The type/quality of lodging can also depend a lot on what country you re in, of course, but for the

It s no secret that I ve wanted to visit Eastern Europe for quite a while . But, as much as I dreamed about it, the region also kind of freaked me out . It was so different . So un-commercialized and un-traveled.
Eastern Europe ez rental car is one of those regions that s been stigmatized and largely ignored by the travel community. ez rental car It s not a region that you re going to find hundreds of blog posts about, or lots of postcard-perfect ez rental car photos from. In fact, you may not even know anyone who s been there.
Originally, I had considered tackling Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria on my own. It would take a lot of research and a good amount of planning for this detail-oriented traveler, but I was willing to tackle it.
Intrepid s 18-day Explore Eastern Europe tour seemed almost too good to be true when I first read the description and itinerary it encompassed ez rental car all of the places ez rental car I wanted to go and more besides, it would fit nicely into my dates, and it would even open up the possibility to see other parts of Europe while I was there.
I went into my first tour with Intrepid Travel completely unsure of what to expect. Would this tour be everything I hoped it would be? What kind of people would I be traveling with? Would this be a good tour for a solo female traveler like myself? Would I kick myself for going with a small group instead of on my own?
First of all, why did I chose to work with Intrepid over the other small-group travel companies out there? Well, besides the fact that Intrepid s Eastern Europe itinerary was exactly what I was looking for, I also fell in love with the company ez rental car s mission and focus on responsible, sustainable tourism , and its promise to deliver a real, local experience. ez rental car It was a brand that I knew I could stand behind ez rental car with confidence.
ez rental car Most of Intrepid s trips allow for a maximum of 12 passengers meaning you won t be packed into a 50-seater ez rental car tour bus or need nametags to recognize everyone you re traveling with. My group was even smaller than usual there were only 4 of us, plus our guide. Ages ranged from early 20s to mid-40s, and the majority were Australians. This, I assume, is fairly typical, since Intrepid is based in Australia, and markets to both young and more mature travelers. ez rental car But this is definitely no Contiki tour.
Intrepid uses local guides ez rental car when possible, or at least someone very familiar with the region you are traveling through. You have the same guide for the whole trip, and their main job is to get you safely from Point A to Point B not to be your babysitter ez rental car or party coordinator. Our guide was a young, laid-back Polish woman named Marta who was perfect for our small, low-key group.
Intrepid is quite unique in that its tour guides endeavor to use public, local transportation whenever possible. ez rental car While we did use mini buses and taxis when there were no other options, most days we were traveling on local trains and buses and walking to our accommodation. This does mean that the travel process can be a bit more challenging/exciting. We had plenty of adventures finding seats on packed trains, navigating stations with signs written only in Cyrillic, and border crossings where no one spoke English. But it s all part of the adventure.
It depends on the style of trip. This trip was an Intrepid Original, which means 2/3-star tourist class accommodation no camping in the bush, but also nothing super fancy. Unless you pay for a single supplement, you ll be sharing a room with at least one other person. And, even if you do pay for a single room, there are some places where it s not possible to get a room to yourself (in Bulgaria, for example, the single supplement ez rental car for this specific trip doesn t apply).
The type/quality of lodging can also depend a lot on what country you re in, of course, but for the most part we stayed in nice budget hotels and guesthouses. The guesthouses were the highlights of this trip, and embody Intrepid s mission of responsible tourism they are owned by locals, allowing you to have a very authentic experience while at the same time giving back to the community.
Unlike some other tours I ve been on, there was no pressure on this Intrepid trip to partake in large group dinners at subpar restaurants. ez rental car Our guide, Marta, would ask around about traditional restaurants when we would arrive in a new place, and then would give us an option of a group dinner or doing our own thing. Most nights, we ate together, but there was certainly no pressure to do so. And if you are staying in a guesthouse and your guide mentions that your host can cook you dinner for an additional fee? NEVER turn it down. Some of our best meals were home-cooked ones.
Intrepid s target ez rental car market is the adventurous, somewhat independent traveler; not your average package tourist. Therefore, tours are usually a nice mix of pre-planned activities and flexible free time. The included activities are usually things like walking tours or visits to famous sites/monuments (included things ez rental car on this tour included wine tasting in Hungary , visiting Rila Monastery in Bulgaria, and walking ez rental car tours in multiple cities). Some extras that I signed up for on this tour included a day trip to Dracula s castle in Romania and a visit to the dancing bear sanctuary in Bulgaria.
We also did extra things as a group, such as visiting fortresses, having picnics, and seeking out swimming pools . But there was usually at least one opportunity each day to explore on your own if you wanted to. The main goal of an Intrepid tour is to allow you to truly experience ez rental car a destination, and the itinerary does its best to help facilitate this.
The only real downsides are the same ones that accompany any sort of organized ez rental car group travel you do sacrifice a bit of independence. If you fall in love with a place, you really can t choose to stay any longer without leaving the tour. If you hate your tourmates or guide, you are stuck with them for the whole trip. And, unless you pay extra for it, you aren t going to have your own space in which to decompress at the end of the day (something I often struggle with during group travel).
I loved traveling with Intrepid. It made exploring ez rental car Eastern Europe easy and fun, and also gave my parents peace of mind back home knowing that I wasn t trying to navigate this under-traveled part of the world on my own. At the end of the day, I feel like I could have done most of the trip on my own (except for maybe Bulgaria, which was more challenging), ez rental car but I m glad I did it this way instead.
That s exactly why I wrote it, Stephanie! There aren t that many Intrepid reviews out there that I could find, and I know I certainly wanted to know a lot of these answers before my first trip with them.
We loved our summer traveling through the Czech Republic, ez rental car Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary. We did it on our own and very much like the way you traveled with Intrepid. We wouldn ez rental car t hesitate ez rental car to travel through ez rental car Eastern Europe again, in fact we would do that before going to Western Europe. There were less tourists and we found the sights to be every bit as beautiful. Kevin did do a fair bit of research into our trip but for the most part we played it by ear and stayed longer in some places more than others. I think for you traveling alone that you picked a great way to travel for your first time in Eastern Europe. ez rental car Now you know what to expect you will probably feel better about traveling on your own next time.
I was very happy with my decision, and am also glad I opted for Eastern Europe over Western (I still haven t been to places like France, Germany, or Spain!). Like you said, Eastern Europe is much less crowded, but every bit as awesome as Western Europe.
This is great info. I have been to almost 50 countries with my husband, but we are considering Intrepid, or Gap, as a possibility for Africa early next year. We are on our 2d RTW, generally avoid tours like the plague, but we have not really been to Africa, and are looking for something a little easier on that leg.
This is useful information. I am curious how they would treat a couple, though. Would we still occasionally end up in dorm rooms? Did you have to buy travel insurance, or show them that you had travel insurance? These have been some of the things ez rental car I have been hesitant about.
As for couples and accommodation, like I said, where you stay really depends on the trip and its style. My guess, though, would be that if you re traveling as a couple, you d probably have a room to yourself most of the time. Unless staying in a multi-share room was the only option on a particular night. You could always call and ask about it, though.
And yes, you have to show proof of travel ez rental car insurance on all Intrepid trips. They suggest you purchase it from one of their partners, but you don t have to (I just got a cheap policy from World Nomads that covered me for my whole time in Europe).
ez rental car Aww no! That s too bad! We spent some time in Romania s Maramures region, which is one of the areas in the country known for its wooden monasteries ez rental car they were indeed very cool to see. I guess you ll just have to go back!
As I am getting older and my vacation time is getting shorter, I look for different ez rental car ways to see a lot in a short amount of time. And while the old me would NEVER go on a tour to certain places, I am finding the new me values time and money higher then I used to. The biggest key is finding the right tour to fit your needs. I have used Gap (G, whatever) for the past two years and like them a lot.
I was so lazy this year, that I even did a G Adventures tour of Alaska, (my own country!) something that you think you could do on your own, but I am so glad I went with them for so many reasons. The way I look at tours is that I use them for a taste of what to see, knowing I ll go back on my own eventually and know what to see and do next time.
There definitely is value in your time, and how you spend your money. It s one of the main reasons that I m a fan of guided ez rental car tours in certain situations. If you only have a few weeks to travel next year, you certa