The Positives Yannis our tour driver was Excellent.. He was such a skillful driver, very helpful and gentlemanly as he would also help us alight from the bus. And he treated our luggages with care unlike during my Northern Explorer Tour last Septmeber 2017 where my luggage broke because of rough handling by the tour driver. The hotels that were good were Kosco Hotel which had complete amenities, Hotel Belvedere in Macedonia were the linens were excellent and the place had several grand pianos where one of my travel mates played the piano. Sky2 Hotel in Albania was also nice. Hotel VIS in Dubrovnik had a nice. location beside the water and breakfast.was good, Hotel Park in Slovenia was centrally located and walking distance to the the center of the city. Ibis Hotel in Budapest had a nice location since it was walking distance to Heroe's Square and a park but the airconditioning in most of the rooms were not working and since we were there on holiday, the place did not have the needed maintenance personnel. The food at Hotel Vicko in Northern Croatia was good and the owner very helpful but our room assignments were confusing although the apartel were we were assigned was nice. Ramada Blue in Sofia had complete amenities but the floor were we were assigned ( 4th floor) still needs renovation. I understand that hotel is still undergoing renovation. In general, the sights we saw during the trip were nice and the included dinner was okey but the one in Athens Greece on our first night was excellent I was wondering though if the included dinners in the other places reflected the actual local food of the place. THE NEGATIVES Since most of the tourists are seniors, I think all the shower areas of all the hotels should include a MAT inside the shower area and grab bars because the shower areas were always slippery and one had to be careful about slipping. The Hotel EL GRECO was terrible. Please skip MOSTAR. It is not worth the 6 passport checks.
The tour was so good, it combined sightseeing all the best parts of Greece and local Greek experiences. We saw Delphi and Olympia with the best local guides, and we saw Meteora at sunset, and then the monasteries the next morning. The optional excursions were really reasonably priced and I recommend all of them, especially the Greek Evening, where we went to a local Greek farm and learnt all about olive oil (always but extra vurgin olive oil) and tried wine and had a beautiful meal followed by dancing. The first 3 days are really relaxed, day 4, 5 and6 are busier, so be prepared for that, but everyday is so good. I love Expat! #Yammas
The organization in what appeared to be Greek Chaos was excellent. There was ample time to spend at each site to really explore. An amazing number of sites were covered in 4 days in the Greek Classic component and the Athens tours were well covered.