The Christmas flavor of Minsk and Grodno tour, 3.01-6.01.2025
Our first trip to Belarus.
We stayed at the Planeta Hotel in Minsk.
Number three. Of course, just to spend the night will do. But the dining room, it's definitely not a restaurant, it's just awful. Remnants of Soviet restaurant luxury. Mirrored ceiling, shabby chandeliers and music, such cheerful pop music. Awful. The tablecloths are dubiously clean. The food is also three-fold. It's not appetizing. I was told that everything in Belarus is very tasty. Well, definitely not in this hotel. I ate because I needed to eat something, it wasn't appetizing. There is powdered milk in the coffee machine!
I didn't like the Minsk city tour.
Maybe it's the weather or the guide. We had lunch at the cafe of the First shopping center. A modest lunch, barely warm soup, bread with two slices per person. Then there was a concert. Freedom Square, the concert hall of the Church of the Holy Spirit. They promised an organ. Yes, he was, but only a little. There was a violin, accordion, piano.. In short, 20 minutes in total and at once.
The next day, a trip to Dudutki.
Quite interesting. It's really great for kids. But in the warmer months. And the lunch was good. Hot.I recommend
Then drive to Lida Castle. Interesting. But I think it's much more interesting there in the summer. We arrived in Grodno. And this is the first city where the Christmas flavor is felt. It's a very nice city, loved by its residents. They saw more there than in previous cities. Hotels in Neman. A simple, modern room. Spacious, clean. Windows to the courtyard. The restaurant is just lovely. Everything is cozy, clean, and delicious. It also seems to have three stars, but the difference is huge. Dinner and breakfast at 10/10 . The only place where there were delicious sausages made from minced meat!meat.
The guide was wonderful, he talked a lot. Very interesting.
On the way from Grodno to Minsk, our bus broke down. There was no escort with us, only the driver. We were picked up by another bus with tourists. We drove standing up, most of the way. So far, we have not heard any apologies or any reaction from the tour operator. Yes, we're not late, but we need to apologize!. We're on vacation, so I don't need any extra hassle.
To summarize. I will go to Belarus again, but not with this tour operator.
I returned from a trip to Royal Grodno, I liked almost everything. On departure to Kossovo and Ruzhany there was a guide Tatyana Yatsevich, for two days in Grodno - Dmitry Monich, excellent support of the group, a competent story, I really liked it.
There was a guide for a sightseeing tour of Minsk- Shpet (unfortunately I did not find her data on the Viapol website) this tour was not very pleasant.
Of the minuses: there was a hotel replacement in Grodno (they didn't even reply to my letter about it), as that change is usually agreed upon under the contract.
When returning from Grodno to Minsk, the air conditioning did not work on the bus, the group came to a very hot bus cabin before leaving, the return spoiled the whole trip very much.
Thanks to the organizers. An amazing ride. Our brotherly people live and prosper. I will definitely use your services when we come to visit you again. You've done great. Don't back down and don't give up!
When booking an excursion, they first confirm the possibility of holding it on a specific date, receive the personal data of the participants via whatsapp (a questionnaire is filled out), and then disappear. When asked when the contract will be signed, they answer that it is impossible to conduct an excursion. You're working well.
Sightseeing tour to St. Petersburg (30.06- 04.07) - the most favorable impressions remained. We learned a lot of new and very interesting things thanks to our excellent guides - Irina (Brest) and Margarita (S.P.).Good organization and preparation of the trip, a well-chosen tour route, a comfortable bus and attentive drivers, modern hotel rooms, in a word, everything is wonderful. Once again, Special thanks to our guide Irina-a professional who loves her job, very pleasant to communicate with. We had a great rest in such a short period of time. thank you very much! Good luck and prosperity, see you soon. ,
The best travel agency in Brest. They will tell you everything and advise you on the most suitable option. I've bought a vacation 3 times and I'm planning more
Many thanks to Irina "Your vacation" for a trip to the cities of Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Wroclaw.
There are a lot of bright impressions, excellent tour organization.
Elena is a wonderful group leader.
You are professionals in tourism!
Always travel only with you!
I won't say anything bad about the tour agency, I liked the director of this company. But I would like to single out the driver Nikolai Gapanyuk, not a pleasant person, rude, wants to show that he is the boss on the bus, sticks with his conversations when you want to be silent. He did not speak flatteringly about other drivers who worked in this company, it would be better not to talk with his tongue, but to behave appropriately.
In short, if you want to rush into the search for hotels yourself at the last minute, when everything has already been booked by other people and spoil your mood and go to the wrong place as a result, then you are here.Even a signed contract in this office will not add to your confidence that everything will be fine.They start booking accommodation here not before the conclusion of the contract and not even after, but after 8 days, when the situation naturally changes.In return, they offer to go to a worse place, on worse terms, but for the same money.There will be no loyalty or interesting conditions on their part as a result.The score is zero!
Absolutely not interested in keeping customers!! They are irresponsible about their work. We applied at the end of June 2022 to select a sea tour in July. Of course, we understood that we didn't have much time, because we spontaneously decided to go, but everything turned out to be very real. We were met, asked what we wanted and where, offered several options, printed out the necessary information (there is one star for this). The next day we decided where we wanted to go and came to them again to arrange a tour. But we wanted to drive our own car and asked if they could only book us a hotel. They told us that it was possible, but we needed to recalculate and said that they would do everything tomorrow and call us. No one called back the next day. We dialed ourselves and were told that there were problems with booking, which problems, of course, no one explained and said they would call back tomorrow. A month has passed (at the moment) and so far no one has called us back!! After another couple of days of waiting, we realized that we only need to rely on ourselves and that apparently the agency wanted to stall for time and that we would come at the last moment and say: "we are ready to take the bus, just arrange a tour for us faster" But no. We ourselves contacted the hotel administrator by e-mail, with whom the travel agency had "booking problems" and booked the room ourselves. Moreover, it was possible to book for any date we were interested in, there are enough places and no problems with booking. The reply by e-mail from the hotel came in 5 minutes!!!! minutes. I will not advise this agency to anyone and I will not return there myself. Who has the opportunity - book hotels, plane tickets, train tickets, bus tickets themselves, so it will be even cheaper. And the vacation was wonderful and, moreover, without unnecessary expenses for tour operators who don't care about you and your comfort.
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Level 3 Local Expert
February 20, 2023
I took a tour to Egypt . I liked everything very much. I will apply for more trips. Everything was done at the highest level. 10 out of 10 ✨ special thanks to Alexandra for the trip