Have just come back from this trip (not with JY, but with TS). We found the trip to be very intense and somewhat hard going and it occurred to me how subjective our experiences are. Although the trip was good value I think, I came back exhausted from the full on itinary. One of our group likened it to being back in the Army.
We took some days off and did our own thing and they were definitely the best days of the trip. Again, I would disagree about the hotels, as the one we liked most was the one on the lake. (yes it was quirky but was the only one with any character). the included food is generally Ok But not for vegetarians, as most meals consisted of large slabs of meat. This is ok for a few days but does become tedious after a while, so we often did our own thing and went down the local town where there is some escape from the totally carnivorous menu.
I think my main comment to people thinking of going on this trip is the amount of time spent on the coach. 3 whole days (about 8 hours each day ) are spent on the bus. this in my opinion is not a way to spend a holiday. I inquired about this prior to going but at no time was told about the length of time travelling. this is not just a problem with TS staff, as I think all companies try to hide this.
My suggestion is that the holiday should either be longer so that some days off are included or that say only 3 countries are visited so that additional free time is included. After all, what is the point of lake side and seaside hotels when there is no time to enjoy it?
I would agree that Kristina the tour guide was very good. She had enough patience to tolerate us all, but enough fire to get things done when problems arose. Most importantly she has a great sense of humour which is absolutely essential
The driver Sidic was extremely steady and reliable and with great skills, taking the coach to places i would not even take a car.
The coach was extremely uncomfortable and the seats on the return plane seemed luxurious in comparison. We also had a large number on the tour (38) which is too many and led to problems with hotel checkins and small slow inadequate lifts.
The local guide in Albania was extremely poor and though she had some interesting things to say, she lost almost all interest because of her monotonous delivery. At one point she had only 4 people listening out of the 38 as all the others had drifted away. This point really needs addressing.
In conclusion i would say go on this holiday if you want a non stop history of the Balkans in 2 weeks, but don't think of this trip as a Holiday; It isn't, it is an endurance test which I think we and a lot of other members of the group failed. I'm glad I've seen the 6 countries but my back is telling me it was a bad mistake.
The group as a whole was great and everyone got on with each other, so that helped to lessen the disappointment.
Just my view, but would not recommend this trip. We have been on a few other TS tours which have been really good so maybe it's just this one which needs tweaking.
