'To delight without borders' - there was delight, but also borders

I duplicate the review from the Accord website so that there is no desire to "clean it up" ...

Flight 833, hello everyone! I want to share my impressions of the tour based on fresh memories. I would like to immediately welcome the change in the policy of Accord, in connection with which the trip of a group of 20 people became possible (2 years ago this would have threatened us with a change of tour). And special thanks to the representatives of the operator for the sanity shown in organizing the elective course in Pergamon. After all, if we had not been allowed to conduct an excursion with a group of 5 people, we would not have been able to get into this museum over the next 5-6 years, because. it is closed for a massive renovation.

Leader: Ekaterina Voloshina. Sufficiently competent and talented leader, very sociable and cheerful person. But some degree of professionalism was still lacking. Quite often Katya was TOO much... Well, maybe a lot for 20 people)))

Drivers: Andrey and Roman. Professional, they did a perfect job. Due to their fault, we were not late anywhere, everywhere we arrived on time or even earlier. It seems that I already went with them a year and a half ago, then I also had positive impressions.

Bus: SCANIA. This time, for some reason, individual bulbs did not work, and some air conditioners did not rotate. But, because we were only 20 people, each had the opportunity to take 2 chairs at once, so the inconvenience was not particularly sensitive.

I want to dwell on some of the nuances associated with the notorious Terminal A, from which tours now depart.

Firstly, the poor organization of the transfer from the railway station is puzzling. Before leaving for the tour, a representative of Accord called us and asked in which city we would join, and what time our train arrives. After that, we were offered 2 transfer times (6:30 am and 7 am). Upon arrival in Lviv, we could hardly find seats in one of the two standing buses (which, by the way, depart on full, and not at all on schedule!), However, the operator’s representative forced us to get off the bus, saying that we were not marked on his list . Considering that there was no representative with a list near the bus (almost full) at the time of our landing, and also that after he appeared (we already took empty seats) I checked in on his list, all this looks rather strange. We approached another bus and marked ourselves on the list again, but we were not given a seat on the bus. I had to sit on the back steps. The journey took 20 minutes.

!!!I ASK ACCORD TOUR EMPLOYEES TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE DISGUSTING LEVEL OF ORGANIZATION OF TRANSMERS TO THE TERMINAL!!!

Terminal A itself is a pretty good idea for tourists. There are all the necessary services (food, luggage storage, shop, WC), and you can just wait for your flight in the lobby, and not in the station square, fighting off the gypsies. It is worth noting, perhaps, that the prices in the cafeteria are quite high for Lviv.

I will describe the timing of the trip by day, so that you get an idea of ​​​​the time in a particular city.

1 day. Lviv-Legnica.

The departure took place according to the schedule, at 9:30 from Terminal A. The border did not take even 2 hours. We dined at "Grosar" in Pilzno. We arrived in Legnica for the night quite early, around 7 pm, so we managed to walk around the city before dark.

Day 2 Legnica-Dresden-Dusseldorf.

Check out was quite early, around 7:30. We arrived in Dresden at half past 11. The sightseeing tour lasted approximately 2 hours. Departure from the city was at 16:30. We got to the hotel by midnight.

Day 3 Dusseldorf-Brussels.

We left the hotel at 9 am. Already at 12 we walked around Brussels. The survey lasted about an hour and a half. Departure to the faculty took place at about half past four. First we went to Bruges, where we spent a total of no more than 3 hours. In Ghent - even less, besides, they arrived there already at dusk, having met only closed shops. The hotel was located in Brussels, settled after 22:00.

Day 4 Brussels-Amsterdam.

The departure took place around 8:00. We arrived in Amsterdam at 12, the review lasted almost 3 hours. Then, until the very evening, we had free time (the electives were moved to other days), we went to the hotel at 20:30.

Day 5 Amsterdam.

Early in the morning, there was a departure for an elective course in The Hague and Delft (we did not go). We got to the city by train in 25 minutes. After lunch we went to the optional Zaanse Schans and Volendam. We spent about 2 hours in the first town, 1.5 hours in the second one. Upon returning to Amsterdam, an elective took place in the Red Light District (did not go), we left for the hotel at 22:30.

Day 6 Amsterdam Zende.

At 8 o'clock we left for an elective course in Alsmeer, Alkmaar and Edam. In Aalsmeer we were only in the building of the flower auction, about 1 hour. In Alkmaar there was a short excursion and free time - only 1.5 hours. In Edam - no more than an hour, also with a short overview and 20 minutes of free time. Upon returning to Amsterdam, there was an elective on the boat for those who wished. We left for the night at about 4:00 pm and arrived at about 10:00 pm.

Day 7 Sehnde-Berlin-Biskupice.

Check out was quite early, around 7:30. We arrived in Berlin by 11:40, the survey lasted about an hour, immediately after it - a tour of Pergamon (about 2 hours, but you could stay on your own), then - an elective to West Berlin. The departure was scheduled for 17:00. We got to the hotel near Wroclaw by 23:00.

Day 8 Biskupice-Lviv.

At 7:30, with another group, those who wished to go to an elective course in Wroclaw (13 €), lasting about 2 hours. For the rest, departure from the hotel was scheduled at 9:00. We stopped for ours in Wroclaw for literally 10 minutes. We dined at the same Grossar. We passed the border quite quickly, we arrived at Terminal A (with a clock change) by 20:15, departure to Lviv was scheduled for 21:05.

A few words about the grading system: the maximum score is 12, evaluated by the method of presenting information, the information content of the text, the degree of friendliness towards tourists.

1. Dresden: Giralt - as always, flawless and very interesting. Before this tour, I met him at an elective in the gallery - also very exciting. Grade 12.

2. Belgium (Brussels, Bruges and Ghent): Larisa - the material is uninteresting, all dates and names were called obviously at random. On the way to Bruges, we listened to a lecture about the difficult life in Belgium - maybe someone was interested, but I was not. Not the best guide. Grade 6.

3. Amsterdam (review): Sergei from Chisinau - a rather interesting text, a good presentation. There was some annoyance or fatigue of the guide from his work (maybe this is not his level), as well as some disdain for the group ("Hey, Ukraine, come here!"). Grade 8.

4. The Netherlands (Zaanse Schans and Volendam, Alsmeer, Alkmaar and Edam): Sergei from Belarus is a good guide, friendly, information was presented easily and interestingly. Perhaps a little "theatricality" was missing... Rating 10.

5. Berlin (overview, Pergamon, Enchanted Berlin): Alla - they said that this is the best guide in Berlin. Yes, the person works professionally, the presentation and the text are at the level, but the emphasis was rather towards emotionality (especially in Pergamon). The level of her German is questionable (in the museum she could not explain herself to the caretaker). In the same Pergamon, they demanded a guide license from her, which she could not present - I got the impression that because of this, the end of the tour was crumpled, and Alla quickly retreated from the museum. Grade 10.

Before the review, I would like to note 2 points. I always praised the "hotel" service of the Accord, but this time they somehow made a mistake ... Firstly, before the trip I was pleased with the number of 4 * (all but 2x). However, in reality, it turned out that these "four stars" are no good, we have seen 3 * much better! It is not clear why it was necessary to place us in such hotels, if you can save on categories and choose accommodation closer to the city center or to transport. Secondly, the situation with the hotel in Brussels upset me. Even before departure, we received a call and were warned that there would be no triple room and one of us would have to live separately, with a stranger. All this could be understood if not for one BUT: 2 years ago there was exactly the same situation, but the hotel itself provided us with a single room for free. Moreover, that hotel was only a Polish 3 * in the suburbs of Gdansk, and not a network of Irish "Belson" 4 *!

A few words about the evaluation system. Maximum - 12 points, it consists of 3 ratings, 4 points each: room, breakfast and overall impression (location, staff, even design).

1. Qubus Hotel (Legnica, transit). Pros: spacious room; location in the heart of the city, next to the castle, the cathedral, the station. Cons: they put us in a room for people with disabilities (is it possible to do without it?); such a breakfast (as it turned out, not the worst); poor Wi-Fi. Score 3/2/3=8.

2. MERCURE HAFEN hotel (Düsseldorf, transit). Pros: nice room with hospitality kit and fridge; good varied breakfast (best for the tour). Cons: the tram interfered a little outside the window. Score 3/3/3=9.

3. GRESHAM BELSON (Brussels). Pros: interesting breakfast with croissants. Cons: small room; there was only one key card per room (although it should be according to the number of guests). Score 3/3/1=7.

4. IBIS Schiphol hotel (Amsterdam-Schiphol). Pros: good breakfast, also with croissants; I can't help but mention the charming hares living in the area around the hotel =). Cons: tiny room (reminiscent of a cabin on a ferry, a little more); long corridors; location near Schiphol airport (to the city - only the train from the airport). Score 1/3/1=5.

As for electives, I would like to note Pergamon as the most interesting. In Bruges and Ghent, you need, in a good way, to allocate a whole day, there are a lot of interesting places. The "Dutch" electives (Zaanse and "Cheese") were not built very well, and there was also catastrophically little time. It seems to me that Edam needs to be connected to Zaanse and Volendam (Edam and Volendam are practically the same city), and at least a couple of hours should be allocated to Alkmaar - the city is quite pretty.

I also note that we independently visited the Historical "Green Vaults" (12 €) - a bright museum, but it takes half a day, no less, and we did not have so much free time. We went on a boat ride along the Amstel (9 €), so what if the tour is in English? We also went to the Rijksmuseum (15 €) - very informative, in terms of content it resembles rather a local history museum, although paintings prevail. You should not be afraid of queues, we did not meet them (we visited, of course, in the morning). Perhaps it was worth taking an audio guide (for some money), but even without it everyone looked (in each hall there are touchpads on which you can view each exhibit in detail).

All in all, I enjoyed the tour! Except that Amsterdam was a little disappointing... Bruges and Volendam were especially memorable. And, of course, the herring and smoked eel in Volendam were very tasty!!! =) And I will sum up everything with a phrase from the leader Katya Voloshina, which is very appropriate in this case: “No harm but good!”

Comments (0) leave a comment

0 comments

Show other comments …