Bus stop blitz of Europe

ANDREW Chesterton signs up for a 14-day coach adventure across eight European countries and returns with countless memories and 34 close friends.

Top stuff ... travellers enjoy a gondola tour in Venice / Topdeck

YOUR eyes water, your nose burns and your throat feels as if you've just swallowed a nail. The first shot is the hardest, our guide warned. But just one small sip of the green liquid fire ensures there won't be a second.

Welcome to Prague – capital of the Czech Republic. A city of towering church steeples by day, dusk-to-dawn dance parties at night, and absinthe at just about any time.

Our tour group had been led to a candle-lit underground bar with raw stone walls and no windows, a setting more suited to a Dracula film than a scheduled tour group destination.

Absinthe, otherwise known as the green fairy, is a potent liquor distilled with herbs, including wormwood, which is thought to contain hallucinogenic properties.

Its taste is difficult to classify. Some describe it as having an aniseed base with distinctive herb flavourings; others say it tastes distinctly like battery acid.

It's Thursday, I think, and I'm exactly half way through a 14-day Topdeck tour of Europe, from Venice to London. The previous week had been a wonderful whirlwind of early mornings and late nights, sightseeing, meeting new friends and going to sleep in one country and waking up in another.

Only a week ago I had flown into Venice for the start of the tour, full of trepidation.

I had signed on to travel with 35 strangers for 14 days across eight countries on one coach.

Even the first glimpse of postcard-perfect Venetian canals, beautifully lit by the springtime sun wasn't enough to quiet the doubts.

The experts say Venice is sinking, and I thought I knew exactly how it felt.

But that was before I'd seen the morning sun shine over the snow-capped mountains that border Slovenia's stunning Lake Bled, and before I'd indulged in a platter of local cheese and wine as I took in the sunset on Croatia's Pag Island.

Unfortunately, group touring isn't all romantic canals, wine and sunsets.

Most people picture Venice as the city of love, with Italian boatmen serenading lovers as they drift dreamily through the canals. Gondolas – group style – are a little different.

After queuing and handing over a startling number of euros, five people are crammed into the iconic boats and the only Italian you'll hear is when your driver, who presumably gave up on singing after missing the cut on Italy's Gondola Idol, intermittently hurls abuse at the numerous motorboats that speed through the canals. Ahh, the romance of it all.

But, as so often happened on this trip, just as disappointment threatens to taint an experience, something happens to push the negatives from your mind. In this case it was sunset.

Yes, Venice is crawling with tourists. Yes, it smells in the warmer months and yes, sitting in St Mark's Square watching the sun go down behind the towering Basilica is truly breathtaking.

And we were yet to arrive at our second stop, Croatia, which most passengers had voted their most anticipated destination. As our coach crawled along a deserted coastal highway towards the port of Prizna it was easy to see why.

A lone whale, playing in the open ocean, briefly follows the path of the bus before vanishing, only to be replaced by a pod of wild dolphins leaping out of the sparkling water.

Our home for the next three nights is the island of Pag, reached by a vehicle ferry.

As the ship chugs slowly across the crystal blue water, an island begins to materialise in the distance. It's a desolate sight: piles of grey rocks and lifeless soil.

The ocean gusts that cross the harbour whip up so much salt before they slam into the face of the island it leaves the earth incapable of sustaining life. Locals call it the "Death Wind".

The rest of Pag is less confronting. The part-time fishing village and part-time summer party island is seeped in history and abounds in dramatic scenery, spectacular coastlines and deserted beaches, all with a quaint, country-village feel.

Pag's townsfolk, usually returning from a hard day on their boats, happily share a beer with our busload of travellers, even inviting us to join them in a late night rendition of Croatian folk songs which, we're told, centre around fishing, not romance.

Croatia's comparatively cheap prices and reputation for throwing a hell of a party have made it a favourite with the budget-conscious backpacker and, as such, is one of the newest additions to Topdeck Tours' hectic travel schedule.

In the summer months the Pag village of Novalja transforms from a sleepy fishing village into a mini Ibiza, complete with all-night dance parties.

The influx of summer tourists is met with mixed emotions from residents, who are grateful of the extra dollars that support their fishing income, but are in desperate need of an uninterrupted night's sleep by the time autumn arrives.

We arrive somewhere between the on and off seasons, and soak up the sun on Pag during the longest stop on the tour.

Our time is split between sampling the local goats' cheese and wines and making day trips to explore the neighbouring islands.

Then it's time to leave for our next destination – Slovenia's stunning capital, Ljubljana – a picturesque city with great food and even better beer.

Topdeck doesn't operate the boozy, pub-crawl trips that are synonymous with some group tours, but there is no shortage of opportunities to enjoy a local beverage either, which seems to please my 18 to 35-year-old fellow travellers no end.

This stop includes a day-trip to Lake Bled, a postcard-perfect lake with an island church and snow-capped mountains.

After nine days of indulgence, the hike up the hill to the 12th century castle is an endurance event. But reach the summit and the view of the valley and lake below is wonderful.

The next six days are spent in the Tyrol in Austria – also known as the adventure stop. Optional activities include paragliding off an Austrian mountain, jumping out of aeroplanes or a half-day canyon-jumping trip into freezing glacier-fed waters – if you have the cash. After a convincing sales pitch, most of the group do at least one, and nobody is disappointed.

On the home stretch now, we take a tour through Berlin, throw a farewell bash on a party boat floating down Amsterdam's canals, then head off to England and our final bus ride to London for farewell drinks and teary goodbyes.

Thirty-four fellow travellers have become close friends.

The writer was a guest of Topdeck.