The most complete and honest review of the program "Heritage of Hellas" from Mars Travel

This review was written by me, a real tourist who selectively approaches the choice of a tour, tries to think over travel in advance, tries to reasonably save on what can really be done and always studies everything first, and then makes a decision.

The tour was purchased after buying a car in the salon Rolf. The manager gave this certificate as a bonus to buying a car. The gift is conditional, since in fact it gives only a discount on the purchase of a tour at the full price. All the negative reviews that I saw earlier on the Internet are mostly based on the fact that this is a scam and a scam. When people heard that the certificate was a gift, they thought that they were really so incredibly lucky, and they could visit Greece for free. But when their expectations were not justified, and it turned out that they needed to pay extra, indignation arose. Hence the "scammer".

Free cheese you know where it happens, so you first need to find out the conditions of the trip, and then swear. The only thing is that I am always for honesty, so when the advertising booklet says “A trip to Greece as a gift”, I would be outraged by this wording. For me, it would be more correct to write "A trip to Greece with a 50% discount." Dissatisfied would be less in this case. And so the operator spoils his reputation with negative reviews even at the stage of clarifying the conditions.

Minor reviews, which were not full of negative epithets about the operator about the fact that they are scammers, were, on the contrary, very enthusiastic. People liked the organization of their holiday, and this is perhaps more important than other aspects of the tour. These few reviews were perceived as custom-made, written by MarsTravel employees. I wanted to check their truth, and we bought the proposed tour.

Further, I will try to tell about everything in each paragraph, I will indicate my comments, which I consider the most important in this trip, and which future tourists should pay their attention to.

1. BASIC TOUR PROGRAM.

The cost that we paid for the basic program "Heritage of Hellas" was 53,000 rubles. Tour duration: from 05/09/2018 to 05/16/2018 (7 nights / 8 days). This price included a 5% discount for early booking (the tour was taken in November). The basic program includes:

1. Flight by regular flights (there by Aeroflot and back by EllinAir).

2. Travel medical insurance.

3. Accommodation in 3-4 star hotels with breakfast (lunches and dinners are not included).

4. Transfer throughout the journey with a guided tour.

5. Excursion program:

- sightseeing tour of Thessaloniki;

- sightseeing tour of Kastoria;

- excursion around the city of Delphi;

- Thermopylae gorge;

- the village of Arahovo;

- tour of Athens.

2. SUPPLEMENTS.

Even before departure, we knew that there was an opportunity to visit excursions that are not included in the basic program and which are paid separately. Additional excursions are considered the following:

- Excursion "METEORA" - 84 per person.

- Excursion "ARGOLIDA" - 84 per person.

- Excursion “CAPE SOUNION. TEMPLE OF POSEIDON. RADON LAKE VULYAGMENI» - 60 per person.

- Cooking class in Karditsa - 35 per person.

For each of them it was possible to pay on the spot on the first day of arrival. Please note that payment cannot be made by credit card, cash only. Therefore, either take the money right away, or withdraw cash from ATMs already in Greece (our first hotel was located next to an ATM, so we managed to withdraw money without problems, but what is the situation with other hotels is unknown, so I advise you to take care of finances in advance).

2.2. Since dinners are not included in the basic program, tourists themselves decide where to eat.

The operator offers to pay for dinner at the hotel through it. The cost of 1 dinner is 16. There were 6 dinners in total, that is 96 per person. Dinners are good and complete. Somewhere a buffet was offered, somewhere complex a la carte dishes.

2.3. If tourists are interested in additional excursions, the operator offers great package deals that allow you to save on dinners. 2 packages were offered:

1. Maxi package - 263 + 56 for dinners = 319 per person. Includes 4 additional excursions (listed above in paragraph 2.1), as well as 6 dinners in hotels. The meaning of the package is that the cost of dinners in this case is only 56 (1 dinner - about 9). When buying this package, you get a Mars Travel club card as a gift, which provides a number of advantages for future trips. About the privileges can be found on the official website of the tour operator. In addition, tourists who have bought this package become participants in the drawing of the prize "sightseeing tour in Greece or Turkey."

Layout Mini - 168 + 69 for dinners = 237 per person. Includes excursions "Meteora" and "Argolis", as well as 6 dinners at the hotel. In this package, dinners cost 69 (1 dinner - 11.5). Tourists who have bought this package become participants in the drawing of the prize "sightseeing tour in Greece or Turkey" with a 50% discount.

We took the Maxi package, as we decided that we were not planning to come to Greece again in the near future, and since we arrived in the country for the first time, we need to take everything from it. We paid consciously for the dinner package, as 9 per person is inexpensive. The cost of 1 dish in any cafe varies from 5 to 15. For comparison: for each lunch (lunches are also not included in the program, but there are no package offers for them), we gave about 30 for two. For this money, we took a salad for two (mostly Greek), and 2 hot dishes.

2.4. In addition, I had to pay for entrance to various museums, temples and other places with access control. So, you had to pay for the following:

Radon lake - 5. Regular price for a visitor - 12-13 (depending on the day of the week). For organized groups and for students with an ISIC card - 8-9. But on our trip on the lake, construction work was being done to lay the flooring, which is why the honest Greeks reduced the cost of visiting to 5.

2. Temple of Poseidon - 8. For students with an ISIC card - 4.

3. Acropolis - 20. For students with an ISIC card - 10.

4. Mycenae. Tomb and museum - 12. For students with an ISIC card - 6.

5. Epidaurus. Museum, amphitheater - 12. For students with an ISIC card - 6.

6. Delphi. Museum, the ruins of the temple of Apollo - 12. For some reason, the ISIC card was not accepted at the box office, so the cost could not be reduced.

7. Meteors. Entrance to each monastery - 3 .

2.5. An additional government tax is payable at the hotel. For a 3-star hotel, you need to pay 1.5 per night (for 1 room). For 4 stars - 3.

3. TRANSFER

There were only 9 people in our group, which was an indisputable advantage over other huge groups of 30-40 people.

In fact, it was a VIP trip. This was emphasized by the transport that carried us throughout the program. We moved on Ford Transit. A modern, comfortable car with large windows for visibility, air conditioning and good suspension. There were no issues with the car at all. But the mountainous roads of Greece inevitably contribute to motion sickness, no matter how comfortable the transport is. Moreover, there are crossings for more than 3 hours. This should definitely be taken into account for those who feel bad on long, winding roads. It is worth noting regular sanitary stops - no one had any difficulties on this topic.

4. ATTENTION TO DETAILS

I would like to note the work of the operator in terms of attention to detail.

- Every day there was a bottle of water in the car for the tourist, so you didn’t have to think where and when to buy it.

- On the days when it was possible to sunbathe on the sea, the guide always gave a towel for the beach.

This is so cool that I want to immediately put 5 points for the service.

- On excursions to various temples and museums, they always managed to bring us when there were very few people, tickets were bought centrally, we never stood in lines. Such a service is a common thing for tourist groups, but it's just another plus for the operator.

- What I liked very much - there is no fuss and speed when traveling around the cities. The time was planned in such a way that we left the hotels at 7-8 in the morning, and arrived back at 17. On the one hand, this is good, since there was time to relax after a hard day, but on the other hand, free time directly on excursions there were very few. In order to have time to photograph everything, admire the landscapes and just walk around the ruins of another temple, you had to try hard. In general, there was really little time for this.

- When we had dinner - no one hurried us.

It generally made a good impression on us. We were on many excursion programs from various companies, but everywhere a certain not very long time was allocated for lunch. Here we sat every time for about 60 minutes and enjoyed the food and nature around.

Irina was our guide. I have mixed feelings about her.

On the one hand, she is a very erudite, educated person with good Russian speech. She surprisingly easily operates with dates, ancient Greek names, numbers and other data that ordinary people would never remember.

But on the other hand, she was very reluctant to answer all the additional questions that tourists asked her. And if she answered, then briefly and without revealing all the details.

I also did not like that she did not warn in advance about the cost of entrance tickets to museums and temples.

It’s just that you should definitely talk about approximate additional payments for the entire program at the very beginning, so that you can immediately calculate your budget, and often we found out about the cost of entry almost after the fact.

There was also a question about the time of visiting some excursions. Sometimes it seemed that our guide was already tired of being with us, and wanted to return to the hotel as soon as possible. As an example, when we visited the acropolis, we were not given much free time for photography, walking through the ruins, and so on, motivating us to go. Although after visiting this excursion we returned to the hotel, which we arrived at at 17 pm, although we could have returned 30-60 minutes later. There would be nothing wrong with that. However, the guide decided otherwise.

6. ARE ADDITIONAL TOURS NEEDED?

The question is very relative, since additional excursions are extra money for someone, and for someone, spending their time on regular museums and ruins is not the best idea. However, I think that going on a sightseeing tour and not taking the maximum possible from it is somehow strange. Yes, for the maximum package I had to pay about 50,000 rubles more (not including the cost of entrance tickets) for two, but I understand that at a conscious age I will no longer go to Greece on such a tour, but once in my life I will give extra money for new emotions and impressions are worth it.

Therefore, there is only one advice - in the absence of financial restrictions and health problems, it is better to visit all the excursions that will be offered. I deliberately do not write any nuances for each excursion, since this review is more about the organization of the tour, and not about the tour itself.

I read reviews on the Internet that for lunch they are delivered specially to places where inadequate prices and tasteless food. So, this is complete, incredible, catastrophic BOSH! The prices for meals were similar to regular cafes, and sometimes even less. The food was so delicious that it is here that you understand the whole flavor of Greek cuisine. And the interior of each place was beyond praise. We dined on the shores of the Ionian Sea, on a mountain near Lake Plastira, in a picturesque forest, and so on. It is clear that the operator has some percentage of what brings tourists to dine in these places, but it didn’t make any difference to me. I didn't feel it myself.

For the first time in all the sightseeing tours, I am in complete admiration for the hotels in which we stayed. These are not cheap hotels with fading repairs, but colorful hotels with excellent views of the sea, lake, mountains.

The only serious disadvantage of all hotels was the lack of developed infrastructure nearby. In fact, it was impossible to go anywhere, there were no shops nearby. I had to wander around the hotel or sit in the room in my free time.

We have been to the following hotels:

1. Hotel London 3* - Athens. Average hotel with no frills. The rooms are not new, but clean. Breakfasts and dinners are good. To the sea 7 minutes.

2. Hotel Pappas 3* - Loutraki. Latest renovation. Everything is new, clean. Super breakfasts and dinners. The sea is 2 minutes walk. Private beach with sunbeds. Best hotel ever.

3. Hotel Nevros 4 * - Karditsa. A hotel with an interesting design under the "chalet" with a fireplace in the room, overlooking the lake from the balcony. But the repair is 12 years old, much is shabby, the wallpaper is starting to peel off. Breakfast is very poor. Dinners are good.

4. Hotel Nimbus Guesthouse 3* - Kastoria. A 19th century style hotel with a fireplace in the room and a view of the mountains and the lake from the window. Clean, neat. Breakfasts are average. Dinners are good.

The highest rating of all hotels in which we stayed according to booking.com is 9.3.

Don't forget about state taxes. For 3 * you need to pay 1.5 per night per room, for 4 * - 3.

9. INTERNET

Every hotel and restaurant has free WI-FI, but sometimes the signal was either very weak or the speed left much to be desired. For rare calls via Skype or Viber, the Internet was enough, but for something more there is no more. In addition, I personally needed the Internet on the bus and on excursions. I solved the problem by buying a local Vodafone sim card in one of the communication stores with a prepaid 7 GB internet package for 15 days in 10. The sim card itself was free. A confident 3G signal was almost the entire length of the route.

10. TOTAL COSTS FOR THE TOUR. COMPARISON OF THE PROGRAM WITH SIMILAR OFFERS.

Our total costs for the tour were:

1. 53,000 rubles - the cost of the basic program for the certificate.

2. 48,000 rubles (638 * 75 rubles at the rate of 10.05.

2018) - surcharges for additional excursions + a package of 6 dinners (Maxi Package).

3. 16,000 rubles (30 * 8 days = 240) - lunches for 8 days.

4. 1,000 rubles (13.5) - tax state fee for 4 hotels.

5. 10,000 rubles (134) - entrance tickets to churches, museums.

6. 15,000 rubles (200) - purchase of various souvenirs and local products.

7. 750 rubles (10) - local Vodafone SIM card.

The total cost of the tour amounted to about 144,000 rubles (1920).

Before deciding to purchase this tour, I looked at similar offers from other operators. I wanted to understand how much this certificate is a lure. The most famous operator TourTransVoyage with an almost identical program "Ancient Hellas" for the same dates for 8 days with breakfast and dinner, 2 basic excursions offered a cost of 157,000 for two. But you need to give up to 60,000 more rubles for all sorts of special stages so that the offer is equal to ours. In addition, there are groups, unlike us, of 30-50 people.

11. GENERAL IMPRESSIONS. RESULTS

I will summarize all the advantages that I indicated above:

1. Excellent organization of the tour in terms of transfers. We drove an average of 1-1.5 hours. Only 2 days the move was 3-4 hours.

2. Attention to detail (water every day in the car, a towel for the sea).

3. Decent hotels. Almost everything with a good view, clean rooms.

4. No non-alternative imposed shops with expensive goods and souvenirs.

5. Good lunches and dinners made you feel the gastronomic authenticity of Greece in full glory.

6. Comfortable transport for moving.

7. VIP group (9 people).

12.2. MINUSES

I will summarize all the cons that I indicated above:

1. Guide. Reluctance to answer additional questions. Didn't warn about the cost of entrance tickets in advance.

2. Payment for additional excursions only in cash.

3. In principle, the need to pay for entrance tickets every time. It was very annoying to constantly shell out for them.

It is possible that the ideal option would be to pay for all tickets before departure at the operator's office.

4. Lack of sufficient free time for taking pictures and walking during excursions.

5. The hotels lacked a developed infrastructure for walking in their free time and buying souvenirs in local shops.

11.3. RESULTS

I really liked the tour. Despite some not so significant disadvantages and a biased attitude towards this trip, I can probably say that this is one of the best sightseeing tours I have been on. Do not be afraid of an unknown company. Often, small operators make tours much more individual and comfortable than the mastodons of this business.

Thank you MarsTravel for positive emotions.

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