Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel to another country? Hatboro-Horsham students can pay to go on a trip to Europe for a little over two weeks every summer and travel to places they may have never been to before.

There was a Europe trip last summer that went to Berlin, Prague, Krakow and Budapest. The trip that is coming up in the summer of 2024 includes Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland. It gives students the opportunity to travel with friends to new places, but choosing to go on this trip is expensive and a big decision.

Principal John Zuk organizes the trips. He said, the 2023 trip was “wonderful.” Chaperones and students“ experienced many sites, including the Berlin Wall, Potsdam, Dresden and the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps.”

The Europe trip is open to all students at the high school. There is another trip in 2025, and Mr. Zuk says that the “registration for the 2025 trip is open now. Signing up now makes the monthly payments more reasonable.”

Junior Josh Summer went on the Europe trip last summer. While the locations of his trip differ from the upcoming one, he still experienced things like what the students going on the 2024 trip will experience.

Summer said that overall, he “really enjoyed the Europe trip.” He did have concerns while traveling because he would be far away from his own country and around lots of strangers. However, “after I got adjusted to the time difference, I was pleasantly surprised. All the students and chaperones were very friendly and the places we visited were beautiful,” he said. “It was a great way to make new friends and get a sense of what each city is like.”

During the trip, students get to learn a lot more about European culture and life. Other country’s cultures are different than our own, and Summer noted that throughout the trip, “the level of cultural immersion was also impressive.”

He said he would like to go on the Europe trip again and would recommend it to others.

There really is a location for everyone on this trip. At least one of the countries may surprisingly intrigue you. Summer said, “My favorite location was Prague because it had so many interesting buildings. There was a lot of contrast between the buildings too, whether it was bright colors or gothic spires.”

The trip is “probably going to be very busy” but students “will still have a lot of free time and fun.”

“During lunches on the trip, the students were allowed to go off in groups to visit wherever and eat whatever they wanted. This kind of freedom was refreshing because it gave me a chance to explore places that the whole group didn’t,” Summer said.

Mr. Zuk said that the best part of the trip is “being able to visit places that we study about in school, meeting new people, living in the culture and eating all the food.” He said he also enjoys “watching the students experience Europe for the first time, seeing them grow as individuals, and making new friends.”