What You Need To About Traveling With EF Ultimate Break – An Honest Review
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Is EF Ultimate Break worth it? What is it really like to travel with EF Ultimate Break? Find out as we share our EF Ultimate Break experience and dive into the pros and cons of traveling with EF Ultimate Break!
As a college graduation gift to ourselves, we wanted to book a massive trip to Europe, but honestly, it felt like we didn’t have the time or knowledge to plan something so daunting on our own. Since we had a great experience traveling with EF College Study with our college, we decided to go ahead and explore what EF Ultimate Break had to offer. Needless to say, booking our 30-day European adventure with EF Ultimate Break was the best decision we could have made. After having such a great experience on the Grand Tour of Europe, we booked the Grand Tour of Ireland!
Booking international travel with EF Ultimate Break was more than worth it. It removed all the stress of planning and provided unforgettable experiences! As young adults, we didn’t have a lot of money or time off for travel, so we wanted to maximize our trip, and EF Ultimate Break was able to do that!
In this post, we will share all the details about taking a trip with EF Ultimate Break, a tour company designed specifically for young adults aged 18-35. So, let’s get into our honest EF Ultimate Break review!
Our Honest EF Ultimate Break Review
TLDR: Are EF Ultimate Break Trips Worth It?
Yes! If you’re a young traveler who doesn’t have the time to plan an international trip, an EF Ultimate Break trip is a great option. The trips include major bucket list destinations, sites, and attractions, and most of the difficult planning is already done for you, like flights, hotel arrangements, and ground transportation. It’s a great way to travel with the comfort of other people and a full-time tour director. Tours are fairly priced, and EF Ultimate Break offers a range of tours around the globe!
When traveling with EF Ultimate Break, anyone from 18 to 35 can book a trip online with a down payment of only $150. EF Ultimate Break offers precisely what you think it does: ultimate trips! These tours are hosted throughout the year, worldwide, and on a young adult’s budget! When browsing the website, you can search by length of trip, country, and cost. Each tour page includes the activities and general itineraries for each day. You can price out your trip based on wherever you’ll be flying out of, the time of year, and the type of trip. EF Ultimate Break now offers different styles of trips, including those for solo-traveler,s budget travelers, and those looking to have a luxury experience.
Book with our referral link and get $100 off your next EF Ultimate Break trip!
Why We Chose to Travel with EF Ultimate Break
We have traveled with the tour agency EF, or Education First, for almost all our international travels. We traveled with EF College Study for our first trip abroad when we were in college, which made trip planning and the trip itself easier to manage compared to doing everything on our own. We had never traveled to Europe before, so planning a trip to Europe on our own seemed out of reach and scary for us. We wanted planning to be effortless! When the opportunity arose with our college to travel to Italy with EF College Study, we decided to take the plunge and book with EF! Then, several years later, after we graduated college, we decided that we wanted to continue traveling with EF through EF’s Ultimate Break. Our first trip with EF Ultimate Break was the Grand Tour of Europe. Because we were so happy with our experience, we then decided to book another trip, the grand tour of Ireland.
Personally, we found that traveling with EF Ultimate Break made the planning process much more accessible than if we were planning these trips on our own. We wanted the convenience of having most of the itinerary already planned for us, and all we had to do was fill in the free time and other activities we wanted to do. One of the most convenient aspects of traveling with a group like EF Ultimate Break was having the ground transportation and hotels booked and coordinated. We enjoyed the sense of comfort of traveling with a group and a full-time tour director. It was nice to have the option of doing activities with other people, and it was great to have a tour director who could offer us tips and recommendations throughout the tour.
Our Experience Traveling with EF Ultimate Break
What We Loved About EF Ultimate Break
We have traveled with EF Ultimate Break twice. Our first trip was the Grand Tour of Europe trip, which was a 30-day-long excursion across 10+ countries. Most recently, in August 2023, we traveled on the Grand Tour of Ireland trip. Because the Grand Tour of Ireland was much shorter and only featured one country, we felt like the pace of the trip was a little slower compared to the Grand Tour of Europe. In the Grand Tour of Europe, we spent more time traveling between cities and countries than in Ireland, where our longest drive was only about 3 hours. The Grand Tour of Europe was extensive, and we packed in so many places and activities in just 30 days. This is something to consider when picking a trip. Longer trips where you visit more countries are fast-paced since you have to spend more time traveling to get from one place to another. And the itineraries are designed so you experience more in a single day.
For both of our trips, we felt that we did a lot in a short amount of time. We saw most of the “bucket list” attractions, museums, and activities in each destination, and we had free time to plan our own. We were constantly on the go, but we had flexibility in what we wanted to do. There were days when we had time to relax at the hotel for a bit before moving on to the next activity. We felt it was generally a good balance of structured itineraries versus free time.
What We Didn’t Really Like with EF Ultimate Break
Our only criticism of traveling with EF Ultimate Break is that we wish we had booked the “Plus” trips. For the Grand Tour of Europe when we traveled in 2017, the Plus itinerary didn’t exist yet for EF! So we can’t fault EF for that. But when we traveled with a Grand Tour of Ireland, we wished we had booked the Plus trip. Our reasoning for this came down to personal preference. At this point in our lives, we weren’t particularly fond of staying in hostels or rooming with 6 other people that we didn’t know, even though they were from our tour. It wasn’t because we didn’t like the people on our tour. It was just that we wanted our privacy. This was our fault for not booking the Plus trip, so next time, we plan to go Plus! In addition to the privacy situation, we would have preferred the Plus trip because the bus trips include more meals. Sometimes, the day can be fast-paced, so you have to make quick decisions about where to eat lunch. This was often a source of stress because one of us is a vegetarian, so our options are limited in some places. For meals, we would’ve preferred some more structure in the itinerary, which is something the Plus trips offer.
For both of our EF ultimate Break trips, we opted to extend our trip. After the official tour was over, we decided to stay behind in Europe and plan an extension to the trip. After we departed our official group, our accommodations and transportation were our responsibility. So we went on to explore other places on our own. However, EF took care of our flight home. All we had to do was call customer service and tell them that we wanted to extend our trip, and they modified our departure day to the date and location of our choice. You can also do the same by starting your trip earlier. Or you can book two trips back-to-back.
We have loved our experiences with EF and plan to book our future trips with them. Traveling as college students with EF Ultimate and College Break helped us to see parts of the world that we never thought we would be able to visit.
Pros and Cons of An EF Ultimate Break Tour
Pros
Cons
**You might notice costs are both pros and cons. Personally, we think EF Ultimate Break is fairly priced, but others might disagree, depending on your financial situation or your skill level, with travel hacking and getting a good deal. So we think price can be subjective, BUT in our opinion, we think the price is fair. So we would have it on the pros list!
Read more about how we selected our EF Ultimate Break trips here!
Common Questions About Traveling with EF Ultimate Break
Is EF Ultimate Break Only for College Students?
No! EF Ulitmate Break trips are for anyone aged 18 to 35, so you do not need to be exclusively a college student. When we traveled with EF Ultimate Break for the Grand Tour of Europe, the average age was a little younger, like below 25. But when we traveled on the Grand Tour of Ireland Tour, most of our group were over 25. So the age will vary on your trips!
Is EF Ulitmate break Legit or a Scam?
When we first learned about EF Ultimate Break, one of the top questions we saw on Google was: Is EF Ultimate Break legit? To answer the question, yes. Yes, EF Ultimate Break is a legitimate company that offers legitimate trips for young adults. It is not a scam!
Can I Travel Solo with EF Ultimate Break?
When traveling with EF, don’t worry about traveling alone. Many people who attend EF trips are traveling alone, making it a great environment for meeting new people in your tour group.
What Are the Accommodations Like?
If you’re traveling with EF ultimate break on an essential trip, you will stay in a mix of hostels and hotels. Hostels typically room up to 6 people and are more “basic” than a hotel. Usually, the breakfasts aren’t as expansive, and the rooms are basic with bunk beds. Think dorm room! The hotels, on the other hand, are usually nicer and offer more since they’re hotels. We didn’t travel with EF ultimate break on a plus trip, but plus trips advertise that they stay at only hotels and higher-rated hotels. All accommodations are provided in EF Ultimate Break itineraries. If you select an essential trip, you’ll be staying in a mix of hostels and hotels with either 2 to 6 other same-sex individuals, but if you were booking a plus tour, you only have one roommate of your choice. Plus trips, you will only stay in hotels, so no hostels. Personally, when we book our next trip with EF, we plan to book a plus trip because we would like the privacy of only one roommate.
What Is It Like Traveling with Strangers?
We can be introverted, and traveling with strangers wasn’t weird for us! Generally, people are friendly and interested in meeting new people, which is part of the point and fun of traveling with a group! So EF usually attracts people who want to meet other people. We didn’t travel solo because we were traveling with each other, but it wasn’t weird to us traveling with strangers.
What Are Transportation and Travel Days Like?
Depending on which trip you’re going on, transportation includes all transit between cities and attractions and arrival and departure transit like cabs or buses. We have experience with coach buses, trains, and ferries with EF. The buses are nice coach buses, and the trains depend on the country because they are the local trains. Some transportation between destinations included longer transit times, like 4-5 hours. But it all depends on where you go. We personally disliked the ferry when we took it from Italy to Greece. We imagined it to be more like a cruise ship, but it wasn’t. It was a little rough. But we did that in 2015, so we can’t judge what they are like now.
What Happens If I Need To Change My Trip?
If you need to change your trip, you can contact customer service, and they can help you. As long as your trip is not within 99 days and you opted into Travel Protection, you can make changes to your itinerary. Changes include cancellation, rescheduling, changing dates to the trip, and switching trips. If you need to cancel, you will be refunded the total amount – a fee depending on when you cancel.
- 30 days or less: Full balance paid (You get no money back!)
- 30–60 days: $2,000
- 61–99 days: $1,000
- 100-364 days: $450
- 365+ days: $150
How Big Are EF Ultimate Break Groups?
Usually, EF groups have up to about 30 people.
Is EF Ultimate Break Overpriced?
When you first search for the price, you might think the cost is expensive. But considering how expensive flights, group transportation, and accommodations can be, the cost is very reasonable for a college-aged budget. (Remember that $1500 flight?) Do some searching on your own, and you’ll see expenses adding up and the benefits of EF Ultimate Break’s prices looking nicer and nicer. And the total cost isn’t due upfront; you can pay in monthly installments! We personally feel EF Ultimate Break prices are incredibly reasonable for a young person.
Does EF Ultimate Break Offer Sales or Discounts?
One of the nicest parts is that EF offers promo codes and discounts throughout the year. They have Black Friday sales, semi-annual sales, year-end sales, first-time traveler discounts, and repeat traveler discounts!
Book with our referral link and get $100 off your next EF Ultimate Break trip in addition to any discounts being offered!
What Kinds of Trips Does EF Ultimate Break Offer?
EF Ultimate Plus vs. Essential Trips
EF Ultimate Break recently added two different trips styles to their catalog. When you’re browsing trips on their website, you’ll see a designation of either plus or essential next to the trip. The essential trips are their standard trips, including everything you would typically get on an EF Ultimate Break tour. The plus trips, on the other hand, offered a premium and luxury experience. The EF Ultimate Break plus trips include a double room with a roommate of your choice, additional meals, and higher star-rated accommodations. Plus trips are great if you’re traveling with a close friend or a partner or if you want more privacy. Because you are paying for a single room and more meals, typically, these trips have a higher cost compared to the essential trips.
Solo Travel with EF Ultimate Break
In addition to adding the plus trips to their catalog, EF Ultimate Break added solo travel trips. These trips are only for solo travelers, so this is a great way to meet other people and travel with the safety of a tour group.
What To Expect on an EF Ultimate Break Tour
How Do I Prepare for An EF Ultimate Break Tour?
Before leaving for your trip, you can be added to your trip’s group chat in EF Ultimate Break’s app, where you can communicate with other travelers and your tour director. Here, you can think about what you want to do in your free time and get advice about packing and preparing from others going on the trip! This was a nice perk for us! Another perk about traveling with EF Ultimate Break is that if anything goes wrong on the trip, in terms of flights, accommodations, or tours, EF takes care of the problem for you. The app is a great place to communicate with others before the trip, so you can plan free time and get to know everyone. Your tour director will also contact you through the app or by email with pre-departure information.
Before your departure, you will likely not have an hour-by-hour itinerary for each day of your trip. This is one minor criticism of EF Ultimate Break that we have. We are BIG planners, so for us, we wanted to have a detailed itinerary before we left home on our trip. Especially because we wanted to plan some popular activities that required timed tickets. In retrospect, we probably should have tried to reach out to our tour director about it earlier. But at the same time, sometimes the tour directors don’t know the exact day’s schedule until a few days before. Sometimes, this was a little frustrating because we had ideas of what we wanted to do during our free time. Still, we weren’t sure of how long we were actually going to have, or when precisely that free time will start, or where we would be physically during the day when free time started (since walking or transit to destinations might be required). But when traveling with a tour group like EF Ultimate break, you have to be adaptable and flexible in this way since you’re on the tour’s schedule. Just something to keep in mind! Because of this, we recommend having several ideas for free time pre-departure so that when the time comes, you can make a decision.
In addition to researching activities for free time, we recommend researching restaurants as well before departure, especially if you’re a foodie or if you have dietary needs. Pam is a vegetarian, so we needed to find restaurants that had items on the menu she could eat. And Kathrine is a huge foodie, so she wanted to try the best local cuisine. So before departure, we put in time to find several restaurant options for each place we traveled. We didn’t want to be wasting time trying to find a restaurant the day off.
How Much Money Do I Need Per Day on an EF Ultimate Break Tour?
During your trip, you will pay for at least two meals per day, non-included tips, and any non-included activities. We recommend anywhere from $100-$200 per day, depending on how much shopping and additional activities you plan. But usually, $100/day is enough.
How Much Free Time Do You Really Have?
We would say that about 30-40% of the trip is free time. Some days, most of the day is scheduled, but other days are completely free days! When considering a trip, you can usually tell when your free time is included because the itinerary will recommend things to do that day.
Are EF Ultimate Break Trips Customizable?
While there are a ton of activities included in a tour with EF Ultimate Break, free time is built into the schedule. Thanks to having a full-time tour director, they can offer suggestions and even plan additional activities for the group if people are interested. For the grand tour of Ireland, our tour director planned several activities for us, some of which were our favorite things to do! So remember this when booking a trip with EF Ultimate Break: having a tour director can open up opportunities to do things you wouldn’t have considered doing on your trip! And when planning your free time, remember that there might be opportunities through your tour director.
What is Included in an EF Ulitmate Break Trip?
Tour Director
Having a full-time tour director made traveling much easier. The tour director is the trip’s main coordinator, ensuring the group gets everywhere on time and to the right place. Having a tour director removes the stress and anxiety of coordinating the transportation and travel logistics. They handle all the tickets for included activities and scheduling. It’s also very nice to have a tour Director who can speak a local language.
For both of our trips with EF Ultimate Break, our tour directors went above and beyond to make our trip special. In addition to the itineraries provided by EF, they could recommend and book additional group activities. A lot of these additional activities were some of our favorite moments of the trips. For example, when we were on the Grand Tour of Ireland, our tour director booked us an excursion to see an Irish step-dancing show, which was a highlight of the trip for us. We would not have thought to book a show like that, nor would we have known where shows were located or which shows were the best.
Flights (Optional)
EF Ultimate Break tours either include a flight itinerary or allow you to book your own flights. We personally have not done a tour where we booked our own flights.
Ground Transportation
One of the most convenient parts about traveling with a tour group is that all of the ground transportation is included. This was especially convenient for our longer trips, like the grand tour, if you were up, where we traveled to multiple countries for over 30 days. it was so nice to have a coach bus that we hopped on whenever we went to our next destination. In addition to offering a coach bus, any additional ground transportation like trains or flights is included as well.
Activities, Guided Tours & Attraction Entry
Your itinerary will also include guided tours, entry to attractions in museums, and other group activities. These activities are always listed in the itinerary on the booking page. You also receive group benefits such as skipping lines at busy attractions!
Read more about our 30 days in Europe here!
Common Criticisms of EF Ultimate Break
If you Google EF Ulitmate Break reviews, you’ll see both good and bad reviews. We think it’s important to remember that with travel, expectations can vary greatly, and often, some mishaps are out of anyone’s control (Like canceled flights). We will briefly talk about some of the common things people don’t like about EF Ultimate Break and our response to them.
We have seen some reviews of people who felt they were overpaying or had issues canceling or rescheduling a trip with customer service. We had no issues with customer service when booking or rescheduling our trips. When the pandemic happened in 2020, we originally had the Grand Tour of Ireland tour planned for that summer, but unfortunately, we had to postpone the trip. EF Ultimate Break made postponing and rescheduling the trip very easy by issuing us a voucher that we could use within two years of it being issued.
We have also seen some criticisms where people feel that these trips tend to attract young people who just want to party in a country where it’s legal to drink. Personally, we did not have major issues with people like this on our trips. Ultimately, when you’re going on a tour group, you will encounter a diverse group of people who want to have different experiences on the trip. So, you’re bound to have some people that might want to take the opportunity to party, or not fully immerse themselves in the cultural experience. We just chose to ignore these people on our trip, and we didn’t let them ruin our experience.
Another common criticism is that EF Ultimate Break tours tend to take you to the “Instagrammable” places of these countries and do not offer a fully cultural experience. While most of our trips took us to the most popular destinations and attractions, we personally wanted to see these things and didn’t have a problem with them. However, EF Ultimate Breaks trips include a lot of free time in the itineraries, so the free time is a great opportunity to explore things off the beaten path. Again, the primary goal of tours is to make travel easy and accessible (especially for first-time travelers!), so they tend to include the most popular attractions and places. We personally don’t view this as a bad thing, especially when the itineraries are very transparent about it. If you haven’t traveled to those destinations before, it’s a great opportunity to see the top attractions and maybe get a taste of what these places are like so you can decide if you want to go back later at another time. The tour directors also encourage exploring and trying new things like food, riding public transit, and speaking the language. The tour directors are either locals or have been on the trip many times before so they can offer insider tips!
Read more about how we selected our EF Ultimate Break trips here!
How Do I Book with EF Ultimate Break?
Now that you know EF Ultimate Break is legit. Let’s talk about booking a trip!
- Create an account with EF Ultimate Break
- Browse trips
- Select trip
- Select the trip departure location
- Select date (make sure to check the date, including the style of trip you want! (Solo, plus, essential)
- Proceed to booking with a $150 deposit
Booking with EF Ultimate Break is so easy. Put $150 down, and your travel plans are locked in! During the booking process, you will have the option to add optional excursions and select a payment plan. EF Ultimate Break also offers trip protection that covers you medically while on your trip.
Book with our referral link and get $100 off your next EF Ultimate Break trip!
Conclusion: EF Ultimate Break Review
In conclusion, EF Ultimate Break offers an exceptional travel experience for young adults seeking adventure, cultural immersion, and lifelong friendships. With well-planned itineraries, knowledgeable tour guides, and a diverse range of destinations to choose from, this travel company truly delivers on its promise to create unforgettable memories. Whether you are a seasoned traveler or embarking on your first trip abroad, EF Ultimate Break is a reliable option for those looking to explore the world in a fun and meaningful way.
To end this post, we’ll leave you with a little photo dump of some of our favorite EF Ultimate Break memories! You don’t want to miss out on the trip of a lifetime!
