I highly do not recommend!

Returned from the tour "The adventure of the restless or even more Italy + San Marino!" and I want to share my impressions so that people do not fall for false advertising. Of course, my review will be deleted, but I will post it wherever I can find it.

This was the fourth bus trip with the Accord. Before that, they were in 2004 to Hungary, 2011 - Paris and 6 countries of Central Europe, 2018 - Greece. Therefore, I can safely say that with the development of the company, the disdainful attitude towards tourists is also rapidly growing. I can’t believe it anymore that back in 2011, drivers in white shirts and ties in a clean and well-groomed bus prepared coffee and tea for us at bus stops. Or met at the station for free. So the story of my relationship with Accord does not end very nicely this year. There are other operators, although they are more expensive, they respect their tourists. Maybe I will go less often, but without negative emotions.

Now in order, as in the description.

I must say that the descriptions are very poetic, a lot of emotions, zero information and not much more true.

Transfer station - terminal A. Early autumn morning. Dark, rain, puddles, heavy suitcase. I go to the parking lot, I see a long line of revving buses. I trudge along with my suitcase, breathing exhaust fumes, trying to find the coveted plate. There are no boards! One driver had an open window, I ask. "Go to the front of the column." At the beginning of the column there are also no signs, you can’t see the accompanying people checking the list. I saw a fussy crowd of people folding suitcases into luggage. I ask: "to terminal A?quot;, someone answered: "It seems to be." I packed my suitcase, suddenly someone shouted again: "There are no more seats in this bus, transfer to another one!"

Barely crowded into another bus.

I thought that in 1.5 hours at the terminal I would come to my senses, have breakfast. But no! At the terminal of people, as in public transport during peak hours.

There is a line for half an hour to go to the toilet, the tables in the bistro are all occupied and the food in it is almost all eaten. Then it turned out that 50 buses departed that day with a difference of minutes. How can you plan like that if the terminal is not designed for so many people?

But I still naively believed that I would get on the bus, eat food taken from home, there was still tea in the thermos. I specifically booked seats behind the second door with a table. But the unpleasant surprises did not end there. The bus turned out to have one front door, and the second one at the back was opened with a key from the outside. I'm talking about safety. God forbid, an emergency, we would have passed each other while trying to get off the bus. The bus is cramped, there are no folding tables, the upper shelves have no doors. Those. There is no place to put things you need on the road, something constantly fell on your head from these shelves.

A separate song about the air conditioner. We either suffocated or froze.

Or even like this: the first rows put everything on themselves, and the middle ones took off everything that was possible. The drivers responded to our complaints that nothing could be done. Why would such a wreck be allowed to fly?

We were in a hurry to the border, so we didn’t stop for a snack, we were given 15 minutes to go to the toilet. At the same time, there were other buses in the parking lots, there were long lines in the women's toilet, and these 15 minutes. there were very few. Everything is on the nerves, and who is familiar with female physiology, then on a nervous basis it turns out even more slowly ((

We stood at the border for 4.5 hours, although there were few cars in front of us. The Hungarians were simply in no hurry. Obviously, and they "have a grudge" on the Accord. I must say that I probably crossed this border 6 times and for the first time in such a long time.

But at the same time, the accompanying Kateryna Litvinenko stated that this was “normal”.

We arrived in Budapest at midnight. Naturally, there was no talk of any ship on the Danube and unlimited champagne.

The question arises: if 4.5 hours is normal + the road to and from the border, then why this lure with a boat? Designed for naive simpletons.

Well, that's it, the border is behind, Italy is approaching, maybe now we won't be in such a hurry? It turned out that the route was still not thought out, there were still no stops for snacks, only 15 minutes. for the toilet, which was not enough, because in Italy there are no more than 3 cabins almost everywhere.

Snacking is a whole other issue. On the road we were not given such an opportunity. You could eat sometimes in your free time after the tour, but not always it was. We have always missed something. And inquisitive people like me, who took almost all the excursions, could not even dream of free time.

But I am an experienced tourist and carried half a suitcase of food with me. So on this trip (for the first time in 17 years of my travels abroad), almost all hotels were without a refrigerator! Half a half suitcase of food had to be thrown away in warm Italy ((

I remember that in 2011, on a trip to central Europe, we had breakfast for an hour, so that more fit and enough for the whole day. On this trip, we were given no more than half an hour for breakfast and check out. Simple arithmetic: the coffee machine made 1 cup of coffee on average for half a minute. There are 44 of us. the last person to come for coffee had 8 minutes left for breakfast.

Many frankly told Katya that after breakfast it would be nice to sit and think on the toilet, but nobody cared about your physiological problems. And with the "mandrel" there were problems, because the breakfasts were very poor. Again, in Paris in 2011, we were told that breakfast in France is coffee and a croissant, but Accord agreed on an enhanced breakfast for its tourists. In Italy, we watched with envy as Poles devoured a full breakfast in front of our eyes. Katya said: "They paid extra." Why didn't anyone suggest this?

In the 1st transit Italian hotel there was an assortment of food, but as it turned out, it was calculated. The first who came to breakfast, according to the Egyptian-Turkish habit, scored full plates, and the last did not get anything! The waiters shrugged, saying no more. Why was no one warned? Why did the escort come to the dining room at the end and did not regulate these issues? Only after the fact, at my request, she made an announcement.

In a hotel in Rome, in general, for breakfast there were only sweet biscuits, juices, coffee. People with an unhealthy pancreas had nothing to eat at all. On the first day we were not allowed to have breakfast without a guide. But she, as always, showed up at the end and only stated the fact. Why aren't they warned about this?

Why are hotels generally a surprise, often not a pleasant one? In Rome, the hotel was a complete wreck. Nothing worked: hair dryer, shower door fell off when you tried to push it.

For two days I tried to get the administrator to clean the drain in the shower. Washed ankle-deep in water, risking catching a fungus.

Okay, life can be experienced, I travel with tents. For me, the main thing is to be prepared for hardship. After 3 trips with the Accord, I wasn't prepared for bad surprises.

Now let's talk about beautiful Italy, which I dreamed of going to since the time of lectures on the history of art at the Institute of the times of the "Iron Curtain".

Help to see and love the country guides. I got the impression that they are chosen without casting, probably who will ask for less money. Because there were both wonderful smart guides and frank hacks.

In Verona, a lady carried such a blizzard that I felt like a 5th grader at a school for the mentally retarded. And, dear managers, you somehow convey to the prospective guides that although we are Russian-speaking (so far), we are Ukrainians.

That the USSR is long gone, we have far from friendly relations with Russia, and the history of Ukraine is very different from the Russian one.

In Sirmione, the girl was very literate, but she clearly wanted to assert herself on our behalf. Katya asked her for an hour tour and to give us 1.5 hours of free time. And we said that we would like to have time to swim in the lake while the sun is warm. But she stated that she had 2 hours of material and intended to speak everything out. At the same time, it was hard for her to speak on the go, and we stood almost all the time, but we wanted to see and pass more. When we could not stand it, we apologized that we were leaving and asked for directions to the beach, the young lady was offended, you see, and did not show the way. And time to fornicate remained critically little. The rest of the time we moved on the run, including climbing the towers of the fortress. You need to be in good physical shape!

When I noticed to Katya that I didn’t travel so far to stand during excursions, she answered me: “No one is holding you, go wherever you want.” Fine? Pay for the tour 38 euros and fornicate yourself? Oh, very chord-like! She repeated this phrase more than once and not only to me.

About planning excursions. The Vatican and Trastevere were allocated almost the same amount of time. Quite the same! We galloped past the masterpieces of world art, listening to anecdotes and personal impressions of the narcissistic Alexei. And then, tired and hungry, they wandered around Trastevere, envious of those sitting at the tables of numerous cafes. Trastevere is romantic, no doubt, but there are not so many attractions! Maybe they would give us free time and the opportunity to sit in a cafe?

A day was allocated for the beautiful Florence. We did not have time to see everything we wanted ((And on the same day an excursion to Pisa and Siena was planned. And either - or.

I would go both there and there, but why am I so limited?

We were in San Marino for a long time, although there is not much to see there. They imposed a tasting on us so that we could buy something. They drove like cattle into a cramped space and sold something at very high prices. You can't be so open-minded! After half a day in San Marino, it turned out that we had only 1.5 hours of a cursory excursion to Bologna without going to the university and without free time. Because before 23.00 you need to get to the hotel. Who plans like this? Bologna is a beautiful, large old city. And we ran through it without seeing most of the sights. Despite the fact that the tour was shortened both in time and in content, there was no question of a refund.

Those who did not go to Bologna were dropped off at the supermarket. I also wanted to bring some tasty treats from Italy, but the tight schedule of excursions did not give me the opportunity to go shopping.

And here, of course, I preferred to see Bologna at least a little bit. Why not give everyone the opportunity to go to the supermarket?

And another bad story. There were more of them, but there is no strength to experience it again.

On the bus, which took people from Florence to Pisa, a tire was punctured on the way. Katya said: "The road is the road." But tell me, how can you do it on the autobahn? Maybe the bus wasn't ready? As our tourist, an experienced driver, said: "There is nothing to buy Chinese tires."

We waited for them for 5 hours and when we got to the hotel, we had 2 hours to sleep! And 12 hours of excursions in Rome were planned for tomorrow! And it would be nice if we were waiting for them in Florence, otherwise they took us to some backyards where there are no cafes, no toilets, no sights nearby! Marked the bushes))

And no one was surprised that there was a farewell "note of discomfort".

At the entrance to Lvov, Katya announced that there was a wedding in terminal A and whoever wanted to spend time there before the train would not work. I know you, little one!

A spoonful of honey in a barrel of tar. Contrary to the Accord, Italy delights and inspires! Italians are friendly and attentive. What can not be said about the accompanying Accord. Great professionals who love their work and people, the wonderful guides Liliana in Venice and Maxim in Tivoli and Orvieto, helped to fall in love with this country and its inhabitants. Thank them!

Also, thanks for the stay to the staff on duty at the hotel on Efremova, 7. When the booked time was over, they sheltered me in the lobby, gave me tea, and took care of me like at home. Shira podyaka!

And finally, I want to wish the owners of the Accord company a speedy ruin, because they are working so hard on this!

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