The Europe 101 Challenge

................................................................. July 4-14, 2024 ................................ Deposits open now! There are only 5 places left on this trip!

This trip is open for deposits and has an optional pre trip workshop experience in partnership with the College of Southern Maryland Personal Enrichment Department. Please contact us if you would like to create a similar experience for your group!

Have you always wanted to go to Europe but you weren’t quite sure if you were ready to take the big jump? We’ve got the perfect opportunity for you! Join us for our Travel 101 Skills Challenge where we will learn all we need to know about how to travel with confidence all around Europe. And where better to get our feet wet? Paris and Amsterdam!

Click to make your deposit here!

Here's the Europe 101 plan!

As we touch down, our fun begins! Each morning we will begin with a daily challenge that will help you become a great European Traveler! We’ll take on public transport, massive museums, food experiences, and old town navigation. From scavenger hunts to receipt races (and even laundry chores), we’ll show you how to make the most out of any destination and do it with confidence! AND we’ll do it all while we take in the magic of two of Europe’s most amazing cities! We’ll start in Paris where we’ll take in the big icons and the smaller magical moments. Then, we’ll head to Amsterdam in signature style, to enjoy the fun loving vibe full of bicycles and windmills! So you’re interested, right? If you would like to inquire more about this experience, please schedule a time to chat with us so we can answer all of your questions and get to know us a bit better!
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Here’s a day by day breakdown!

Day 1

Touchdown Paris! Today we will take on menus and the best way to order food as we get ourselves situated in our accommodations. We’ll ensure everyone is prepped and ready to get started as we plot out our adventure over dinner.

Day 2

The great museums await us and we’ll get you started by challenging you to get the most out of them. Don’t worry! We’re right here to help! We’ll also take in that amazing Eiffel Tower. We’ll join together for dinner to see who had successes and who had challenges!

Day 3

Winding lanes and artsy vibes are ready to enchant and our daily challenge will have you walking some of the most iconic streets Montemarte has to offer. We’ll be sure to immerse ourselves in all of that art and then enjoy our daily dinnertime finding out who won the day’s challenge!

Day 4

Paris’ gardens are an amazing aspect to visiting and we wouldn’t let a good daily challenge pass by without including one today! We’ll also take in the magnificent D’Orsay and share our skills over a good dinner.

Day 5

Learning the art of the well timed side trip is essential to any European plan and that’s our challenge for the day. Depending on what you are interested some will head north while others head south! We’ll meet back in the city center to dine and say au revoire to Paris.

Day 6

Our daily challenge has us moving from the City of Lights to the Low Country as we settle in for the second leg of our travels. Amsterdam is ready to explore and there’s so much to see!!

Day 7

It’s laundry day but we’ll take it on with one of our challenges and then enjoy exploring more of Amsterdam’s icons. The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh wait for us!

Day 8

Take in more of Amsterdam and the surrounding area via today’s daily challenge involving windmills! Yup, we’ll check out these icons and trace a little more history then we’ll take in one of Amsterdam’s lively squares for dinner.

Day 9

Our daily challenge will take us on the water today as we conquer navigation. We’ll also check in on a little more history and a little more of the great Amsterdam vibe. We’ll enjoy dinner by the water and share more of what we’ve learned!

Day 10

We’ll continue with our daily challenges as we take on one bonus side trip to the medieval town of Bruges. here we’ll do a lot of exploring before we settle in to a wonderful Belgian dinner!

Departure Day

We’ll make our last daily challenge all about a graceful departure. We’ll be sure to make your last moments memorable now that you’ve conquered Europe’s most important travel skills!
Metro street signage

Our Partnership with the College of Southern Maryland

Babcia and YiaYia are proud to partner with CSM to offer you this unique experience. We look forward to offering you 10 days filled with adventure and travel skills challenges that will give you feet on the ground, real world practice that will make you a confident traveler no matter what destination you choose! In addition to this amazing travel experience, we will also offer 4 optional, pre trip workshops that will prepare you for all the fun we plan to have as we travel from Paris to Amsterdam. Use the link below to sign up for the workshops so that you have all the know-how about everything from travel documentation to our best packing hacks!

Click here to register today!

What's Included

Breakfast and Dinners daily

Balance between scheduled experiences and unscheduled time to explore further or relax as you choose

City passes for Paris and Amsterdam to enjoy unscheduled time any way you please.

All attraction tickets and passes for experiences and guided tours (always with local experts).

All transportation including airport transfers upon arrival and departure.

Efficient travel time by basing our travel needs mostly on the train system (This allows us the ability to “hit the ground running” in city centers)

Opportunities to plan any optional or “on your own time” with either tour manager to customize your experience

Exclusive “B and Y” travel challenges and guidance including daily itinerary and challenge cards

A dedicated opportunity to refresh your bags one to two times during our travels

group of people walking near body of water and building under blue sky at daytime Europe 101
black bicycle leaning on black metal fence Europe 101

Our Commitment:

As we get to know you, we will be able to find those little corners of Europe that delight and enchant. From magical bookstores, fabled artworks, and secret passageways, we’ll share with you those little things that make Italy’s amazing cities the experience of a lifetime. Europe 101 waits for travelers just like you!

Our estimated price for the 2024 season is $5,500.00 plus airfare.

Europe 101

So you’re interested in Europe 101, right? Let us know so we can keep you in the loop! Click the button below to get priority access as soon as this trip opens up for registration. That’s right, you’ll be at the top of the list!

Contact Us
Budget and legal information (the fine print):
  • The total cost for all 10 days of the Europe 101 travel experience is a projected $5,500.00 on 2024 estimates gathered in September of 2023.
  • All participants must hold a current travel insurance policy and must provide valid passport (with at least a six month window from the last date of travel).
  • Our services include pre-trip social communication including links to give background information on our trips. We do this through a private Facebook page. (We will be happy to set anyone up so they can look at just our page and participate pre-trip.)
  • Our services will also assist with air travel arrangements. We will either work with you one on one or we will refer you to our trusted partners in the travel industry depending on your needs.
  • A minimum of eight participants is required for this experience.
  • Hotels are either the choice presented or equivalent based on group availability.

Payment: Your reservation is set when you have received confirmation of receipt of your completed booking form and deposit. No contract exists until we have confirmed receipt of the deposit. The balance will be due no later than eight weeks before the start of the tour. If the balance is not received as above then we reserve the right to treat the booking as canceled. Tours booked less than eight weeks before the start must be paid for in full at the time of sending the booking form. The person paying the deposit guarantees payment of the total cost of the booking made on behalf of all persons for whom the booking is made.  Deposits are non-refundable after the first payment has been made.

Deposit opens in November: $2,200.00

Payment 1: March 1st: $1,000.00

Payment 2: April 5th: $1,000.00

Payment 3: May 4th: $1,300.00 minus discounts

Cancellation: Cancellations can only be accepted in writing. In the event of any cancellation, including the non-payment of the balance, the deposit paid will always be forfeited after one month. In the event of cancellation after the balance has been paid the following scale of charges (as percentages of the total tour cost) will be incurred:

  • 81 or more days before start of tour: 50%
  • 57 – 80 days before start of tour: 75%
  • 56 days or less before start: 100%

A full copy of the terms and conditions will be available when pricing is estimated.

FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS