European Grandeur

This is a great way to see lots of Europe in 26 days. So much to see but did seem rushed. We had the best ever Tour Director, the coach was first class with so much room, accommodation was excellent. Lots of travelling but totally worth it.

The itinerary does not include all the major landmark attractions without having to pay extra for optional tours. Without optional tours, this Europe tour would only be a bus ride. The so-called included tours were not major land mark attractions, so we had no choice but to participate in all optional tours otherwise we would be just staying in our hotels. Also, our tour director, Patsy, is a poor communicator as well as poor carer for her tour group. Her oral and written instructions were very poor, confusing and unclear. She posted activities days ahead of time which often required constant clarifications from people in the group and updates at the last minute, more often late at night where most people would have gone to bed, or in many occasions, her updates were after the fact, when an event had already taken place. On a number of occasions, she posted cultural and factual information about the place we were visiting after we had arrived rather than ahead of time. Why not give us this information before we arrive at the place as it would be helpful to know beforehand. For example, we had difficulty in claiming VAT back at the Swift border because, out of ignorance we opened one of the packages we bought, and the customer officer almost didn't approve our claim, had we known this we would not have done so. After this incident, she then warns the group about this rule on our last day back home. The fact came a bit too late. Her speech and instructions were very unclear and confusing; she was definitely not catering for people whose English is not their first language. my wife had difficulty in understanding her and had ask her to slow down in her speech but she did not, even a number of people in the group also confirms that she spoke too fast and had to constantly confirming her instructions. She also lacks caring for people in the group, as tour director, it was her job to ensure everyone stays and walk together, on many occasions she would just walk ahead of people without concerning if she had a full group following her. At least on one of occasion, she started doing head counts while the bus was driving out, too bad if someone was not on the bus! On every optional tour where local guides were leading the group, she should have walked behind the group to ensure no one get left behind, but instead she was on her phone walking the same pace as the local guide, she cares less if anyone get left behind! In most cases, when she led the group, she just keeps walking without waiting for everyone to walk together. Had it been a busy season with a full tour group, I'm sure she would have loose some people! At one point we almost got lost getting back at the meeting point. This is the only tour where we as tourist had to look for our tour director rather than the tour director looking for us. On many occasions, the tours were rushing without any time for taking photos, we were lag behind because of snap shots and had to run to catch up with the group. She indicates to the group to let her know if we need to adjust the temperature of the bus, we were sitting at the front of the bus and felt cold, so we let her know to turn off or turn down the air condition, her reply was to ask us move down the back of the bus, so much for accommodating for our comfort!! There were a number of people including myself ended up caught a cold from sitting at the front of bus, which spoils part of the tour! This tour director was accustomed leading Contiki Tours and NOT suited for leading more mature senior groups. My advice is

The itinerary is fast and very informative with lots of options to do as little or as much as you want to. The optional experiences ate great value often including a meal I would recommend doing as many as possible

Waugh - what a tour!! Wonderful to explore Europe. Great accommodations. A well laid-out itinerary, and a perfect guide! Can only recommend.