Light charm of Austria
I have been on the "Light Charm of Austria" tour since July 8.2011. I am posting a review on Turpravda, because I just noticed this opportunity, I always go through Vacation and immediately to the forum. This review is also on the forum (page dedicated to this tour). I hope my information will be useful to tourists who are going to travel to Austria.
Tour "Easy Charm of Austria" was chosen because we wanted to see not only Vienna, but mainly the lakes and other cities of Austria, as well as a relatively small number of transfers, 3 nights in one hotel. The main purpose of the trip was to see the Wolfgangsee and its environs, the "Eagle's Nest", Lake Kö nigssee.
The hotels on the tour were good. Aré na (Budapest) - a wonderful hotel, comfortable rooms, good breakfast, centralized air conditioning, which is very nice at +38 on the street. Lö vé r (Sopron) (transit hotel, spent two nights, but not in a row) belongs to the same network as Aré na, is located in a picturesque place, almost in the forest. The main problem is mosquitoes, so if you are in this hotel in the summer, do not forget the fumigator, as the window and balcony are the main sources of coolness. Linderhof (Abersee) - a small hotel on the Wolfgangsee, there is no elevator, the rooms are spacious, the breakfast is very modest compared to Hungary, but good for Austria.
Excursions. Part of the excursions in the cost of the tour, quite a lot of optional ones.
Budapest. Tour guide Elena. The sightseeing tour of the city is interesting, at a normal pace, you can safely watch, listen, take pictures.
An additional excursion in Szentendra did not take place - they did not get the required number of applicants.
There were more than 4 hours of free time, most of the group went to the Szé chenyi baths. Therefore, it is necessary to have a plan for Budapest where to go, so that later you don’t decide on the go.
River walk along the Danube. It's beautiful, but at night it's probably more impressive. A wonderful guide on the boat, if you don’t see how he talks about Budapest on the microphone, you think that you are listening to one of the good Russian actors in the recording. River coolness and drinks on the boat also cheer you up at +38.
Salzburg. Tour guide Eugene. The sightseeing tour of the city is interesting, there is a lot of information about the history and the present day of Salzburg. I spent an hour and a half of free time (according to the plan, only an hour) in the Hohensalzburg fortress. Funicular 10.5 euros two ways. Stunning city views. Unfortunately, we were not able to have lunch during this time and take a more relaxed walk around the city. After Salzburg, a short drive to the Salzkammergut. A small stop at the entrance to St. Gilgen on the panoramic platform. Walk around St. Gilgen and St. Wolfgang. After a hot day and bus rides, the group even gave up free time in St. Wolfgang, everyone wanted to go to a hotel and swim in the lake.
Innsbruck. I didn’t go, because I was there two years ago, I didn’t want to go a second time for 60 euros and, given the 3-hour one-way trip by bus. The tour could not take place, there were not enough people, but the accompanying Galina informed about this in advance, the initiative group was able to convince the missing part.
Instead of Innsbruck, at home, there was a plan to climb Mount Schafberg on a steam train from St. Wolfgang, then take a walk around the town and take a boat ride on Lake Wolfgangsee and explore other towns if possible. I read reviews from previous tours and thought that our group would also live in St. Wolfgang, but we lived opposite this town (I can’t call it a village for some reason) across the lake. It was 5 minutes walk to the boat stop from the hotel, it was a little problem to figure out the schedules and the direction of traffic, but everything turned out well. I had a roommate with me. At 8.50 a boat approached, which was heading in the right direction (one-way ticket 3.20 euros), at 9.05 we were at the ticket office for steam locomotives (two-way ticket 29 euros), at 9.15 we went by the first steam locomotive, around 10.00 were on the mountain.
The train ride is unforgettable, offering stunning views of the towns and the lake. There are several hotels on the mountain, you can have a bite to eat in their cafes and restaurants. There are several hiking trails, each of which is marked, if you follow these marks you will not get lost. We went along one of the trails - an alpine meadow, luxurious nature, clean air, stunning views.
We went down to St. Wolfgang at about 14.00, a walk around the town, food, shopping... , the time flew by, at 17.00 we returned to the hotel by boat, since there was no point in going somewhere - the last boats in our direction were around 18.00.
The Hellbrunn country palace with amusing fountains did not make much of an impression. There was practically no free time - 25 minutes, despite the fact that it was 10 minutes to go to park the bus. And in Hellbrunn there is a rather interesting park, a zoo. Therefore, if you were in Petrodvorets, it is better to refuse this excursion, 30 euros is expensive for it, it is better to spend 3 hours in Salzburg (if you go to the "Eagle's Nest") or stay on the lake. The downside of the tour was that the tour was conducted by guides from the palace in German and English, and then Eugene repeated to us in Russian too, so we followed the local group everywhere.
"Eagle's Nest". An interesting trip to Mount Kehlstein, beautiful views of the surroundings, Germany on one side, Austria on the other. Free time on the mountain is 1 hour, although when we were traveling in a special bus to the mountain, it was mentioned in the story that in good weather 2 hours are needed for inspection. Moreover, it was originally planned to take 40 minutes, 20 minutes were saved, since Kö nigssee was only seen from the mountain and they did not drive up to it. And as it turned out, Kö nigssee should have charmed from the observation deck in a few minutes.
Klagenfurt. Tour guide Antonina. I didn’t like the tour, in several places we stood listening for a long time, everything else was at a decent speed, Galina was at the tail of the group so that no one was left behind. Despite the name "Rose on Lake Wö rthersee", they did not see the lake in Klagenfurt, free time is not provided. Since there was no elective at the Minimundus, the group asked for either free time or the Wö rthersee. We went to the lake, 30 minutes from the city, and then we had to return, take the guide. The net time at Wö rthersee was 25-30 minutes.
Minimundus is an elective in Klagenfurt. The tour did not take place, there were not enough people willing. When we arrived at the park (the guide was taken and returned from it), everyone was glad that there would be no excursion, under the scorching sun, it was practically an open area, I didn’t want to walk there for an hour. The price is 30 euros, although entrance tickets cost up to 15 euros, why plan a guided tour to the miniature park? It is enough for the accompanying person to buy tickets (if there are more than 20 people and the group price) or give one and a half hours of free time and everyone will buy tickets on their own. There will obviously be more people who want to.
Graz. Tour guide Taisiya. The tour was interesting, the guide was very knowledgeable about the city. Graz is an amazing city, there is simply not enough time there. Free time was 30-40 minutes before the sightseeing tour, it's just ridiculous.
Vein. The tour guide didn't like it. Overload of historical information, many places where last time I was on a sightseeing tour were not visited (in my free time). Free time was 1 - 1 hour, 2 - 40 minutes. This despite the fact that the elective to the Treasury did not take place. If you were in Vienna - leave at 9.00 and walk on your own until 17.00 - you won’t lose anything.
Optional excursion "Palaces of the Empire - Schö nbrunn and Belvedere" 3 hours in total (with transfers). Schö nbrunn - 1 hour in the palace, 20 minutes in the park, 10 of which are free time, Belvedere - 25 minutes from the moment you get off the bus to boarding back. If you want to see all this, look at the opening hours at home and how to get there and devote the whole day to this, enjoy it.
Bus. The information on the site and in the contract will indicate that you will travel by Euroclass bus, but what it is is not clear until you go. Our Euroclass bus was with Czech numbers, of an unknown manufacturer, old, and most importantly, in the height of summer, air conditioning practically did not work in it. The operation of the air conditioner was very interesting, rather it was a fan that for several minutes blew the air a little cooler than in the cabin (a couple of degrees), and then just blew the air hotter than in the cabin. The air conditioner was very noisy while running. When asked to open the hatches, the drivers replied that they did not come off. Considering that the temperature was around +30 and above almost all the time, in Hungary +38, and there were only 34 people in the cabin (tourists + drivers + accompanying person), the trip was very tiring. Surprisingly, the majority in the group were quite happy with this, since many did not resent. On the first day, the attendant's question about the non-working air conditioner received a stunning answer: "What do you want, there is hot asphalt on the street. " For some reason, the attendant could not explain the relationship between air conditioning and asphalt.
The most amazing thing is that the air conditioner started working on a night crossing, on the way home, it was just cold on the bus for an hour or two, although it was hot outside.
The tour program includes a night crossing, while the bus is very uncomfortable, a narrow passage between the seats and little legroom. In Lviv, we were taken from the station to the buses, so that bus was much better.
I was also very surprised by the lack of interchangeable covers on the chairs under the head.
Given the heat outside, the bus ride was even more exhausting.
Drivers. The first three days periodically went astray, having a navigator available. Moreover, after the Slovak border, we rode for about an hour, several times in the same places.
Accompanying Galina Chorna. It is quite difficult for me to understand what is included in the functions of the escort. Accommodation in hotels - everything was fast. Information on the way in the bus is quite normal. Films - one could think over what to show about Austria, but Galina has absolutely nothing to do with it, this is the problem of the organizer of this tour. I got out of conflict situations well or was surprised, although conflicts arose due to poor organization of the tour. What did not quite suit me was that a landmark was not always given for meeting at the bus parking lot, for those who can accidentally lag behind the group, it is advisable to name either the street or some noticeable object known to local residents.
Tour organization. The idea of the tour and its route are very interesting, but the implementation leaves much to be desired.
There is practically no free time on the tour, if you go to electives - there is none at all.
It is not envisaged that tourists should eat at least 1 time a day besides breakfast. Lunch at the expense of free time, although free time is usually either not there or not enough to eat normally.
Very late arrivals to hotels, 22-24 hours.
A separate question is why to take people to the Salzkammergut and not show its natural beauty. For most, it was associated only with the opportunity to swim in the lake.
To get a rest, and not a gallop, you need to either add days or shorten the program. In reality, of the three lakes declared in the program, we would only see Wolfgangsee, since Wö rthersee and Kö nigssee are at best 10-15 minutes from the observation deck or bus window.
The tour, in comparison with other tours of the Accord, is not oversaturated with long journeys, but still a lot of time on the bus, while the bus is clearly intended for long journeys.
The idea of the tour is good, Austria is great, the organization of the tour could be better.
