I'm looking to visit Europe this May. I want to go to the lands of my ancestors, so Ireland and England, and I'd like to check out Italy (thanks to 8 years of Italian study at school) and some of the other Mediterranean countries primarily.

I was looking at the Contiki website and their tours and thought they might be a good option to see a wide variety of things without having to figure it all out myself and arrange my own transport etc.

Anyone done a tour like that (in Europe or elsewhere) and would you recommend it?

The idea of spending a few weeks with a group of strangers sounds more like a chore than a holiday to me.