Baltic Small Group Tours

Reviews of Small Group tours to Baltic

• BrookeTraveled in July

  4

  I'll start with what met expectation, then pros, then cons. The trip notes clearly list "orientation tours" and several free time periods, with no optional excursions, so I viewed this as sort of a hybrid between a full-on group tour and solo travel. It was actually a little more of an organized tour than I expected because our tour guide had an optional dinner reservation for us almost every night, plus one evening of free, live folk music and dancing at a local pub. I liked the option to be in a "group" or solo. I also knew this would be a brutally fast-paced itinerary because of the amount of ground covered - three countries in 6 full days basically. For the pros, my past orientation tours with three different companies (not city tours) have been about 30 minutes to give a quick overview. Our guide instead gave us a thorough walk of the cities with a lot of the history and culture, lasting several hours each. He also played a historical, local instrument and sang a song in Vilnius, to give us a little break in the shade. I prefer a guide who is somebody I'd grab a drink with back home - not too pedantic nor "fake" friendly, which puts me off. I thought our guide, Simonas, struck a good balance, made good recommendations and I enjoyed the tour. A good guide to me knows their stuff AND is someone I'd voluntarily have a drink with back home. The pacing of the itinerary was also good, with stops every 2-3 hours to see a site, eat lunch or just have a bio-break. The real con for me were the hotels. The hotel in Vilnius has seen better days, but the real problem was the security. One person had people open her door, two others of us heard someone at the door while sleeping & my security lock was disengaged in the morning. There's also no A/C, but fans (although near the bus station with lots of honking). The Manor house is a great experience, although also no A/C and mosquitoes, so open windows can be tricky - a very nice place if we weren't having a heat wave. The Tallinn hotel was also nice, but a 15-20 minute walk from the center - not a big deal to me & Ubers could me found for under €4. By far the worst hotel was the new one in Riga. In cool weather, it is probably fine (although, also 20 min walk from town), but in hot weather, there are 2 buildings connected with a glass skylight and the interior rooms have no outside window OR A/C, plus they're short on fans. I had an interior window with no fan - it's the first time in my life that I've ever checked out early (no refund) and paid to move hotels. Another guest called it a monument to torture & suffering, although those with exterior windows and a fan said it was tolerable. In short, I'd be reluctant to use Explore again when weather could be warm or humid because they let us be booked into rooms that no sane person would choose themselves. I'd certainly ask ahead for a guarantee of AT MINIMUM a functional exterior window and fan.

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  Baltic Capital Cities
• AlanTraveled in July

  4

  My experience with Tour radar was good. I have previously booked directly with companies and I was worried there might be confusion/crossed wires during the holiday but this never happened. On the few occasions when I contacted them prior to the holiday they were quick and helpful. I have now booked another trip through them for next year.

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  Historic Baltic Republics
• RhiannaTraveled in December

  5

  Only two of us and our guide. So we travelled in comfort and had special attention. Our guide was able to cater to our needs, including a couple of extra stops such as a stop by the Baltic Sea and a bobsled track.

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  Highlights of the Baltic States in 8 Days (Private Tour)