Testimonials

Stefan and Catalin were fantastic guides, with a great passion for Romania’s history, culture and people. The first two days with Stefan were long, but he did not rush us at all. Similarly Catalin was happy to stop and spend time at places that interested us, even if it meant that we did not keep to the schedule. Both guides’ intimate knowledge of the areas that we visited allowed us to gain a great understanding of the country and people. In our longer time with Catalin we were able to see his close connection with the people of Vadu Izei, the wood carver Teoader Barsan, and the gypsy family, which made our experience even better.

We feel that we have seen a lot of the real Romania, off the main tourist trail with our time in Viscri.

The itinerary was very good, and although there were some long days there was also time to relax. The hotels were good and the stay in Vadu Izei was a highlight. Stefan and Catalin recommended some excellent restaurants and Romanian dishes, and we very much enjoyed the food and plum brandy. Having wi fi in Catalin’s car was very useful and an unexpected bonus.

We will recommend Romania and Balkan Trails to our friends.

Vlad and Zoe certainly deserve five stars for organizing our adventure. Our guides, Dilyan in Bulgaria and Catalin in Romania, were amazing in their depth of knowledge and, more important, with their kindness and help. We became friends and will keep in contact. Bulgaria and Romania are two fascinating countries with rich and varied histories that most Americans know little about. Our adventure educated us for which we are grateful. And we love the yogurt. We give them the highest recommendation without reservations.

This was a tour I booked at the last minute. What I liked about the process was that I had immediate feedback from your company on any questions
I had. You were also very prompt in letting me know about what was going on such as a Best Western Hotel you booked to replace
Hotel Casa Humor in Gura Humorului because of our late booking. The one small negative on the tour was our 2 night stay in Gura Humorului,
as there wasn’t a lot to do. I would have preferred to be somewhere with a few more shops. However it was no big deal and perhaps with the logistics
Gura Humorului was the best option.

Also, you were prompt in informing me who my guide, Valentin, would be along with his phone number. I felt that you kept up-to-date on meeting me at the bus
station and picking my wife and I up at the hotel in Bucharest the first morning. One of the best things about the tour was the fact that I knew what to expect and the flexibility was also nice. From my viewpoint it is important to keep people informed and you did an excellent job of this.

Concerning Val, our tour guide:

He was waiting at the bus station in Bucharest to pick us up when we arrived from Sofia and each morning always met us at our hotel at the appointed time.
Val went out of his was to accommodate us anyway he could. I needed to drop a package in Bucharest which he helped us do on our way out of Bucharest
the first morning and made sure the package got to the right people and made a follow up phone call. Val was very knowledgeable about everything and
was a good driver, not taking unnecessary chances. He gave suggestions about changing money at banks and each day he selected excellent restaurants
and had dinner with us, which we enjoyed. We were sorry to have the gypsy dinner cancelled but Val, in lieu of that, did buy our dinner that day.

He was very honest in any dealings I had with him. I also like the fact that he kept the car cleaned, gassed each evening and ready to go. Val was a very
knowledgeable person and helped us in and out of the car. (We are an older couple) Val did everything he could for us to have an excellent tour.
Thanks to Val and your company for making this a great experience.
Romania is a beautiful country.