for some meals, excursions, souvenirs, and such.

FAQs for EF Ultimate Break

How much free time do you have.

You actually get a considerable amount of free time! Typically in each major city, a walking tour is included in your booking and that’s about it.

Sometimes the tour guide will organize other activities, but you aren’t required to go to them. You don’t even have to go to the walking tours, but I highly recommend that you do.

I would say about half of your time in major cities isn’t scheduled. You get less free time on travel days and if you’re only in a location for one or two days.

Should I go alone? How is it traveling with other people?

I signed up alone and don’t regret it a bit! There are tons of other people who will likely sign up alone and it’s easy to make friends.

With a group of 30+ people, there are bound to be people who you don’t align with and some that you really like. If a person annoys you, then don’t spend time around them.

You have the opportunity to make some lifelong friends, though!

Do I need to know the language?

While that always helps, you don’t need to know the language! Our tour guide taught us a few words in the language of each country we visited just to get by. Hello, goodbye, thank you, and things like that.

I never ran into a major issue and even if I did come across someone who didn’t speak English, we made do.

What is the age limit for EF Ultimate Break?

EF Ultimate Break recently raised their cut-off age to 35! Previously, the age was 29 so if you were 30 or older you had to book elsewhere. Now the range is from 18 – 35.

While on my trip the average age was definitely in the early 20s, but this new policy may shift that to be a bit more even.

This change could also be due to the rise of digital nomads post-COVID and with most digital nomads in the younger age bracket, they can travel for longer now.

If you’re older than 35, then you still have the option of booking with EF but it will be through their sister company – EF Go Ahead Tours. They don’t have an age cap but these tours cater to people 35+.

They also have a Grand Tour of Europe but theirs is a bit shorter. EF is always running deals and you can usually sign up for their email list to get a certain dollar amount off.

Check Prices for EF Go Ahead here: Grand Tour of Europe

Are EF Ultimate Break trips worth it?

If you don’t have the time or bandwidth to plan your own trip or want a different option than traveling solo, then EF Ultimate Break trips are definitely worth it.

If you want to slow travel and make a deeper connection with the culture or if you’re comfortable traveling alone and planning your own activities then you may want to skip this.

Wrap Up: EF Ultimate Break Review

If you’re considering the Ultimate Europe Trip or any other EF Ultimate Break trip then I hope you’ve found this EF Ultimate Break review helpful!

Reading reviews like this is really what solidified my decision to book my own trip. Just remember that this is 100% based on my own experience and many people have had a totally different experience traveling with EF.

I would definitely go on another trip with them if the opportunity presented itself. Since traveling with EF, I’ve also come across a few other programs that help people travel and one of those is Worldpackers .

If you’re on a budget, I would totally check out Worldpackers as an option.

Have you taken a trip with EF Ultimate Break before? What was your experience?

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Anna is a North Carolina native who grew up traveling the southern US with her family. Now she is a full-time travel blogger who loves providing trip inspiration and travel tips for traveling the US. Want to know more? Read my full story here.

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55 Comments

Hi!! I am actually looking at doing this trip next year sometime (once covid-19 has been handled lol) and was wondering if I could pick your brain about your experience! I want to go once I graduate college as well, and I am planning on going alone in hopes to make some new friends! Do you feel like you got a good amount of time in each city to explore and enjoy your time or do you feel like you were more often rushed while you were travelling? I have never traveled outside of the US and I am debating between doing the full month in Europe or picking a shorter trip where I can spend more time in the cities that we go to. And how tired did you get on a daily basis? I’m sure travelling for an entire much is exhausting, but would you say it’s totally worth it? Also, did you stay in more hotels or more hostels? If you stayed in hostels, how were they?

Hey! I would highly recommend this trip! Sorry COVID is putting a damper on your plans for the time being lol. I thought it was the perfect balance of time in each city. It is super fast paced, and no you don’t get to see everything but you would be surprised how much you can see in 2-3 days. It was nice though because the travel days are broken up by staying in one place for a few days so it doesn’t seem like you’re constantly on the go. If you’ve never been outside the US this is an incredible introduction to Europe. On a daily basis I didn’t get too tired, but by the end (for me it was Barcelona – I think they’ve updated the cities this year) I was a little worn out. Just plan some down time in and you’ll be okay. If you take anything away from this: YES IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!! Those are some of my best travel memories. We stayed in a mix of hotels and hostels and you couldn’t tell a big difference between the two. I actually came to prefer the hostels because the rooms were the same, but there were more community spaces to hang out in. I’m happy to answer any other questions you have!

Hi, I’m also looking into a trip next summer as a post grad student but for about 2-3 weeks. I was wondering if you felt like the EF service was bad? And if you had any trouble with the flights. I read some pretty bad reviews that mentioned 2 flights booked with only 1 hour of sleep in between and lack of help with EF. Or, waiting hours for a bus and missing their day trip. Wondering if that’s typical or not. I know a lot of it had to do with covid but I’m nervous to book this and then get a huge cancellation fee or not realize how disorganized the program is. Did you feel like there was anything “scam” worthy?

I can only speak from my experience and say that I had absolutely no issues and was super happy with how everything was handled. But that doesn’t mean that nothing could happen while you are on your trip. To me, the difference is that if you book the trip with EF then they are the ones figuring out a solution when things go wrong instead of you having to figure it out on your own. That was one reason I chose to go with EF since it was my first time out of the country.

What is the average age of the people on the trip?

The average age on my trip was probably 23-25 I believe. There were outliers but that’s what I remember.

Hey, I’m going along for 11 days to egypt how we’re the people that you traveled with was it any bonding with anyone or was it awkward most of the time?

It wasn’t awkward! Most people go on the trip expecting to make friends and are pretty outgoing.

i went on my first solo trip last year, October 2019, to Egypt for 2 weeks. for the experience- well i have 2 trips book when them already. have to move them to 2021 due to Covid. my Egypt trip felt like a once in a life time experience. love it. made a lot of friends that i still talk to this day.

A couple of friends and me are looking into booking the Egypt trip now! Did you do the Egypt Expedition or the Cruise? Would love to hear about your experience!

I actually went on their ultimate europe trip 2 years ago as well as a shorter trip to Costa Rica. I would highly recommend the longer trip. The community you get with your fellow travelers is insane. I definitely made lifelong friends with my tour guide as well as fellow travelers and saw so much. The shorter trip was still super fun but didn’t allow for those close friendships. It was also way more geared toward people who just wanted to party as opposed to people who want to see the world. (Not that I don’t like going out a few nights, but I can do that at home in chicago)

Hi! I’m 28 and am looking at an EF euro trip this summer. I’m wondering what the age range was when you went, and around how many people were in your group. I’m very close to the cutoff age so I’m worried I will be with mostly college students!

It was mostly people who had just graduated college or people in their mid-20s in my group and there were around 25 – 30 of us I believe. There were a few in their late 20s though so I would go for it!

Omg, I am thinking of doing the same trip! And I want to go solo to go on a self-discovery trip I guess. It just seems like the safe way to go aboard.

Are these trips only to go and be with a group of people you haven’t met before or can you plan to go with a friend?

With EF Ultimate Break you would be with a group of people that you haven’t met. If you and a friend chose to go though you could actually choose to do your own thing in each city. The trip and guides are pretty flexible. Another branch of their company -EF Go Ahead Tours – offers private/customized tours but I think the group has to be of 7 or more. They also have options for solo travelers if you wanted to do a solo trip.

Hey, thank you for this, this is soo helpful. I am planning a trip for Europe for next summer. It will be my first time traveling alone and traveling to Europe. Do you have any tips? Also, I am planning on getting a single room, I was told I’d have a roommate. I do have my doubts and fear of having a roommate but also I’m very introverted so I don’t know what to choose, what would you recommend?

Hi, thanks for commenting! 🙂 When I took this trip it was my first time traveling alone as well. My biggest tip would be to do a bit of research before you get to the cities so you know what you’d like to do when you arrive. You don’t have much time in each place. If you’re nervous about going places by yourself then there will likely be someone in the group who shares at least a few of your interests. Go a few places with them until you work up the courage to explore a city on your own. As for the roommate situation – I totally understand that. In a way I wish I had gotten a single room, but it isn’t bad staying with other people and it’s much cheaper. They let people take turns signing up for roommates so sometimes you will be with people you’ve made friends with and other times you’ll be stuck in a room with whoever you get. If you REALLY don’t like dealing with other people, I would get a separate room but many of us on the trip that I took were introverts and we were fine rooming with other people.

Hello, thank you for posting this! I am worried about going on this trip as a plus size woman. It has caused fear or weight limits or activities or feeling “ostracized” from the group. Do you think this is an issue with EF or that I should worry about?

Hi! I don’t think it would be an issue at all. Everyone is usually very welcoming and nice. I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think there were any weight limits on any of the activities that we did.

Is this company only for woman because I see women commenting about their trip

No, it’s for men as well! There aren’t as many men that use the program but there are usually a few on the trip.

I don’t drink and as a result I don’t like to hang out in bars. Did you find that there were people who did things at night other than drinking?

Hmm I will say that the majority of people on my trip did drink so that was the most common thing to do. There are all kinds of things that you can do that don’t involve drinking though. If you do choose to go on the trip I would just try to find a buddy or two who isn’t into drinking either. There are about 30 people total who go on the trips so there should be someone else who isn’t that into it.

Hi did you ever worry about your safety while staying in the hostels? Did you ever feel unsafe at any point on the trip?

Personally, I did not. Our trip leader was fantastic and gave us lots of great tips. The majority of the time I was with another person from our group but I did go off on my own a couple times and never felt unsafe. EF also chooses hostels/hotels in great locations so I was never staying in a bad part of town.

Hello, so me and my girlfriend are interested, and although we like to think we are pretty flexible, we do like our privacy… How did the whole accommodation stage work? Did you guys share rooms? Or did you have the option to be alone? Also, how do the prices work exactly? Do you pay by month? Got a bit confused when I went in the website and saw “as low as $117” For a 35 day trip of Europe.

For the package that I chose, I shared rooms with other people. We passed around a sheet of paper to sign up to be with the people we wanted. I believe that there is an option to get a room to yourself. Their customer service is fantastic especially with answering any questions you have before your trip like this. Depending on how far out you book your trip you can either pay the full amount up front or pay by month.

Hi I want to plan a trip next year for my birthday but I have seen some comments on Instagram how they been taking people’s money and not returning them. I want to make sure it’s not a scam because I really want to do this.

Hi Jada, it is not a scam – I’ve traveled with them before. My guess is that there have been some issues recently with how COVID-19 is impacting travel with them and refunds related to that.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!! I am looking at honeymoon options for summer or fall 22. Would this be something good for a honeymoon? Or is it more for solo travel?

Personally, I wouldn’t do this as a honeymoon. It’s a great thing to do solo or with a small group of friends. There was one couple on our tour but they didn’t get much alone time and I don’t know that they got a room to themselves.

Hi! I’m thinking about going on an EF ultimate break trip fresh out of high school next summer when I’m 18. What is the typical age range of people that go? Are there many college students? I’m worried I’ll be stuck with a majority of people in their late 20’s and will have trouble making many friends.

Hi! I can’t remember exactly how old most people were but I believe it was mid 20’s leaning toward early 20’s. It was a lot of people who had just graduated college but there were a few who were still in college on my trip.

hey! i booked the ultimate europe trip for 2023 and i’ll be 20 when i go, i was worried about a similar thing being around a bunch of people quite a bit older than me so if you’d like to coordinate trips, if that’s something you wanna check into let me know:))

Hi!! I am thinking about doing the Ultimate Europe trip as a solo traveler. I am just super nervous about making friends, and having people to go out and explore cities with. Would you say it was pretty easy to make friends with other people on the trip as a solo traveler? Thank you so much for writing this article, it is super helpful!

Yes! I found that if you wanted to make friends and hang out with people then it was super easy. Probably 1/3 or a little more of my group went solo and the rest came in groups of 1 or 2. It’s all about what you want to get out of it but most people go into the trip wanting to make new friends I think. So glad you found this helpful!

Hi! I’m going on a EF long trip this summer and was wondering what you/people found to be the best type and size of bag to pack in?

Most people on the trip took a checked bag but I had the Osprey Farpoint 40L backpack for a carry-on and loved it. I didn’t have to wait on checked luggage and wasn’t dragging a bag across uneven sidewalks. Highly recommend going carry-on only but that’s not for everyone, I know.

Hi, I’m looking to travel with EF next summer. But I’m on the older side (28). I know summer is usually when all the younger people travel lol, since school’s out. However summer’s the only time I will get to travel. Do you think age would be an issue? Thanks

Hello!! Your review has been so helpful to read, so thank you for taking the time to do this for people looking into this trip. Im trying to budget & see how much I would need to take on the trip as well aside from the overall costs. I read that breakfast is given daily & some meals that are on the itinerary are included. So how would you go about the other meals? I also read that you tip the tour guide, how often were you tipping them? I also heard that if your the last person to show up to dinner, that you’d be responsible for the tip… etc. What other additional costs/expenses did you have aside from doing things on your own & souvenir/personal shopping???

Hi! Thank you, I’m glad you found it helpful! Yes, when I went breakfast was included daily but only a few of the other meals were included. There probably weren’t even 5 lunches/dinners included. So you’ll need to budget for most lunches and dinners and that number really will depend on the type of places that you go. You can find cheap places but just to be on the safe side I would budget €15 – €20 per meal. You tip your tour guide at the end and I believe the standard was around $100 maybe more if they are really good. You could ask your contact at EF Ultimate Break though and they may be able to give you a better idea on what the right tip is. I haven’t heard that rule about being the last person to dinner and that isn’t how we did it. Tipping in Europe is different than tipping in the US so you may just want to search Pinterest for those rules. Other than meals, additional activities that you are interested in, and souvenirs I think that was it!

Hello and thanks for a great review! I’m looking to do one of the EF trips, specifically the Greek Island and was wondering if there was decent amount of people in their late 20s? I’m about to turn 29 but still love going out to the bars and having fun and want to be able to travel with a big group to meet new people. However, I don’t want to be that one old gu when everyone else is 24. Thanks!

I can only speak for the tour that I went on and I will say the majority of people were in their early to mid-20s. Don’t let that discourage you though! There were still a couple people in their late 20s and no one thought it was odd.

Hello! I am worried about not being able to exercise while on the trip. What time of day did the day of travel usually begin? Did you feel you would have time to exercise or drop into gyms while in cities? Thank You!

It’s been a while since I went with EF so I don’t quite remember details about the itinerary. I believe 8 or 9 but like I said I’m not positive. Thinking about how fast-paced this trip was, I don’t think I could have fit exercise in. However, that wasn’t something that was important to me personally so it’s all about what you prioritize. There is a good bit of free time but I always spent that exploring the city. I will say – I walked an average of 6-7 miles most days so I considered that my exercise.

Thank you for all the informative insight on what EF has to offer. Just out of curiosity, I was wondering how many guys went and also, are you able to do your own personal itinerary or do you have to stick with the group at all times? I’m thinking about doing the Barcelona, Ibiza, and Valencia Trip this summer 2022, and it’s only 10 days. The itinerary that they provide, doesn’t really match what I’m looking for and wanted to know if there’s a bit of leniency with free roam. Thanks in advance!

There were significantly less guys that went on my trip and I think that’s common for many EF Tours. I think there were 5 guys out of 25 – 30 people on my trip. The itinerary is flexible and a few people did go off on their own for a couple of days but honestly if the itinerary doesn’t fit what you are looking for then I would plan your own trip or find a different company that does offer what you want. You are paying for many daily activities in the price you pay EF so if you aren’t going to do them then it isn’t worth it (in my opinion).

I am thinking about going on this trip next year with my boyfriend, would you say this is a good couples trip? Was there mainly singles? Also what was the ratio of boys and girls, I wouldn’t want him to be uncomfortable if it was a mostly girls trip

There were mainly singles but we did have one couple on the trip. It all depends on how you guys are as a couple and what you enjoy/your preferences. The ratio is usually always a lot of girls to a few boys on the trips. I don’t think that made the guys uncomfortable, they just stuck together more.

Hi I just got back from another trip with UB, the Grand Tour of Turkey. I love them and can’t recommend enough. I’m about to book a few more tours through them next year. I think you worded it perfectly, Anna! If you’re considering booking a first time tour, you set such great expectations. BTW – if you need a code for an extra $100 off you can use UAAvery100! I am about to book a tour through Ecuador if anyone has experience there? Since it’s been a while since your trip, have you taken any other with them? Or have you tried Contiki yet?

I haven’t taken another one with them but have really considered it! I haven’t tried Contiki yet either. I was planning to do another international trip in 2020 but of course that didn’t happen. Now that I’ve gone full time with the blog, I’m not sure I’ll be able to travel internationally for a while because I focus heavily on the southern US now.

EF is the absolute worst company and I’m pretty sure it’s all a scam. I booked a trip back in March and found out two months before I was set to leave that they had canceled my tour due to “low enrollment”. Due to their policy, I was supposed to be able to be rebooked for a similar date. THEY RESCHEDULED MY TRIP 4 TIMES AND WERE UNABLE TO CONFIRM ME FOR A TRIP ALL 4 TIMES. They had my money for two months and were unable to rebook me each time, despite telling me I would be prioritized to be booked. They also kept trying to charge me an extra “adult fee” every time THEY had to reschedule my trip. I absolutely regret not canceling sooner, as they took 2-3 weeks each time I rescheduled to inform me that I wasn’t able to be booked. In the amount of time I spent on hold and calling those incompetent clowns over the course of my rescheduling process, I would have been able to book my own trip a dozen times over.

Fortunately, I ended up being able to book a trip through G Adventures at the last minute. G Adventures was able to book me and get me a flight ticket in just an hour. G Adventures was able to do in ONE HOUR what EF literally could not do in TWO MONTHS. EF is literally a scam. Don’t ever give them your money.

Hate to hear that you had a bad experience. So glad that you were able to book with G Adventures though – I’ve heard great things about them!

Hey Anna, great review of pros and cons! I agree with you. I took a trip with EF a couple years ago and it was a great experience. I can still say that even with so many good companies out there EF still stands out in all inclusive group travel. I would suggest to do more grand tours of one country or 2 with them to get the best feel for the place in a short time. That being said, as a solo traveler, any company should be merely training wheels in this travel life because you can save so much money doing it yourself! I learned a lot with EF though and studying their ways did jumpstart my solo traveling and planning like a champ.

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EF Go Ahead Tours Review 2024: Are their guided tours worth it?

EF Go Ahead Tours Review 2024: Are their guided tours worth it?

EF Go Ahead Tours is a world-leading guided tour company offering a comprehensive travel package with local guides and authentic travel experiences. You've likely heard of them before, but are they really worth it? What do they offer, and how do they stack up to other guided tours?

ef tours bad reviews

Raeesha is an expert freelance writer who loves to tap into unique perspectives about heritage, art, wildlife, and outdoor adventures. Coming from a country famed for tourism, she also focuses on promoting sustainable travel choices to minimize environmental footprint. Besides the travel niche, she also writes about economics, business, and linguistics. You will find her guides informative and detailed, albeit with a pinch of dry humor.

Guided tours are a great way to travel, make new friends, and enjoy new experiences without the hassle of planning the logistics of the trip. 

While guided tour companies boast of convenience, they tend to fall short when it comes to flexibility and customization. Hence, many travelers resort to planning their trips by themselves using helpful apps like  Pilot .

But, if you still prefer a guided tour with some level of flexibility, EF Go Ahead Tours is definitely a choice to consider. 

EF Go Ahead Tours is one of the world's largest tour companies that host small group tours with unique, authentic experiences. A great benefit of joining an EF Go Ahead Tour is that they allow travelers the benefits of hosting a free private tour with larger groups. 

However, are the experiences they're offering for you? What are the pros and cons? Here's our review of EF Go Ahead Tours! 

EF Go Ahead Tours Logo.

What is EF Go Ahead Tours?

EF Go Ahead Tours  is a brand under the EF Tours group that offers both guided and fully customizable tours to destinations worldwide. It caters to young and older travelers, admitting anyone from age six and above (under-age travelers accompanied by adults). The number of travelers in each group is capped at 14-38, and small group tours only admit 10-22 people. 

EF Go Ahead Tours aims to provide you with meaningful tours with flexibility and personalization. It also promotes responsible travel by supporting local communities and adopting sustainable practices.

EF Go Ahead Tours mobile app helps you easily manage your bookings and view tour details. It is available for both Android and iOS devices. 

What does EF Go Ahead Tours offer?

  • Tour directors and local guides:  A tour director is assigned for each group to be in charge of all logistics of the trip. They will accompany you throughout, sharing insider knowledge and background information about places you visit.
  • Accommodation:  3-4 star hotels that provide comfortable amenities while being located in close proximity to the city. 
  • Meals:  Breakfast and some other meals are included in the pricing. Primarily, they focus on local food and beverage specialties. They will arrange meals meeting your dietary requirements if necessary.
  • Transportation:  Transport between airport and hotels and other transportation required during the trip are included in the package. While flights are not included, you can get EF Go Ahead Tours to arrange them for you at an additional cost. 

EF Go Ahead tour benefits.

How does EF Go Ahead Tours work?

You can browse for tours by  Destination  or  Travel Styles  on the website. Travel styles are further categorized as  Trip Type, Interests, Seasonal and Special Events , and  With Your Own Group . 

For example, all the related tours will appear if we pick Adventure Tours under travel styles. You can filter the results further by destination, dates, duration, price, and travel style. 

Check out its details, trip highlights, prices, reviews, etc. There's a list of FAQs below related to the trip and other similar tours for you to compare and choose from. 

What destinations does EF Go Ahead Tours cover?

EF Go Ahead Tours covers many of the popular destinations worldwide. Here's a list of where EF Go Ahead Tours covers:

  • Europe:  Ireland, Italy, Greece, Iceland, England, France, and Germany 
  • The Americas:  United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, and Belize 
  • Africa & Middle East:  Egypt, Kenya, Israel, South Africa, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates
  • Australia & Asia:  Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, India, and Thailand

Group food and wine tours EF go ahead tours.

Benefits of EF Go Ahead Tours

  • Worry-free guarantee

If you cancel the booking within 60 days from the reservation date, you are entitled to a full refund. EF Go Ahead Tours also allows you to change the date of tour or destination up until your final payment day. It helps you book with confidence knowing there's ample time to make changes. 

In addition to covering many destinations worldwide, the tour company also offers a diverse range of tours. Group trips for solo travelers provide ample privacy while facilitating socialization. In addition, there are cruise tours, rail tours, food & wine tours, battlefield tours, winter tours, and many more!

  • Fewer people 

The worrisome factor about large group tours is they can seem too crowded and noisy to have a quality experience. There's also less opportunity to get to know other travelers better. In this case, small group tours offer a more intimate travel experience. Guides can give individual attention and advice easily. Overall, it makes the trip more enjoyable and memorable. 

  • Flexibility 

If you like to travel with friends but don't have the liberty to plan, get EF Go Ahead Tours to plan one for you. You can explain your requirements and get a whole new itinerary done or choose one they offer. Invite your friends and/or family, choose your travel dates, and enjoy. There's also the option of organizing faith-based tours!

Adventure travel experiences.

Drawbacks of EF Go Ahead Tours

  • Increase the number of tours 

While there's a variety of tours, different trip options under each category are quite limited compared to other guided tour companies like  G Adventures  or  Contiki . For example, there's only one tour option for India. They can also add more countries to their list of destinations. 

  • Improve refund and cancellation issues

Customers had faced refund and cancellation issues for scheduled or booked tours during the pandemic. There were complaints of EF Go Ahead Tours not refunding the money as per its cancellation policy. But, it's a common problem that many tour companies dealt with their customers following the Covid outbreak. We hope they are resolved now. 

EF Go Ahead Tours vs. EF Ultimate Break

The most significant similarity between EF Go Ahead Tours and EF Ultimate Break is that they are managed by EF Education First Tours. This means that you'll most likely be getting a similar refund, cancellation, and customer service policies between the two tours.

EF Go Ahead Tours identifies itself as the 'older sibling' of EF Ultimate Break. Ultimate Break Tours is geared towards college students and folks aged 18-29, while Go Ahead Tours admits anyone 6 and above. So, the tours offered also tend to be different from each other. 

EF Go Ahead Tours has a wide variety of tours catering to all age ranges. It also provides both private and group tours. EF Ultimate Break only offers group tours and are tailored to suit youth's preferences. 

Read our  review of EF Ultimate Break  to learn more!

EF Go ahead tour app review.

Is EF Go Ahead Tours worth it?

Yes! We came across great GoAheadTours reviews online about the unique and immersive experience EF Go Ahead Tours offers. Go Ahead tours are a great way to travel if you prefer to join a guided tour.

Like  Flash Pack , it's an excellent choice for older travelers looking for trips that involve activities beyond partying and drinking. Overall, the tours are ideal for anyone, really. 

Our Rating: 4.5/5

  • Variety of tours
  • Smaller groups 
  • A limited number of tours 
  • Refund and cancellation issues

Plan your own adventure!

Guided tours are great, but being able to plan your trip is even better! You get to choose your own stay, tailor your travel itinerary, and maximize your time so that none gets wasted.

Traditionally, planning a trip requires lots of coordination and effort, especially when traveling with friends. Let Pilot solve that problem and help you easily plan your next adventure!

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Disclosure : Pilot is supported by our community. We may earn a small commission fee with affiliate links on our website. All reviews and recommendations are independent and do not reflect the official view of Pilot.

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  • Topics involve travel, customer relations, marketing, and economics
  • Experienced in content writing and copywriting

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We had an issue with the bus that was…

We had an issue with the bus that was going to take us back to the hotel one day. As a traveller I only found out about the problem when we were told that we would be taking the metro to Disney Paris and then a city bus to the hotel. We would be givin a bit of time at Disney Paris' main street. So the issue was dealt with adding to the expenence rather than detracting from it. That takes a great deal of skill to find a way to solve a problem making things better.

Date of experience : 06 July 2023

We did the Bell'Italia tour.

We did the Bell'Italia tour, and it was amazing. Although our flight got delayed and an entire group of 21 was delayed in Madrid due to an unforeseen airport strike on the date of arrival, EF did a good job of getting everyone back on track. Anyone who travels must understand that delays, cancellations, and issues arise. EF does a great job of handling these issues efficiently and quickly. Once we were all back on track, the local guides, the tour guides and the places that we saw were amazing! Just so everyone knows, Italy is VERY HOT during the summer months. It feels like Georgia in the summer. But, our hotels were clean and had air conditioning, which is rare for Italy. Overall, I would recommend this tour.

Date of experience : 19 June 2023

Reply from EF Educational Tours

We're glad to hear that despite the initial travel hiccups, you had an amazing experience on the Bell'Italia tour. Our team works diligently to handle any unforeseen issues and ensure a smooth journey for our travelers. Thank you for recommending EF tours, and we hope to welcome you back on another adventure soon!

The tour guides were great

Date of experience : 25 July 2023

We love to hear it! We take pride in providing helpful and engaging staff for our Group Leaders and their travelers. Thank you for sharing your experience, Michelle.

Great trip to Greece!

My daughter had a terrific time on her trip to Greece. Everything went smoothly, and I felt she was in safe hands. Her guide seemed to be fantastic. On my end, regarding prep and payment, everything went smoothly as well. I could not have asked for a better experience.

We're thrilled to hear that your daughter had a terrific time on her tour to Greece! It's wonderful to know that everything went smoothly, and you felt confident that she was in safe hands with our fantastic guide. We're also glad that the preparation and payment process went smoothly for you, making the entire experience stress-free. Thank you for trusting us with your daughter's journey, and we're thrilled to have provided her with an unforgettable experience in Greece.

Wonderful experience!

What an amazing way to discover Italy, and an excellent way to travel out of the country for the first time!

Date of experience : 05 July 2023

Our group's flight from Tokyo to Newark…

Our group's flight from Tokyo to Newark was delayed and they were going to miss their connection to Dallas. They needed to stay in Newark for the night. The tour leader and the parents called the EF emergency number and were told to deal directly with the airline. No one at EF was willing to do anything to help. We ended up with 7 minors and a tour leader walking around Newark airport for an hour at 1 am, looking for someone to help them. Eventually, one of the parents managed to find a hotel with available rooms. The group made it there and the tour leader had to put the hotel rooms on her credit card. This is absolutely unacceptable. This tour was very expensive, and the least EF could have done is take care of an emergency like this and book hotel rooms well in advance, when we first call EF to report the anticipated missed flight. The tour leader is filing a claim with EF and the insurance, but this should not have happened. We are very disappointed and will express our views about EF to other parents who are considering sending their children on an EF tour.

Date of experience : 21 July 2023

We deeply apologize for the distressing experience your group faced during the flight delay and subsequent missed connection. Your safety and well-being are of utmost importance to us, and we understand how crucial it is to provide prompt and efficient support in such situations. We understand the importance of immediate support during emergencies and will take your feedback seriously to improve our procedures and response times. Rest assured that we will investigate this matter thoroughly and make the necessary changes to ensure that such situations are handled more efficiently in the future. Regarding the hotel expenses, we understand that our travelers should not bear the financial burden during such situations. It is common practice for airlines to ensure travelers have the proper accommodaions when their flights are cancelled. However, we understand unexpected situations occur, and we will help provide any information to the insurance company to assist in the claim. Once again, we apologize for the unfortunate experience and the inconvenience it caused your group. We value your feedback, and we hope to have the opportunity to restore your trust in our services.

Fabulous Experience

Wonderful tour director - Marton Liska & fabulous experience for students

Date of experience : 13 July 2023

Europe 2023

Andrea was absolutely amazing! She made the tour!!! The hotel in Dublin (Mt. Kennedy) was excellent; the hotel outside of Paris for 2 nights was great! The hotel in Normandy was awesome and roomy! The other hotels were totally lacking. I understand the concept of not staying in the “city centers” but the hotels at the airports did not help with experiencing the culture or country at all. The food was mostly good. Portion sizes were on the small side. I always encouraged the kids to take the provided meals so food could be shared with kids who were still hungry. The best food was the Irish stew and the fish in Normandy. It sometimes seemed like the restaurants weren’t really prepared for groups our size. Overall, the days were super fun and very informative. I think some days were overpacked and other days needed more structure. We lost a day in Ireland due to travel times, so I would have appreciated travel days not being considered part of the trip. Definitely would have liked more time in Dublin, so maybe a direct flight there instead of through Heathrow (total disaster). The ferry and Eurostar went very well!!!

Date of experience : 10 July 2023

Absolutely horrible!

EF combined 7th and 12th grade students. Hotel was and an hour and a half outside of Rome, resulting in 3 hours of windshield time after brutal days in the sun. Hotels in Greece were in the absolute worst parts of town, locals warned us stay in hotel and not venture out. Catering was the absolute worst. 4 day cruise provided broadway style entertainment with strong adult themes- think Burlesque, with multiple EF groups in attendance. Only positive experience was tour guide- he was awesome! DO NOT RECOMMEND!

We deeply regret that your experience with EF did not meet your expectations. Ensuring the safety and well-being of our travelers is of utmost importance to us. We take your feedback seriously, and we will thoroughly review our hotel selections to avoid placing our travelers in areas that may not continue to meet safety standards or comfort expectations. We are glad to hear that your tour guide was a positive aspect of your trip. Our tour guides play a crucial role in creating a memorable and enjoyable experience for our travelers, and we are committed to providing exceptional tour leaders. We genuinely appreciate your feedback, and we will take it into consideration for future improvements. We apologize for any inconvenience caused, and we hope to have the opportunity to regain your trust in the future.

The tour guide was great

The tour guide was great, along with the bus driver. The tour kept the kids moving but had just the right amount of down time.

Fantastic Trip!

Our son, Chance, went on the Dublin, London, and Paris tour with the Normandy extension. He thoroughly enjoyed his trip and is looking forward to doing another tour in the future. The tour director, Anne Lyons, was excellent and made sure that the kids experienced everything they could in the time frame that they were given. The tour was very educational, but Chance also had a lot of fun!

Date of experience : 29 June 2023

We're thrilled to hear that Chance had a wonderful time on the Dublin, London, and Paris tour with the Normandy extension! It's fantastic to know that he thoroughly enjoyed the trip and is already looking forward to future tours. We're delighted to hear that our tour director, Anne, provided an excellent experience, ensuring that the kids experienced all they could within the given time frame. Balancing education and fun is what we aim for, and we're glad Chance had a great balance of both on the tour. Thank you for choosing EF, and we can't wait to welcome him back for more exciting adventures in the future!

They had a good experience except for..

It was a good experience for my Son and daughter except that they didn't go to places that were scheduled on the itinerary because they run out of time to visit the place or it was too full to visit.

Date of experience : 16 July 2023

Prepare to walk.

Loved our tour director! The places we saw were interactive and interesting, as well as getting exposed to different food!

Date of experience : 24 July 2023

Fantastic tour!

Fantastic tour!! I can not wait to travel again!

Date of experience : 14 July 2023

Amazing! We're glad you had a great time. Thanks for sharing!

Experience of a Lifetime

My daughter said it was the best experience of her life!! They had enough freedom to explore on their own as well as getting an amazing education from their tour guide Mario that made it fun,interesting,and they were made to feel extremely comfortable and able to ask any questions and get a knowledgeable answer.

Date of experience : 20 July 2023

Great experience!

The most important thing was preparation. The group leader had direct contact with EF and was able to answer any questions that were asked during the group meetings prior to travel. EF prepared the group leader with appropriate information that was relayed to the group, so they knew what to expect during traveling and with the tours, such as packing the appropriate shoes, a lot of walking would be involved, and time spent at the churches, museums, etc. The EF packing list and additional emails also helped prepare our traveler. There were a few things that were mediocre, such as one night the teens didn't receive a substantial dinner, a salad + 2 small pieces of chicken were not enough. The other was at one of the hotels, the teens had to share a bed, I guess the policy changed and no one knew, so that created a little confusion. These were minor hiccups, nothing major. EF had an amazing guide for the trip and overall, the trip and experience were great.

Date of experience : 17 July 2023

Had personal tragedy the week of the…

Had personal tragedy the week of the trip, and they refuse to refund any of the trip! This company is all about the money!

We are truly sorry to hear about the personal tragedy that affected your ability to go on the trip. We understand that unforeseen circumstances can arise, and we always recommend purchasing the Global Travel Protection to safeguard against unexpected events as the vendors we book with do not have flexible cancellations close to departure. Global Travel Protection is designed to provide coverage for trip cancellation, interruption, or other emergencies that may occur before or during your travel. It offers additional peace of mind by allowing you to recover non-refundable trip costs in case of covered events. While we empathize with your situation, our standard cancellation policy is in place to ensure the availability of resources and arrangements for the entire group, which includes reserving accommodations, transportation, and various activities. The policy is shared with all travelers during the booking process, and it is meant to apply consistently to all participants.

Experience of a lifetime

I feel my grandson had the experience of a lifetime. I see so many things and learn about so many other cultures. There was some trouble with the flight schedule, but other than that everything went well.

Date of experience : 08 July 2023

Our Tour Director and the Tour Guides…

Our Tour Director and the Tour Guides were so informative and friendly. I was so fascinated by their knowledge. It was so amazing to be standing in history. EF really took the nervousness out of traveling abroad.

Date of experience : 11 July 2023

My son had the best experience in…

My son had the best experience in Australia! Well organized. Great food and lodging. All activities and transportation were included. He loved it! Thank you!

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EF Educational Tours   Reviews

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Reviews 4.3.

12,110 total

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It was smooth sailing from the beginning.

It was smooth sailing from the beginning of its start. From promoting the trip to being prepared for our arrival. The information EF shares with each traveler and Group Leader is endless. All the topics for travel are covered. EF was constantly in touch with me. The Group Leader we had went out of his way to help our group.

Date of experience : 26 February 2024

A safe and fulfilling trip and they back up their promise of taking care of things

We actually did have a couple of hiccups during our trip that were not the fault of EF tours, and true to their promise even though it was the middle of the night they took care of it. My son had an incredible time and I felt very safe about how everything was handled can't wait to do next year.

Date of experience : 25 February 2024

The places are quite incredible and beautiful to see in person and of course the tour guide being quite amazing explaining and showing us what Japan has to offer. However, I do wish to have more time but that’s just a school issue. Also, feel like we need a few more people that understood the language to be able to talk to people from Japan as I think it be nice of 2 entirely different people from 2 different countries to interact who haven’t seen the other side of the world.

Worth every penny!

Great tour guide and full itinerary with enough down time for the kids to have fun but not be bored. Very educational. This is my daughter's 2nd ef tour and I would happily sign her up again!!

Date of experience : 27 February 2024

Reply from EF Educational Tours

Hi Christy! We are happy to know your daughter had a wonderful time on her second (!!!!) EF tour! We hope to see her for a 3rd!

We loved our tour guide Patricia…

We loved our tour guide Patricia García! She was knowledgeable, friendly and compassionate. She also kept me posted every step of the way throughout out tour.

The tour guide was amazing and everything was made easy in terms of travel. I do wish there was a bit more time to do everything in each city but overall it was a fantastic trip and I would go on another EF Tours trip.

Nice trip set up!

Carolina has been great to work with. She’s been very helpful and responsive. The reason I removed one star is because I was not able to get the dates I wanted for my trip, even though it is not until summer 2025.

Great learning experience

My daughter learned so much on this trip. It was carefully planned out and the sites were very informative.

Barbara has been very helpful and direct.Her assistance has been invaluable, especially for us as teachers and principals, who, quite frankly, have very limited extra time to get this process moving. This trip would not be happening without her support, correspondence and communication with me, my principal and our families. Kudos.

Date of experience : 19 February 2024

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and the praise of your travel team! As educators with busy schedules, we deeply appreciate your dedication and aim to make each step of the process as easy as possible. Thanks to your efforts, this trip is becoming a reality for students and families.

The company provides all of the…

The company provides all of the materials needed to kick off the excitement and enthusiasm for the students. They are also very responsive to trip leaders' needs. It makes it easy to plan a great trip for students and families.

Thank you for your positive feedback! We’re delighted to hear that our comprehensive materials and responsive support have made trip planning a breeze for you. Here’s to many more memorable adventures with students and families!

Great way to share the joy of travelling

I felt pretty prepared to go out and advetrise for our upcoming trip to Portugal and Spain. The coordinator that I worked with Megan walked me through everything and went above and beyond as we worked hard to get two more people to sign up for the trip so that we could have a chaperone join us. I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to do this trip with students and parents at our school. Everyone is very excited to travel in 2025.

Date of experience : 05 February 2024

Thank you for sharing your positive experience! It’s wonderful to hear that your efforts resulted in additional sign-ups, allowing for a chaperone to join. We look forward to creating memorable experiences for both students and parents during your 2025 adventure!

STAY AWAY FROM THESE SCAMMERS

STAY AWAY FROM THESE SCAMMERS! My son registered for a tour organized by a teacher at his school. After we paid the full amount, the teacher cancelled the trip without letting us know. Now EF Tours is flat out refusing to refund us whatsoever, and is forcing a voucher upon us. We don't want a voucher, we want our money back!

Date of experience : 21 February 2024

WAY too many corners cut…

I just can't get over how many corners EFtours cuts. They take you to CHEAP hotels over an hour and a half away from the city you're visiting and serve you CHEAP meals at restaurants rated 3 stars. This might be alright for kids, but for adults that have any expectations, it's severely disappointing. It's been brought up countless times by other people and beaten like a dead horse, yet EFtours KEEPS DOING THE SAME THING. Please.... PLEASE change your business model! I'm tired of going to hotels that have roaches. I'm tired of eating 3 HOURS OF DRIVING per day round trip driving to and from the hotel!! I'm tired of going to hotels that claim that they have a gym/sauna and don't. I'm tired of going to hotels that have front doors that won't lock. I'm tired of going to hotels without working WIFI. I'm tired of going to dinner and getting served CHEAP no-topping cheese pizza and no drink options other than water. Diet anything or even tea would be great, but EF takes the free route with water. You'll pay $4000+ and they'll milk that for profits... that's all it is. On a positive note, our main tour guide was AWESOME.

If I could give 0 stars I would

If I could give 0 stars I would. There are some basic things you need to know before you sign up. 1. They will pressure you into making a decision immediately so as to 'not get a spot'. 2. They will sell you insurance in case you need to cancel, but when I canceled they charged me $95 for the sign up fee, $300 per person cancellation fee and $195 per person for the insurance. That's an $1,180 cancellation fee??? The prices are already very high for what you get, they're not a legitimate company in the year 2024, I would never sign up for them.

My daughter just wishes she could have…

My daughter just wishes she could have chosen her dinner. They didn’t have a choice and would have like to try different things.

Hannah is super supportive and provided…

Hannah is super supportive and provided a clear structure and pathway.

Excellent help and service

My experience so far with EF Tours has been great! Excellent communication with the person helping me set up meetings and sending out emails. They've been very supportive and have encouraged me tailor messages to my school community. Things have gone well so far and I look forward to working with them as we continue to planning of our summer 2026 trip to Belize!

Amazing! We are here to help make travel as easy as possible so Group Leaders and students can enjoy the fun parts. We're excited to travel with you! Thanks for sharing and for being part of the EF Tours family.

We had a fabulous time

We had a fabulous time! Everything was planned out perfectly! Our EF tour guide went above, and beyond to make sure all of our needs were taken care of! I would highly recommend this trip to all my friends and family!

Date of experience : 10 February 2024

Hi Allison! We are thrilled to hear you had an amazing time and you loved your tour director, they surely do rock! We hope to see you again soon!

The staff I have worked with so far…

The staff I have worked with so far have been very helpful and super knowledgeable. It’s been wonderful so far!

Date of experience : 23 February 2024

EF Tour was wonderful

Tour guide and bus driver were terrific. Very organized. Great communication preparing for tour. Daughter had a wonderful experience!

Hi Meredith! We are so happy your daughter had an amazing time! We hope to see her again soon.

EF Educational Tours

Photo of EF Educational Tours - Cambridge, MA, US. Room cleanliness

Review Highlights

Kathleen B.

“ My two sons, ages 10 and 13, and I learned so much about Costa Rica and had so much fun!!! ” in 9 reviews

Carla A.

“ I just returned as a chaperone on the EF trip to Barcelona and Madrid. ” in 5 reviews

Carol B.

“ I was a chaperone for a high school senior trip to London, Paris and Barcelona. ” in 12 reviews

Location & Hours

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Map

2 Education Cir

Cambridge, MA 02141

East Cambridge

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About the Business

Established in 1965. It was 1960 and Swedish student Bertil Hult had spent years struggling with dyslexia. Unsure of his future, he moved to London for work. After only a few short months, he was fluent in English--a feat he never thought possible. That discovery inspired Bertil to launch EF Education First in 1965--a company built on experiential learning, cultural immersion and authentic connections. This experience is at the core of our educational philosophy. …

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217 reviews

Photo of Matt T.

I just can't get over how many corners EFtours cuts. They take you to CHEAP hotels and serve you CHEAP meals at restaurants rated 3 stars. This is alright for kids, but for adults that have any expectations, it's severely disappointing. It's been brought up countless times by other people and beaten like a dead horse, yet EFtours KEEPS DOING THE SAME THING. Please.... PLEASE change your business model! I'm tired of going to hotels that have roaches. I'm tired of going to hotels that claim that they have a gym/sauna and don't. I'm tired of going to hotels that have front doors that won't lock. I'm tired of going to hotels without working WIFI. I'm tired of going to dinner and getting served CHEAP no-topping cheese pizza and no drink options other than water. Diet anything or even tea would be great, but EF takes the free route with water. You'll pay $4000+ and they'll milk that for profits... that's all it is. On a positive note, our main tour guide was AWESOME.

Photo of Lisa K.

Beware. If you argue with the EF Rep regarding your tour and how you were given wrong information from the very beginning, they will tell you it was in the terms and conditions. (I signed on to this trip because I was given information directly from one of EF reps and figured they know all about the T&C and what a better way to find out then accidentally miss something.) That turned out to be very wrong. If you ask repeatedly to speak with a supervisor, they will tell you you can't because "they are qualified to help you" and refuse to get a supervisor. If you tell that EF rep you asked specifically about your issue before you signed on, they will tell you they can't find record of your inquiry and basically imply that you are a liar. If you do those things you will get hung up on by the EF rep. I wish I came here first before booking this trip. Never again.

Photo of Selena S.

This trip is insanely rushed even under the Plus package which is supposed to be for "anyone that just values their me time, Plus combines an immersive itinerary with more space to unwind." We got trapped in London due to weather and the adjustments to travel and accommodation were unlivable and would have had me in a hospital the next day. I am a disabled person who travels often. It is against the law to not provide appropriate accommodations and options for the disabled as I mentioned to my tour guide and he only suggested to book my own accommodations and request a reimbursement - again, illegal to not offer me an option. EF refused to rebook our trains at different times even though it was totally possible and booked small cars for everyone to drive 6+ hours to Paris to try and make it in time for New Year's (they did not). Half of us bought our own train tickets and are now fighting for reimbursements. Again, I am disabled, so I could physically not travel via a long car ride. The accommodations for that extra night in London were an unsecure, dirty, and nonhandicapped accessible hostel when we all paid for hotel accommodations. Over half of us were forced to book our own accommodations as well because EF refused to separate us when we are all adults and could find our way to meeting point in the morning. The hostel had blood and hair in the sheets, trash in the hallways, it smelled like urine, co-ed shared bathrooms with naked strangers, homeless people scattering the bottom floor, no security so anyone can walk in and have access to our belongings, and had giant steps to enter which is a large challenge for a handicapped person (and everyone else who at this point were only running on two hours of sleep). PLUS: Those of us who did make it to the NYE party got stranded because Irakalis' (our tour guide's) bus never showed up and all the other guides just left us. We were left, intoxicated, and wandering the Paris metro we didn't know on our first night by ourselves because no cars/taxis/ubers would show up. EF DOES NOT have a 24/7 helpline that actually helps you at all in case of an emergency like this and our host was heartless and treated us like spoiled Americans who were actually now broke because we all spent way outside of our budget to be safe. You use these travel companies to save you time, stress and pay in advance. We all agreed we didn't save on any of these items and were definitely weighed down by stress and the financial position this company put us in when we were across the world by ourselves. Even before the unusual circumstances, this was not the trip I signed up for and was very stressful, rushed and did not match this description. Use 30under30experiences or Contiki instead.

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See all photos from Selena S. for EF Educational Tours

Photo of Angela H.

Our a high schooler just got back from the EF tour in Costa Rica. He had an amazing time. He learned so much, loved the experience and can't wait to go on another trip. He said all the meals were really good too. He said every hotel they stayed at was very clean and he felt safe. He said the locals and tour guides were fun to talk to. He already misses being there. They visited areas you probably wouldn't go to if you were going on a resort vacation. He said the only negative on the trip was the snorkeling trip. He said the reef they explored had died and there weren't many fish left in the area. He said it was sad, and made him think more about the environment, so it wasn't a total loss. The confidence and life skills he gained on this trip were worth the price we paid. Things to consider if you're planning on sending your child on a tour. There are cancellation fees if you cancel the trip. You maybe driving your kid to the airport in the weee early hours of the morning. They are going on an educational tour and won't be staying in resort areas. A/C and Wfi is sometimes not available. The terms and conditions when you sign up outline everything you need to know about going on a trip and any cancellation fees. Read the terms and conditions and understand them before you sign up and pay. Your children will be sharing rooms and beds with other students. We upgraded our child to a private room since he didn't want to room with others. Whenever we had a question, we used their online chat. There was one time they required a phone call to fix and issue, but they gave us a call and were able to fix what we needed. The portal was great and gave us emails to remind us of what we needed to do to be ready for the trip. If his school hosts another trip, we will definitely sign up!

One of the waterfalls they visited

One of the waterfalls they visited

Photo of Marjorie S.

Our family has used EF tours via my kid's schools twice and never really had any major issues with them. I love that they offer interest free payment plans for the trips and they have detailed itineraries from start to finish so you don't have to plan anything on your own! Plane tickets, hotel stay, transportation, breakfast and dinner are all included . Tour guides that have been assigned were all awesome. My only issue would be the hotel and food selections on some days that they selected could be so much better given the price paid.

ef tours bad reviews

Good: Leadership summit has very friendly staff. Amazing tour director. They did take phone calls and email and respond reasonably fast but sometimes not helpful. Bad: They want two teens to a bed, hide this in fine print on page 16. We were able to get them to waive this our trip but be ware when signing up. Promised vegan diet support then did not deliver one every meal, like continental breakfast with no vegan option and dinners with no vegan protein. Heck, some dinners had no proteins at all. How cheap! Never local food served to us so missed significant part of the cultural experience. BTW, they don't provide lunch so that is hidden extra cost but does help give a chance for real and good local food. Instead of direct flight to Belgium, they had flight to London with connecting flight to Belgium. Because layover window was unrealistic, missed connecting flight so basically lost a day of the program. Spent almost emote first day in hotel instead of touring. They should have had a backup plan for London given how tight connecting flights were. All hotels were 30 minutes from city. Some had dirty bedding. Hotels by the airport? Really? Like we are travelers with cancelled flights every day. Sad. On paper, decent tour agenda but then some points of interest we got only 5 minutes.

Photo of Gwen W.

I booked a tour in 2022 to Greece through Girl Scouts of America for 2024. Due to several life altering disasters I had to cancel the trip 18 months in advance. There are several hidden fees which totaled $1,300!!!! How on earth is this justifiable? Customer service is the WORST!! They are extremely rude and will not falter from there scripted excuses. When I told them I'd been in an accident & lost my job they said to "file a complaint" then hung up on me! When I told them that nowhere in their cancellation policy were the egregious fees stated they said "Well that's what they are now" After waiting OVER A MONTH I have yet to receive a refund for what little money they would return. Every time I call customer service I'm on hold for an hour and given a longer expected time for my refund. Their reasoning? "They have to look into every cancellation." 6-8 weeks is not a reasonable time to wait for a refund. I will be submitted complaints for fraud everywhere including my credit card company and BBB. If not resolved I will go through my lawyer.

Photo of Tina A.

I have now been waiting for 8 weeks for a refund. No one at this place has any information. If you ask to speak to someone in charge, they say there isn't anyone. If you ask to speak to the legal department, they give you an address. They absolutely refuse to return my money. This company is completely ridiculous!

Photo of Ginger C.

Not a good value. You are paying for the chaperone and anyone else they bring. Students are sleeping up to four in a mediocre room. You get pressured when attending the initial meeting with a discount to sign up immediately. The company will not refund the initial deposit if you do additional research and decide to not participate.

Photo of Shelia S.

If I could give this company zero stars I would. They took over half of my girlscouts money as a penalty for canceling a trip and transferring the money to another EF tour account!

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Reviews 4.4.

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Booking through EF Tours was a piece of…

Booking through EF Tours was a piece of mind. Everything was scheduled and having the tour guide with us at all times made the trip enjoyable. We did not have to worry about any plans, as everything was organized. EF Tours made the trip stress free with a large group. I would recommend EF Tours.

Date of experience : February 22, 2024

The trip was very well planned and our grade 9 students loved Quebec

The trip was very well planned and our tour director was amazing at adjusting schedules to ensure we got the most out of our trip. I was disappointed that we actually were not able to have a fully french trip as we requested due to the group we were paired with. We do however understand that the tour director did the best they could to accommodate both groups. We were very much reminded about why we go with EF for traveling once we had a student get very sick and EF made sure everything was taken care of, including rescheduling a few flights and booking rooms etc. They really do take care of you in all situations.

Date of experience : February 08, 2024

School trip to Quebec

My son had an amazing life experience in Quebec with EF Tours, He commented on how much he learned from his guide. They had a good balance of activity and free time.

Date of experience : February 13, 2024

We recently travelled from Alberta to…

We recently travelled from Alberta to Québec. We have used EF tours before and are always satisfied. The tour director Shawna Close, was always available to help and accommodated our time differences. The tour ran smoothly and we had no shortage of fun and engaging activities for the kids. Our guide on the Trip, Mo, was always there to help us and to facilitate all things logistical.

Date of experience : February 12, 2024

FRJH EF Quebec trip = Awesome

EF Quebec trip went awesome. Wonderful tour guide - or it is simply the best! He has an or is simply the best! He has a real understanding of the students, and we get along famously! manior du Lac DeLage is an excellent hotel - great buffet, breakfast, comfortable rooms, the pool and activities room really land an extra plus to this facility. Restaurant food food was 95% - the only meal that wasn’t great were the beef enchiladas. The activities were great! Bus driver was efficient and on time and friendly to the students. The Kids had a super Duper time. Already booking 2025.

Jam packed with learning and fun

I couldn't believe how jam packed with fun and learning our tour was. Our tour guide had the most incredible knowledge about both Montreal and Quebec, and shared his passion for his favourite parts of his home town. He was also amazing with the young people, and several of them counted him as their favourite part of the whole trip. I couldn't rate him or this tour higher, it was an incredible 5 day experience all around.

Date of experience : January 26, 2024

It was such a great experience

It was such a great experience, and great host, only thing I would change would be making the days end a bit earlier, at least for a couple nights, we went quite late each night, would be nice to be back in rooms by 6 or 7pm.

Reply from EF Tours Canada

Hi Maria, thank you for taking the time to review your experience on tour with us. I'm so glad you had such an amazing experience! Our Tour Directors work hard to make sure you have a great time. We do our best to pack as much into your trip as possible, for the lowest price possible to you. This being said, we always strive for our groups to have a good time and not feel rushed. We have received your group leader's official evaluation and will use it to look at the activities and evaluate for future tours.

Our tour guide was excellent

Our tour guide was excellent. Dave was able to keep the children engaged and excited during the tour. The different experiences kept us active and engaged throughout the tour. I would love to go on another tour in Quebec in the future.

Date of experience : February 14, 2024

Amazing tour guide

Amazing tour guide. Great locations and sites. Hotels were for the most part, good. Some of the restaurants choices could have been rethought though.

Date of experience : February 27, 2024

My daughter had a wonderful experience…

My daughter had a wonderful experience on this trip. It was fun, active, educational and very well planned out!!!

Date of experience : February 16, 2024

Kind and funny tour guide

Kind and funny tour guide. It was a great experience. It would've been nice if our bus had chargers, but other than that, big thumbs up.

EF Tours is truly my "Extended Family"…

EF Tours is truly my "Extended Family" when it comes to student travel. I am very content with all the safety precautions, all the communication and support in planning these large trips. It has been a successful collaboration so far and I am so exciting for my next big adventures! Thank you EF!

Where to even start with the level of…

Where to even start with the level of care and customer service provided by Lara mcElrea. Through no fault of EF, my school trip ran into a series of difficulties. This gave Lara the opportunity to go above and beyond the call of duty. She met that challenge with genuine compassion, professionalism and grace. It was a tumultuous time for me as group leader, having to react and respond to a near constant barrage of bureaucracy since December. Lara was my first point of contact, whether it was for help, advice or just to vent! She tried so very hard to help, doing anything within her power to assist me and I truly felt that my sorrow of having to change aspects of the trip was shared by her. She is a gem and a true credit to your organization. I would not hesitate to recommend this company (and Lara of course) to anyone. Thank you for employing such an amazing ambassador for your brand. I would have been lost without her. Vanessa Canova Breton Education Centre New Waterford, NS

A great experience

A great experience. My daughter felt safe and she said it was quite interesting.

Quebec experience

Activities were fun and well laid out. Our tour guide David Poulin was amazing. He was engaging, professional and knowledgeable. He made things fun for the kids.

They do whatever it takes to avoid refunding

When gang violence erupted in Ecuador and curfew was imposed, they charged $400 cancellation fees although the trip was replaced by another destination we weren't intrested in. Very poor customer service communication, many students' accounts were closed and students were left with no invoice of the cancelled trip which they immediately changed to the new destination. We had to contact TICO to raise complaints and challenge their decision to take $400 cancellation fees. We're now submitting refund claims to the insurance company they finally provided detials for. Will see how it goes. Overall, a very negative experience.

Date of experience : February 23, 2024

Hi Azza, Thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns with our cancellation fees. As you know our main priority is the health and safety of our travellers. It is for this reason that we offer our Peace of mind policy at no extra cost, allowing groups to change their tour's destination when unforeseen risk unfolds close to departure. As a tour was still available to you, our standard cancellation fees apply. An insurance claim is the right step to take for the $400 fee and our Traveller Support Team would be happy to assist you with any questions, they may be contacted at 1 (800) 263-2806.

The organization of the tour was great

The organization of the tour was great. Robert the tour guide was absolutely great.

Great itinerary

Great itinerary and our guide Mathieu made us laugh the whole time!

Date of experience : February 07, 2024

I went to book a trip for my son with…

I went to book a trip for my son with his class, and we had some trouble getting his passport so realizing at Christmas time the deadline for 110 days to cancel was coming up i spent 3 weeks trying to call them to cancel but because of the holidays they where impossible to reach. They then proceeded to charge me 300 for cancel fee, 100 for cancel for any reason and, 200 for travel protection. Seems to me they look to rip you off and nothing more. I can understand 200-300 but 600 dollars is a lot of money for them to steal from you.

Date of experience : January 12, 2024

Dear Mollay, thank you for your feedback. EF begins planning and investing into your tour as soon as you enroll, to ensure the highest quality service at the lowest price. In addition, many of our bookings are done at a group level, which are subject to different cancellation terms than individually-booked travel. For these reasons, EF has designed its cancellation policies - signed & agreed to by the traveller upon enrolment - to take into consideration the investments we make in your tour and the costs we incur long before it departs. Our Team would love the opportunity to talk through our cancellation fees further and can be reached at 1 (800) 263-2806

My daughter had a fantastic time in…

My daughter had a fantastic time in Quebec! She enjoyed the guides and the activities.

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  1. EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

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  2. EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

    ef tours bad reviews

  3. EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

    ef tours bad reviews

  4. EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

    ef tours bad reviews

  5. EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

    ef tours bad reviews

  6. EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

    ef tours bad reviews

COMMENTS

  1. EF Tours Review: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

    108 Comments Is EF Tours right for you? So your kid just came home from school with a gorgeous full color brochure about an upcoming trip to Europe with EF Tours that one of their teachers is leading. He or she is super excited about all the cool things they get to do and is just begging you to let them go.

  2. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    US A day ago Verified A safe and fulfilling trip and they back up their promise of taking care of things We actually did have a couple of hiccups during our trip that were not the fault of EF tours, and true to their promise even though it was the middle of the night they took care of it.

  3. EF Go Ahead Tours

    38 reviews. 19 helpful votes. 5. Re: EF Go Ahead Tours. Feb 11, 2024, 3:48 PM. Save. If you are able to carry your luggage. go without the tours. I did Rome, Assisi, Florence, Italian Riviera, Genoa traveled by train and bus. I enjoyed this trip more than tour with Trafalgar .

  4. EF Tours not a good company

    1. Re: EF Tours not a good company 12 years ago Save @Woochus I apologize that you had a difficult time reaching our Customer Service Department. We have been experiencing a higher than normal call volume, so the wait time may have been longer than you expected.

  5. Complaints for EF Educational Tours

    We'll be right back. Sorry, something went wrong. Rest assured, we are working hard to fix the problem as soon as possible. In the meantime, try refreshing this page or visiting our homepage. View...

  6. r/travel on Reddit: Should I use a company like EF Ultimate break or

    EF: amazing guides, group to travel with, hotels/hostels are vetted, transportation, a lump package, payment plans, airport transfers (pending your purchase flights through them, some meals included, safety in guide/numbers, 'you don't know what you don't know' about some locations/not missing out. EF Cons: more expensive, too fast for ...

  7. EF Educational Tours

    (720) 903-8500 Want a quote from this business? Get a Quote 1.16/5 Average of 96 Customer Reviews Read HQ Reviews Start a Review Customer Complaints 325 complaints closed in last 3 years

  8. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    12,069 • Excellent 4.3 VERIFIED COMPANY www.eftours.com Visit this website : Most relevant Claudia Mouton-Mc Brayer 1 review US Dec 10, 2023 Verified Good experiences, Would advise fewer additional excursions though Our guide was wonderful. He was kind, seemed to care about everyone having a good experience and knowledgeable and kept us safe.

  9. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    1 review US 5 days ago Verified Excellent help and service My experience so far with EF Tours has been great! Excellent communication with the person helping me set up meetings and sending out emails. They've been very supportive and have encouraged me tailor messages to my school community.

  10. EF Tours -- A good choice?

    You can search this forum for the negative reviews on EF and other low end student tour companies. Basically, EF and Explorica are the lowest, CHA and Passports are middle of the road and ACIS and ...

  11. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    Do you agree with EF Educational Tours's 4-star rating? Check out what 12,073 people have written so far, and share your own experience. ... Read 1 more review about EF Educational Tours. Jessica Flach. 1 review. US. 23 Jan 2024. BEST Tour Consultant at EF! My tour consultant, Madison Furnas, is absolutely PHENOMENAL. I have never felt ...

  12. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    1 review US Jan 25, 2024 Verified ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ EF Educational Tours provided a 5 STAR experience from start to finish. The enrollment process was simple. I was provided with full details about the excursion and kept informed of any itinerary changes that were made.

  13. EF Ultimate Break Review (My Personal Experience)

    EF Ultimate Break recently raised their cut-off age to 35! Previously, the age was 29 so if you were 30 or older you had to book elsewhere. Now the range is from 18 - 35. While on my trip the average age was definitely in the early 20s, but this new policy may shift that to be a bit more even.

  14. EF Go Ahead Tours Review 2024: Are their guided tours worth it?

    Ultimate Break Tours is geared towards college students and folks aged 18-29, while Go Ahead Tours admits anyone 6 and above. So, the tours offered also tend to be different from each other. EF Go Ahead Tours has a wide variety of tours catering to all age ranges. It also provides both private and group tours.

  15. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    1 review US Nov 30, 2023 Verified Wonderful Whirlwind The trip was organized well. The tour director was informative and professional. We only had 3 days in Munich, but the time was used so well that we were able to experience the city, it's food and history in a meaningful way. Date of experience: November 24, 2023 Useful Share

  16. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    Do you agree with EF Educational Tours's 4-star rating? Check out what 12,078 people have written so far, and share your own experience. | Read 1,421-1,440 Reviews out of 11,323

  17. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    12,061 • Excellent 4.3 VERIFIED COMPANY www.eftours.com Visit this website Write a review Tiffany Michelle 1 review US 2 days ago Be very cautious on their "2 week 100%… Be very cautious on their "2 week 100% fully refundable deposit. " We cancelled to book with another tour.

  18. EF EDUCATIONAL TOURS

    217 reviews and 60 photos of EF Educational Tours "My daughter has already been on 3 EF Tours and enjoyed each one of them. If you plan to travel, especially with a group, ESPECIALLY with teenagers, expect there will be a bump in the road, no MANY bumps in the road. The qualifiers here are that her chaperones were experienced and adaptable and demanded discipline and good attitudes from all ...

  19. Travel Reviews

    1. Safety on tour 2. Support from EF 3. Our flexibility 4. Educational value What our travelers are saying about safety We know international travel can be nerve wracking. Whether you're leading a group, going yourself, or sending a child, safety is your first priority.

  20. EF Educational Tours Reviews

    Do you agree with EF Educational Tours's 4-star rating? Check out what 12,078 people have written so far, and share your own experience. | Read 221-240 Reviews out of 11,323 ... Read 1 more review about EF Educational Tours. CA. Carrie. 1 review. US. Nov 14, 2023. Verified. Europe Trip. Our tour guide, Luca, was amazing! He was friendly, fun ...

  21. EF Explore America Reviews

    The hotel and meals were great. The tour director and bus driver provided were so organized and accommodating. The students enjoyed themselves, saw things they'd only ever read about in book/online, and made great memories with their friends. Date of experience: October 30, 2023. Reply from EF Explore America.

  22. EF Tours Canada Reviews

    1 review CA 6 days ago Verified School trip to Quebec My son had an amazing life experience in Quebec with EF Tours, He commented on how much he learned from his guide. They had a good balance of activity and free time. Date of experience: February 13, 2024 Useful Azza Harras 1 review CA A day ago They do whatever it takes to avoid refunding