Lines of Latitude
Signing Up
- Almost everything!
- All hotel beds and train couchettes will be reserved for you
- All breakfasts are provided by the hotel, the train will provide juice and croissants
- Dinners will be provided the first evening in each city
- Four hour bike tours of each city
- A main attraction will be presented in each city
- A 24/7 tour director
- A video of your trip will be edited just for you
- An I.D. necklace to wear during the trip which allows access to many restaurants and sites
- A water bottle that will allow you to save a lot of money for other souvenirs
- A watch, to make sure you meet the group on time
- an Itinerary pass book which includes all sites, hotel addresses, maps and areas of interest in each city, and place to write a journal entry for each day
- A rolling duffel bag
- Two chaperones will be at your disposal to help you with any language issues, or booking any optional tours.
- A daily blog entry for your loved ones back home can read,
- and last but not least….frequent gelato stops!
The airfare is purchased separately only because a travel agent can work with individual families on cheaper deals by using frequent flyer miles, and for the hop on-hop off option, travelers may have different itineraries. Group tickets must be purchased by an IATA travel agent, for the best deals.
It is always nice to get a head count in September. Deposits help with this head count. However, once word of mouth gets around, students end up signing up throughout the school year. Travelers are welcome to join the trip up to the day the trip leaves, which has really happened! There are late fees, however, of $200 to add after March 1st and $500 to add after June 1st. Also note that some other random last minute fees may be applicable as well, due to changes in hotel and train reservations.
Yes. Passports are necessary. They should be valid 6 months prior to the conclusion of your LOL trip.
Play it safe! Yes! For around $175.00 you can be covered for any part of the tour. Cancellations for train, hotels, tours, and most importantly, lost luggage, medical treatment and stolen cameras. Most travel agencies offer an insurance package. Use your AAA or private company and get yourself covered!
Yes, all you have to do is contact the travel agency, and always let the tour director know your itinerary. Someone will meet you at the airport or train station and help you to join the group.
Yes, this is encouraged. Many past travelers stay on with family, or go off to other European cities using the Eurail pass. You do, however, need to know you want to do this, before your airfare is purchased.
Yes! The hop-on-hop-off option allows you to decide what cities and dates work best for you. A personal itinerary is available. The tour manager will work closely with you to help you find the best trip of a lifetime for you!
Of course! Lines of Latitude tour director did not travel to Europe until she was 33, because of the fear of not speaking a foreign language, but don’t let this detour you! You will assimilate easily into each culture. You will naturally pick up the basics of each language. “Yes” “no” “thank you” “excuse me” and “please” are really the only phrases you will need to use. Your Itinerary Passbook will provide you with these phrases for each country. DO NOT let the language barrier keep you from traveling the world, ever!
LOL does provide scholarships! Lines of Latitude began as a non-profit specifically to allow everyone the chance to travel Europe. Please contact us about the scholarship application. It is an easy process, and you are the reason we exist!
There are monthly fundraisers. Travelers are asked to volunteer to help out at events, as this is a time to create a close community before we share close quarters in Europe.
Travel Preparation
Yes. After eight years of traveling, we know the best way to experience a Eurotrip. The 31-inch rolling duffel bag has proven to be the “way to go.” Not only does it stay light, (after 20 days of pulling it around) it doesn’t break as easily as a suitcase, and it has so many compartments, in which to stay organized. It fits on all the racks in the train, subways, buses and trams. Most importantly, do not over pack and save space for souvenir purchases. Remember, luggage over 50 lbs will be charged a hundred dollars on the airline home.
Spending money all depends upon your needs. One year a traveler spent 300 euro (about 450 dollars) and one year a traveler spent $3000 euro (about 4500 dollars). Are you someone that wants to buy cute artsy bracelets from vendors on the St. Charles bridge, (like Venice Beach artists) or do you want to buy gold from the famous stores on the Florence bridge in Italy? T-shirts from each city will cost around 20 euro each, where as stickers will cost around 3 euro. I like to save restaurant napkins as souvenirs, but some people need to have a Vatican blessed necklace charm (30 euro).
The best way to budget is to come up with a budget, but allow some wiggle room. I encourage all gifts to be bought in the last city, so you aren’t lugging around items throughout the trip, and worrying if they will get stolen.
Travelers are encouraged to pack the most comfortable clothes with pockets that button or zip shut. One evening of a nice outfit is always nice to have. Travelers will be advised of the weather for the week of the trip and should pack clothes that do not wrinkle.
Yes, there will be time on all trips to write home, blog and to keep in touch with family and friends. The train trips will definitely allow time to catch up with correspondence. Please be advised that LOL is not responsible for any lost or stolen equipment.
Travelers will need foreign plugs, which can be purchased at REI prior to arriving in Europe if they plan to charge any cameras, phones or use hair dryers.
LOL does not assign rooms. If you are traveling with friends, a month or so before we leave, roommates can be chosen by travelers. They will choose who their roommate is in a double room, in triples, in quads, and sometimes in a room of six. They will keep this assignment throughout the whole trip. If they want to make any changes, it is up to them to have the other traveler concerned agree with this change.
Yes! All travelers will be able to request who their roommates are. If a traveler would like a single room, a written request needs to be made along with deposit, and a separate fee will be added to travelers cost once the hotels are booked.
Everyone will be given a record locator number, which consists of eight letters and numbers. You will need your passport and this number. You will go to the assigned airline terminal computer check in screen and either hand your passport to agent, or swipe your passport in machine (kind of like a credit card swipe). Then your ticket info will pop up. You will verify the flight, and then print your boarding pass. 1, 2, 3 easy as can be.
A tour chaperone will be at the terminal directing all travelers to go up to gate once they’ve received pass, and once all travelers have checked in, the chaperone will join everyone at the gate. If there is a traveler who is more than an hour late, the chaperone will go up to the gate and wait with the group.
LOL likes all feedback on what sites travelers would love to visit. There is never a set itinerary. In fact, one year two cities were completely erased from the original trip so that travelers could spend longer in London and France.
On The Trip
- Sleep in!
- Wake up around 9 am, meander down for a free continental breakfast in hotel. Go back up to room to dress.
- Or wake around 9 am and dress and walk to nearest café, order a shot of espresso, grab a croissant and a fruit for the road and come back to hotel.
- By 10 am meet everyone in lobby
- By 10:30 everyone is well on their way to visit historical sites, museums, other city tours or community service.
- By 1 pm we are all able to have a quick lunch.
- Visit more sites, or shop by subway, trams or buses!
- By 5 pm travelers walk tired legs back to to hotel room.
- Lay down and rest while awaiting for your turn in the shower.
- meet in lobby by 8 pm
- Walk to dinner restaurant.
- Walk to nighttime attraction.
- Taxi home.
Now, there will be many variations to this day and as a group, we will decide what “times” we want to view all sites, the only mandatory deadline is when we purchase museum, train or airline tickets ahead of time.
There will be a generous amount of free time daily. There is flexibility in the itinerary, yet the schedule has been carefully planned and created with the interests of teenagers in mind. This LOL tour is geared to make travelers feel comfortable and to give them the tour of a lifetime.
Daylight extends into midnight in Europe so following US daylight curfew traditions is quite challenging. Each city has thoughtful evening experiences planned, and as a group, travelers find that staying together and having fun is the main priority. Evening curfew times vary in each city. Most travelers who have spent full days walking around cities are usually super tired by the end of the day and find the hotel’s bed a luxurious end to their day!
You will be fed the most authentic meals from the city. Elaborate menus filled with mouth-watering choices will be presented to you. LOL will present you a restaurant menu, and give you choices to choose from, all of which are the customer favorites.
All travelers are able to eat well on trips as there are never any set menus. Travelers have full access to a menu at all restaurants we visit.
LOL uses hostels, one star and two star hotels. Travelers will NEVER have to share a room or restrooms with strangers when staying at hostels. Apartment flats are a new asset to LOL trips, which have four beds in each room with kitchens and living areas. Sometimes travelers have access to a whole floor of an apartment building, other times a two-bedroom apartment can sleep eight. One and two star hotels are the other option, which usually sleep two in a room. LOL allows all travelers to have their own room keys and they can come and go to their rooms as they please.
Each hotel accommodations will vary. LOL does its best to provide AC in cities known to be hot.
Yes. In Amsterdam the hotel is a block away from a Laundromat. Also, some hostels provide a washing service. Laundromats are also frequently found all around major cities, so you will just have to decide what you will give up by doing laundry. The Amsterdam and Berlin the locations are near or in the hotels and are very safe, so if you put a load in, you can go back to your room and rest, play on computer or eat lunch, then go back and put it in the dryer. It is really a simple process and you will be reminded to do this, as washing your clothes is mandatory, to keep your packing list down to bare minimum. You could also pay a fellow traveler to do your dirtywork, everyone wants more cash to buy souvenirs with!
Most travelers put a SIM card in their phones, which is available once you purchase the international phone plan, which can be prorated for the days that you are in Europe. Other travelers will use skype or other services. There are wifi computers in all hotels and hostels that can be used, sometimes free, and sometimes with hourly rates. Your chaperone will have a SIM card, and a computer, so you will always be able to borrow theirs, but you will be billed for the minutes used, once returning to the States.
Yes! To have friends and family even join our excursions is also encouraged, as they can be great tour guides for us! Many of past travelers have gone to their aunts and cousins houses, we’ve met past travelers as they have been on their junior year of semester abroad. We’ve even shown locals a new flavor of their own city!
Cramped, but fun. The long 10-hour trips are a memorable part of the trip. We sit/sleep as a group, taking over a whole train car. The views out the windows are super memorable and beautiful. On the night trains we can roll down the windows and stick our heads out. The couchettes (sleepers with 6 beds) are very small, that we literally stand on each other to get to our seats and beds. There are train cars which have food, but it is a little more expensive, so on the way to our train, we will stop as a group to purchase munchies for the trip. We’ve had two travelers miss the train in the past, so please, stay with the group.
There has been a range of students on each trip from 9 travelers to 35! The average has been around 21. Each trip is a special trip of a lifetime and travelers have an amazing time no matter how many passengers there are. The most important factor is always if you are traveling with a few of your best friends.
Have any other questions? Don't hesitate to ask!
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