|
|
Post by tiffany on Nov 3, 2016 12:20:10 GMT
I have had a chance to talk to all of my friends who went on this tour, and while three of them loved it, two of them didn’t like it that much. They thought it was too fast-paced, that they spent too much time on the coach, and that the cities were dirty and full of graffiti. They also felt like the people were not the friendliest, and only wanted Western money, and that the tour focused too much on the war and was depressing at times. They thought the trip to Auschwitz should have been an optional, instead of an included visit, as not everyone wanted to go there, however, if you didn’t go, there was nowhere else to go. As you know, I’m hoping to still go on this tour someday, and was thinking 2018, however, this couple told me not to bother. That being said, the friend I usually travel with was visiting over the weekend, and she told me that this was one of her favourite tours, and that she would even consider doing this tour again in 2018, so I wouldn’t have to go alone! It just goes to show that we all have different tastes when it comes to travelling.
_________________________________
Tours I’ve been on to Date:
Trafalgar’s Italian Holiday – 2007
Insight’s Spain and Portugal – 2008
Trafalgar’s Italy and Sicily – 2009
Trafalgar’s The Grand Tour of Great Britain and Ireland – 2010
Trafalgar’s Best of Turkey – 2011
Trafalgar’s Best of Holland – 2011
Insight’s Best of Morocco – 2012
Trafalgar’s Best of France – 2012
Trafalgar’s’ Highlights of Germany – 2013
Trafalgar’s Best of Portugal – 2014
Trafalgar’s Switzerland and Austria – 2014
Trafalgar’s Best of Greece with Four Day Aegean Cruise - 2015
|
|
|
|
Post by chech on Nov 3, 2016 15:17:04 GMT
Yeah....though I often find some complaints a bit strange. I didn't find that either the Bohemian Highlights or Highlights of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia (which encompasses all of HEE's stops) focused too much on the war. It's to be expected that you will visit war site - the entire region was a battleground for the greatest war and greatest crime of our time. Everyone on our bus visited Auschwitz and not a single one regretted it (only two hours and there was a coffee shop where one can wait if they had wanted to). I can't imagine going on a tour that includes it and not going. It's a part of history we cannot ignore and as they say, it's a tour, not a vacation. Once in a while there are visits to sombre sites...but all are meaningful. I wonder if those that complained about Auschwitz would feel the same about visiting Wounded Knee or Hiroshima. I'm also confused as to why people are so upset about graffiti. About the only country in the world where you won't find it is Japan. It's everywhere. And I didn't find the cities dirty. In a lot of cases, people misinterpret "old" for "dirty." A lot of the cities in Eastern Europe were flattened in the war and were built up in the last half century. Warsaw is a great example. It's like walking through Toronto. Zagreb, Vienna, Budapest, Prague....none of them were "dirty." Ljubljana was pristine! No...actually...it was absolutely gorgeous! People in Poland were probably not the friendliest but they're a lot like the Russians in that regard. Few speak English and western tourism is so new to so many of them, they simply don't know how to act. Certainly didn't take away from the experience (and the shopowners were wonderful). And it is a fast paced tour but the best part is the drive one day, visit city next day, drive for a day, visit city...drive half day, visit city for day and a half. So, as bad as the long drives were (especially at the beginning), the day break between the drives to sightsee worked well. The HofASC was an At Leisure tour so it had two 3 night stops and some on that tour took one of the days to sit at the pool. The two that did that probably wouldn't have liked the BH because that opportunity wasn't always there, but as they say, research would tell someone exactly what to expect. I think by the time you go, you'll know exactly what to expect.  |
|
|
|
Post by tiffany on Nov 3, 2016 19:32:30 GMT
My friend and I may actually look at the Bohemian Highlights tour instead of the Eastern Europe tour in 2018. They are very similar, but Bohemian Highlights doesn’t go into Croatia, which will be fine with me as I’m going to Croatia next year. That being said, I’d really like to go to Lake Bled and Ljubljana, and the Bohemian Highlights tour doesn’t go there. We won’t be going for a couple of years, so there’s still time to decide.
I think the couple who didn’t like this tour that much joined the tour to be with us. I don’t think they would have picked this tour if we hadn’t all be going. That being said, they did do some research about the cities before leaving, and were looking forward to the tour. I guess Eastern Europe is just not for them. They have only been on two other tours, Switzerland and Austria, and Italy and Sicily, and they loved both of those tours, even though some of the cities in Italy have a lot of graffiti. Oh well. You can’t love them all.
_________________________________
Tours I’ve been on to Date:
Trafalgar’s Italian Holiday – 2007
Insight’s Spain and Portugal – 2008
Trafalgar’s Italy and Sicily – 2009
Trafalgar’s The Grand Tour of Great Britain and Ireland – 2010
Trafalgar’s Best of Turkey – 2011
Trafalgar’s Best of Holland – 2011
Insight’s Best of Morocco – 2012
Trafalgar’s Best of France – 2012
Trafalgar’s’ Highlights of Germany – 2013
Trafalgar’s Best of Portugal – 2014
Trafalgar’s Switzerland and Austria – 2014
Trafalgar’s Best of Greece with Four Day Aegean Cruise - 2015
|
|
|
|
Post by plane2catch on Nov 4, 2016 1:21:44 GMT
My favorite part of the Highlights of Eastern Europe trip was seeing the Salt Mines in Krakow. I also enjoyed the Polish food. I didn't like having to pay to use the restroom at rest stops but I have seen that before in other countries.
|
|
|
|
Post by tiffany on Nov 4, 2016 11:35:10 GMT
I’ve had to pay to use the rest-rooms in most of the European countries I’ve been to. In Germany, I remember paying to use the restaurant where we stopped for lunch. I told the tour director that if we are paying for lunch, we should be able to use the rest-rooms for free, but that place still charged people. If a restaurant in Canada tried to charge people to use the rest-room, that restaurant would be out of business.
_________________________________
Tours I’ve been on to Date:
Trafalgar’s Italian Holiday – 2007
Insight’s Spain and Portugal – 2008
Trafalgar’s Italy and Sicily – 2009
Trafalgar’s The Grand Tour of Great Britain and Ireland – 2010
Trafalgar’s Best of Turkey – 2011
Trafalgar’s Best of Holland – 2011
Insight’s Best of Morocco – 2012
Trafalgar’s Best of France – 2012
Trafalgar’s’ Highlights of Germany – 2013
Trafalgar’s Best of Portugal – 2014
Trafalgar’s Switzerland and Austria – 2014
Trafalgar’s Best of Greece with Four Day Aegean Cruise - 2015
|
|
|
|
Post by plane2catch on Nov 4, 2016 21:41:38 GMT
That doesn't system like it would be too good for business, asking patrons to pay to use the restroom.
|
|
|
|
Post by kiwigrandma on Nov 5, 2016 6:50:09 GMT
I went on this tour a few years ago and I loved it. One of my favourite tours. I loved the places, the food especially Polish apple pie and the hotels. Austwich was an extremely sobering experience. We had a wonderful guide who was so passionate about telling us what had happened. My partner and I find visiting war sites etc very interesting i didn't find the people unfriendly but thought some of the places showed they had been through considerable trauma. Went to lovely music concert and krakow was lovely. Salt mines Great. Would love to go to east Europe again some day but so many other places to visit. Am off to India on Monday.
|
|
|
|
Post by bet on Nov 5, 2016 11:01:49 GMT
Im with you Kiwigrandma, I really enjoyed Eastern Europe as well. I haven't done this tour but I've done a few places and would go back again.
Enjoy India, I got my visa yesterday and leave on the 24th.
|
|
