Castles and Manors - Signature

Customer Reviews

• UK

  Ulo

  · July 30th, 2019
  The optional tours were very expensive especially when 1 euro is approximately AUD$2.00. Two many churches and no war museums. Prior to the tour I spent 3 weeks in Estonia attended the 150yr song and folk festival and saw a lot. The local tour guide walked us thru the commercial area of Vana Tallinn but did not take us to the old walls and towers which were built in the 12-13 century. In Riga I finished going to the Motor Museum - more interesting
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  Trafalgar commented on this review

  Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us; we really appreciate hearing from our guests. We note that there were certain aspects of the itinerary that you felt could have been improved upon. Here at Trafalgar, we take our guests’ feedback very... Show more
  Trip date: July 2019
• V

  VM

  · August 22nd, 2018
  Getting to see the sights with Trafalgar Tours is a farce. Don't be taken in by their descriptions of everything you get to see. You spend all your time on the bus. When their write-up says you explore this Cathedral, that Palace, a spectacular museum, what this means is that you get to drive by it. Most of the time, you don't even get a photo stop, and you hardly ever get to go inside to really visit it. Those few UNESCO old towns that will not accommodate a bus, you get to walk by it while still not going inside -- even when the attraction is free or at a very low cost. Those you do get to go inside, you see only what the local guide wants you to see and all at a fast trot. For example, my tour said I would see the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and most famous museums in the world and we spent little more than an hour dashing through -- No Caravaggio, no Murillo, no Dutch masters. Just a lot of talk about building architecture and history and how superior Russia is to the rest of the world. It was pathetic. In addition, when the tour write-up says you get free time, don't be fooled by this. What it really means is that the bus drops you off somewhere for about an hour or so, while those who have taken the optional tour, (and paid additional money) get taken to the optional sight. This means that those who didn't pay for the optional tour don't have time to revisit a museum or attraction they would really like to visit, and those who have paid for the optional tour only get a minimal visit to it. Trafalgar Tours are quite expensive comparatively speaking. You have paid a lot of money and the hotels are not that great, so there is no reason not to believe that some of that money could have been spent to really seeing the sights and actually going inside some. My recommendation is to look elsewhere. It is a definite rip-off.
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  Trip date: August 2018
• RR

  Raja

  · August 22nd, 2016
  Best of Russia, Baltics & Helsinki We took the Trafalgar's Best of Finland, Russia & The Baltic States which also included Minsk, Byelo Russia & Helsinki, Finland, Aug 6 -21, 2016. That this tour was an undisputed success was shared by the 30+ fellow passengers. This largely due to the efforts of a superb Tour Director Goran Pilipovic (UK resident of Serbian heritage) and Driver Andrei Bosinov (Russian from St Petersburg). There are as many complaints about Trafalgar tours as praises. Trafalgar has ironed out all the glitches and plan a tour of this type tailored mostly for the retirees (average age here 60++). We were fortunate that there were no laggards, and 100% on time performance which meant no delays in morning starts. Seat rotation ensured that there was no mad rush to get to the front of the bus. 60% were Aussies, the balance being Kiwis, Canucks, Yanks and the odd Indian and Singaporean. Mostly couples. Russia is ever present in the tour, whether through St Pete or Moscow (both of which are simply too awesome to narrate here in this brief ditty) or in the Baltics, once part of Russian & then Soviet Empire. Great distinction is taken to differentiate Soviets from Russians, as there are siginificant Russian minorities in all these states, and no one wants to insult the Russian bear :) The West or for that matter the world, looks quite different from Russia. What a great country, inspite of repeated autocratic and cruel rulers, those long suffering Russians, still as ever patriotic as ever. I did not see them smile, and more often dour than rude. Smiles were not returned. They love being in a Western styled society (both Moscow & St Pete could pass of as any West European city) with KFC and McDonalds, but deep inside the Slavic soul is all Greek Orthodox and Mother Russia & (today) Putin. :) Those Onion Domed Churches, the broad avenue, espeically the Nevesky Prospect of St Pete, Red Square, Moscow Subway, Mariinski Ballet (ex Kirov), Hermitage, ornamental Orthodox Churches too numerous to mention and many lovingly reconstructed after the fall of the Soviets, the Imperial grandeur of jewels, and other paraphernalia, the simply vast landmass as evidenced in the 4 hour high speed train journey from St Pete to Moscow... and many many more - all in a single nation on par with the best of what Great Britain or Renaissance Italy has to offer, but with a still existent patriotism and pride, that we don't see in Western Europe anymore. The roots of Greek Orthodox is deep and all I saw was more Churches under construction and not sure if it is out of religiosity or simply Slavic national pride. Gorbachev & Yeltsin are reviled as puppets of the West, duped into a political dissolution. An economic reform a la China, is, I think, a broad based consensus that would have been good for Russia. There is bitterness over the loss of USSR territory, but not over the riddance of Communism. Again, all this broad based generalizations, can be viewed as error prone and I agree. :) After Russia, the Baltics, & Minsk, are an anti climax. Not much to say, except these are pale imitations of the Great One. Every city had a local tour guide, and they were all well informed, with their own points of view, providing an added entertainment. Goran, in his bus summaries, balanced out these, with historical bacgrounds to the various places visited and his own unique Serbian background, a South European Slav married to a Russian, and now with British children! Europe is complex even in its simplest identities! And the ghosts of Hitler and Stalin, one never forgets! The tour iternary is full as is, even without the optionals. We selectively chose certain minimal optionals in Russia alone, and were satisfied with our choice. Even with this, it can be taxing to one's stamina. Shopping, in Russia, of amber and Russian stuff, is reasonably cheap, and worth it. Shopping for European chain store stuff, is cheaper here, than in the Baltics, and definitely in Finland. Breakfast buffets were uniformly good. Pure vegetarians often had limited choice. Others loved the variety. Vodka in Russia, is cheap. Everyone stocked up for their return. At the end of it, my spouse and I are tired but very gratified and would not have missed this tour for anything. I would recommend this to anyone, and only hope that you get a good Tour Director. From the web forums, I find that this can make or break a tour. Thank You. :)
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  Trip date: August 2016