Balkans Walking Trips

I very much enjoyed the trip. The scenery was fantastic as well as the weather (most days). I really enjoyed the camaraderie which developed within the group over the two weeks and the camping was well organised with good meals and good fun. Our group leader was exceptional.

A very well planned, intelligent trip combining walking and sightseeing. Outstanding guide who is articulate, knowledgeable and very helpful. Also, the driver was very professional. My concern is the quality of the hotels. Some of the single rooms were equivalent to student accommodation. However, Scandinavia is expensive and choosing an inner city hotel is difficult in terms of location.

The hikes were excellent- beautiful views, varied terrain, and not too challenging. Our guide was the perfect balance of being informative with history, nature and culture without it feeling like school. Our guide was also excellent at managing group dynamics and meeting everyone’s needs. Lunches are picnics of French bread, local hams and cheeses w fruit- perfect for practicality and nutrition. Our guide made sure to accommodate the vegetarians in the group. The hotel was appropriate for the value, and it was very nice not having to chance locations throughout the week. Do be aware, it is a 3 star hotel, so if you like something more premium it may not be a fit. But the hotel was very clean and good food.

This is a wonderful tour. It goes to a few less visited islands, and provides a great small group experience. We loved Savvas, out tour manager. He is organized, knowledgeable, and kind. There are a lot of included experiences, as well as free time to do your own thing.

The Gems of Greece tour was absolutely amazing. Probably one of the best vacations I have ever been on. Our tour manager, Savvas, was a great guy and always knew where to find the best food and/or coffee spots. And considering the main reason I choose vacations is for the food, that was a major plus for me. Savvas was also very good at telling our group about the lives and culture in Greece and was always ready to answer any questions you might have. The tour was pretty packed with things to do, but also gave you enough free time that you weren’t overwhelmed. Even the days that were packed full of things to do always seemed to have two to three hours of free time at the hotel in the middle of the day to get refreshed and/or take a power nap. They also gave us a good amount of free afternoons to explore and enjoy the different places we went on our own. And of course, you were always free to opt out on any of the trips as long as it wasn’t when we were leaving to the next island. I didn’t opt out on anything and I’m glad for that because I thought everything we saw was super neat but a few people in our group did and it was never a problem. The hotels included on this tour were all very nice. Most of the ones we went to had nice sized balconies and the showers were mostly rainfall showers with decent water pressure. The hotel in Athens had a bidet, I don’t think any of the other ones did. And the view at breakfast in the Athens hotel was breathtaking. The hotel in Naxos was by far my favorite. It had a big pool and was basically right on the beach. And the balconies were surprisingly big. It fully felt like a fancy beach resort rather than just a hotel. I also really appreciated that Savvas made sure when we were in Athens that between the Acropolis Museum and going to the Acropolis, which were on two different days, we got the same tour guide. We weren’t getting the same repeated history two days in a row because our tour guide knew what she said to us the day before. She was able to build off of that, and that way we got more in depth information instead of rehashing the same stuff over and over again. Also for those tours, our local guide was Yota and she was my favorite guide we had the whole trip. She explained things in a way that kept you interested and spoke very clearly the whole time. I know this particular trip isn’t one people going to Greece, especially for the first time (like me), would think to choose because it doesn’t have Santorini or Mykonos included, but on the ferry we passed both of those islands and you would not believe the amount of people and giant cruise ships unloading onto those tiny islands. I honestly can’t imagine how crowded it is there. Naxos is in the Cyclades. It has the white concrete houses and the churches with the blue roofs and it is just as instagram worthy, only with way less people. I don’t feel like I missed out at all by not going to Santorini and Mykonos. Honestly if I go back to Greece, I think I would just stay in Naxos again, so don’t let you not knowing the names of the islands put you off of this tour. Plus Savvas always knows where to take you to get coffee and a view. And Crete is also insanely beautiful. It’s not in the Cyclades so it doesn’t have the white houses and all that, but the landscapes are breathtaking. I wholeheartedly recommend this trip. Especially because of Savvas. I cannot stress how great of a tour manager he was enough. And again, for anyone who loves food as much as I do, you will not go hungry. Every restaurant we went to was delicious and the portions are insane.

Albania has stunning landscapes, interesting history and culture which were all covered by the itinerary of this tour. Food and drink were excellent throughout especially visits to local farms for lunches. Highly recommend.