How we travel

Group behavior and solidarity

Living and traveling as a group requires of each member a strong spirit of cooperation and a willingness to place the needs of the group above personal preferences. We expect all members of the group to travel together, stay in the accommodations provided by the program, and participate in program activities together. The Cultural History Tours are interdisciplinary programs. The unique and ongoing dialogue between students and faculty is born in response to program experiences and activities. We expect participants to be receptive to the experiences offered on the program and respectful of one another and of the people and cultures visited.

Backpacks

All Cultural History Tour participants are required to carry an internal or external frame backpack. This facilitates travel and keeps personal effects to a minimum. Accepted students will receive more information on backpack specifications.

Public Transportation

We move quickly using public transportation, which enables program participants to mix as much as possible with local inhabitants throughout the tour. In most large urban centers, ie; Munich, London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Athens, students will be required to purchase metro/bus passes.

Program Travel

The program fee covers the extensive intra-European and intra-Mediterranean or intra-Iberian program travel. Most of our intra-European transportation will be done by rail, aboard second class express trains. Chartered buses will sometimes be used for our travel in Greece and Spain. Communal taxis will be used when convenient. We will take a cruise on the Seine, and the Rhine rivers. We plan to travel by ship from Italy to Patras, Greece and Athens to Crete.

Round-Trip Air

Once accepted into the program, students will receive information on arranging their air transportation, and receive an ISIC number in order to qualify for discount student airfares.

Where we stay

The program fee covers the costs of tour hotels, pensions, hostels and couchettes on overnight trains. Accommodations provide participants with a variety of living experiences. Most accommodations are multiple occupancy. International Youth Hostels usually provide dormitory-style rooms with multiple beds, a common sink and shared restroom and shower facilities. Pensions are privately-run small hotels. Hotels are chosen for their central location. Some accommodations have lock-out periods during the day and curfews at night.

In London and Paris we stay at centrally located hotels or hostels. On the Rhine River our accommodations are at a hostel which affords magnificent views of the Rhine Valley. In Vienna we may stay in cabins in a campground near the Vienna Woods. We stay in hostels in Naples. In Italy and Greece we stay mostly in hotels or privately-run pensions.

Participants will be expected to abide by the rules and regulations established by the tour director at each of the locations. A disregard of these rules may lead to dismissal of the student from the tour.

Travel requirements

All participants must have a valid passport. If you have not yet applied for a passport, please do so immediately. Applications can be obtained at any county court house, passport agency or designated post office. The expiration date of your passport must be at least six months after the tour ends. For complete passport information, including printable application forms, visit the State Department website at http://travel.state.gov/ Applications can also be obtained at any county court house, passport agency or designated post office.

Participants who are NON-U.S. citizens may be required to have additional visas, depending on citizenship and are responsible for securing the necessary visas. The Office of Academic Programs Abroad at Eastern Michigan University will inform non-U.S. citizens about which steps to take to receive visas for countries on the itinerary. The Cultural History Tours cannot be responsible for delays, detainments or losses incurred by non-U.S. citizens due to visa problems arising from their citizenships. Note: Canadian citizens used to be considered equivalent to U.S. citizens by the customs officials of many countries. This is no longer true, and Canadian citizens might now need the same visa as any other non-U.S. citizens to enter some countries on our itineraries.

Because of special discounts available to students and young people, persons 26 and older may be charged an extra fee when they do not qualify for youth discounts.

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Academic Programs Abroad
Eastern Michigan University
103 Boone Hall
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Voice: 734.487.2424 or toll free 1.800.777.3541
FAX: 734.487.4377
E-mail : Programs Abroad