Night Activities on Student Tours
After Dinner Excursions Enrich Foreign Tours and Keep Students Busy
Nov 3, 2008
After a full day of touring or free time and the included dinner, teacher group leaders are faced with one of the most difficult aspects of a foreign student tour: what to do in the hours between dinner and curfew? Most student tour companies designate this as free time although local Tour Directors may offer to help with procuring concert tickets, setting up night activities, or suggesting unique and exciting things to do. Frequently, the tour itinerary might include night excursions such as evening cruises along the Seine in Paris. Some tours offer added “Optionals” that must be booked in advance like theater shows and folklore presentations.
Research Opportunities Prior to Departure
Savvy group leaders should research night activities before the tour begins. This has the added advantage of allowing tour participants to calculate the added costs into the “spending money.” Often, it is helpful to book on line weeks before departure.
London Walks offers ghost tours and one of the best Jack-the-Ripper walks available that departs every night, but they are highly popular and fill up quickly ($15.00 US). If the group is in Surfer’s Paradise, Australia, Dracula’s Cabaret offers a fun filled night of unique entertainment as well as a substantial meal but early reservations are crucial. Many cities feature ghost tours, night cruises, and museum visits: Berlin’s Check Point Charlie Museum is open until 10:00 P.M.
Every major city has night activities that require no prearranging. In Vienna, students can enjoy the Prater, an amusement park containing one of the oldest Ferris wheels. Copenhagen is home to Tivoli Gardens while Skansen in Stockholm represents one of the largest open air zoos and cultural parks in Scandinavia that features evening concerts.
In some cities, such as Prague, it is enough to take students to the old Medieval City and the Charles Bridge after dinner. Budapest features inexpensive night cruises along the Danube River. The Hofbrauhaus in Munich is a favorite night destination for authentic Bavarian music and food. An after dinner excursion to Moscow’s Red Square rewards students with a mystical view of a silhouetted Kremlin bathed in lights.
Night Activities Geared Toward Teens and Young Adults
Every city from Amsterdam to Florence has discos that cater to the younger crowd. Many of these establishments are highly secured and will only serve alcohol to students with proper age documentation. Trip chaperons are welcome and some clubs even provide separate lounges for chaperons. Theme Parks and rock concerts offer a variety of student night activities, even in some rustic communities. Delphi, a small community in the Greek mountains with one major street, boasts a teen disco, although students may wish to explore the many shops and restaurants amidst the nightly festive atmosphere.
The Importance of After Dinner Excursions
Evening activities provide supervised experiences that add to the overall cultural and educational experience of a foreign tour. Group leaders that “punch the clock” after dinner miss valuable opportunities with students in exploring facets of a foreign community that, in many cases, display a different face when the sun goes down.
Additionally, students are not left in the hotel with unstructured time. Turning students loose within a proscribed area, such as the Latin Quarter in Paris, allows for a degree of independence yet provides a modicum of supervision. Expert group leaders know that the hours after dinner are crucial and seek to fill them with meaningful and fun activities.
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