"Prague Romance" in August 2009
On August 8-16, I went on the Prague Romance tour. In my opinion, this tour is ideal for those who travel to Central and Eastern Europe for the first time: in 9 days you manage to see a lot. And no night shifts!
8 August. 8:20. The train "Dnepropetrovsk-Truskavets" arrives in Lviv. On the platform, we are met by a representative of the Accord Tour company and escorted to the bus stop. The departure was scheduled for 9:00, but the group got ready earlier and we left around 8:50.
The leader of the group, Lianna Hayrapetyan, gave us our passports with Czech visas. On the way to the border, she gave a short "instruction": how to behave at the border, how to talk to customs officers.
The border crossing took about three hours (but in general this procedure can be delayed - anything can happen at the border). All day and evening we drove through the territory of Poland, somewhere around 20:00 we crossed the Polish-Czech border (it is purely symbolic, without any customs). At about 10 p. m. we arrived in the small town of Prerow and stayed at the Hotel Fit***.
August 9th. In the morning we drive to Olomouc, the capital of Moravia. Although the city is small, it is very beautiful, I personally really liked the central square with the column of the Holy Trinity. Unfortunately, there was little free time in Olomouc (a little over an hour), since we had to arrive in Prague in the evening.
And here we are in the capital of the Czech Republic. We were settled in the Emmy Rezidence **** hotel - this is the best hotel we have ever stayed in. And the only one that had an elevator : ) In the evening we went on a sightseeing tour of Prague. We were taken to the center by bus, and then - a walk around the city.
Achtung! There are a lot of exchange offices in Prague, but it is better to exchange currency where the guide or group leader says. Many exchangers work dishonestly, they write one rate in large numbers, and exchange according to the one that is written somewhere in their manuscripts. In addition, there are a lot of mafia from the CIS countries in Prague, so if a stranger addresses you in Russian, get away as soon as possible.
From the first impressions of the Czech capital - a huge number of tourists in the center - on Przykop and on the Charles Bridge.
August 10. In the morning we go on a sightseeing tour again. Of all the attractions, I liked the Wallenstein Palace the most, and of course the Prague Castle, of course - the residence of the President of the Czech Republic.
Further according to the plan - a boat trip along the Vltava. Actually, this is an optional course, but I highly recommend it: a stunning view of Prague opens up from the ship: you can see many architectural monuments: Vysehrad, the Ministry of Industry, the Dancing House... and of course the bridges across the Vltava from the ship look completely different!
After the boat excursion according to the plan - "Beer Roads of Prague", but I decided not to wander along them, but to get to know the city center better. Climb up the town hall, from where a beautiful view of Prague opens. It is from the town hall that it is best to take pictures of the Tyn Church - the hallmark of the capital.
Public transport works very well: there are trams, buses (run on a strictly scheduled basis) and three metro lines. To travel, you need to buy a "Jizdenka" - a travel card that is valid for a certain time. Caught with an expired travel card - we pay a fine!
11th August. Optional excursion to Dresden - the capital of Saxony. In Dresden, everything is very compact: the entire historic city center can be walked around in an hour. The guide in the Dresden Gallery was Gerold Jan, he spoke excellent Russian, and even learned a few phrases in Ukrainian, which made us very happy : ) In Germany, the extraordinary cleanliness of the streets is striking - I have never seen anything like it! And the Germans are very friendly and welcoming.
In your free time in Dresden (and it was enough - about five hours) you can walk along the Elbe embankment, cross the bridge to the other side, to the monument to Augustus II the Strong.
12th of August. Optional excursion to Karlovy Vary. On the way we stopped at the Kruš ovice brewery, but I personally was not impressed by it. I am not a fan of alcohol and everything connected with it. The city of Karlovy Vary itself is pretty good, but there are few sights there. We took the funicular up the mountain, and we had a picturesque view of the city.
August 13th. Goodbye Prague! We check out from the hotel and drive to Cesky Krumlov. On the way, we also visited the beautiful Hluboka castle, but it is not always included in the tour program, it can be changed to Konopiste or something else. Cesky Krumlov is a small pretty town in South Bohemia with a population of 14 thousand people. We were accommodated in the hotel Vltava ***, it is very simple, but cozy. An evening tour of Krumlov is optional, but highly recommended. The guide Dasha in an old costume and with a torch led us through the dark streets and lanes and told old legends. At night, the town is even more reminiscent of the Middle Ages than during the day.
August 14th. Optional excursion to Vienna. Quite a long journey - and here it is, the capital of the Republic of Austria! I must say that the tour was very short, but then there was free time, you could walk around the city, see Maria Theresien Platz, Ringstrasse, Hofburg Palace, monuments to Mozart and Franz Joseph. Of course, one day in Vienna is not enough, but we got to know the Austrian capital.
August 15. Check out from the hotel and transfer to Krakow. In Krakow, we saw Wawel, well, the central Rynok Square with St. Mary's Church. In Krakow, they sell a lot of all sorts of souvenirs, of which the most remarkable are dragons - the symbol of Krakow. In the evening of the same day, we get on a bus that is waiting for us right in the city center and go to a transit hotel (unfortunately, I forgot its name, but the hotel is not bad).
August 16th. Check out from the hotel and transfer to Lviv. We crossed the border very quickly, an hour and a half. At 14:45 we were already near the Lviv railway station. When we stood at the border, we were given questionnaires in which we wrote about our impressions and evaluated the trip as a whole and individual excursions.
Before the trip, it seemed to me that long journeys between cities were a drawback of the tour, but on the first day I realized that I was mistaken. During the trips, Lianna told us about the countries and cities through which we passed, gave us a lot of practical information, and also taught us a few phrases in Polish and Czech. Also, during the transfers, we were shown cool films, for example, Radio Day.
In conclusion, I want to say that I really liked the tour, almost all the tourists were satisfied. Many thanks to Accord Tour for the excellent organization of the trip. Special thanks to the team leader Lianna Hayrapetyan. She is a real professional, knows several foreign languages. It was very pleasant to communicate with Lianna, she is a very interesting and friendly person! It is a pity that there is no way to know in advance who will be the leader of the group, because I would really like to go again with Lianna!
