My impressions of the tour "Intoxicating aroma of France" Accord Tour
During this tour we visited the following countries: Hungary (Tokay, Budapest), Switzerland (Zurich, Montreux, Geneva), Germany (Munich), France (Paris, Strasbourg), Austria (Vienna, Salburg).
General impressions of this tour:
Pros: a lot of emotions from the cities and sights seen, a lot of photos. The tour is quite rich and we were able to see 5 countries and 10 cities.
Cons: fatigue, constant lack of sleep, getting up at 7 am, constant lack of time, in many cities I would like to stay longer, but the tour program did not allow this, I also want to note that the tour gives very little free time if you go on all excursions, then there is not enough time even to sit quietly in a cafe for your own pleasure or take a walk where you want. Therefore, we only went on free sightseeing tours and took two additional paid ones, and the rest of the time we walked wherever we wanted.
Now I want to share my impressions about the countries, cities, hotels and sights. The first country we went to was Hungary, at first it was 5 tiring hours of crossing the border, we were terribly tired, we got to Tokaj late in the evening, we didn’t really see anything in the dark, there are no tours of Tokay, only a free dinner in the wine cellar with wine tasting is provided, the wines were not particularly impressed, in the Crimea it is better. Then we went to Budapest and at 23:00 we finally checked into the Arena Hotel. I liked the hotel, the breakfasts (buffet) were delicious, plentiful, hearty, one of the best of the whole trip. The hotel has a swimming pool, but it was not possible to use it due to lack of time. The location of the hotel is more or less good, to the center by trolley bus about 15 minutes away.
We spent the whole day in Budapest until the evening, first we went on a sightseeing tour, the guide was excellent, he told interesting things.
Then we went on an independent walk, walked around the center on foot, looked at the fisherman's bastion, the chain bridge, the Hungarian parliament, the cathedrals of St. Stephen and Matthias, the Heroes' Square, Varosliget Park and much more. Budapest impressed me, I didn’t even expect that I would like it so much, I want to return there again.
Then we went to Germany, to Munich. We spent literally three hours there, we only had time to walk around the city center, go to the supermarket and, of course, sit and drink beer and sausages, it was dark, there were no crowds in the cafes, we hardly found a place to sit down. For the night we were taken to the Achat Bretten hotel, a quite normal hotel, they fed us well.
Then we went to Switzerland, our path lay through the most picturesque places, first through the Bavarian Alps, then through the Swiss Alps and lakes, it was impossible to tear oneself away from the window, the view was always beautiful.
They settled us in the suburbs of Zurich, we had to get to Zurich by train, but we never got there, because our bus drove us from the hotel to the center and back. Our hotel was called Trend. Wonderful hotel, the best room of the whole trip. But here the Accord breakfasts were ordered by the economy, i. e. in a separate small room for our groups they served a buffet, which was more than modest, only yoghurts, muesli, not tasty rolls and some cheese, and there was not enough food for everyone, who came later chose already from what was left, the products that ran out were not reported, for example, yogurts disappeared quite quickly and they were not brought anymore.
For the sake of interest, we went to see how things were in the main restaurant where all the other tourists eat, there was no limit to our surprise - there the tables were bursting with all kinds of culinary delights (red fish, basturma, a bunch of all kinds of cuts, cheeses and much more) abundance, but the waiter immediately approached us and asked for our room number, we called and he said that breakfast was ordered for us in another room, i. e. Accord stupidly saved on our breakfasts, it was unpleasant, but it was quickly forgotten because then we were waiting for an excursion to the Rhine Falls, the excursion really liked the waterfall, a breathtaking sight. Then we went for a walk around Zurich - a wonderful beautiful city, but expensive.
The next day we were waiting for the excursion "Swiss Riviera", this excursion lasted from early morning until late evening and included a visit to the Chillon Castle (a beautiful old castle in a picturesque place, next to the lake and the Alps), the town of Montreux (a very beautiful flowering city on lakeshore) and Geneva (Geneva was the least impressed).
The next country we visited was France, we started our acquaintance with France from Strasbourg, an extraordinary city, all the houses seem to be toys, designed in a certain style. We did not stay here long, went sightseeing, had a bite to eat and went to spend the night already in Paris.
We arrived there when it got dark, we were taken on a sightseeing tour of Paris in the evening, it was very beautiful and the culmination was a stop at the observation deck from where a great view of the Eiffel Tower opens, then I saw this beauty for the first time, the tower just began to flicker with thousands of lights, bewitching spectacle. This evening is still one of the brightest in my life. After the tour, we were settled in the Appartcity Saint Maurice hotel, it should be noted that the hotel is very far from the center, about 15 stops by metro, it takes about 40 minutes to get from the hotel to the nearest metro station on foot for 15 minutes. The hotel is the worst for the entire trip, the bathroom in the room is terrible, the breakfasts are modest, everything is in limited quantities, here for the first time during the trip we had to queue for food and when it came to us there was nothing much to take, except for croissants and tea. We did not take excursions in Paris, we went everywhere ourselves, because
prepared for the trip and knew how to get there: we went to Versailles, visited the Louvre, Opera, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, La Defense, Tuileries Garden, Champs Elysees, climbed the Eiffel Tower. Paris is an amazing city, you definitely want to go there many more times.
Further, our path lay in Austria, where we were to visit Salburg and Vienna. On the territory of Austria, we did not spend the night, we were taken to spend the night in the Hungarian border town of Sopron, a wonderful city, our hotel was called Lö vé r, the hotel is good, it is located in a picturesque place in a forested area. The hotel has an indoor pool, jacuzzi, sauna. Leaving the hotel you find yourself in a wonderful park, it is a pity that we had little time as always and we could not enjoy all the delights of this hotel. Salburg and Vienna are beautiful cities and deserve a separate tour.
Since time was allotted for them one day for each, we could not see everything and decided that it would be necessary to go on a tour of Austria.
In general, the trip was a success and was quite eventful, interesting and memorable.
