the tour is excellent, but the organization and the guide are horrible!

We have been clients of Bon Tour since 2010. We started from Finland-Sweden (in the future we went there more than once). Then, with Bon Tour, we traveled more than once through Italy, Spain, Germany, France, etc., as well as Scandinavia. This time we decided to go on this tour in Latvia, especially since the travel agency told us that this tour is new! We would go on 07/18/2014, as a result, this tour did not take place, because the group did not gather. We were offered another tour on these dates, but we refused, because we were on this tour before, after they offered to take the money. But we decided to take a chance again and postponed our tour to August, because this tour in Latvia was still in August 15/08/14. The long-awaited day has come, we left on the eve of 08/14/14 at 21:00, our guide was the “wonderful” Vakhtang Trachtenberg, he immediately warned that the stops would not be earlier than every 4 hours and also you can’t eat on the bus, made it clear go hungry, not to mention that it was Thursday and many tourists were right after work.

We knew in advance that to go to Kaunas at about 15:00 and prepared mentally for this. On the way to Lithuania, the “wonderful” guide didn’t say much, didn’t even tell a lot, but read! On the way to Lithuania, the drivers broke down the navigator, but thanks to their professionalism, we reached Kaunas on time and safely! And throughout the tour they showed themselves as excellent professionals! Thank you, Eugene and Vladimir!!!! We arrived in Kaunas at about 12 noon local time, we had a wonderful hotel, they gave us 30-40 minutes to check in, because then there was an excursion to the oldest and largest factory in Lithuania - the manufacturer of alcoholic beverages - the Stumbras factory. First, a local guide told us the history of this plant, after that there was a visit to the workshops of the plant, and then a tasting! After visiting the factory, we will immediately begin a tour of the old town of Kaunas, not to mention the fact that it was already after 15:00 and we had not had lunch yet!

We were brought to the old city, because many were dissatisfied and hungry, we were given time for an hour for lunch! But, looking ahead, on this day, 15/08, there was some kind of national holiday in Lithuania and there was a day off throughout the country, many shops and cafes did not work at all, or worked until 15-16, and by the day off, there were a lot of people and all the cafes that were open were just overcrowded! We had to find places in a cafe during this hour and still have time to eat! Even if there were places in the cafe, they immediately warned that the order would have to wait at least 40 minutes. As a result, we never found a place and enjoyed ice cream on a bench, basking in the sun! Further, as it should have been, our tour of the old city of Kaunas took place, her local guide led, she told in great detail and well, although there was one small minus, she moved very quickly and not everyone could quickly keep up with her, because there was no way to the streets so wide, and there were 30 of us.

By the way, when the tour began, we learned that we would get back to the hotel on our own, and it was about 1 hour on foot in a foreign city and it was already after 19h, but we did it thanks to the maps! The next day we went to Vilnius, there was also a tour of the old town and her local guide also led and also told everything in great detail, we were already listening, then there was free time, we managed to walk and eat! After Vilnius, we had a road to the wonderful city of Trakai with a visit to the Trakai Castle, where we had an excursion, again with a local guide. Trakai just amazed us, we are so delighted that we want to return there again. We returned to the hotel after 20:00, there was still time to walk and have dinner in the restaurant.

The next day we left towards St. Petersburg at 09-30 in the morning, our "wonderful" guide for some reason told the drivers not to go along the Riga highway, but in a circular way through the villages and villages of Latvia and Lithuania, as we understood, he was afraid to stand in traffic jams , but we "collected" all the roads of local villages, which were also being repaired in addition, and it turned out that we lost more time than we would have been in a traffic jam! But this is not the most important thing, the main thing is that our “wonderful” Vakhtang Trakhtenberg started drinking on the road, not even drinking, but I would rather say DRINK. When we got to the Estonian border, it was already 20 pm, he ran out of a bottle and at the border he bought himself another bigger one! became too talkative and even seemed to us, began to distract the drivers, began to tell them that if he drinks, he cannot stop.

He refused to make household stops where the drivers suggested, but stopped where there were no toilets and he had to go into the bushes. He didn’t care how far we stopped, he didn’t rush anyone, but he just walked and bought hot dogs (snacks) for himself, although at the beginning of the trip he forbade us all to eat on the bus, after stopping he counted us several times and every time he got out differently, and then he stopped counting altogether, he didn’t have to, whether everyone sat down after the stop or not. After the Russian border, they turned on the film for us, and our guide dozed off, and dozed off so much that his snoring was interrupted by the sound of the television and we did not hear much. As a result, we arrived in St. Petersburg at 02-30 at night, and someone still had to get far, and many more had to go to work in the morning!

In November, on holidays, I would like to go Finland - Sweden, relax on the ferry, but now we will think about whether to go somewhere with Bon Tour or is it better to overpay to buy a tour in another company and not ruin your vacation!

Comments (0) leave a comment

0 comments

Show other comments …