Author:
Date of purchase: 17 april 2017 Written: 16 june 2017 |
|
Travel agency: Аккорд-тур Туроператор (Lviv) Service type: пакетный тур, экскурсионный тур |
I promised myself that I would write a review. I read them regularly myself. There will be a lot of negativity, positive and advice. So, let's begin! I have always dreamed of visiting Scandinavia, I really wanted to go to Tallinn, I love Riga very much. Ahead were May and the opportunity to take a vacation. Dreams must come true, right? Even cooler if not only your dreams. I started preparing in February (I like to plan too much). The anticipation of the journey is the most magical time. For my mother, this was the first trip to Europe, which means many, many problems with paperwork (but now she is a happy owner of a biometric passport). Document-Service is a wonderful place to solve such issues.
Further flour of choice with a tour and a tour operator. Comparison, clarifications. I stopped at the Baltic breeze (it hurts a well-thought-out program), it seems that I chose a trusted tour operator - “Let's go with us”. And then I went to a site with reviews about the Accord and could not fall asleep, so much negativity, so much anger. Everything is decided, we cancel the meeting. This tour operator is definitely not for me, a lot of risks, no guarantees. I fell asleep with these thoughts. But networking is a wonderful thing and Masha Klimenko ( https: //www. facebook. com/mariia. klymenko) from Alexis Tour is recommended to me. Incredible person, wonderful agent who loves what he does. I think I was her worst client, so many questions, so many doubts, so many demands. But she handled it all with a smile. And she convinced me to trust Accord. Paying for the tour and waiting for confirmation of the group meeting ... Masha is always in touch, always supported .. and then a call and Masha's words "We eat!" Further visas ... I think everything, here we will definitely fail (my mother has the first Schengen). But even here – Accord pleased. Let me remind you, this is May, they won’t get through to the visa center. I don’t know what Accord did, but the visa center opened for us an hour earlier. I sit, drink coffee, and they run / pay for me - I feel like in paradise (I speak as a person who has done a visa himself more than once and is aware of the scale of the tragedy). After 4 days, Masha writes that the visas are ready. Hooray!! Then I learn from my mother that she was still in that sample of tourists who are called from the consulate and interrogated (by the way, this is not scary, the questions are very simple).
Further weeks of waiting for the information sheet, for me it was very important, I had my own travel plan - I need to combine it. When Masha sent me an info sheet, I was disappointed for the first time… just a program that is written in the tour description, the name of the hotels, the name of the guide. Guys, to write infolists like that is not to respect yourself. Come on! Let me see what kind of guide we have there. Google help me! Well, I think ... with such reviews - we got it. I’ll run ahead and say that everything that you find negative about Alexander Kovbasyuk does not correspond to reality at all. It was the first guide so professional that I had nothing to complain about. Restrained, clear, intelligent and planning.
Departure day, Masha writes asking if everything is fine (yes, there are guides who remember when you leave). What can I say, yes, it seems, the group is small (18 people), there are a lot of places, we left on time ... I didn’t know about the Belarusian border yet. Frankly, it was the passage of the Belarusian border that was the most difficult. Be vigilant, lay at least 5 hours for this event (correction for May). As a result, late check-in at the hotel, and late departure to Riga. I had to forget about visiting Jurmala. Thanks to Alexander, he took on all the difficulties with boarding the ferry and the group was able to walk around Riga for about 2 hours. Then there was a ferry (but in fact a cruise liner). Walks, cafes, shops are all here. I advise you to take care of dinner in Riga, on the ferry it will be 5 times more expensive. In the Rimi network, you can buy a bunch of tasty treats for 5 euros (sushi, salads, etc.). Do not buy water, drinking water is available from the tap on the ferry. Just like in Stockholm (you can save 20-30 euros on a trip), the locals are proud of the cleanliness of the water in the city. I advise you to buy alcohol in duty free, a good choice and cheaper than in Sweden. I’ll say this about cabins, if you don’t save money, pay extra for a separate one. But in general they are quite spacious (slightly larger than a train compartment) and comfortable. Be sure to have breakfast on the ferry, firstly it is cheaper, secondly it is very, very tasty. It costs only 11.5 euros (in Stockholm for that kind of money you can only buy coffee with a bun). Next, a bistro on the upper deck will enjoy the Stockholm archipelago.
Stockholm is an amazing city, it lives by different laws than Kyiv. So the Swedes get up early, finish the working day at 16/17.00. Keep this in mind when planning your program in the city. The overview of the city makes it possible to navigate no more, the guide who caught our group is a wild mixture, like a professional, has been living in Sweden for a long time, but the Russian mentality interferes (eternal discontent, resentment, a lot of unnecessary information about her personal life) ... tin. Luckily, we didn't spend much time with her. Next city. I strongly advise you not to go on surveys, excursions. Download Meduza's travel guide and discover Stockholm. Buy ice cream from the kiosk near the palace, sit on the steps of the Dramatic, enjoy the sun with the Swedes, go to the museum, ride the subway and be sure to take a stroll around Serdemalm.
And if you want excursions, write to Masha Belaya, she loves Stockholm and she is amazing. By the way, you will spend the same money as with the Accord tour .. but the level will be completely different. By the way, in preparation I recommend her blog.
Due to the small number of our group, we did not get to Uppsala. But Alexander (thanks again) found a way out and combined 2 excursions: Sigtuna + Drottningholm. The guide was the same as in Stockholm ... I will not repeat. If you take excursions, take Sigtuna and Uppsala. Go to Drottningholm yourself, you will see more (for example, you will get inside the palace and take a walk in the park). It's worth it.
We returned to Stockholm for lunch and went for a walk around the city. By the way, Alexander's plus is that he does not clearly calculate the time. And this means you will not need to sit at the station for an hour, or run to the ferry.
Tallinn.. and my dream. The city is full of Russians. Overall very beautiful, old and small. So we still managed to go shopping, and they will walk to the residential area. I highly recommend Kalamaja, near the center.
We did not take an excursion to Helsinki, we thought we would stay in Tallinn for 2 days .. yes, we went through everything in a day.
We went to the VikingLine ticket office and bought round-trip tickets for 62 euros (2x).
In the morning the group left later, so leaving the bags at the reception (after warning Alexander) we called a taxi to the port (Uber is everywhere). Arrived for 6 euros. That is, an excursion to Helsinki cost us 68 euros for 2, instead of 136 from Accord.
Helsinki is love, an incredibly photogenic city. Be sure to get to the island of Suomenlinna, the ferry from the Market Square (costs about 5 euros round trip).
Thanks a lot to Alexander, our drivers, Accord and magical Masha!