"Rich and beautiful Switzerland" bus tour
A little background. I've been keeping this tour in mind since its launch last year. But initially she planned to go on vacation to the chord tour of Scandinavia. Alas, the group did not get enough for the April trip to Scandinavia, I was offered two other options for replacement, but I chose this Swiss tour.
So - flight 507, departure 24/04/10. Accompanying guide - Svetlana Kovtun, drivers - Ukrainian crew Mikhail and Valery, Mercedes bus (it seems Turismo, but I don't know much about bus models). The initial composition of the group was 23 people.
The first day.
We gathered, boarded the bus and moved towards the border - the checkpoint Krakovets. We passed the border quickly - in about 2 hours - taking into account the fact that there were three buses in front of us and one couple from our group remained in Ukraine, they didn’t let us out : (. We lost about half an hour on this issue. Poland On the way, we admired small Polish towns, especially numerous churches - both old and modern buildings with modern architecture.
Then, at about six o'clock in the evening, there was a stop in the motors for dinner. Before that, Svetlana briefly introduced us to the main dishes of Polish cuisine - how they sound and what they actually are. Who wanted to try both zhurek and bigos.
Then again on the road - we stopped at the Polish-Czech border, changed some money - the exchange rate there was quite normal. The overnight stay was in Olomouc, we arrived at the hotel at about 23.00, while we circled around a bit, as repair work was going on next to the hotel and the passage was blocked. The hotel was quite decent not far from the old city center (10-15 minutes walk), the building of the times of socialism, after a good repair.
Second day.
Breakfast - modestly standard - cheese and sausage cuts, scrambled eggs, sausages, yogurt, a drink such as juice, tea bags, coffee from a coffee maker.
Before leaving, we still had time to walk a little towards the old center (and the most "violent"; ) our groupmates had a good walk there before breakfast).
We left the hotel at 8.30, taking the direction to Prague. On the way, Svetlana tried to tell about the “passing” terrain, in particular, on the Austerlitz field.
Before Prague, we stopped for 40 minutes to have lunch on the next motorized train, where I ate my favorite greased hermelin.
I was not going to go on a sightseeing tour in Prague, because. I have been to this wonderful city more than once (and in fact, almost all of the group have already been to Prague), but when I heard who would lead the tour, I went and did not regret it. Before that, I only heard reviews about this, I'm not afraid to say a big word, the legend of Prague - Mrs. Livia, it's really super. She, knowing that we had already walked the traditional tourist trail, showed us the same Grad, Mala Strana, Stare Mesto from a different angle. The tour took almost five hours, but they flew by in an instant.
We parted with her on Vaclavak - then we had an hour and a half of free time. Since after such a marathon we wanted to sit and have a bite to eat, we moved to the Bredovsky yard - zhebrivka + dark beer - both tasty and inexpensive, after which we slowly wandered along Prshikop and Celetnaya to the collection point, to Orloi, to go to the settlement. It is worth noting that the group we selected was punctual - almost always everyone came on time.
The hotel, rather even a hotel, on the one hand was not at all in the center, in a quiet residential area, but at the same time a hundred meters from the metro station (new station, modern architecture - it was not on last year's free maps from the information center). Another 5-minute walk was Billa, who, importantly, worked until 22.00 despite Sunday. So, having settled in and refreshing myself with a shower, I managed to visit the supermarket and stock up on beer / sausage, and then also dangle into the center, take a walk around the evening / night Prague.
We left the hotel at 8:00. Once again, we admired Prague from the bus window and pushed our way through small traffic jams on its streets and drove to Munich. We arrived in Munich at 3:00 pm. On the way, I personally experienced a slight culture shock - we all heard about the German ordung, and here I am, on the recreation area on the autobahn, watching how an obvious native (judging by the number on the car) throws a cigarette butt just under his feet... and there are more than a dozen such cigarette butts in a puddle... hmm... another myth collapsed in my soul...
Near the Opera House we picked up our guide to Munich - Irina, a former Kiev resident - a sea of charm. As I understand it, her call sign is “balcony with geraniums” - the way she led the tour while dressed in a Bavarian folk costume. A sightseeing tour of Munich by bus and walking lasted only 2 hours. Irina tried to show and tell for a maximum of 2 hours for this beautiful city, very, very little. But on the other hand, I know for sure that I will do my best to visit this interesting city and region once again.
After we were given another hour and a half of free time. Someone from the group rushed to the shopping center for a mini-shopping, someone went to the famous Hofbrä uhaus. I just wandered around the quarters of the old center.
We had a collection point at the new town hall - we gathered, went to the bus and drove towards the border, to the place of lodging for the night. We had a transit hotel in Austria, not far from the border with Switzerland. We arrived at the hotel around 23:00. Small, but at the same time having 4 *, in a very small village.
We left the hotel at 8:00. Since it was dark the day before, we saw the mountains only in the morning. The road to the Swiss border, in my opinion, is very picturesque - I managed to take at least a dozen interesting photos from the bus window : ).
At the border, we were checked for documents - they were not collected, just a young guy, a border guard, walked through the cabin and we showed him our passports. According to Svetlana, even such light control does not always take place. She even suggested that because the guys are young, they are studying and therefore we were kind of tested. This whole procedure took about 20 minutes. Most of the time was spent on the execution of technical documents for the bus.
Liechtenstein and its "capital" Vaduz were waiting for us next. We arrived there at 9 am. We went on a "sightseeing tour" along the main street. The tour is in quotation marks, as all the advantages of the "guide type" who conducted her were only in the fact that she knew Russian. There was practically no information from her, and there was simply nowhere to get lost. As Sveta later explained to us, only its inhabitants have the right to conduct an excursion on the territory of this mini-state - well, with all the poorness of the choice, there was simply no alternative.
In general, we spent an hour and a half in Vaduz, after which we headed for Zurich, where we arrived at 12.00. On this day, we obviously had no luck with local guides : (. Lyudmila, the guide to Zurich was kind of informative, but the style of presenting this information... Perhaps because of her, Zurich did not make a special impression on me.
After a 2-hour overview of Zurich, those who went to the Rhine Falls had an hour of free time (naturally more for the rest). We drove to the waterfall for an hour. Lyudmila was telling us something along the way, but I honestly admit that I just fell asleep under her monologue. As it turned out, not only I fell asleep. : )
At the waterfall, the guide was actually not needed - it's just a spectacle. We walked, floated on a boat to the observation deck on a rock, wandered around for souvenirs and after an hour and a half went back to Zurich. On the way back, Lyudmila continued her soothing monologue, but everyone listened to her with half an ear. In Zurich, near the train station, without much regret, Lyudmila and I parted ways, picked up the rest of the group and went to check into a hotel. And then a small funny thing happened to us - we arrived at the address of the hotel using the navigator, but there is no hotel; ). It turned out that the hotel was actually in the suburbs near the airport, and in Zurich there is exactly such a street - and when the drivers entered the address - they missed a little. However, they were not alone in their delusion - I also entered the wrong address in my navigator; ). In general, we figured it out pretty quickly and after about half an hour we were at the hotel. On this day we arrived at the hotel early - around 20.00. The hotel is new, 4 *, near the hotel there is a station - it was possible to take a train to Zurich for a walk, but everyone preferred to relax and sleep off. By the way, one more local touch - planes do not fly in Switzerland at night, so as not to disturb the sleep of respectable Swiss - this is the result of a referendum in which residents made such a decision and now night takeoffs / landings at Swiss airports do not exist in principle...
We left again at 8:00
We set a course for Zurich - they picked up our next guide at the station and dropped off three tourists who were not going to Basel. Remembering yesterday's guide Lyudmila, we fearfully expected what would happen today. So here is our main guide to Switzerland - Clara was beyond praise - just a sea of charm, a storehouse of information and a volcano of energy : ). Looking ahead - in the questionnaire at the end of the tour, I personally wrote a wish - to always invite Clara to accompany the tours.
We arrived in Basel at 10.00 am (my first street photo was taken at 10.04 am - this is a fountain of three generations). Sightseeing tour - 2 and a half hours. Everything was great. The city is located at the junction of the borders of three countries and is very distinctive. In addition, the charisma of our guide was superimposed on the charm of the city - the result was simply magnificent.
As an example, Clara led us to a narrow, steeply rising street called 11.000 beauties. She told a beautiful legend associated with the name of the street, and announced that in order to be cleansed from sins, you need to go up this street a few times and sing “Ave Maria” at the same time. Naturally, we all giggled at that. We start climbing the street and then Klara sang "Ave Maria" - she has a cool voice (as far as I understood, in the past she was a professional singer, either an opera or a choir - she herself is from Minsk). The effect was amazing - after a steep climb, we all “hacked”, and her voice did not even go astray. And the sound of "Ave Maria" in this "city gorge" was simply indescribable. We applauded her sincerely from above.
We had only 1 hour of free time after the review. We walked in the quarters around the Radhaus and at the fair of farm products in front of it (by the way, it was great to taste different cheeses there, we gathered and moved back to Zurich, where we picked up the rest of the tourists near the station and then went to Lucerne, where we arrived at about 18.00, settled in hotel almost in the very center (4 *). After half an hour, the whole group drove up to the very center (Clara, as a bonus-lure, handed out flyers to us, according to which we received souvenir coffee spoons in Busherer's company stores), approached the dying lion (according to Clara considers it her duty to show and tell about this main monument of Lucerne to everyone, and not only to those who go on an evening excursion) and then part of the group went for a walk on their own, and the rest went on an optional evening excursion + fondue. about this elective - I really liked the tour of Lucerne performed by Clara, the fondue attached to it was so-so. The guys from our group, hum those who visited Lucerne (and its historical part is small) themselves ate fondue in a more stylish institution - firstly, they had all three options against only cheese in our country, and secondly, it was accompanied by folk songs and all sorts of folklore and musical nishtyaks such as yodels, games on brooms, saws and cow bells : ) (the name of the institution is "Stadtkeller", located near the Town Hall).
The cheese fondue itself did not impress me much - tasty, cool, but nothing more. After that, we walked along the embankment, since it was on the way to the hotel, and at about 21.30 we arrived at the hotel.
On this day, we had an elective called “The main thing is not to rush” (Interlaken-Bern. ). Departure is traditionally at 8.00. Almost the whole group went - in Lucerne there was one couple left who had their own idea-fix to climb Pilatus, which they did.
The rest, led by Clara, slowly moved towards Interlaken. Let me tell you, this day was my favorite. Gorgeous landscapes changed outside the bus window for even more gorgeous ones : ). Clara insisted that we drive into the valley of waterfalls before Interlaken, unfortunately the name of the village did not stay in my “confusion”, but it was really cool there - the tall rocky walls of the valley, a waterfall flowing down this wall, a snow-covered peak in the slot of the valley, the noise of bees above the flowering trees and the silence of a small village, and a small Protestant church - open to everyone, at the same time touchingly defenseless, and full of inner strength...
After that there was Interlaken, a cute little town (by our standards, probably even an urban-type settlement). But what a resort spirit is there... And the view of the Jung Frau... Damn, I remember and... I really want to go there again : ).
Another example - in front of the most luxurious hotel in Interlaken is a large wasteland. The hotel bought the land and does not allow anything to be built there, so as not to block the view from the windows of the rooms on the Jung Frau. As they say - bravo to the hotel. But that is not all. This wasteland - in nature a chic lawn - is covered with twine around the perimeter and signs are hanging - “only for cows”....That is, people, people have no access to this lawn...
In Interlaken, everyone bought Swiss watches. Clara gave us flyers for an 8% discount in one of the stores (but there were mostly only quartz-battery watches), plus flyers for regular spoons from Bushehrer. I took myself a watch in Boucherer - mechanics, self-winding, classic style, leather strap - 290 euros including tax-free. Quartz clocks in nearby Kirdhofer (taking into account the flyers handed out by Clara) were taken cheaper by my groupmates.
At 12.30 we started from Interlaken towards Bern. Where we arrived at approximately 13.30 (again, I fix the time of the first Bernese photos). The sightseeing tour lasted 2 hours. We started at the bear pit. True, the bears were all on the summer playground, where they still had to be looked out for - especially the cubs that frolicked in the branches of the trees. Then - across the river to the old city, to the radhouse. On the main square - where the government house, the building of the Swiss National Bank, etc. - the geranium fair was in full swing - for the Swiss it was time to decorate the balconies. I didn’t manage to imagine something like this at Bankovaya, at least at Institutskaya ; )
After the tour - an hour of free time.
One more stroke. At the end of the sightseeing tour, Clara took us to the Migros supermarket and commented on the contents of the showcase with cheeses, chocolate, and coffee.
The leitmotif of this event was her words - “I understand that you are not millionaires. That you EARN money for your vacation, so I want to tell you so that you don’t spend your EARNED money in vain, or rather don’t spend it unnecessarily. ” Personally, I am grateful to Clara for such an attitude and such actions.
Free time in Bern ended at 17.30. Together we boarded the bus and went to the base in Lucerne. We returned at dawn. Well, or it was almost dark, but unfortunately I don’t remember the exact time and I didn’t take any pictures that evening, so it’s impossible to clarify.
On this day, according to the plan, we had an elective called "Sweetie named Switzerland" (Montreux-Chillon Castle-Vevey-Geneva). I must say right away that thanks to the indefatigable energy of Clara and the constructive position of Svetlana on this day, we practically managed to “shove the unimpressible”. But first things first.
By tradition, at 8.00 we left the hotel. By 10.00 we arrived in the city of Fribourg, where Clara lives, picked her up and, as a bonus, received a blitz tour of the center of this small old town. After that we took the direction to Gruer, the cheese village. As Clara said, “I don’t like to take tourists to modern cheese dairies, there is nothing to see there. We’d better see Gruer, of course we won’t get to the cheese factory, but this Swiss village itself is worth a look. ” The village is really interesting. There, in a small shop, we tried different varieties of Gruyeres cheese and bought a piece of the one we liked. On the streets of the old village and against the backdrop of a real castle, they arranged a photo session. Everything about everything took us about 40-45 minutes, according to Clara - "at the pace of a waltz. " After that, we quickly drove to the neighboring village (unfortunately, I forgot its name), where the Nestle chocolate factory was located. A tour of the "chocolate", as well as a visit to Gruer, was not included in the program - it was purely Klarina, supported by Svetlana, an initiative. And if Gruer was actually free for us tourists, then it didn’t work on the “chocolate” of a pure freebie; ) it didn’t work out - we were offered to pay for a tour with chocolate tasting for 5 euros (or 7 francs). Everyone agreed - to be honest, considering the prices for chocolate in Swiss supermarkets, I personally ate more than 5 euros worth of chocolate during the tasting process. ; )
What this tour is - several consecutive rooms (you can’t call them halls - because 20 people in our group climbed back up there). Chronologically, the period is described from the acquaintance of Europeans with cocoa beans in South America during the time of Cortes through the courtly French period of hot chocolate to the time of the organization of Swiss chocolate factories (the appearance of bar chocolate). The rooms are immersed in darkness and one or another object-exhibit is alternately highlighted under the announcer's text. During the passage of our group, the text was in French (they do not have Russian voice acting), and Clara provided us with simultaneous translation. After the exposition, we ended up in a room where there were bags up to my waist and a meter and a half in diameter with cocoa beans, different varieties of nuts and boxes of cocoa butter - eat, try how much it will fit into you : )
After a short run along the corridors behind the glass walls of which the process of making chocolates was going on. On the way - the first tasting point - a tray with freshly made sweets, we crushed in an instant. A few more panoramas of the technological process and a tasting room for a snack - somewhere around 3 * 6 meters a table in the center - around the perimeter, which is lined with samples of products manufactured at this factory - eat, I don’t want to. To my great regret, I didn’t manage to try everything - remember the joke about “sticking together” relative to the “fifth point”, and so we stuck together... in the throat. Everything was very tasty, but I really wanted to drink it all down, but alas, we slowed down and the water remained on the bus : (. So if you suddenly get to such an event, be sure to take a bottle of water with you, it will come in handy.
Next is Vevey. Since it started to rain a little, it was “at the pace of a waltz” - a forced march to the embankment, pictures against the background of the lake and the “fork” (a local monument from Nestle), hugging Chaplin and near the monument to Gogol, and back to the bus.
Further course to Geneva. It was about an hour drive to get there. But : ( at the entrance to Geneva, we got into a specific traffic jam, where we lost almost an hour. Because of this, our bus-pedestrian survey was a little crumpled (for all that, it lasted an hour and a half, but this is not enough for Geneva). Free time in Geneva we didn’t have it, we lost it in a traffic jam and spent it on Gruer and a “chocolate". At the end of the review, we said goodbye to Clara with regret, took a picture with a flower clock and against the backdrop of the Geneva fountain and moved back to Lucerne. We arrived at the hotel somewhere between 22.00 - 23.00 But, alas, I don't remember exactly.
On this day, we were checking out from the hotel in Lucerne, where we spent three nights, and moved to Milan. Check out was at 8:30.
Leaving Lucerne, we headed for St. Gotthard. But not on the pass, but on the tunnel. In front of the tunnel on the motorway there was a specific “toffee”, apparently the Swiss were going to Italy for the “May holidays”. After the tunnel, we stopped at a sanitary stop (we stopped at a gas station and shopping complex - the scale and thoughtfulness of it are simply impressive), at the same time we had the opportunity to take pictures against the backdrop of the surrounding mountains.
And then we went to Lugano, where we arrived at 12.30. We met the guide - Galina, compared to Clara, she is much calmer and quieter; ). The tour, for an hour and a half, was slow, but interesting. After that we had an hour of free time - I spent this time walking along the lake embankment.
Gathered in a group, plunged into the bus and - to Milan.
It was Saturday, May 1st. I note this fact, because in Italy it is also a holiday, and shortly before our arrival, a demonstration of socialists ended in the city center - cleaning was going on on the streets still blocked by carabinieri - Italian demonstrations also leave heaps of garbage behind.
At 17.00 we met our guide at Fortesco and started our tour of Milan.
To be honest, after a clean, calm Switzerland, I personally was dumbfounded at the first moment by the Milan noise and din. Ludmila, a guide in Milan, reminded me very much of Clara - also a very energetic woman; ), the tour was lively and informative.
We examined the Fortesco complex, went into the park behind it, returned to the bus - we circled the streets of Milan on it (it is clear to the accompaniment - “look to the left - look to the right”), and got off near the Duoma Cathedral - an impressive colossus, then Duoma Square, the Victor-gallery Emanuel and near the building of La Scala, our tour ended. All this took about two and a half hours and then another hour we walked by ourselves.
In honor of the holiday, public transport in Milan (including the metro) stopped working at 19.30. What was the queue for a taxi at the Duomo - I immediately remembered our queues from the Prohibition era; )... Our guide Lyudmila had to ride a bike home! By the way, in Milan, the system of renting two-wheeled transport is interesting - firstly, only local residents with an annual subscription can use it, and secondly, the subscription card gives the right to use a bicycle for an hour - after that you need to stop at a bicycle rental and "hand over" the bike - if you not yet reached - you immediately take it again and drive for another hour.
In general, we took a walk and, fortunately, we had our own bus, went to check into a hotel in Milan, but not in the center (we settled at about 22.00).
On this day, according to the original plan, we had to leave in the morning for an elective course in Genoa, on the way back, check in outlets for shopping for 3 hours and then some more free time in Milan. In this version, the elective was not recruited - we did not have shopaholics in the group and it was just a pity to waste these three hours at the expense of free time in Milan.
Svetlana approached the problem creatively : ) and suggested a different option for additional excursions - shopping was thrown out of the elective, the departure to Genoa was postponed to 12.00 and in the morning we had almost 4 hours of time in the center of Milan (where we were brought from the hotel on our bus ). There were enough applicants for this option and the trip to Genoa took place, and in Milan we also walked.
We arrived in Genoa at 3:00 pm. A very interesting city, but here the weather spoiled us a little : ( around the middle of the 2-hour sightseeing tour it started to rain heavily, so we moved further from the gallery to the gallery, where Svetlana, a guide in Genoa, talked about the next section of the path and then we walked and watched (because it would be difficult for a group under umbrellas to tell a story).
Of course, we didn’t see everything in Genoa - we remember the first banking houses, two magnificent cathedrals, Columbus’s house...
I also remember the grasping... mmm . . representatives of African nationalities smartly trying to sell us unpretentious umbrellas (and part of the group was just in jackets with a hood) almost at the price of an airplane wing. : )
After the tour, there was another hour of free time and back to Milan. We returned to the hotel around 21:00.
It was a day of a long journey - from Milan to Vienna through the Alps. The road is very scenic, but long. . .
Near Innsbruck for a break, we had a stop at the Swarovski Museum. I seem to be indifferent to the "strasses", but I decided to go to the museum, to see what is so special about these "crystals". All the time in the museum and in the company store, the thought never left me - “However, what a talented person Daniel Swarovski was - so“ dilute ”the world into faceted glass... ” However, I also partially succumbed to this “madness” in the store, I took myself a white metal bracelet with dark -red crystals (I brought a silver set with Czech garnets from my first trip to Prague, so this bracelet went wonderfully into the set). Financial information - a ticket to the museum 9 euros (then this ticket entitles you to a discount of 2 euros when buying something in a company store). The bracelet cost me 29 euros, including the discount. The cheapest in the store - simple pencils with a crystal top 3 euros, pens with crystals in the body - 11 euros. A large selection of all kinds of glitter - and pendants, and earrings, and all kinds of bracelets...
Then we stopped at about 19.00 for dinner in Rozenberg and traditionally arrived at the hotel by 23.00. Hotel 3 *, near the center of Vienna, on the other side of the Danube.
Day eleven.
At 8.30 we left the hotel in the direction of Maria Theresa Square, where our sightseeing tour of Vienna began. For 20 minutes we had to wait for the guide Katya (she got some kind of plug with transport) and started. The tour lasted 3 hours in total. I was in Vienna last year, but then we were not very lucky with the guide on the survey, but this time I was satisfied.
Then there was free time until 14.30 and then we went to Tokaj according to the program. We transited through Budapest. Svetlana, along the way, drew the attention of those who had not yet been to Budapest to the main attractions.
We arrived in Tokai around 21:00. We fixed the impressions of the trip with wonderful wine; ) and to the hotel, spend the night.
The hotel was in Niredygaz, 2 * - small, cramped, but clean and a) there was an elevator, b) opposite the hotel there was a Tesco working from 6 in the morning.
Day twelve.
Before leaving (at 8.00 CET) I managed to visit Tesco, where I bought a bottle of Unicum for health purposes - I appreciated the healing properties of this drink this winter; ). According to Svetlana's assurances, it was possible to pay in euros (change in forints). For some reason, they refused to take euros at the checkout, but I paid with a card without any problems.
We crossed the border quickly, we arrived at the gas station near Chop at 11.30 Ukrainian time. Solved sanitary issues and went through the Carpathians to Lviv. On the way we stopped for lunch at the Ocean. We arrived at the train station in Lviv at 16.45. There were several people in the group with tickets for the Dnepropetrovsk train - they managed to get on it safely.
So, I summarize my impressions of this trip.
Tour "sharpened" to show Switzerland. Prague, Munich, Milan, Genoa, Vienna - nothing more than a side dish to the main course.
You should not expect to see the above cities in detail on this tour - you will only taste them. : )
The only thing is that if you don’t go to Genoa, then in a day and a half you can see Milan in some detail, but as our guide to Milan, Lyudmila, said, “in this city you need to know what you want to see. ” That is, if you set out to see Milan on a free day, you need to prepare in advance - find information on galleries, museums, etc. And the entry to "look at the Last Supper" is generally a month (or even more).
Switzerland on this tour, in my opinion, is shown very fully (of course, given the bus format of the tour).
I still digest and organize my impressions of this country.
Separately, I want to note the issue with the visa. This tour is taken according to the Czech Schengen, interpreting the Czech Republic as a country of entry on the basis of the first Czech overnight stay. Since Ukraine and the Czech Republic do not have common borders, and the bus cannot fly : ), then Poland is just a transit.
I'm not too big an expert in visa rules, but in my opinion everything here is on the verge of being acceptable.
Overall the tour is pretty well organised. The trips, except for the first and tenth days, are not too tiring, the places of stops are thought out.
Our accompanying guide Svetlana Kovtun is a great smart girl : ). Charming, sociable, easily solved organizational issues.
However, I do not think that our group gave her any special problems - only 21 people, not all of them for the first time on bus tours and everyone is quite punctual. There were no scandals - there was no reason for scandals. Everything was just wonderful.
Drivers are calm, polite professionals. Especially Valery - it was a real pleasure for me to watch how cleverly he managed this "behemoth" in the narrow streets.
In short, this vacation was a success. Time to get ready for your next trip. ; )
