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EF Ultimate Break Review (My Personal Experience)

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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.

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.

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.

• 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.

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?

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 road trips the US and shares about outdoor adventures and epic things to do. Want to know more? Read her 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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K for Katrina

Lifestyle Blogger

Lifestyle · September 11, 2022

My Honest EF Ultimate Break Review

Before May, I had never been on a plane before and I’d never left Canada (except for one trip in 2017 to California). I’ve dreamed of going on an international trip for years. All throughout university, I’d spend hours browsing Contiki and EF Ultimate Break, dreaming of the trips I could go on and the experiences I’d have.

My best friend, Talia, and I always talked about going to Greece together. We love the Mamma Mia movies, and it’s been our dream to have a Mamma Mia summer together. Last November, we took the leap. We booked EF Ultimate Break’s popular Greek Islands trip and were bound to spend 11 days island hopping in May. Neither of us had done a group tour before, so this was a first for us. Keep reading for my honest review of traveling with EF Ultimate Break and some helpful tips if you’re planning to book a trip!

I knew from looking at EF Ultimate Break trips in the past that there’s always a huge Black Friday sale. The Greek Islands trip is almost always included in promotions because of how popular it is, so Talia and I knew that Black Friday was when we’d book.

We booked our trip for May 8-18 for $3099 . This included the Cliffside Wine Tasting & Village Tour ( $90 ) and the Mykonos Boat Ride ( $80 ) excursions. Because May is considered “off-season,” it had the highest discount you could get with the Black Friday sale, which was $600 off. We also used an influencer promo code to get another $100 off. The trip before the promotions and the excursions was $3629 , so the savings make a huge difference! 

I highly recommend waiting for a sale to book your trip because EF Ultimate Break always does different promotions throughout the year. In my opinion, the Black Friday one is the best, so wait it out if you can. Also, always look for an influencer code because any savings are great (p.s. You can use my code at the bottom of this post if you’re looking to book a trip!)

Planning & Packing

Your flights include one checked bag, a carry on and a personal bag. EF Ultimate Break recommends that you just use a carry on if you can because it’s easier to transport, however, if you’re like me and need many outfit changes then I highly recommend bringing a checked bag, as well. 

I took planning this trip very seriously. A month or so before your trip, your tour director will get in touch with you. I’m not sure if all tour directors do this, but ours sent over an extremely detailed itinerary (more detailed than the one EF Ultimate Break provides), which I used to plan all of my outfits. 

I went day-by-day and put together outfits for each activity, whether it was a travel day, beach day or dinner in the town so that I wasn’t packing too much and I knew exactly what outfits to wear. To make it easier on myself, on each island, I’d put the outfits I knew I’d be wearing in my carry on so that they were easily accessible because the hotel rooms are pretty tiny and it’s a hassle to constantly open and search through your suitcase. 

I also made a lengthy list of everything I needed, from clothes, accessories and toiletries and then colour coded it based on what I already owned and what I needed to buy. This eased my mind and also made it easy to pack because I could cross everything off the list. I also highly recommend buying packing cubes. You can organize your suitcase based on types of clothing and you’ll be able to fit so much more in your suitcase. 

What to Pack

So, what do you pack for the EF Ultimate Break Greek Islands trip? Great question. 

You go from island to island by ferry, which are one to five hour trips so you’ll want comfy and casual travel clothes. There’s also a lot of walking and mild hikes, so you’ll want at least one athletic outfit. I opted for biker shorts and a sports bra. You’ll also want comfortable walking shoes because you’ll do a lot of walking on this trip. 

Bring 1-3 nice outfits for dinner or for walking around when you know you want nice photos and also some nicer pairs of shoes. Stay away from heels, unless they’re comfortable and you know you can walk in them, because the streets are pretty uneven, and like I said, there’s a lot of walking. I brought a few different pairs of shoes, but I honestly wore my white sneakers and a comfy pair of sandals the entire trip. 

Here’s my packing list that you can use as guidance:

Clothing & Shoes:

• Bathing suits (including one dark one for the mud baths)
• Biker shorts
• Hoodie/ sweatshirt
• Light rain jacket
• Denim shorts
• Swim coverup
• 3-4 t-shirts
• 1-3 nice outfits for dinner
• Comfortable sandals
• Comfortable walking shoes
• One pair of nice shoes

Accessories & Other

• Small purse & wallet
• Jewelry 
• Baseball cap
• Adaptor 
• Disposable camera

Tips for Having a Great Time

Be open and talk to everyone .

EF Ultimate Break trips are all about making friends, so be open and talk to as many people as you can. You’re having a shared experience with these people, and you’re going to be around them for many days so you might as well get close to them. I am so thankful for the friendships that I made on this trip and they are what truly made the trip more fun. There are also lots of solo travelers, so always invite and accept people to tag along with you. 

Do As Many Excursions As You Can

EF Ultimate Break offers excursions for its trips, but your tour director might also plan optional excursions. My advice is do as many as you can. The planned excursions were incredible and were some of my favourite parts of the trip. You’re also there, so why not make the most out of it and do as much as you can? 

That being said, know when to take breaks. We had an optional excursion planned by our tour director in Mykonos for a boat cruise, but a few of us who already paid for it decided not to go and spent the day on the beach instead. We didn’t get a refund, but we had already been on so many boats and decided that we needed some time to relax. 

Try New Things

You’re in a new place, so why not try new things? It might seem scary at first, but it’ll be worth it and you’ll be so proud of yourself. A girl I met on the trip went cliff diving for the first time. She was so scared and almost didn’t do it, but it was on her bucket list so she went for it and was so happy with herself. Before this trip, I had never been on a boat before and had never jumped off something into water. I thought it’s now or never, so I jumped off the boat and it was horrifying, but I was so glad I did it.

Stay in Groups

Always stay with a group, especially when out at night. Like any place, there are dangerous places and it’s better to be safe than sorry. When we were in Paros, one group of girls was being followed by a stranger and they eventually called for reinforcements to come help, but it’s just a reminder to stay aware of your surroundings. 

Bring Things to Do on the Ferry’s

You’ll travel from island to island on ferries, and the trips can be long, so make sure you pack things to keep you occupied. I ended up reading an entire book just from reading on the ferries. 

Eat and Stay Hydrated

Make sure to eat and drink lots of water. Greece is very hot, especially in June to August and you do not want to get dehydrated. My friend Talia ended up feeling unwell from not eating enough, not drinking enough water and all the sun exposure, and had to sit out on an excursion to rest. Make sure to take care of yourself, even though your body may feel out of whack and off schedule.

Don’t Overpack

Plan every outfit out beforehand and make sure each clothing item you bring has a purpose. I also made sure I could mix and match pieces. You’re going to most likely do some souvenir shopping on the islands, so you’ll want to have room in your suitcase. Most of the hotels we stayed in did not have elevators and carrying a 50-pound suitcase up multiple flights of stairs is not fun. Pack as lightly as you can so you don’t have to deal with heavy lifting.

Things Might Go Wrong, and It’s Ok!

Things are probably going to go wrong and it’s ok. In Santorini, Talia and I ended up getting separated in our room assignments even though we requested to be roommates. It happened to other pairings on the trip as well. It wasn’t ideal, but it ended up being ok and everyone is so nice, so you’re going to come out of it closer with other travelers. You just have to take everything as it is.

Overall Thoughts 

I was so sad to leave and I actually cried on the plane home. I immediately started planning my next trips. I haven’t booked any yet, but I have them in the back of my mind and I plan on doing my next one solo. There were a lot of solo travelers on the trip and it just made me feel comfortable knowing that you can go solo and you’ll immediately be accepted by everyone and have friends. 

Is it worth it? One hundred per cent. I know a lot of people say EF Ultimate Break is expensive, but it’s honestly not that expensive if you book a trip on promotion. If you’re an experienced traveler, it might be cheaper doing it on your own, but EF Ultimate Break is great for new travelers and people who don’t want to plan. It also gives you the comfort and ease of traveling in a group with an experienced tour director. 

Are you ready for an adventure? Book a trip through EF Ultimate Break and use my code UAKatrina100 for $100 off your next trip! 

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September 23, 2022 at 6:33 pm

Girls trips are the very best! My best friend and I take a big trip every 5 years on our milestone birthday years. Next year we go to Hawaii! Will do some research on this and check it out!

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Is EF Ultimate Break Legit & Worth It? A Full Review [2024]

You've just heard about EF Ultimate Break tours and you see that you're within age range, but even so, are they the right tour for you? EF Ultimate Break is great, but it’s not for everyone. Find out why in my in-depth review so you can be in the know before you buy their tours!

Some travelers like to take the wheel and plan their own trips. Some travelers would like to hand over the wheel to someone else and get in the passenger seat. 

Tour operators are for the latter. They take care of the planning and organizing, so you can focus on traveling and experiencing the itinerary that’s designed for you. 

We've covered tours like Contiki and Intrepid Travels before, but what about EF Ultimate Break?

I'm here to introduce EF Ultimate Break to you and give you all the details you should know...

EF Ultimate Break has earned an impressive reputation as a reliable tour guide company for young adults. But, factors like age limit and fixated itineraries mean that it might not be for everyone. 

So, in this article, I want to give you a comprehensive review on EF Ultimate Break to help you decide if it’s a sensible choice for you!

What Is EF Ultimate Break?

EF Ultimate Break , formerly known as EF College Break, is a travel company that specializes in providing guided group tours for different destinations around the world.

Founded in 2003, it’s a branch under EF Tours initiated more than 50 years ago. As you would have already guessed, EF Ultimate Break is not for everyone. It’s geared towards travelers aged 18-29 (sorry, old folks!), primarily college students hunting for fun, adventurous, carefree, and novel experiences. 

Besides travelers who loathe planning, EF Ultimate Break is also a good option for people just beginning to explore the world and prefer an expert to handle the logistics for them.

What Are the Main Features of EF Ultimate Break?

Here's a quick rundown on the main features that EF Ultimate Break provides for their travelers.

Readymade Tours

‍ At present, EF Ultimate Break offers over 70 readymade tours for countries across the world. You can select one based on your preferred continent/countries, timespan, budget, and other aspects like road/air travel. 

Group Tours

EF Ultimate Break only provides group tours. You can sign up alone or with friends, but you will be paired with a group of other travelers signed up for the same trip. 

Arrangement of All Necessary Logistics

‍ The company will handle all aspects related to traveling, such as flight booking, transportation, accommodation, metro passes, entrance tickets to major attractions, etc. 

Payment in Instalments

‍ You can book a tour in advance and pay for it in interest-free instalments. This means you have to book early, depending on how soon you can complete the entire payment before the trip. You can also make one full-payment if you prefer.

Tour Directors

‍ There’s a tour director assigned for each trip to help travelers every step of the way. So, whether it’s resolving any issue you face during the trip or receiving recommendations on places to visit, they will guide you throughout the stay. 

24/7 Support

‍ EF Ultimate Break also offers 24/7 support to help you clarify any issue before, during, and after the trip.

How Does EF Ultimate Break Work?

• Log in by creating an account.
• Choose a tour that you like using filters provided like preferred continent and countries, trip length, and travel style.
• Select your payment terms and arrange it to be paid in full or installments before the tour. The cost depends on the type and length of the tour.
• The team will contact you and assist you thereafter.

Best Parts of EF

Pre-planned trips.

‍ If you have signed up for a trip with EF Ultimate Break, rest assured that you won’t have to fret about a disorganized or messy trip. They plan almost everything on behalf of you, arrange logistics, and even educate you on things required for the trip which is why it’s a convenient option for beginners.

An Opportunity to Make New Friends

‍ Unless you are going with your friends, you will be traveling with a group of total strangers who are passionate about travel just like you. You can get to know them better, share experiences, and maybe even make lifelong friends! 

Reliable Services

‍ The company provides a good customer experience, whether it’s via their tour directors assigned for each trip or the 24/7 customer support team. The tour directors are well-versed (most of the time) about the destinations and off-the-beaten-path attractions, so you can always count on them for help during the tour.

Reasonable Pricing

‍ Considering everything they provide, from flight bookings to farewell dinner, there’s no doubt that EF tours Ultimate Break is one of the most cost-effective choices at present, and their installment payment facility makes it even better.

As most of their tour packages also cover multiple countries/cities, you can expect great value for the money paid.

What Can the Company Do Better?

Lack of customization.

‍ You don’t have the freedom to create your own plan or include your preferred choices if they are not available in the set of options they provide. Some users have complained of poorly chosen hotels/hostels that didn’t cater to their expectations or provided value for the money they paid. 

Fast-Paced Itineraries (Only)

‍ When you travel with a group of people according to a predetermined schedule, you can’t explore places at your own pace. Longer trips by EF Ultimate Break include many countries and cities, and therefore, you might find the tours to be too fast in some cases. 

In fact, the reason why many travelers stop booking EF Ultimate Break tours is the fact that the tours are way too fast-paced for their liking. Many travelers opt to plan trips themselves, or join other slower-paced tours.

Expected Age Group

While I stated that one of the pros of joining EF Ultimate Break is to make new friends, I wouldn't expect to make new friends on ever EF Ultimate Break trip, especially if you're not in their target age group of 18–⁠20. While EF Ultimate Break's target age limit is 18–⁠35, the majority of tour-goers consist of those leaning towards the younger age limit.

Expectations vs. Reality

‍ While there’s a good chance you will get along with your fellow travelers in the group, there is also a probability that you won’t. Not everyone is a partygoer, adventure seeker, or an extroverted chatter. So, some of the activities might not fit your preferences.

Limited Choices for Tours

‍ The number of trips offered by EF Ultimate Break is very limited. So, you might not find the trip you are looking for in the list. 

Lack of Seamless Organization

‍ We also came across some negative EF Ultimate Break reviews complaining of poor organization, illegible tour guides who lacked the required knowledge, and inefficient use of time. There were times when travelers had to wait for hours for the bus to arrive.

Is EF Ultimate Break Legit?

EF Ultimate Break is great, but as I mentioned in the beginning, it’s not for everyone.

You're right to do research before you book because EF Ultimate Break reviews averages around 3.13 out of 5 from 250+ reviews (as per updated date above), from online collected reviews.

The EF Ultimate Break reviews online range from complaints of being unable to re-schedule tours, communication and poor customer support, as well as varied tour experiences.

If you're still unsure about EF Ultimate Break, let me help you break their costs down so you can make more informed decisions.

How Much is EF Ultimate Break?

Prices depend on dates and the type of trip booked, but the minimum prices seem to hover around $2500 for the shorter trips to the cheapest places and up to $15,000 (not including taxes and other fees) for their longest trips (57 days as of writing). These come with considerable markup given to cost of those areas.

For example a trip to Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, all of which are on the cheaper end of many European cities, will set you back at least $3100, but can be done yourself for about half that (speaking from experience from members on our team who've done it) and less if you bus instead of fly.

How Do I Cancel My Trip?

If you have booked an EF Ultimate Break trip and are regretting it or something came up, you may be able to get a partial refund. You can call EF Ultimate Break at 1-800-766-2645. Note that this is a salesperson who will try to sway you into "changing your destination, adjusting dates or setting up a new payment plan to make paying for your trip easier" according to their help center.

You'll also be expected to pay cancellation fees ranging from $150 (for trips booked +365 days or more in advance) up to everything you've paid so far for trips under 30 days, most of which require you pay the full fee if that's when you booked, meaning there'd be effectively no refund.

You'll also be expected to pay any non-refundable fees, of which there may be several. Be sure to read to the booking conditions prior to your trip, since they are subject to change and may be different based on the trip you book.

Is EF Ultimate Break Worth It?

EF Ultimate Break is tailored for a specific type of traveler. If you're a high-school or college student around 18-29 years old and love to travel and party your nights away, EF Ultimate Break's the tour company for you!

A main focus of its tours is to not only travel, but to make new friends and experiences along the way.

The main downside of EF Ultimate Break is that the tours aren't inclusive. If you're 18-29 and want to focus on traveling, its tours aren't catered towards you.

If you're not in the company's age range, you should try their EF Go Ahead Tours instead.

Another thing to note is that EF Ultimate Break's tours are extremely fast-paced and at times, aren't very organized and flexible.

So, after all of this, I'm trying to say that EF Ultimate Break is only worth it for a small group of travelers. If you're not part of that specified group, I would definitely go with another company.

And even if you are part of their target traveler, consider also comparing its tours to competitors. There's nothing here that makes the company shoot ahead of other tour companies offering similar experiences!

My Rating: 2.9/5

• No planning needed
• Tailored for young adults
• Reliable customer service
• Decent pricing with deals
• Additional payments
• Disorganized tours
• Limited tour customizations & flexibility
• Fast-paced itineraries
• Most of the focus is partying
• Limited choices of itineraries offered

Other General EF Ultimate Break Frequently Asked Questions

What's included in the cost.

EF Ultimate Break tours typically include airfare, accommodations, a tour director, some meals, transportation between cities, and guided sightseeing.

How Big Are EF Ultimate Break Groups?

Many people who go on these tours say it's normal to have groups as large as 30 people.

Are the Trips Flexible? Can I Deviate From the Itinerary?

EF Ultimate Break trips follow a set itinerary, but there is usually some free time built in for travelers to explore on their own. However, deviating from the group to travel independently before or after the tour may not be possible.

What's the Cut Off Age for EF Ultimate Break?

Recently, the cut off age for these tours were changed to 35. Previously, you needed to be 29 years or younger.

Are There Different Payment Plans?

Yes! Depending on your situation, EF Ultimate Break allows you to pay monthly or bi-weekly, at your own pace, in full, or with affirm. Check out its payment explanation page for details on each option.

Take Control of Your Trip Instead!

But what if you'd like to take control of your own trip, see the things you want to see, do the things you want to do? If that sounds like you, make sure to give Pilot a try!

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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Why You Should Travel with EF Ultimate Break: Honest EF Ultimate Break Review

Disclaimer: This post might contain affiliate links, which means we get a small commission if you make a purchase (at no extra cost to you).

Is EF Ultimate Break worth it? Find out as we share our EF Ultimate Break review and dive into the pros and cons of traveling with EF Ultimate Break!

So you want to travel abroad…

But you’ve never left your time zone. Or maybe that $1500 roundtrip flight you just searched for is forcing you to exit the page. Or you have no idea how to start planning a trip, and you don’t have the time to figure it out.

So you do some Googling, and you find these awesome blog posts about people who book one-way tickets, quit their jobs and travel for a living, or manage to travel to Europe for only $100 a day.

But this doesn’t seem at all realistic for your lifestyle right now. For those who are new to traveling abroad or afraid of all the planning themselves, traveling with a tour agency is an often overlooked option by bloggers. There are so many people on the internet who plan these amazing trips and do them at low costs, which is awesome. Props to you! But such trips require a lot of planning, travel hacking, and experience.

Thanks to tour agencies like EF, or Education First , traveling hassle-free as a young adult IS POSSIBLE!!

In this post, we will share all the details about traveling with EF Ultimate Break, a tour company designed specifically for young adults aged 18-35. EF Ultimate Break offers young adults an affordable and easy way to travel. So, let’s get into our honest EF Ultimate Break review!

EF Ultimate Break Review

Tldr: are ef ultimate break trips worth it.

Yes! If you’re a young traveler who doesn’t have the time to plan an international trip, an EF Ultimate Break tour is a great option. The trips include major bucket list destinations, sites, and attractions, and most of the difficult planning is already done for you. It’s a great way to travel with the comfort of other people and a full-time tour director. Tours are fairly priced, and EF Ultimate Break offers a range of tours! 

Book with our referral link and get $100 off your next EF Ultimate Break trip!

What is EF Ultimate Break?

EF, Education First, is a large tour agency with headquarters and subdivisions worldwide. We have traveled with two of their brands: EF Ultimate Break and EF College Study Tours.  Each subbrand of EF offers travel experiences to different age groups and for different purposes.

EF Ultimate Break is the Perfect Way to Travel for Young Adults

When traveling with EF Ultimate Break , anyone from 18 to 35 can book a trip online with a down payment of only $150. EF Ultimate Break offers precisely what you think it does: ultimate trips! These tours are hosted throughout the year, worldwide, and on a young adult’s budget! When browsing the website, you can search by length of trip, country, and cost. Each tour page includes the activities and general itineraries for each day. You can price out your trip based on wherever you’ll be flying out of, the time of year, and the type of trip.

A reputable tour agency like EF provides a sense of comfort for travelers while being affordable, especially for young people. We know it can be hard to find time and funds for travel, and EF makes it easy and affordable!

Read more about how we selected our EF Ultimate Break trips here!

EF College Study Tours

EF College Study Tours is another branch of EF that allows colleges to arrange short-term study abroad trips with their students. For these trips, a professor or academic representative must coordinate student sign-ups. Then, they can recruit students to attend! If you’re a college student, see if your school offers College Study Tours with EF. This is how we traveled with EF while we were in college! These trips were just as fun as our trip with EF Ultimate Break, and they offer all the same perks, including cost and location!

EF Gap Year

EF Gap Year  is designed for those who want to travel during a “gap year,”  either through language exchange, volunteering, or internships. These experiences allow you to build skills and explore the world at the same time! For these programs, there is an application process. Gap year trips are offered in locations around the globe as well!

EF Educational Tours

EF Educational Tours allows teachers and a variety of educators to travel the world with their students. Tours can be focused on educational topics, language immersion, service learning, and leadership studies.

Explore America

While most EF trips offer international travel, Explore America is completely based in the United States, territories, and Canada. Visit national parks and cities from New York to San Fransisco, attend themed tours based on STEM, art, and service-learning, and even visit colleges.

Most EF programs are focused on college-aged adults, but Go Ahead welcomes young-at-heart attendees with the opportunity to travel the world. These trips pride themselves on hosting smaller groups for immersive travel experiences across seven continents.

Is EF Ultimate Break Only for College Students?

No! EF Ulitmate Break trips are for anyone aged 18 to 35, so you do not need to be exclusively a college student. When we traveled with EF Ultimate Break for the Grand Tour of Europe, the average age was a little younger, like below 25. But when we traveled on the Grand Tour of Ireland Tour, most of our group were over 25. So the age will vary on your trips!

Is EF Ulitmate break Legit?

When we first learned about EF Ultimate Break, one of the top questions we saw on Google was: Is EF Ultimate Break legit? To answer the question, yes. Yes, EF Ultimate Break is a legitimate company that offers legitimate trips for young adults. It is not a scam!

Common Criticisms of EF Ultimate Break

If you Google EF Ulitmate Break reviews, you’ll see both good and bad reviews. We think it’s important to remember that with travel, expectations can vary greatly, and oftentimes, some mishaps are out of anyone’s control (Like canceled flights). We will briefly talk about some of the common things people don’t like about EF Ultimate Break and our response to them.

We have seen some reviews of people who felt they were overpaying or had issues canceling or rescheduling a trip with customer service. We had no issues with customer service when booking or rescheduling our trips. When the pandemic happened in 2020, we originally had the Grand Tour of Ireland tour planned for that summer, but unfortunately, we had to postpone the trip. EF Ultimate Break made postponing and rescheduling the trip very easy by issuing us a voucher that we could use within two years of it being issued.

We have also seen some criticisms where people feel that these trips tend to attract young people who just want to party in a country where it’s legal to drink. Personally, we did not have major issues with people like this on our trips. Ultimately, when you’re going on a tour group, you will encounter a diverse group of people who want to have different experiences on the trip. So, you’re bound to have some people that might want to take the opportunity to party, or not fully immerse themselves in the cultural experience. We just chose to ignore these people on our trip, and we didn’t let them ruin our experience.

Another common criticism is that EF Ultimate Break tours tend to take you to the “Instagrammable” places of these countries and do not offer a fully cultural experience. While most of our trips did take us to the most popular destinations and attractions, we personally wanted to see these things and didn’t have a problem with it. However, EF Ultimate Breaks trips include a lot of free time in the itineraries, so the free time is a great opportunity to explore things off the beaten path. And again, the primary goal of tours is to make travel easy and accessible (especially for first time travelers!), so they tend to include the most popular attractions and places. We personally don’t view this as a bad thing, especially when the itineraries are very transparent about it. If you haven’t traveled to those destinations before, it’s a great opportunity to see the top attractions and maybe get a taste of what these places are like so you can decide if you want to go back later at another time. The tour directors also encourage exploring and trying new things like food, riding public transit, and speaking the language. The tour directors are either locals or have been on the trip many times before so they can offer insider tips!

What Kinds of Trips Does EF Ultimate Break Offer?

Ef ultimate plus vs. essential trips.

EF Ultimate Break recently added two different styles of trips to their catalog. When you’re browsing trips on their website, you’ll see a designation of either plus or essential next to the trip. The essential trips are their standard trips, including everything you would typically get on an EF Ultimate Break tour. The plus trips, on the other hand, offered a premium and luxury experience. The EF Ultimate Break plus trips include a double room with a roommate of your choice, additional meals, and higher star-rated accommodations. Plus trips are great if you’re traveling with a close friend or a partner or if you want more privacy. Because you are paying for a single room and more meals, typically, these trips have a higher cost compared to the essential trips

Solo Travel with EF Ultimate Break

In addition to adding the plus trips to their catalog, EF Ultimate Break added solo travel trips. These trips are only for solo travelers, so this is a great way to meet other people and travel with the safety of a tour group.

Why We Chose to Travel with EF Ultimate Break

We have traveled with the tour agency EF, or Education First, for almost all our international travels. We traveled with EF College Study for our first trip abroad, which made trip planning and the trip itself easier to manage compared to doing everything on our own. Aside from a high school-sponsored trip to Mexico, we had never traveled out of the country before, so planning a trip to Europe on our own seemed out of reach and scary for us. We wanted planning to be effortless! When the opportunity arose with our college to travel to Italy with EF College Study, we decided to take the plunge and book with EF! We then booked several other trips during college with EF college study. Then, several years later, after we graduated college, we then decided that we wanted to continue traveling with EF through EF ultimate break. Our first trip with EF ultimate break was the grand tour of Europe. Because we were so happy with her experience with EF ultimate break we then decided to book another trip, the grand tour of Ireland.

Personally, we found that traveling with EF Ultimate Break made the planning process much easier than if we were planning these trips on our own. We wanted the convenience of having most of the itinerary already planned for us, and all we had to do was fill in the free time and other activities we wanted to do. One of the most convenient aspects of traveling with a group like EF ultimate break was having the transportation and hotels booked and coordinated. And lastly, we enjoyed the sense of comfort that traveling with a group and a full-time tour director provided us. It was nice to have the option of doing activities with other people, and it was great to have a tour director who could offer us tips and recommendations throughout the tour.

Our Experience Traveling with EF Ultimate Break.

We have traveled with EF Ultimate Break twice. Our first trip was the grand tour of Europe trip, which was a 30-day-long excursion across 10+ countries. Most recently, in August 2023, we traveled on the Grand Tour of Ireland trip. Because the grand tour of Ireland was much shorter and only featured one country, we felt like the pace of the trip was a little slower compared to the Grand Tour of Europe. In the Grand Tour of Europe, we spent more time traveling between cities and countries in comparison to Ireland, where our longest drive is only about 3 hours. The Grand Tour of Europe was an ultimate Euro trip where we packed in so many places and activities in just 30 days. This is something to consider when picking a trip. Longer trips where you visit more countries are fast paced since you have to spend more time traveling to get from one place to another.

For both of our trips, we felt that we did a lot in a short amount of time. We could see most of the “bucket list” attractions, museums, and activities in each destination, and we had free time to plan our own. IT wasn’t like we were constantly on the go. There were days when we had time to relax at the hotel for a bit before moving onto the next activity. We felt it was generally a good balance of structured itineraries versus free time.

Our only criticism of traveling with EF Ultimate Break is that we wish we had booked the Plus trips. For the Grand Tour of Europe when we traveled in 2017, the Plus itinerary was not an option. So we can’t fault EF for that. But when we traveled with a Grand Tour of Ireland, we wished we had booked the Plus trip. Our reasoning for this came down to personal preference. At this point in our lives, we weren’t particularly fond of staying in hostels or rooming with other people that we didn’t know. It wasn’t because we didn’t like the people on our tour. It was just that we wanted our privacy. This was our fault for not booking the Plus trip, so next time we plan to go Plus! In addition to the privacy situation, we would have preferred the plus trip because the bus trips include more meals. Sometimes, the day can be fast-paced, so you have to make quick decisions about where to eat lunch. This was often a source of stress because Pam is a vegetarian, so our options are limited in some places. For meals, we would’ve preferred some more structure in the itinerary, which is something the Plus trips offer.

For both of our EF ultimate Break trips, we opted to extend our trip. After the official tour was over, we decided to stay behind in Europe and plan an extension to the trip. After we departed our official group, our accommodations and transportation were our responsibility. So we went on to explore other places on our own. However, our flight home was taken care of by EF. All we had to do was call customer service and tell them that we wanted to extend our trip, and they modified our departure day to the date and location of our choice. You can also do the same by starting your trip earlier. Or you can book two trips back-to-back.

We have loved our experiences will EF and plan to book our future trips with them. Traveling as college students with EF Ultimate and College Break helped us to see parts of the world that we never thought we would be able to visit.

What To Expect on an EF Ultimate Break Tour

Before you leave.

Before leaving for your trip, you can be added to your trip’s group chat in EF Ultimate Break’s app, where you can communicate with other travelers and your tour director. Here, you can think about what you want to do in your free time and get advice about packing and preparing from others going on the trip! This was a nice perk for us! Another perk about traveling with EF Ultimate Break is that if anything goes wrong on the trip, in terms of flights, accommodations, or tours, EF takes care of the problem for you.

Can I Travel Solo with EF Ultimate Break?

When traveling with EF, don’t worry about traveling alone. Many people who attend EF trips are traveling alone, making it a great environment for meeting new people in your tour group.

What Are the Accommodations Like? 

If you’re traveling with EF ultimate break on an essential trip, you will stay in a mix of hostels and hotels. Hostels typically room up to 6 people and are more “basic” than a hotel. Usually, the breakfasts aren’t as expansive, and the rooms are basic with bunk beds. Think dorm room! The hotels, on the other hand, are usually nicer and offer more, since they’re a hotel. We didn’t travel with EF ultimate break on a plus trip, but plus trips advertise that they stay at only hotels and higher-rated hotels. 

What Is It Like Traveling with Strangers?

We can be introverted, and traveling with strangers wasn’t weird for us! Generally, people are friendly and interested in meeting new people, which is part of the point and fun of traveling with a group! So EF usually attracts people who want to meet other people. We didn’t travel solo because we were traveling with each other, but it wasn’t weird to us traveling with strangers.

What Are Transportation and Travel Days Like?

Depending on which trip you’re going on, transportation includes all transit between cities and attractions and arrival and departure transit like cabs or buses. We have experience with coach buses, trains, and ferries with EF. The buses are nice coach buses, and the trains depend on the country because they are the local trains. Some transportation between destinations included longer transit times, like 4-5 hours. But it all depends on where you go. We personally disliked the ferry when we took it from Italy to Greece. We imagined it to be more like a cruise ship, but it wasn’t. It was a little rough. But we did that in 2015, so we can’t judge what they are like now. 

• Difficult planning is done for you
• Payment plans are available
• Frequent discounts and sales
• Group setting – meet new people – good for solo travelers
• Full-time tour director
• Includes tickets to big-ticket items, and sometimes you get to skip the lines
• Pre-planned guided tours with local guides 
• Includes most “bucket-list” items in destinations
• Can be fast-paced
• Detailed itineraries aren’t provided until tour directors contact you (usually 2-3 weeks before departure)
• Can’t select accommodations
• Some travel days are long
• Most meals aren’t included (except plus trips)
• Age limit (18-35)

**You might notice costs are both pros and cons. Personally, we think EF Ultimate Break is fairly priced, but others might disagree, depending on your financial situation or your skill level, with travel hacking and getting a good deal. So we think price can be subjective, BUT in our opinion, we think the price is fair. So we would have it on the pros list!

How Much Free Time Do You Really Have?

We would say that about 40% of the trip is free time. Some days, most of the day is scheduled, but other days are completely free days! When considering a trip, you usually can tell when the free time is included because the itinerary will recommend things to do that day.

What Happens If I Need To Change My Trip?

If you need to change your trip, you can contact customer service, and they can help you. As long as your trip is not within 99 days and you opted into Travel Protection, you can make changes to your itinerary. Changes include cancellation rescheduling, changing dates to the trip, and switching trips. If you need to cancel, you will be refunded the total amount – a fee depending on when you cancel.

• 30 days or less: Full balance paid (You get no money back!)
• 30–60 days: $2,000
• 61–99 days: $1,000
• 100-364 days: $450
• 365+ days: $150

How Big Are EF Ultimate Break Groups?

Usually, EF groups have up to about 30 people. 

What is Included in an EF Ulitmate Break Trip?

Tour director.

Having a full-time tour director made traveling much easier. The tour Director is the trip’s main coordinator, ensuring the group gets everywhere on time to the right place. Having a tour director removes the stress and anxiety of coordinating the transportation and travel logistics. They handle all the tickets for included activities and scheduling. It’s also very nice to have a tour Director who can speak a local language.

For both of our trips with EF Ultimate Break, our tour directors went above and beyond to make our trip special. In addition to the itineraries provided by EF, they could recommend and book additional group activities. A lot of these additional activities were some of our favorite moments of the trips. For example, when we were on the Grand Tour of Ireland, our tour director booked us an excursion to see an Irish step-dancing show, which was a highlight of the trip for us. We would not have thought to book a show like that, nor would we have known where shows were located or which shows were the best.

Accommodations

All accommodations are provided in EF Ultimate Break itineraries. If you select an essential trip, you’ll be staying in a mix of hostels and hotels with either 2 to 6 other same-sex individuals, but if you were booking a plus tour, you only have one roommate of your choice. Plus trips, you will only stay in hotels, so no hostels. Personally, when we book our next trip with EF, we plan to book a plus trip because we would like the privacy of only one roommate.

EF Ultimate Break tours either include a flight itinerary or allow you to book your own flights. We personally have not done a tour where we booked our own flights

Ground Transportation

One of the most convenient parts about traveling with a tour group is that all of the ground transportation is included. This was especially convenient for our longer trips like the grand tour if you were up where we were traveling to multiple countries over the course of 30 days. it was so nice to have a coach bus that we hopped on anytime we were going to our next destination. In addition to offering a coach bus any additional ground transportation like trains are included as well.

Activities, Guided Tours & Attraction Entry

Your itinerary will also include guided tours, entry to attractions in museums, and other group activities. These activities are always listed in the itinerary on the booking page. You also receive group benefits such as skipping lines at busy attractions!

Read more about our 30 days in Europe here!

Is EF Ultimate Break Overpriced?

When you first search for the price, you might think the cost is expensive. But considering how expensive flights, group transportation, and accommodations can be, the cost is very reasonable for a college-aged budget. (Remember that $1500 flight?) Do some searching on your own, and you’ll see expenses adding up and the benefits of EF Ultimate Break’s prices looking nicer and nicer. And the total cost isn’t due upfront; you can pay in monthly installments! We personally feel EF Ultimate Break prices are made incredibly reasonable for a young person.

Does EF Ultimate Break Offer Sales or Discounts?

One of the nicest parts if that EF offers promo codes and discounts throughout the year. They have Black Friday sales, semi-annual sales, year-end sales, first-time traveler discounts, and repeat traveler discounts!

Book with our referral link and get $100 off your next EF Ultimate Break trip in addition to any discounts being offered!

How Do I Book with EF Ultimate Break?

Now that you know EF Ultimate Break is legit. Let’s talk about booking a trip!

• Create an account with EF Ultimate Break
• Browse trips
• Select trip
• Select the trip departure location
• Select date (make sure to check the date include the style of trip you want! (Solo, plus, essential)
• Proceed to booking with a. $150 deposit

Booking with EF Ultimate Break is so easy. Put $150 down and your travel plans are locked in! During the booking process you will have the option to add optional excursions and select a payment plan. EF Ultimate Break also offers trip protection that covers you medically while on your trip.

Conclusion: EF Ultimate Break ReviewIn conclusion, EF Ultimate Break offers an exceptional travel experience for young adults seeking adventure, cultural immersion, and lifelong friendships. With well-planned itineraries, knowledgeable tour guides, and a diverse range of destinations to choose from, this travel company truly delivers on its promise to create unforgettable memories. Whether you are a seasoned traveler or embarking on your first trip abroad, EF Ultimate Break is a reliable option for those looking to explore the world in a fun and meaningful way.

To end this post, we’ll leave you with a little photo dump of some of our favorite EF Ultimate Break memories! You don’t want to miss out on the trip of a lifetime!

Like this review of EF Ultimate Break? Share with your friends!

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Lifestyle , Travel

EF Ultimate Break Review – Is Traveling With EF Worth It?

You may think this is an EF Ultimate Break Review. It is, but it’s also not. It’s about how I took a leap of faith to travel by myself, which is something I never imagined doing with my personality. As well as how I ended up prioritizing myself, which lead to one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Most importantly, this is not a sponsored post – it is based solely on my personal experience of traveling with EF.

To begin with, I never really liked traveling from the get-go. With time, I soon realized why. Traveling was a struggle. I could never fall asleep, in a car or plane. Whether it’s for a 3-hour flight or 20, I would be wide awake. I did a 22-hour flight once without layovers, pre-covid, and it was a nightmare.

Eventually, I discovered that I actually did love visiting new places and countries. It was getting to those new places that drained me since at the time I was juggling a full-time job and school. Traveling seemed like extra work instead of a vacation. It was exhausting and what was worst, my travel companions were the complete opposite. They could knock out the minute they sat down and were ready to go the minute we landed.

It was strange to say the least, when all of sudden in summer 2021 I was itching to travel…badly. I’d assume, it was like that for everyone in 2021. I wanted to go somewhere – anywhere but home. Unfortunately, it was the worst, yet best timing.

All of my travel friends were for it, however, they all had different priorities at the moment. One friend was getting married (which I planned but that’s a story for another time). The second friend traveling with their partner, who never wanted to travel, so she felt like she had won the lottery. My third friend was meeting her partner’s family for the first time.

In other words, they were down to travel with me but there were the unsaid words in the background – I would have to wait. I completely understood since being in a relationship, completely realigns one’s life.

So I waited and had an incredible summer in NYC. Fall came around and I sensed, none of them were ready to travel then as planned. The downfall of being the only single person in your friend group.

As a result, I decided to travel solo for the first time. It was something I had to contemplate for most of the summer because of my concerns. How safe was it to travel alone as a young petite woman? What if I regretted it? What would I do if I needed help? I would be completely alone. Safety was my main concern since even walking home late at night as a woman, is something to worry about. It’s unfortunate, but it’s our reality.

So I researched, telling no one of my plans. Since did I also mention, my friends are quite protective.

That’s how I discovered EF Ultimate Break . There are tons of other company’s just like EF Ultimate Break and traveling with EF, was what I ended up choosing.

One of the reasons why I chose to travel with EF was that they made travel groups by age. You would travel with others in their 20’s, like you, to make it easier for everyone to connect with age. There were people traveling solo, with friends, or with their partners. It addressed one of my concerns about traveling alone for safety reasons. A plus was being able to connect with new people since it’s become difficult to meet new individuals after Covid hit.

The second reason is everything is planned for you. I am a planner, but with covid, the constant changing status of flights and country restrictions has made planning a trip insanely difficult. But all I had to do was just submit my payment after speaking to my trip consultant and simply waiting for flight details, as well as, the link to the Facebook group to connect with everyone before we meet.

In the end, I met some of the most amazing people in my life. In fact, I’m planning on traveling with some of them again later this year with EF.

I ended up choosing to travel to Greece in early September, which I later found out was one of the best times to go to Greece. The weather was perfect. It was off-season so things were cheaper and there were fewer tourists. My group ended up being quite small with around 20 people, all-woman except for two men. There was only one couple and the rest were a mixture of solo travelers like myself or some who had come with one other friend.

They planned everything from our flights to our activities, and the best part, we could choose to not do the activities planned for us and do our own thing if we wanted to. However, I liked what one of my friends on that trip said. She would rather do everything that was planned because she felt like she wouldn’t do any of those things otherwise alone. Which was so true, in my case. I would have just stayed in after the first day from exhaustion.

I ended up doing everything and most of it was for the first time. We went snorkeling, tubing, jet skiing, cave swimming, and much more. Trying new things was great. Yet my favorite part was that throughout the trip, I felt like I was redefining myself from scratch.

The people I usually travel with are quite protective of me. Maybe it’s because most of my closest friends are older than me and being younger, makes them want to protect me. That being said, in their defense, I am just as protective of them.

Nevertheless, I never realized how limiting it was. I was never a reckless person, to begin with, but I realized I overthought my actions more with them.

In the past, I would put my needs second, since I preferred peace with my relationships. I would essentially do whatever my travel companion wanted. As a result, I realized I never thought about what I wanted.

However, in Greece, I was uninhibited, free, and unjudged. I did what I wanted without questioning my wants. It’s crazy to admit, but I actually began to learn about what I wanted in the first place. I became a person I didn’t even know I could be. My companions in Greece, also traveling with EF, described me completely different from what I would describe myself before. Previously, I considered myself quite a scaredy-cat, who preferred to stay in the corner at parties. They thought I was confident, daring, and the center of all parties.

I ended up recognizing one thing – traveling pushed my limits. Traveling alone, pushed my limits further. It forced me to grow. Coming back from Greece, I had changed quite a bit and I wasn’t the only one that noticed. In the upcoming winter, I ended up traveling with those very friends, who were initially unable to in the summer, and even they pointed out how much I changed. I began to point out my wants and needs, with it making traveling more enjoyable.

Perhaps that’s why the universe decided to help me in their own way. Perhaps that’s why no one was available that summer. I was given a chance to change and evolve on my own…and I took it.

Photo by James Ting on Unsplash

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

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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. 

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. 

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.    

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. 

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.  

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. 

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.  

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.  

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.

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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

Thursday 14th of March 2024

Thank you so much for your insightful review! My daughter is headed to S. Korea in a few weeks and reading all these comments & your review...I'm just hoping for the best at this point. I wanted to ask about the tipping. Our group leader has requested $145 paid to her in cash, which I was completely caught off guard, considering the financial commitment of the trip itself, but reading this, it seems that it is quite normal. I contacted EF and the representative said that according to the tour itinerary, the total suggested guideline should be significantly less. Do you know what happens if there is a surplus or shortage with the tipping amount? I'm just wary about giving someone I don't even know (group leader) cash.

Louise Emery

Tuesday 2nd of April 2024

I really am not sure what would be done with a surplus. I would definitely ask the group leader about the discrepancy between their request and the recommendation of EF.

Melissa Levy

The parent in charge of the tour I’m about to go on is asking for $200 for tips from each parent going on the trip and $120 for each kid. Based on what I’ve read, this seems like a lot. What do you think?

I think it depends on where you're going and what you're doing. We paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 per person. We had a LOT of tours and there were many people to tip. My only concern is the different amount for parent vs student. I wonder why they are breaking it down that way.

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.

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.

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EF Tours offered my students real experiences

EF Tours offered my students real experiences in Peru in 8 days--from excursions, to accommodations and food and to seeing how we are all more alike than we are not. The standout was our Tour Director, Washington Salguero, who went above and beyond to support us. And the end of the tour, I felt I wanted to do it again.

Date of experience : April 01, 2024

An ideal school trip!

Central America was the perfect place for my middle schoolers. Shorter flights, friendly Spanish speakers, and an overall warm welcoming country to visit. Itinerary started off slow (which may have been for the better, considering how wore out everyone is in the end). Food tour, and La Fortuna were a few highlights for my students. Great experience! Great taste of Costa Rica.

Date of experience : April 11, 2024

EF ensures success for Group Leaders

From choosing a tour, to organizing information sessions for families, from keeping the enthusiasm and momentum going to preparing travelers for the trip, my Tour Consultant was there every step of the way! The whole process was seamless! There's a reason why EF is the name you know! They've got a great recipe! I traveled with EF as a student in 10th and 12th grade and loved both of those experiences. Now as a Group Leader I was able to help facilitate creating unforgettable experiences for my students and their family members who traveled with us! The portal was user-friendly, the checklists kept me on point, and my first tour was a success! I am already planning my second!

A magical experience!

This is my second time joining one of my kids on an EF Tours vacation. EF Tours planned out everything from the start of the preparation, air travel, tour locations, the best tour guides, hotels, meals, museums, castles, churches, river boat rides, and even going to the Eye of London "ferris wheel". Any glitches, such as having me rooming with a male I never met before, was taken care of immediately. There was a mix up with one of our bus drivers on the last day, but that was seamlessly taken care of as well. We even had an extra tour guide with us who was in training - a nice bonus for everyone. It was magical to say the least!

Date of experience : March 28, 2024

Won't Repeat an EF Tour

Firsr,, Customer service was hideous. Once the package was paid in full, the double-talk began. Second, Our Tour Guide in Paris (Joel) was simply obnoxious. We had several students nearly get hit by vehicles because they were unable to keep up with the fast walking pace. Joel had to be reminded several times DAILY to slow down to wait for the entire group (38 people).

London and Paris STEM Tour

This tour exceeded my expectations. Our tour director was knowledgeable, helpful and engaging. I enjoyed all the dinners at the restaurants. The hotels rooms were nice. One thing I would change is the breakfasts: Although good, we had the same exact breakfast for 7 days.

Date of experience : April 17, 2024

Could be better

I liked being in Italy, the payment plan set up, the itinerary and I loved the tour guide - Kent! I did not think the dinners provided by EF were good and I thought combining with another group that we did not know took away from our experience. It made our group too big to navigate busy cities, and we constantly had to wait for members of their group - 1 time for more than an hour, cutting into our time.

Date of experience : March 31, 2024

Extraordinary Spring Break

Our tour guide, Mario, was phenomenal. He was knowledgeable, kind, don’t and patient. Interacted personably with both the students and adults on the trip. Kept calm when we ran into some blips that were outside of his control and pivoted with ease. The local experts we had were super knowledgeable. Breakfasts were very good and the dinners were better than I expected. Our hotels were all comfortable and clean, some were exceptional. I cannot wait to travel again with EF and my younger daughter in a couple years

Date of experience : March 25, 2024

Best Tour Guide Ever!

Our tour guide, Yoyo (pronounced Jojo), was absolutely amazing. I travel internationally often, and this was by far one of the best tours I have ever had. My daughter, 13, also enjoyed herself and eagerly asked her teacher, "When is the next trip?!" If I could give more than 5 stars, I would!

Date of experience : April 12, 2024

Great experience

Very informative, friendly tour guide. Unforgettable experience with my child. Safety was a top priority and it was taken seriously. Thank you to our tour guide, Daniel, for showing us around and being there for any questions or suggestions. Appreciate the work he does and the patience he had with everyone, as well as our driver Michele.

Date of experience : March 27, 2024

Logistical support was expertly…

Logistical support was expertly managed. Big plus for helping navigating the sick kids. Big disappointment feedback from the kids about food. Ground hamburger meat was served and called steak frites? Our kids are more sophisticated and would have preferred a more French foodie experience. Big bummer.

USA to Italy & Greece

My daughter attended a recent trip with her classmates to Italy and Greece on a 10 day excursion. We were incredibly impressed with the ambitious itinerary and EF Tours ability to execute it flawlessly. The students and staff who accompanied them in this trip no doubt had a life changing experience. The students were able to learn and see so much, as well as navigate foreign countries with appropriate supervision, but also enjoy the freedom of shopping and dining out alone with peers. All the accommodations were safe and we never worried that our daughter was not in good hands. Their guide, Laertus, was raved about and the students seemed to really enjoy his knowledge and support! Thanks so much EF Tours!

My husband and son went on this trip

My husband and son went on this trip. They shared the tour guides and experts who provided in-depth knowledge were wonderful. They really appreciated the tours around the Acropolis. They were well organized, timely, and the activities were well thought out.

Date of experience : April 15, 2024

The trip was for my grandson who…

The trip was for my grandson who absolutely had an excellent time. The only drawback to that whole trip was the overbooking of the flights in the fact that a one-day trip turned into almost three full days to get there. Other than that they picked up the pace a little bit and completed the whole tour there

Letting teenagers just sit and do nothing in an airport on Easter Sunday to save money is ridiculous

I'm not sure how much of this Hass to do with the school or the booking but they booked the kids on Easter Sunday too early to go to mass And EF tours was completely dishonest with me about the money. Luckily they fixed some of it but I'm still out an extra $300 because they were dishonest. To save money they had layovers which were ridiculous so our kids left at nine in the morning and did not get to Europe for almost 20 hours, because I guess to save money they had huge layovers in Charlotte And of course the cheapest tickets to return was the day of Eclips cause everybody wanted to be watching the Eclips, so it was horrible dates just so EF could save money

Date of experience : April 16, 2024

Reply from EF Educational Tours

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us regarding the travel arrangements for your child's tour. We take your feedback seriously as we continuously strive to provide the best possible experience for our travelers. We want to assure you that when selecting flights for our tours, our team prioritizes safety and convenience for the group. This often means choosing flights with longer layovers to ensure ample time for travelers to navigate security and transfers without the risk of missing flights. Regarding the scheduling of activities, we apologize for any inconvenience caused by the timing of events such as Easter Sunday mass. We understand the importance of accommodating religious observances and will take your feedback into consideration for future tours. We appreciate your feedback, and we hope to provide you with an excellent experience moving forward.

A wonderful experience in Costa Rica with EF

After returning from EF's tour through Costa Rica, I have to say that the highlight may have been our incredible tour director. He was super enthusiastic about teaching us everything about his country, and made the long bus rides super fun. The planning of the trip by EF was also superb. Every city that we stopped in had some incredible activity in store; may it be ziplining in the rainforest, or white water rafting, it was always incredible. The other opportunities that EF gave us to learn about the culture of Costa Rica, such as a presentation on chocolate, or pineapples, or coconuts, were all incredibly thought out. Overall, the tour was incredible, and EF deserves a lot of credit.

Date of experience : March 30, 2024

Great overall experience

Great overall experience. For some reason our tickets to the Louvre never got arraigned so that was one unfortunate part. The only other thing that we really did not like were the food choices for our meals at dinner. I know they are trying to have use eat French food, but we should remember that these are teenagers on the trip and most of that food they will not eat.

Date of experience : April 09, 2024

Great experience that was student…

Great experience that was student focused. Itinerary was clear and kept updated by our guide. Fantastic guide - Vanessa, who was knowledgeable, patient, friendly and flexible- a great problem solver and went above and beyond. Accommodations were very comfortable, perhaps a bit far from our destinations requiring some long coach rides. Would prefer more time at the destinations and less traveling to get there. Food was the most disappointing aspect- it was all very bland, though breakfasts were excellent and plentiful- definitely the best meals. Glad we could have lunch on our own because the dinners felt rushed, were plenty for me but sparse for teenage boys. Overall a good introduction to France, well organized.

What an awesome experience with EF Tours

We had such a great trip with Ef tours and our tour guide Chris. The Hotels were nice and food was excellent at the places selected for our group dinners. The Greek dinner experience was awesome. The planned tours at the pantheon, the Vatican and the colosseum were excellent. Cant say enough about how awesome this experience was and thanks to ef tours for making this such an easy process and great experience.

My Daughter went on the London/Paris…

My Daughter went on the London/Paris trip and had a amazing time. It was very well run and organized. They kept us well informed and the students were able to do a lot of fun activities and get some independent time too.

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Generator Paris

Rooftop & Lobby Bar

24 Hour Lounge

24 Hour Laundry

Free Breakfast

Grocery store next door

Metro stops nearby: 3 stops within 5 minutes

Nearby highlights

Famed Montmartre neighborhood

Buttes Chaumont Parc

Picasso Museum

Sacre Coeur Cathedral

Cruising the Canal de St. Martin

Waman Inn Machu Picchu

English Satellite Television Stations

Rooftop bar & lounge

Room service available

Grocery store within 2 city blocks

Subway stops: 3 within 5 minutes

The sprawling Inca ruins of Machu Picchu

Picturesque mountains and the Rio Vilcanota valley

Hotel Abril Seville

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Free coffee daily

Sevilla historic site

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Orizontes Hotel

Dry Cleaning & Laundry

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Fira & Pyrgos Village

Great views of Santorini Island, Caldera and Volcano, Fira, Oia, Akrotiri, and Aegean sea

Athinios Port

TOC Hostel, Barcelona

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EF Ultimate Break: Promo Codes & FAQs

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EF Ultimate Break is my favorite tour company to travel with. If you are between 18 and 35, there’s no better way to see the world than with like-minded travelers your age . And there are a lot of promo codes you can use to save on EF Ultimate Break trips .

EF plans everything, from the flights to the hotels and the activities. You just need to show up and be ready for the trip of a lifetime. 

I like traveling with EF to destinations I likely wouldn’t go on my own, but they have over 65 trips to choose from all over the world. Many people choose to book EF trips as solo travelers , so you will easily make friends on the trips. 

Below are some EF promo codes you can use to save on your next trip and some FAQs I often get asked about traveling with them .

SALE ALERT!

Until April 25, 2024, EF Ultimate Break is having a sale on 2024 beach trips, city escapes, and more. Trips in 2024 and 2025 are up to $600 off during the sale.

Make sure you use this link to save $100 off your first trip with EF Ultimate, or use code REPEAT if you’ve traveled with them before! (Yes, you can stack these codes on top of the sale prices!!)

You can save $100 on your first trip when you book with this link!

Some links on this page are affiliate links , meaning I may earn a commission if you click the link or make a purchase through the link. This is at no extra cost to you. This compensation may impact how and where links are placed on this site.

✈️ Win a free 5-night stay in Aruba! Click here to enter . The giveaway ends on May 9, 2024 at 12:00AM PDT. Exponential Travels is not administering this giveaway.

Last updated: April 4, 2024

Originally published: April 26, 2023

Table of Contents

EF Ultimate Break Promo Codes

EF Ultimate Break always has promo codes you can use depending on whether or not you’ve traveled with them before. 

Promo Codes for First-Time EF Travelers

No matter where you decide to travel with EF Ultimate for your first trip, you can save $100 when you  book using this link !

The promo code will be automatically applied at checkout. Comment below if you have any issues applying the $100 discount. 

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Repeat EF Promo Codes

There are also EF Ultimate Break coupons for repeat travelers. When you book your second, third, or further trips with EF, use code REPEAT at checkout .

The discount gets bigger for each trip you’ve been on!

• 1 trip taken: $250 off (goes down to $100 after three months)
• 2-3 trips taken: $250 off (never expires)
• 4 or more trips taken: $300 off

If you forget to apply the EF Ultimate Break coupon code when you book, you can contact their support team, and they will make sure you get the discount.

Group Discounts

Group leaders will coordinate specific trips, and you get a discount (usually $200 off) when you use their group discount EF promo code.  

You can find all the current group discount codes here or search on the EF Ultimate Travelers Facebook page . Not all trips will have a group discount code available. 

These discounts cannot be combined with first-time or repeat traveler codes, so make sure you choose the EF Ultimate Break promo code that gives you the biggest discount. 

No one coordinating the trip you want?

EF Ultimate Break FAQs

After traveling with EF Ultimate Break on three trips, I get a lot of questions about traveling with them. I put all the frequently asked questions below, but if you have others, send me a  DM on Instagram .

Most Common Questions about EF Ultimate Break

Here are the most common questions I get asked by first-time travelers.

Should I get EF travel protection?

I always suggest getting EF travel protection because you never know what issues might arise when traveling. They will cover you if you get sick or injured, lose your bag, your flight is delayed, and more. 

If you want to book travel insurance for a non-EF Ultimate trip or want another option, I recommend SafetyWing .

How do I get to the first hotel if I book my own flights?

If you book your own flights (which I highly recommend!), you must get from the airport to the first hotel on your own. I use public transportation if it’s available and reliable (like in Europe or some parts of Asia), or book a transportation service through Viator .

You can always ask your tour director if you can join in on the group transportation, and they might allow you to.

Can I do laundry on EF trips?

Laundry will be available at some hotels or hostels throughout your trip. It is better to do laundry during your trip than over-pack, especially on longer trips. 

Can I upgrade my flight or change my seats?

If you book them with EF, you will get your flight assignment 30 days before you depart. You can use your confirmation number to find your flight details on the airline’s website. Here, you can pick/change your seat, add bags, and add TSA precheck/global entry numbers. 

How much should I tip my tour guide?

Each trip has a different recommended tip for your tour guide. You can find the recommended amount in your trip’s Know Before You Go Guide (found in the app, online, or in your email). EF tour guides work hard to give us a good experience and show us around a new place, so make sure you budget for the tip!

How big are EF Ultimate Break groups?

Tour groups range in size, with the average tour having 20 to 30 travelers. The maximum number is 40-ish travelers. 

Is EF Ultimate Break worth it?

EF Ultimate Break is so worth it! They plan everything for you, so you just have to show up, have fun, and travel the world with other people ages 18 to 35. 

Other FAQs About EF Ultimate

Below are some more frequently asked questions I get about traveling with EF Ultimate Break. Ready to book? Save $100 on your first trip (or use code REPEAT to save up to $300 on your next one).

Is EF Ultimate Break only for college students?

No, EF Ultimate Break is for anyone 18 to 35. 

Can you be older than 29 for EF Ultimate Break?

Yes! EF Ultimate Break tours are for anyone 18 to 35. They raised the EF Ultimate Break age limit from 29 to 35 in 2022. 

What is the difference between EF Ultimate Break and Go Ahead?

The biggest difference between EF Go Ahead Tours vs EF Ultimate Break is the age requirements. EF Ultimate Break is for travelers 18 to 35, whereas Go Ahead Tours are for anyone six and older. 

Does EF Ultimate Break provide food?

Some meals are included on EF Ultimate Break trips. You usually get all breakfasts and a few lunches and dinners. The total number of meals included can be found on each individual trip page. 

Is EF Ultimate Break LGBT friendly?

Yes, EF Ultimate Break is LGBT friendly, and anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is welcome on EF Ultimate Break trips.

Does EF include flights?

You can book roundtrip flights for your trip through EF Ultimate Break from major cities in the United States. 

Does EF have payment plans?

EF Ultimate Break offers payment plans, so you can pay weekly, biweekly, or monthly. The payment plans include your flights, add-ons, and travel protection too. 

Is EF Ultimate Break only for girls?

No! EF Ultimate Break is for everyone between 18-35, regardless of how you identify. 

How often does EF Ultimate Break have deals?

EF Ultimate Break runs a sale every few months or so. The biggest sale is in November for Black Friday . There are EF Ultimate Break promo codes you can use year-round.

Current sale! Until April 25, 2024, EF Ultimate Break is having a sale on 2024 beach trips, city escapes, and more. Trips in 2024 and 2025 are up to $600 off during the sale.

Make sure you use this link to save $100 off your first trip with EF Ultimate, or use code REPEAT if you’ve traveled with them before!

The Black Friday sale usually starts around the second week of November, but promotion for the sale will start as soon as late October.

Read more about the Black Friday sale .

You can use the $100 off link or the REPEAT codes on top of any sale prices.

What airline does EF Ultimate Break use?

EF Ultimate uses major airlines for their trips, and the exact airline you will be booked on depends on where you are flying from and where you are going.

Ready to book with EF Ultimate Break?

I love how easy EF Ultimate Break makes it to travel all over the world. Book your first trip using  this link for $100 off , or use one of the codes above to save as a repeat traveler.

Check out my EF Ultimate Break trip reviews:

• Belize: Rainforests, Reefs, & Ruins
• South Korea Spotlight
• Costa Rica Adventure (New Year’s in Costa Rica )
• Grand Tour of Turkey (Coming June 2024)
• New Year’s Trips with EF Ultimate Break

Let me know in the comments below if you have any other questions, or shoot me a  DM on Instagram  🙂 

Planning a trip soon? Here are some of my favorite sites to use to plan every trip:

• Top travel credit cards
• SafetyWing for travel insurance
• Booking.com for a huge variety of hotels, vacation rentals, flights, and more
• HostelWorld for the best hostels around the world
• Vrbo for vacation homes and rentals
• FareDrop and Going for cheap flight alerts
• Skyscanner for the cheapest flights
• Amazon for travel and packing must-haves
• Priority Pass for airport lounge access
• TripAdvisor for the top hotels around the world

Click for the top hotel deals!

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