Zigotours Prague and Budapest City Camp

The stay joins two cities the operator ran separately for years. In Prague the group works through the old town, the royal castle and its park, arrives in time for the changing of the guard, adds its own message to the John Lennon wall and climbs Petrin hill; one evening everybody dresses up for a performance at the National Opera of Prague. The zoo, heavily involved in saving endangered species, is worth the detour, and the Museum of Senses brings interactive exhibits. In Budapest the thermal baths are the heart of the stay: the city holds fourteen bath houses and seventy million litres of water a day, and the baths work as social places as much as curative ones - people meet there to talk, relax or play chess. In teams of five or six the group takes on the riddles of an escape game. There is gypsy music to hear and the Ecseri flea market to rummage through.

The price published by the operator covers accommodation, meals, the activities and excursions of the published programme, and insurance. Zigo Tours takes out cover for every participant - assistance and repatriation, individual accident, third-party liability, legal costs and baggage - and advances medical expenses during the stay. Travel is by scheduled flight with a stopover, out of Paris to Prague and back from Budapest to Paris, or the other way round. Pre-travel from regional cities can be arranged by the operator's transport department; it is quoted case by case and is not part of the published price.

The group sleeps in a city-centre youth hostel, in single-sex dormitories of four to ten beds with lockable lockers. Showers and toilets are shared and sit outside the rooms. A collective kitchen is available to the group.

Breakfasts are taken at the hostel, lunch is a picnic while the group is out in the city, and dinner is in small restaurants.

The programme is built around what the two cities offer: the old town and royal castle of Prague, the John Lennon wall, Petrin hill, an evening at the National Opera, the zoo and the Museum of Senses; then the thermal baths of Budapest, an escape game played in teams, gypsy music and the Ecseri flea market.

The hostel sits in the city centre and provides single-sex dormitories with lockable lockers, a collective kitchen and shared shower and toilet blocks outside the rooms. The group moves around both cities on public transport.

A group of twelve to twenty-four participants with a qualified director and activity leaders, one adult for every eight young people. The approach is participative: the group meets local people rather than following a guide, and the two capitals are covered at street level.