Europe Tour with Gapforce

This trip was absolutely amazing! I had so much fun! The sightseeing and traveling were amazing of course, but more than that I fell in love with the many cultures, the people and our group! As a group you get so close to one another and we had some real bonding experiences :) plus you get to travel and see amazing things with these amazing people! Definitely go on this trip if you have the chance.

Plus Xav is the best tour guide around. But don't take him to nice places, he breaks things.

Before starting this trip I didn't know what to expect, but having finished it I can say it was the best month of my life. I met some amazing people which I will definitely stay friends with. After only a few days we bonded so well and our friendships definitely made the trip. Before going I knew I'd get to see all these amazing cities, but it was the experience as a whole. Between the people I met and places we went, it was a very very special trip. It's safe to say the low of my trip was leaving. The minute I returned home, I missed the holiday. I wanted to go back and I definitely don't think I was the only one who felt this in the group.. Also when your on the trip I learnt so much. If I had the chance I'd do it all again in a heartbeat

It was amazing. I never expected to meet interesting people, and get such an immersive experience in each city. Xav, our group leader, is a top-notch guy with a bunch of interesting stories to tell. He 100% deserves a raise, and I'm totally not being forced to write this for him.

This trip is the best experience of my life. Everything about this trip was incredible: the traveling, sightseeing, walking, and socializing with new people. Going on this trip, I knew that my favorite experience would be meeting new people, and I was right. Every person I met on this trip has contributed to my positive experience. Most of all, my expedition leader, Xav, really made this trip great. Although he is only two years older than me, I respect him as a leader and a friend. Not only does he keep an eye on us while traveling, but he also has fun with us. He actively seeks anyone who may feel alone or distressed and talks to them to make them feel better. I can confidently say that all of us look up to him. I don't know anyone else who has done expedition training in jungles around the world. We all aspire to be as well rounded as him. I regret nothing on this trip, most of all meeting all of the incredible friends I've made in our group. I highly recommend this Europe trip. Also, I would like to commend Xav on being an incredible leader.

I had an absolute blast during my trip to Europe the summer of 2015. I made friends with people vastly different from me, a few of which I still keep up with now despite living on different continents. Terry (our trip leader) was awesome and let us explore on our own while still making sure he knew we were alright. The sequence of cities we visited were great, and they helped me get a sense of Europe's culture while making note of where I'd like to go back and visit again. It was hard to get all we wanted to see in each city in with the time we had in each place, but overall I think our time was managed well. If you are looking to go on this trip, I would say don't be afraid to go off and do your own thing. Group activities are fun but I know the day I went to Pisa by myself was one of the more relaxing times I had, which I really needed to recharge. I would also say to spend the money on the tour busses. They are the quickest, easiest, and maybe cheapest way to see as much of the city as possible as quickly as possible. Also, none of the nine of us that went knew each other before hand, which made it fun, but if I did it over I might try and get a friend to go with me also. Just to have a familiar face. ANYWAY. This trip is great. Gapforce did an awesome job. I would totally travel with them again. So yeah! Thanks for a great experience!

One of my many favourite memories of the trip was being in Florence. To begin with we stayed in a wonderful old house just outside the main square. I shared an apartment with the girls which included a balcony with a lovely view of old stone houses and cathedrals. I spent the day wandering around the city, walking across the Ponte Vecchio bridge, finding little shops ran by locals and accidentally ending up at the Boboli Gardens where we wrote in our journals or relaxed. After having dinner in the evening we decided to climb a hill where we watched the sunset over the beautiful city.

As a sort of introduction to Europe, this trip was fantastic. I had tons of fun and learned a bunch everywhere we went and got to know myself a whole lot better.

Being able to have all the travel and lodging planned already was a blessing. It meant that I had the time to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with the freedom we all had in each city. I loved exploring with the group, but some days I just needed to take advantage of the opportunity to go off by myself and do whatever I wanted to do and have some time alone.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this trip to someone looking to step out of their comfort zone and discover Europe.

The past 25 days have been a life changing experience. I got to see so many cities and countries and I got to meet so many new incredible people. As a recap, I started off in London where I met Terry, Ben, Zoe, Hannah, Josh (aka Joey), Shannon, Lung-Hou and Megan. We travelled to Paris, Barcelona, Monaco & Nice, Florence, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam and back to London. We shared so many adventures and new interesting experiences together. The real truth is that there was a little tension towards the middle/end of the trip because when you spend 24 hours every day for 25 days with the same 8 people, you see them for who they really are-you see them at their best and at their worst-rather than for who they wish you to see. But looking back now, here at home, I already miss them all because I was with these 8 people, and only these 8 people for 25 days across the ocean, far away from the comforts of home and my family, sharing these mazing experiences with them. From getting lost in Paris with Zoe; the train ride from Paris to Barcelona with Terry, Ben and Josh; being on the brink of heat stroke in Nice and Ben running to get me water; spending the stressful day in Rome with Hannah; wandering the alleys of Venice with Hannah and Lung-Hou; the long late night chat at the hostel in Berlin with Terry on his birthday; the evening I planned my day in Amsterdam with Megan; exploring London with Zoe and Lung-Hou; and finally saying goodbye to everyone at the hostel where we started. Along the journey I have also made many friends not on the trip. The first was Peter who I played cards with and talked to in Barcelona, who we met in Rome, Vienna and Prague again as he was there the same time we were; Lou in Venice at the hostel who tagged along and watched fireworks with the rest of us; Nicole and Monica who I met at the hostel in Prague and then spent the next day with exploring Prague; Matt, Danielle, Jeff and Ronan who I played cards and talked with at the hostel in Berlin; Keaton and Jackson who I met while waiting in line for 2 hours at the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam and who walked through it with me. Thank you to Lauren for organizing this whole trip-it was an amazing experience and I hope to actually meet you in person someday! Thank you to everyone on the trip and to all the people I met along the way for making this an amazing experience that I’ll never forget. A special thanks to Terry for everything he’s done on the trip-gotten us to trains and hostels, stopped me from getting heat stroke and overall made the trip the best I could have hoped for! I enjoyed travelling, spending time with and getting to know you Terry over the past 25 days, I already miss you and our deep conversations very much and hope to see you again very soon! I am happy to be home now, but I miss everyone very much and hope to meet you all again someday soon. I love all of you very much and wish you all the best! Until next time.