European tours for young people?

I’ve done two EF tours, one in high school, and one in college, and I would recommend them, though I went with school groups and I’m not sure if you can sign up for one as an individual. The only con with these tours is they tend to take you to the same kind of restaurants over and over, but they do provide you with plenty of time to explore on your own, so I would use some of that time to seek out more exciting dining options.

Is he particularly active? REI has some tours that look just amazing, and for all skill levels, so if he likes to hike, bike, kayak, or all three there’s all kinds of options.

@emilia_eclaire, yes, he loves to hike and bike both. He’s never done kayaking, but I bet he’d love it. REI is a great idea. I’ll check them out. Thanks!

I know he’d also be interested in the cultural side, too, museums, medieval villages, cathedrals, historic landmarks, local character, etc.

You know, getting to museums and major cultural sites shouldn’t be hard for any independent-minded young person. Guided tours are mostly best for the navigating in between, and the comraderie. And you do tend to save a little on boarding and meals. It sounds like he’d be a great fit for an REI tour. I’m going to go peruse their offerings right now…

If he’s 26 I suspect that he’s of age and independent enough to derive greater benefit from individual exploration. I know many of my friends that have gone to Asia and Europe that are around 23–25 and have had excellent experiences.

Are you concerned about safety or wanting to ensure that he’s enjoying an enriching experience while he’s there? You might want to see if you can get some of his friends together on the trip and develop the agenda with him beforehand, so he has the benefits of a structured tour…

Thanks for those good ideas, @artificialard. He’s soon to be 26. I think he’s just one of those young people to whom companionship means a lot, so it’s more than than safety, but yes, he is independent and capable. He took a solo biking trip on the West Coast when he was only sixteen.

After graduation his friends are going to be scattered all over the country. But it’s worth looking into. I can certainly picture him on, say, a biking tour in France and combining it with his own explorations.

Further comments and suggestions are more than welcome.

OK, try Topdeck tours if he’s slightly more mature, Contiki if he’s not, they do easy amazing tours, you get all the big spots and photo op’s, he will make some great mates, most on the tours are solo travelers, a lot of them will be Kiwis and Aussies (but we’re not a bad bunch) and there is a bit of a party mentality but he won’t foget it… just don’t let the other passangers know his Mum booked it!!