EF Ultimate Break Review (My Personal Experience)
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.
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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?
