Four countries in five days: facts, impressions, recommendations
bus trip with the company "Accord-tour" from Lviv to European countries
Aboutreview is intended mainly for those who are planning to go on a bus tour for the first time, and do not fully understand what awaits them, both during the trip and in the process of preparing for it .
I'll start with a recommendation: It's better to choose and pay for a tour in advance. This will help you get a better offer. I paid for the tour three months before the departure date and, in my opinion, received better conditions (taking into account the distribution of the total cost of the tour between the mandatory and optional parts) than those who paid in March or April.
Obtaining a visa.
About a month before the start of the tour, we were invited to the Kyiv Visa Application Center. There were about 40 people wishing to travel with Accord-tour. These were people who chose different journeys. Accordingly, they needed visas from different countries. There was only one representative of Accord-tour for all. She alternately submitted documents for registration at the windows of the respective embassies or consulates. The queue of those who needed a visa for Hungary was the last one. As a result, the procedure for submitting documents took about three hours.
Organization of the trip.
As described on the Akkord Tour website, at the appointed time in the parking lot in front of the railway station, a bus was waiting for us, which delivered us to Terminal A for free. Moreover, taking into account the number of tourists, there were several such buses, so everyone left.
Terminal A was very crowded (the reason for this became clear later). We hardly found a place on the second floor. Prices in the store and cafe are reasonable, the range is good. If you forgot to buy something for your trip or you just want to have a coffee, it's all here for you. Just keep in mind that if you get on a day when there are many routes, there will be long queues waiting for you everywhere.
Boarding the bus was very organized and fast. Registration of all tourists, marking and loading of luggage, placement on the bus took less than half an hour.
We left Terminal A according to the schedule.
We quickly reached the border. And here an unpleasant surprise awaited us - there were 13 more buses in front of us. Rather, it was a surprise only for tourists. Representatives of "Accord-tour" knew perfectly well that this would happen. As the attendant explained to us, we had to be ready for such a development of events, since the May holidays are on the calendar, many people go to Europe, and only Accord-tour sent more than 20 buses today.
I did not find any mention on the site that there will be such difficulties with the departure, and you need to be prepared for this. There is information that the company is not responsible for the work of border guards. But it is clear that with such an influx of tourists, the load on both border guards and customs officers increases significantly, and the speed of passing control, accordingly, decreases significantly. It turns out that the management of the tour operator is well aware of the problem (according to the escort, this situation is repeated annually), but does not change the bus schedule, and people who fall on peak days experience additional inconvenience at the border and lose free time in Krakow.
In my opinion, there are reserves for changing the schedule. So, for example, when planning a trip, I did not find a single Accord-Tour route with bus departures on April 29, at the same time, on April 30, as I wrote earlier, more than 20 routes were sent.
Bottom line: crossing the border took six and a half hours (four and a half - Ukrainian, two - Polish). Because of this, we arrived in Krakow at 19:30. Accordingly, it turned out only a very quick sightseeing tour. There was no free time in the city.
To the credit of the "Accord-tour" in the future there were no such overlays. We arrived at the cities along the route and left them in accordance with the stated approximate schedule.
In order to be able to imagine how much time it will take for excursions and rest, I will briefly describe the schedule of our tour:
2nd day: departure from the hotel - 7:15, arrival in Prague - 15:00, departure from Prague to the hotel - 21:15, arrival at the hotel - 22:00.3rd day: check-out from the hotel - 7:15, arrival in Vienna - 12:00, departure from Vienna - 21:00, arrival in Budapest - 00:30.4th day: check-out from the hotel - 9:45, departure from the center of Budapest - 21:15.5th day: check-out from the hotel - 7:10, arrival in Miskolc - 9:50, departure from Miskolc - 12:05, arrival in Tokaj - 13:15; departure from Tokai - 14:50, arrival at the border - 16:30.
On the way back, there were no buses in front of us at the border. Both posts, both Hungarian and Ukrainian, we passed in an hour and a half! At 23:15 our bus arrived at Terminal A. Half an hour later we left Terminal A for the railway station on a free bus.
The schedule of your trip may differ from the one I described due to weather conditions, border crossing speeds, road repairs, etc. But, I think, regarding the second, third, fourth and first half of the fifth day, these discrepancies will be insignificant.
Hotels.
The tour operator's website states that "The OPERATOR reserves the right to make changes to the tour program without changing the total number of services. " And "Accord-tour" actively uses this note.
So, in the description of the tour, you can see that the check-in at the hotel comes before the sightseeing tours in Krakow and Prague. Moreover, the same route description was given to us on the bus just before leaving for the tour.
In fact, you should be prepared for the fact that the check-in at the hotel will be in the evening after the end of all excursions (this is exactly what happened to us). And if with Krakow everything is more or less natural (late arrival in the city), then with Prague the group had questions for the escort.
The explanation turned out to be simple: both in Krakow and in Prague, the hotels were not in the city, as described in the tour program, and as we expected, but outside the city! Approximately ten kilometers from Krakow and forty from Prague!
The escort also explained to us that such a settlement was due to the increase in prices during the May holidays, since hotel rooms in the city at this time are much more expensive.
In my opinion, the explanation is strange, since the prices for tours during the holiday period are much higher than the prices offered on ordinary days. In addition, if hotels are booked six months in advance (the words of the attendant), it would be correct to indicate in the tour description that if you travel during this period, then you will live outside the city.
The location of hotels outside the city reduces free time and makes it difficult and expensive to get to the hotel on your own at the end of the day.
So be prepared for the fact that you will not be able to walk around the evening Krakow and / or Prague on your own.
Thanks to the good work of the escort, check-in at hotels was always quick: within 5-10 minutes.
All hotels, as stated in the tour program, are three-star and approximately of the same level. There were three of us (two adults and a child) and we had triple rooms everywhere. The rooms are "worn out", with a minimal set of furniture (beds, a wardrobe, a table, a chair), narrow but comfortable beds, a shower in the bathroom, a sufficient number of sockets (from 3 to 5), reliable and fast Wi-Fi (as on Reception, and in the rooms), the presence of an LCD TV with a diagonal of 14-21 inches without Ukrainian / Russian-speaking channels and standard breakfasts (buffet).
Breakfasts mainly included muesli, sausage, cheese, vegetable cuts, boiled sausages, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, buns, bread, butter, honey, jam, fruit drinks (heavily diluted with water), hot milk, coffee, tea. There were differences from hotel to hotel, but they are not significant.
There were no irons in the rooms of all three hotels. Hairdryers were in two of the three hotels (we were lucky in this, because before the start of the tour we were warned that there would be no hair dryers in the rooms).
Some oddities are striking. The escort told us that the mandatory criteria for three-star hotels are only a certain size of the room and the availability of breakfast. At the same time, in all reference materials that I could find on the Internet, it is indicated that in such hotels there should be at least two towels per person. The Jurajski (near Krakow) and Atlas (near Prague) hotels had only one each. And in Atlas, the dimensions of the towel were 50x20 cm! And big ones, according to the administrator, simply do not exist! I was unpleasantly surprised by the disdainful attitude of the restaurant staff towards the guests at the Pest Inn hotel (Budapest). And there is also a ban on bringing bags to breakfast. Even female (except for very small ones).
In general, hotels provided an opportunity to recuperate after a busy day.
Sightseeing tours.
Sightseeing tours included in the tour program provided an opportunity to get acquainted with historical buildings and monuments located in the central part of the visited cities. Such excursions were different both in terms of saturation with information, and in the length of the route, and in the professionalism and desire to work as guides. I think that these excursions must be visited in order to gain basic knowledge about the city.
Of the guides, I really liked Stanislav in Krakow and Yana in Vienna.
Optional (thematic excursions).
We took only two such excursions.
Boat trip on the Vltava (Prague).
Our group was the last to board the ship, so there were problems with accommodation. But our escort managed to solve them quickly. The tour included dinner. Actually, the first part of the walk was dedicated to him. There was plenty of food. There was more than enough for everyone (with the exception of some dishes, for example, blue cheese). Everything is prepared very well. The food is varied, tasty and plentiful. You could choose two free drinks per person, including wine and beer. From the ship, a very interesting view of Prague opened up. The highlight of the tour was the fascinating story of the guide, Mrs. Lydia, about the history of Prague, about today's life in the Czech Republic and its capital, about people, culture, and customs. She described many interesting facts, answered all questions. She did all this with a soul and a wonderful mood. The duration of the tour is about two hours. I liked it very much!
"Key to the Heart of Budapest".
The tour is quite clearly and in detail described in the reference materials for the tour. But the description turned out to be more interesting than it was in reality.
Mount Gellert. Great view of the panorama of Pest. But it is very high, and it is difficult to see the city in detail. The market is large, the prices for the same product from different sellers can differ up to 50%, and forty minutes allotted for visiting is only enough to understand what, where and at what price is sold. Shopping during this time is extremely problematic. Heroes Square. Since part of the group needed to be in time for the next excursion, 10 minutes were allotted for visiting the square. On this day, the square was being prepared for some kind of event, and it was all filled with tents and metal structures, but there was an opportunity to photograph the monuments. And all these ten minutes were devoted to photographing. Along the way, the guide told not only about the history of Hungary and the buildings we passed, but also answered questions about the cultural and social life of the Hungarians, medicine, education, etc. in an accessible and detailed way. The tour lasted three hours: the bus drove very slowly , because at this time in Budapest the traffic is very difficult. As a result, the guide is excellent, but the content of the tour, in my opinion, does not match the price at all.
Group escort.
In my opinion, Irina Ilyina coped very well with the duties of an escort. Two or three days before the trip, she called all the participants of the trip, reminded them of important details, and gave additional information. Irina skillfully organized the group, ensured quick accommodation in hotels, set a clear daily routine and made every effort for the group to adhere to it, gave useful advice and recommendations on buying souvenirs in different cities, showed currency exchange points with the most favorable rate, explained how find inexpensive cafes and shops, as well as free toilets (or talked about the least expensive ways to visit paid ones). I tried to fulfill the individual wishes of tourists, taking into account the interests of the whole group, supported a good mood with interesting stories and demonstration of video materials. Unfortunately, sometimes Irina, by agreement with the guide, set the pace of excursions too high (for example, a sightseeing tour in Budapest), when many tourists did not have time to follow the guide or gave too little time for stops along the way (for example, on the first day, when after six half an hour at the border, due to a long line at the cafe, some did not have time to eat, and it is forbidden to enter the bus with hot drinks or strong-smelling food). But these were isolated cases, moreover, due to the desire to fully fulfill the excursion program.
Useful tips.
Try not to take meat and dairy products with you. When crossing the border of the European Union can be confiscated. Take raincoats on the road - on excursions in rainy weather they are much more convenient than umbrellas. Plan your return trip from Lviv with a margin so that in case of a delay at the border, you will not miss the train or bus. In at least 80% of cases, you can pay with a bank card or pay for purchases in euros. Buy local currency for small amounts. Shop in Vienna with reasonable prices for sweets, tea and coffee - Bonbons Anzinger, address - Tegetthoffstrabe, 7 (next to the opera house). Shop in Budapest with reasonable food prices - Corso Gourmet, address - Vá ci utca, 54 (Vacy Street - a shopping street leading to the Central Market). On the first two floors of the building there is a shop, on the third - a cafe with low (by the standards of the central part of Budapest) prices, for example, goulash soup costs 500 Ft, and a free toilet. By the way, souvenirs on the same street are much cheaper in shops. Located in houses after the 40th number.
All in all, an interesting trip! The advantages outweigh the disadvantages! Recommend!
