3 Eastern Trekker tour reviews shared by other travellers

This year we decided to do something different. And being teachers - when we discovered that Halloween fell into our school holidays - we were sold on a Party tour to Transylvania itself! Three of us went together, and all three of us being antipodeans have had no experience of Halloween at all, so this tour was the best introduction ever! We started with an introduction to Hungary with a hungarian dinner on the first night before driving into Romania. We toured Romania and saw all the brilliant sights and each day bulit upon our knowledge of Halloween and Transylvania. Our visit to Bran Castle on the day before Halloween really sparked the fires and it wasn't until we were walking through a wooded mountain area with torches on Halloween night itself that the eerie darkness and atmosphere really stuck us. We were in Transylvania. The place of legend. The place that Bram Stoker placed his character. The one that still lingers in myth today. Th highlight of the trip was definitely the Halloween party on the Friday night! It was fantastic! So well planned: a mountain lodge in the remote Racatau region of Romania, dinner by torchlight, a huge bonfire to dance around, great friends, plenty of talk, partying and good music! And all in costume (Which it is recommended you pack cause you won't find anywhere along the road to get one!) This trip would definitely be recomended for anyone wishing to do something a little different and a little wild for Halloween - it was spectacular!

The tour started in Split, we sailed down the Croatian coastline visiting various ports- Bol, Korcula. Arriving on our last night in Dubrovnik. The tour was sooo realxing, not having to worry about how your getting from A to B, you basically fall aslepp in your cabin that night, wake up and get taken to your next destination, then you have all afternoon to enjoy your new destination, stay overnight at port there, then leave the next morning to sail on to your next port- Its great and stress free. The general crowd is any where between 18-35yrs, with most people being between 20-36yrs. It's a mix of couples and singles- but we all party together!. A mix of mainly Australian and New Zealand- thats the main group. Soo many beautiful beaches and cuizines, great seafood!. Beautiful clean and clear water to swim in. Many of the islands provide different water activities such as canooing, sailing, wind surfing, scooter rental, car rental, quad bike rentals! and one of the best being boats to neighbouring islands for a few hours, your own little pice of heaven!. Definately pack light, even from a girls prospective!, you don't need much at all- not even high heels!!!!, just a coupld of shirts, swimmers and light pants. I would also reccomend bring some kind of floating apparatus- like a giant li-lo!! so much fun, plus it's easier to fall asleep on- on the top deck!!. I really do reccomend this as a worth wild holiday for others, its relaxing, worth its money, and can definately be done on a budget, just make sure you keep an eye on the boat tab you have running!!!. The crew we had were sooo relaxed and great fun to be around, you could tell they thoroughly enjoyed their job and being around people, sailing the ocean- who wouldn't!!.

This was a good little tour to get a taste of the Transylvanian region of Romania. It certainly involves a lot of travel - the first and last days are pretty much written off with the 8 hour journey from Budapest to Cluj and back, however, if a taste of the region is what you are after, then these are the breaks you have to deal with! The trips from and to Budapest (where the trip begins) is on a small but comfy public bus, while the entire journey in Romania was in our own private van driven by the guide. We were only a group of 5 and apparently the group is usually quite small, which worked out well. Accommodation was in hostels / budget hotels and the rooms are shared with your travel buddies. All in all the standard was quite comfortable. We had a Romanian guide, Adi, and he was a wealth of information on the whole region and provided a great local aspect to the trip - this really helped us to enjoy the trip. Despite only having a small amount of time, we saw a stack of stuff and seemed to have caught more places with our time than people that did the trip independently. Romania is certainly a country in transit. Some cities we visited, like Brasov, had centres that were the equal of any European city - chic cafes, swanky bars, internet everywhere and gleaming new cars. However, you didn't need to travel far to stumble across villages where transport is still horse and cart and you can buy a kilo of berries from a lady in the street who had just picked them in the fields - as we did! So, a rapidly progressing country, full of wonderful history and amazing contrasts. Pelles castle was an absolute highlight, while it would be remiss to forget our wonderful homestay in the village of Sibiel, the bustling town of Brasov, the overated (but still worth seeing) Bran castle and the many stops in between. Turda gorge was also a beautiful stop and the walk in the forest there was a nice way to spend a morning. Food and drinks were quite cheap, we never really paid more than a euro for a big beer and 5 euro was always enough for a pizza or some other basic meal in a restaurant. All in all, the trip was simple and well organised. Everything went as it should and we had no dramas.