Balkan Trails Reviews 127

I travelled from Sibiu to Maramures and Bucovina with a brilliant guide over a period of six days. My every request was granted,my every wish fulfilled. Not an easy task for I kept on changing my schedule! All my emails were dealt with in a professional,polite and considerate way. The guesthouses along the way were lovely,the meals were great and the daily outings with my guide proved to be of the best,if not the best that I have ever experienced. It helped that my guide was bright,well educated,well informed,well organised with a great sense of humour. He even added surprise visits to interesting places and people! He was always most considerate of my needs, really kind and helpful , most professional in an easy- going way. I felt that I had met a friend. Thank you,Balkan Tours,Vlad and Adrian,for an unforgettable,wonderfully enriching experience.

I enjoyed the culture and visioning the old with the new. I hope this does not change because this is what makes Romania a unique experience. Seeing the funerals, horse and carriages and the gypsies. Our guide was truly helpful and answered all our questions freely. I enjoyed the hotels, which was a great choice after a long day. It was nice to have an air conditioner. We were really surprised at how good the food was !!!!

Balkan Trails organised our 15 day private tour of Romania that included the Danube Delta, Transylania, Maramures and Bucovina (the painted monasteries). The itinerary was an excellent combination of historic churches, cities, beautiful scenery and encounters with locals in each area. There is no way we could have organised this on our own.

We found Vlad from Balkan Trails to be very professional, well organised and easy to deal with - even though we organised everything via email.

We had a great guide called Alex who was very passionate about Romania and also very knowledgeable. He looked after us extremely well.

Thank you Balkan Trails for our fantastic holiday.

We took a Trip from Balkan Trais.
The trip was from 7 Jun 2015 to 21 Jun 2015. Initial part in Bulgaria and later Romania.
The trip was most enjoyable.
The Car and drivers guides were Very very good. Had good communication . They were very kind and sober mannered professional.
they adjusted to all our needs and took care of us.
Vlad was there to monitor the trip and take care of any needs.
Thankx a lot Balkan Trails
Will love to do trip again.

Spent five days in Translvania.Visited Sibiu,Sighisoria,Viscri and Brasow,including Bran Castle,Peles Castle and many other sights.
Balkan Trails were excellent-highly recommended.

We actually booked 3 separate private tours with Balkan Trails. Vlad and Zoe worked very diligently and very patiently with us to determine an itinerary that would visit all of the places we wanted to see. They also added some hidden gems that we would have missed. The guides were extremely accommodating and took care of our unique food demand (I wanted eggs every morning) and made sure that we had decent Internet at all places. When we wanted to change hotels (twice during our 37 day trip), they were very accommodating. Romania and Bulgaria are extremely interesting places to visit and not overrun by tourism yet. The trip was very affordable - we enjoyed it very much. I give a very strong recommendation to Balkan Trails if you are considering using them in the future.

Our almost 3 weeks in Bulgaria and Romamia was fabulous, from the outstanding tour guides (Toma and Catalin), fantastic central, beautiful and comfortable hotels, and amazing professional service both before and during the tour. Vlad and Zoe were a dream to work with as we customized our tour. We could not be more pleased and plan to spread the word about Balkan Trails and the hidden gems of Bulgaria and Romania. Thanks for an vacation that far exceeded our expectations!

I like to converse with the travel agent once I am booking my tour. The owners of Balkan Trails gave me that opportunity and all details we discussed have been materialized in the tour.
Highly recommend tour organizer , especially when you want to have a private tour at reasonable price but good service.

We enjoyed our trip to Romania very much & have been telling all our friends & family that they must go there.

We particularly enjoyed the small places: the still & the rug washing on the river, the costume store & the egg museum, Mr Barsana's workshop & the Nicholai Poppa museum & the horse wagon ride to the brick-maker & the brandy maker in Sighisoara & the folk dancers at Vadu Izei. And the running of the animals in Viscri! The day trip to Bulgaria was also great. Loved the merchant's house. We would love to see more.

The bigger & better known attractions were also excellent, but the smaller ones were wonderful surprises which will give us lasting memories of our tour.

Our tour guide Stefan was very knowledgable.

The hotels were fine & the people there were friendly. The food was always excellent everywhere.

We had the most amazing holiday. Although it was a bit hectic, we saw so much of Romania, from the bustling city of Bucharest, to the beautiful medieval towns of Sibiu and Sighasoara and then on to my favourite place, the Maramures. What a beautiful part of Romania, so different from anywhere else, with the beautiful wooden churches and the glorious countryside. The painted monasteries in Buconvina were stunning, we even got to witness an ordination in one of them! Then on to Brasov, another beautiful town, with the fabulous castles of Bran and Peles. All in all a trip to remember for a very long time.

Romania is a wonderful country, steeped in tradition, with the most beautiful countryside and plenty of special things to see. Distances are significant and the roads variable, so don't pack too much into too short a time. I had visited the painted monasteries before, but wanted to go back to see the wooden churches in Maramures and the village of Viscri near Brasov. We flew into Cluj Napoca in the north on Wizz Air which saved the extra miles from Bucharest. Our guide Adrian, was lovely and looked after us very well. The B&Bs in rural spots and hotels in cities recommended by Balkan Trails were all conveniently situated and welcomed us warmly. We also went to Sighisoara, Sibiu and Brasov. Vlad Trestian of Balkan Trails was most helpful with our booking as we changed our minds a bit along the way!

This tour was a gift from my employer. I usually prefer to travel without having a stranger involved but This was a pleasant surprise. Our guide Florin was terrific. He was friendly (not in any cheesy, annoying way), knowledgeable, and had a great since of humor. He was fun to talk to and we learned so much about Romanias vast history. The hotels they arranged for us were fantastic, great views, comfortable and unique. We fell in love with Romania, thanks in part to our Balkan Trails tour.

Travelled on a Balkan Trails personal tour across Romania and Bulgaria. The guides were both friendly and knowledgeable, spoke good English, and were happy to accommodate our spontaneous changes of plan (like a detour into Ukraine and a visit to Buzludzha - Google it - Bulgaria is mad not to have this on the tourist trail). Was a great way to see two countries that are still not regular destinations, and very reasonably priced too. Be aware though that hotels in these countries are more basic than would be expected for their star rating level in the US etc.

What can I say other than Romania was so much more than I expected. Romania is so beautiful, pictures could not do it justice. There is nothing that could have been done differently, every aspect of our tour was perfect. There are so many advantages to having a private tour. Valentin was our guide throughout the trip and he was amazing. He made our trip a fantastic adventure with his indepth knowledge and love for his country. With his humor and his ability to forsee all of our needs, he made each day a wonderful experience. I feel we really saw the "Real Romania", not just a tour of important sites. The involvement with the locals, including the Gypsy home visit and the visit to the egg museum, made for great insight to daily lives of people. I did not expect to care to much for the food but we were proven wrong. Val gave great suggestions and we had wonderful meals. I must say that I became quite addicted to Romanian food. He gave me some cooking tips and I am going to try really hard to duplicate some recipes.

Balkan Trails is top notch. I can not imagine seeing Romania any other way. Vlad's professionalism right from the beginning stages of planning to the actual trip was fantastic. The whole trip was what he promised and more.

If you have not been to Romania yet, the question is: What are you waiting for???? Balkan Trails is the only way to go!

Good times on my Balkan Trails managed adventure to Bulgaria/Romania 4/3-4/12/15.
The tour company(Vlad at Balkan Trails) and both guides(Stoyan for Bulgaria and Florin for Romania) were top notch professional in their knowledge,enthusiasm,and just plain ol' good people:)
I highly recommend not only the company and guides but also to all who never thought of an Eastern European vacation destination Bulgaria and Romania. very affordable,friendly people and way safer than the US of A.
thanks Balkan Trails(Vlad,Stoyan,Florin) dominic desantis.

Thank you Vlad for organizing such a fantastic trip to Romania and Bulgaria. From the moment we arrived, we were welcomed by Catalin, our guide in Romania who was helpful and gave us very good insights about Romania. We learned a great deal about the history of the region while enjoying the snowy landscapes of both countries. Crossing the border was extremely simple and we were totally satisfied with the quality of hotels. They were heated, had hot water and comfortable beds. Although we spent each day in a different city, we had a lot of time to explore since the time on the road didn't take long. At least 2-3 hours a day. We spent more time on the road going to Rila Monastery on our last day but the views were just spectacular and definitely worth the visit and trout for lunch.

All the hotels were great and I would highly recommend them to other travelers.

Breakfast was good and our guides gave us good tips on where to eat and taste local flavors.

We had a very good time and enjoyed being in the company of Catalin and Dylan. They were excellent drivers and spoke eloquently.

It was definitely worth it and offered great value for money. Although it was off-season, we enjoyed every bit of having the attractions to ourselves and covered in snow. I highly recommend visiting these countries in winter.

Thank you so much once again.

Having looked at other local tour guide sites we found Balkan Tours to initially be the most economical.
The very professional manner in which our queries were replied to by Vlad then confirmed to us that we had made the right choice,
As we chose our own hotels I am unable to comment on those in the Balkan Tours package however it was excellent to have that freedom of choice regarding accomodation.
Our guide was Stoyan Kirov who was very prompt to appear every morning at an agreed time.
He was incredibly flexible in meeting our needs which he always sought out. He was also discreet enough to let us enjoy the holiday alone, never making us feel obligated to be with him all day long.
He asked for nothing in return other than that we were satisfied with each daily tour.
So, if you're reading this you MUST use Balkan Tours and you will have Bulgaria in your pocket - an experience that will live with you for a long long time.

Very knowledgeable and friendly guides, personalised itinerary, good accommodation and food. Thoroughly enjoyed all experiences from Transfagarasan highway, castles, old towns, painted monastries, wooden churches, medieval rural life

We visited Bucharest from Malta over the New Year period and we reserved this excellent full day tour with Balkan Trails from the internet. They provided a personalised service with a professional driver. He loves his car, is patient in traffic jams, sticks to the itinerary, flexible according to client's needs and above all is well informed on the history of his country. My wife and I would recommend an excursion with Florin (the driver) to anyone visiting Bucharest.

All great. Really enjoyable day. Adrian was fantastic guide - he also managed to arrange for us to be booked on to a tour of the Palace of the Parliament the next day.

Balkan tours also recommended Black cabs for getting in from the airport to the hotel on arrival. They were also superb.