European Explorer Program with Irish Gap Year

While on this program I met some amazing people and now have some new friends from all over the world. This kind of program is great for people who like a fast paced environment, and who are first time travellers. We covered a ton of cities and country’s in one month, and had a good amount of free time. Although this trip was sometimes exhausting with constantly moving around, it was worth it and I honestly enjoyed every place we went. I had a lot of fun taking photos at every beautiful city we visited. Overall I’d definitely recommend this program to other people on a gap year. It’s an experience I’ll never forget. So Thankful for all the leaders and the people I met along the way.

This program is a fast paced trip traversing across numerous cities in Europe, so pack your bags for moving around! For us, going through Germany, Austria, The Czech Republic, and Italy, we got to look through various lenses to experience European culture. In each city, we stayed in hostels, providing a unique style of traveling and a great way to meet new people too, wether it be within the program, at the hostels, or in the cities themselves. For just a months length, it’s a great way to open your eyes and search out some new corners of the world.

Although this was their first time running this specific program, I think IGY did a pretty good job on it. My goals going into this program were to see new cities, see what it's like to live in hostels and ride trains through Europe, and make new friends. These goals were achieved. I personally would have liked some more hikes/naturey activities because we are pretty much in cities the whole time. I think the program was well structured and the leaders were good. Keep in mind that on this program you get very limited alone time, which was important to me as an introvert.

This program offers a wide range of opportunities to experience the culture and environment of multiple european nations including Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Italy. The leaders for this program are great at adapting to different needs, staying organized, and they are extremely kind and easy going. There are many opportunities to travel on your own while being in safe, interesting cities and other students to explore with. The large group dynamic also adds to the safety and fun of the program.

The European Explorer Program is phenomenal at teaching kids how to travel on their own! They give a great opportunity to meet new people from all over the USA and Canada, and so many fun experiences to share with other people your age. You don’t have to worry about the stress of traveling across different countries and balance out the city and nature aspects of each country. The european explorer program offers so many opportunities to learn about the cultures of each country and enjoy independent freedom away from the leaders as well. The leaders are great at treating you equally and respecting your time exploring the different cities with the comfort of knowing you have people to rely on.