The best bus tours. Bus tours - a brief educational program. Travel essentials

Bus tours are one of the most budgetary types of recreation. That is why they are so popular with novice tourists: to see the cities of the Golden Ring, or even more - Europe - in, let's say, a full-color version at the price of a three-day vacation on the Black Sea coast, somewhere near Anapa, is quite tempting.

On the other hand, there are plenty of dangers, coupled with surprises, in bus tours. Which scale will outweigh - it's up to you. So let's not bore potential bus travelers with a long prelude and waste the time of those for whom such tours are categorically contraindicated. Let's start with the positive.

Advantages of bus tours

Price. Well, you definitely can’t argue with this: bus tours are really the most budget-friendly travel option.

No, do not rush to object that the price of a seven-day vacation in Turkey is two times lower than a seven-day bus tour. The bus tour includes a transfer, a large set of excursions, meals and hotel accommodation. During it, you will visit several cities or even countries.

And for the amount for which you ended up on the coast of Antalya, you can only lie on the sand and admire the sea. And if you want active recreation, visits to antiquities, entertainment and good alcohol, you will have to pay a tidy sum in addition to the tour.

So the result remains the same: of all types of recreation, the bus is the most budgetary.

Attractions. If the primary task for you is to see historical and modern sights, and not serenely drinking cocktails lying in a sun lounger, then this is really a huge plus for such tours.

You will visit many interesting places, and during the transfers you will have time to admire the various landscapes to your heart's content - none of this you will be able to do when buying a regular hotel tour.

Among the disadvantages of bus tourism:

Lack of comfort. Really. Rest, during which most of the time you have to think about which pretzel to roll your legs in order to somehow stretch them, can be called comfortable with a big stretch.

Among the difficulties and deprivations of this type of tourism are also present: malnutrition, periodic absence of a shower, lack of sleep due to night travel and lack of personal space.

Again, the severity of such hardships depends on the type of tour and the type of bus - the higher the class of the tour, the less inconvenience you will be caused by moving.

The above problems are practically eliminated if there are no night trips in the tour program: this means that you will spend the night in motels and hotels. The level of service can also be different, but you will definitely have a horizontal bed and minimal amenities like a bathroom and dinner in a cafe.

Short tour times. Bus tours really do not imply free ownership of your own time: in Italy they will take you on a run through the Vatican, in France they will urge you on visiting the Louvre, and in the Czech Republic they will not allow you to quietly have a dumplings somewhere on the Charles Bridge. Often you will move almost running, and in the rain, and in the snow, and in the cold, and even catching a slight cold.

No, of course, sometimes you will have two or three hours for walks, but not everywhere and not always. Sometimes tourists complain that they have to leave cities without seeing one or another attraction, which they have dreamed of visiting all their lives.

The tour bus schedule is quite tight: stay here, you won’t make it there, and now the whole tour is down the drain. So if you are not one of those who appreciate punctuality and are not ready to stoically endure a world heritage sightseeing from the bus window, such trips will not suit you.

Here it is worth remembering that it is impossible to embrace the immensity. Are you ready to accept this fact? That's when you can think about bus travel.

In addition (we don’t know whether to write this down as pluses or minuses, but the fact remains): for a long period you will have to stay in a group of unfamiliar people, among whom there may well be entities that are far from you in character and therefore extremely annoying. No one is safe from noisy children, drunken peasants and eternally dissatisfied with everything and all aunts. So think three times - will your philanthropy stand this test.

The conclusion from all of the above suggests the following: if you are easy-going, accommodating and non-confrontational, you want to see a lot at once - bus tours are definitely for you. Go without hesitation!

During the holidays and vacations, each of us wants to organize an unforgettable trip for himself and his family, which will leave only pleasant and impressions. One option is to tour Europe by bus. Today we will tell you how to choose the best option for yourself, what to pay special attention to, what period of the year is more suitable for such a tourist adventure, the most popular routes?

What is the best time of the year to explore Europe?

Of course, everyone decides this question individually. But, why not squeeze the maximum of pleasure and impressions out of the trip? For example, going to Italy, Spain in the summer, you can enjoy the architecture, culture and have a great time on the beach. In winter, it is good to go to those countries where they organize festive carnivals in honor of the New Year and Christmas. In the spring, we would recommend taking a bus tour to the Netherlands (the tulips in bloom are a beautiful sight), and in the fall, you can take the opportunity to see Germany and visit the most famous beer festival in the world.

However, if you do not want to become part of a large crowd of tourists and regularly stand in long lines, then keep in mind that the summer season is not the best time for an educational tour, but just right for a beach holiday. Therefore, we advise you to go on tours to the main attractions in late autumn or winter after the holidays (both prices are lower and there are fewer tourists).

Most popular destinations in Europe

At the moment, the most popular tours include visits to several European capitals. It is rare when a tourist chooses one country to explore all its attractions. Many people buy trips to Central European countries, for example, to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Austria. Tours to the above tours are selling like hot cakes, because it is not only interesting, but also inexpensive. Why sit at home for the whole vacation if you can go on a tour for little money, look at the beautiful Czech Republic and other countries? Of course, the Mediterranean is also in demand (Italy, Monaco, Spain), tours to Montenegro and Croatia are popular. The leaders, as before, are Sweden, France, Norway, Denmark.

How to choose the right travel agency?

If you have decided with time and direction, it's time to talk about a travel agency, what should you pay special attention to in order to avoid trouble?

This issue needs to be approached very carefully, it is better to contact a trusted tour operator in which you are sure (you used it yourself or recommended good friends). If there is neither one nor the other condition, be sure to read the reviews of real tourists. A good travel agency manager with a reliable reputation will tell you about all the nuances:

• Which route, the number of excursions that are included in the tour price.
• Where the tourist will live (conditions in hotels).
• Is meals included (which boarding house).
  Do I need to pay for honey? insurance, visa separately or is it included in the price of the tour.
• All these points should be spelled out in the contract. Also, the employee must inform his clients about cultural, national differences, give contacts of consulates for communication with their homeland.

We also advise you to pay attention to the presence or absence of free time between visits to the main attractions. Please note that in many contracts the question of a late tourist is also prescribed, as a rule, the bus waits no more than 15 minutes. After that, you will have to catch up with your group for your money.

And yet, before signing the contract, ask about everything that worries you. You pay your money, so you must be sure that everything will go well. If you notice that the agent does not have an exact answer or he leaves him, leave this company, otherwise you risk ruining your vacation and wasting your finances in vain.

After choosing a travel agency and buying a tour, you need to not only pack your bags, but also take care of mobile communications.

Inexpensive communication in Europe today!

Foreign roaming has always been perceived as something very expensive, but today everything is different. After all, many international operators offer low rates for their services for those who are going to visit not even one, but several European countries. If you do not yet have a SIM card for traveling abroad, read:

Offers a good option. The tariff plan includes not only mobile Internet, but also calls. For 1 euro you can buy 100 MB of traffic (several volumes are offered), and for the same fee you can get 60 minutes of calls in the country where you are (36 states - SIM card coverage area).

- this is the best option if your list of countries to visit includes Germany, but the rate is good for other destinations (31 countries in Europe).

A trip to Europe is a great springboard for a novice traveler. Firstly, economically, secondly, if you wish, you can cover several countries at once, and thirdly, you have the opportunity to see much more than the airport, hotel, beach and several tourist points, which means you will understand and feel the country more strongly.

There are other benefits as well. These are the wonderful autobahns of Europe and stops in the middle of the picturesque Alps or the Apennines (if you are driving through them), these are hamburgers in cafes at gas stations that go with a bang from the road and seem tastier than any delicacy, this is watching movies and listening to ethnic music when outside the windows, landscapes change one after another, this is the lack of check-in procedures at airports, but for those who are afraid of airplanes, there is practically no alternative type of travel.

But, as in any other type of trip (and bus tours are a much bigger adventure than air tours), there can be tricks, inconsistencies, and various unpleasant moments. And all of them are often associated with the wrong expectations of the tourist, as well as the lack of basic behavior skills on a bus trip.

Choose the right company

This is the first and most important thing to do. Bus travel is a responsible business, because here the leader of the group will be with you all the days of the trip, you will spend the maximum amount of time with him and with other tourists of the group, which means that the travel agency must be very reliable so that with its help you can minimize all unpleasant situations.

If the tour operator you are traveling with is unreliable, a huge number of troubles can arise - from banal disorganization and being late to destinations, to ripping off tourists in the form of additional payments right on the road, which you were not warned about in advance.

The question of how to choose a tour operator is rather sensitive, and this is rather a topic for a separate publication. Here we note that he must have been working on the market for many years, he must have a positive credit history, good reviews from tourists, recommendations, his activities must be as transparent as possible for the consumer.

Stock up on patience

Choosing a bus tour, in the program we see something like: "Hungary - moving to Austria - overnight - crossing the border with Italy." In such a situation, it will seem to many that moving is as quick and insignificant as reading the names of countries and cities from a piece of paper. In fact, the road takes a lot of time, sometimes almost a day. Therefore, when we see some destinations in the route, we must understand what we are dealing with. And the daily changes of cities or even countries should lead you to the idea that the journeys will be long, and the breaks between them short. This makes you very tired. Although, in fact, this is not good and not bad. You just need to be prepared for this and be aware of all the difficulties of long journeys in advance.

Find out if there will be night crossings

This is a fundamental question. Because there are tours with them, and there are without. If you know you won't be able to get enough sleep on the bus, choose the second option. Usually tours without night crossings are built so that you do not spend the whole day on the bus, but still get to your destination in half a day, settle down there and go on excursions from there. Therefore, your journey does not turn into a continuous trip. But still, if you are very sorry for this time, and you sleep very well in the bus, choose tours in which you will spend the nights in transport, and during the day you will enjoy only excursions.

About included holidays

Pay attention to whether each day of the program is packed with travel and transfers, or whether you will still be given time to rest, perhaps even a few days. The ideal tours are those that include several days of the resort and several days of a purely excursion program. On such trips, you can get enough sleep, and get a little healthier, and swim in the sea, and get a lot of fresh impressions. But they cost more. Firstly, because such tours are usually longer, and secondly, they try to include more expensive hotels for the recreational part. That is, these are no longer transit two or three stars, but, for example, fours.

In general, such a huge number of variations are offered that at first you will even get confused. These are now popular weekend tours, and tours for two weeks or longer, combining rest and travel, and tours with accommodation included in the mountains, and only with the beach and the sea ... Any whim of a tourist!

Choose vacation by status

The people you travel with will be with you all the way. Each of them has its own character, habits, needs, and social status. You have to put up with a lot, turn a blind eye to a lot. This should be remembered and taken calmly if you are already on the road.

But first, you can try to minimize the risk that you will not like the trip. How? If you have enough money, do not choose too cheap tours. Then, for example, poor students will not gather on your bus, who will always be late everywhere, drink alcohol in the last rows and have fun loudly when you want to fall asleep.

Grab some snacks

On the autobahns, cafes offer very high prices. If this is Europe, then a couple of hamburgers and cups of coffee will cost you 10-15 euros. For residents of Western countries, this is a penny, but for our people - a tangible amount. Therefore, the ideal option is to take something quickly eaten and non-perishable with you on the bus: nuts, chips, cookies, dried fruits, bananas, apples, breadsticks. This goodness is enough for you to have a snack when everyone is spending extra money in a roadside cafe and trying to meet the allotted 15 minutes.

And, by the way, divide all things into two categories - those that are needed on the bus, and those that can be hidden in luggage. In the first category, include a piece of food, a blanket, comfortable shoes, woolen socks or slippers, goggles, earplugs, a head pillow, wet wipes, medicines.

Get your money's worth ahead of time

European bus tours are usually not very expensive: from UAH 2,000 to UAH 20,000 for a trip for two. This amount usually includes medical insurance, a visa, bus travel, some excursions, and the services of a group leader. Everything else will have to pay extra.

How to calculate the final cost of the tour? There is one simple rule: you need to multiply the fee that you give to the travel agency by two. That is, another 50% of your costs will go to food, souvenirs, excursions and other needs. So the tour you bought for 400 euros will end up costing 800 euros.

Admire the historical and cultural centers of old Europe, take a walk in the parks of London, Paris or Prague - the prospect of recreation that is increasingly attracting Russians, despite the crisis, tour operators say. And they offer "anti-crisis" bus tours.

“Interest in going on vacation abroad this year has decreased by 25-30%. Bus trips are the only segment of the tourism market that has hardly suffered from the difficult economic situation, retained its popularity and even attracted new customers,” says Maya Lomidze, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). The secret is in the price. Road trips have always been cheaper than air travel, and this fall, even more attractive offers appeared.

Thus, operators have increased the number of programs with night crossings (night on the road, day in the country), thereby saving on hotels. In addition, they refused the services of expensive hotels, choosing hostels, hotels near the road or on the outskirts. “You should not be afraid of such apartments. These are not luxurious, but very good in terms of the quality of service and interior decoration of the rooms, ”added Lomidze. Two stars in Europe is far from two stars in Turkey. European motels, unlike Asian guest houses, guarantee quality accommodation.

“Price and detailed sightseeing tours are the main advantages of bus tours,” says Lyudmila Davydova, executive director of the Stary Gorod travel company. For example, an eight-day trip to Paris with flights, a hotel (three stars) and three meals a day will cost 1,500 euros per person, not including additional expenses for excursions, souvenirs, and purchases. And a two-week trip Vienna - Venice - Milan - Paris - Prague by bus with overnight stays in roadside hotels, a couple of excursions, several overnight transfers, breakfasts, guide overview stories and a visa - 380 euros (not counting additional expenses for food).

As Lyudmila Davydova said, the cheapest way to travel is to Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic (280-330 euros for five days), now these destinations are the most popular among customers. If you get to the transfer points by plane or train, then the cost of travel increases by 30% (plus air or train tickets).

Route selection

There are three ways to go on a bus cruise: go directly from Moscow to St. Petersburg or Brest by bus; get to St. Petersburg or Brest by train, and then transfer to a bus; the most comfortable and expensive option is to fly into the country by plane, and from there start your journey with a guide and other group members.

The trip takes from 7 to 15 days, but the road eats up 2-4 days of rest due to traffic jams, queues at the border and the crossings themselves. Therefore, five-day tours - although the cheapest, but not the most productive. The buses offered by most companies are equipped with a toilet, reclining chairs for sleeping, TV monitors with DVD players, air conditioning, and sometimes even a small kitchen with a microwave, refrigerator and coffee maker. Time on the road will be more fun if you grab a couple of discs with your favorite movies. However, get ready that another 30-60 people will share your leisure and life with you. With fellow travelers you have to be together almost around the clock.

“This holiday is not for misanthropes, but it will be fun for lonely, but looking for communication travelers,” says Dmitry Fomintsev, head of the Turtrans Voyage travel company.

Experts recommend that you take care of your seat on the bus in advance - when buying, book a specific seat and make sure that it is indicated on the voucher or ticket. If you are put in the tail, then unpleasant shaking is inevitable, extraneous odors can pester you near the toilet and kitchen, and drafts near the entrance. The most comfortable seats are located in the center of the cabin.

Be ready

You will be taken either to several European capitals, or to large and small cities of one state, depending on the tour program. Stops for sightseeing and a snack in a cafe are provided every two hours. It brings variety and does not get bored. Almost every evening the bus arrives at a new settlement. Travelers spend the night at a local hotel, and after breakfast they go on excursions.

The day for a bus tourist starts very early - at 6 am. The organizers arrange a free breakfast, and then they take the group to see local attractions. These can be both museums and architectural ensembles, as well as local diamond processing factories, watch factories. If along the way there is a bar or a pastry shop conducting a tasting, tourists will definitely be taken there. It is absolutely impossible to refuse or change a given route. An additional excursion can take place only for a fee and only at the request of the majority.

But after the "mandatory" program, everyone will have 1.5-2 hours of free time and can go wherever they please. The main thing is to stock up on parking maps - the guides do not provide them. Free time is also a big minus. During this time, you won’t have time to go to the museum, and it’s scary to go far from the bus so as not to get lost. As a result, it turns into a stupid fermentation within a radius of 100 meters from the parking lot. And if the weather is bad, then the majority sits in the cabin.

“Operators provide only free breakfasts and sightseeing tours, the cost of other meals and trips to places not covered by the program are entirely on our clients,” says Dmitry Fomintsev.

He recommends bringing additional funds with you, up to a maximum of 50 euros per day per person. About 15 euros will be spent on food (150 euros for a ten-day trip), and the rest - for gifts, souvenirs and other personal purchases. To be prepared for unpredictable weather, pack both light and very warm clothing. The main thing is that they are comfortable.

What awaits a tourist on a bus trip

• Cheap (280-330 euros depending on the number of days of travel)
• Experience multiple countries in one trip
• Many new friends among fellow travelers
• Visits to bars and pastry shops for a free tasting of local wines and delicacies
• The opportunity to save on food (especially frugal tourists stock up on smoked sausage and canned food)
• The opportunity to see not only the capitals, but also the province
• Bus tour - good intelligence for future more detailed travel

• Limited stay in cities
• The inability to change the route at will
• Lack of comfort
• Noisy company of fellow travelers
• Problems with obtaining a visa, as illegal immigrants also travel to Europe through bus tours
• Loss of time at the border, in traffic jams and in case of breakdowns
• Unpredictable weather - you will have to stock up on both light and warm clothes.

Bus tours in Europe: where to go, how to choose a route, what hotels offer. Everything you need to know about bus travel in Europe.

• Tours for the New Year Worldwide
• Hot tours Worldwide

Subtleties and routes of bus tours in the Old World

Bus tours, which have become the main "pioneers" of Europe for Russian tourists due to their availability, are not going to leave the scene even today, although it would seem that air tours at reasonable prices are now in abundance. Apparently, the point is not only and not so much in the number of banknotes that the traveler is willing to pay for the trip: there were and are people who really relax only on the road and are not ready to spend all the precious time of their vacation staying in one place. We will now talk about what Old Europe is ready to impress them with. But before we get into the details, let's take a closer look at a few important issues.

Important Points

First of all, you need to find out if the tour program provides for night crossings, during which a significant distance is covered without stopping at the hotel. On the one hand, such routes will cost a much smaller amount, but on the other hand, it is unlikely that anyone will be able to guarantee a cheerful state of health after such a trip. The minimum comfort in the form of a reclining seat and air conditioning is provided by any modern bus, but the “bells and whistles” like almost full-fledged beds are a very rare thing.

First-time bus tourers should look for short trips with a minimum of overnight travel.

Secondly, a lot depends on what type of transport the tourist will use to get to the place where the journey begins. The most common option is the train to Brest. However, air travel and rail travel have recently become popular, for example to Berlin. By the way, the most expensive option is not even a plane, but a train journey to one of the European cities. The cheapest one is the already mentioned Brest as the bus departure point.

Thirdly, you should definitely calculate your strength. No matter how tempting a long list of cities covered by one trip looks, visiting two settlements with excursions and trips to museums during the day is quite tiring. On the other hand, there will definitely not be a lack of impressions.

Where to go?

When choosing options for bus tours, it is important not to make a mistake in choosing a route. First-time bus tourers should look for short trips with a minimum of overnight travel. The ideal option is an affordable "express tour", while covering a significant number of countries.

Bus travelers "with experience", as a rule, are interested in more detailed options for tours with "untwisted" new cities. At the same time, night trips for many experienced tourists are no longer a problem, but on the contrary, they are a noticeable plus, since they leave more time for daytime excursions.

Bus neighbors

Completely different categories of tourists go on bus tours. Someone is traveling with children, someone is going to a small company. Traveling newlyweds, pensioners and students. They have only one thing in common: they are inquisitive and energetic people who enjoy everything new and interesting - regardless of age. However, if we consider the issue in more detail, then the age of tourists who go on bus trips depends on the season. During school holidays - October, January and March - young travelers become clients of bus companies. And during the holiday season, from May to September, office and business workers, that is, middle-aged tourists, go for impressions. Recently, due to the growing “aviaphobia”, a contingent with a more respectable age is gradually added to the participants of bus tours.

Different income levels of tourists, of course, affect preferences when choosing a tour. However, the cost of a trip is far from always an indicator of a tourist’s wealth: often in the spring, a friendly tourist family goes on an Austria-Switzerland tour that costs from 600 EUR, and in winter they also go on a short trip to Finland and Sweden with a base cost of about 200 EUR.

Very often, having met on a trip, tourists agree among themselves on further travels and book the next tour together.

What to expect from hotels and service?

Bus tours usually include accommodation in "tourist class" hotels and hotels from 2 * to 4 *. Meals in "kopeck pieces" and establishments of a similar level are "continental breakfasts", and in hotels of a higher level - "buffet". An important nuance: bus operators often book hotels outside the city center. This is due (in addition to the cost of accommodation) to the fact that hotels on the outskirts are more spacious, they have a lot of “twins” - rooms with separate beds (this is the accommodation that is most popular on bus tours), there are spacious dining rooms for the breakfast of the whole group at the same time and several elevators (an important condition for rapid resettlement). Finally, it is easier to fit a bus to such hotels - right to the door.

So, everything is more or less clear with hotels, let's move on to the service. All buses for tours are equipped with air conditioning, dry closet and washbasin. Plus, in the vast majority of cases, also a mini-kitchen, a device for supplying boiling water, audio and video systems. Bus tours always have a pronounced excursion "bias", so tourists are provided with a considerable amount of information materials: guidebooks, maps, phrasebooks, museum maps, etc. In general, in bus tours, the main emphasis is always on the saturation of the excursion program, and not "stardom". » hotel (as opposed to the same beach tours), as well as the comfort of transport, the professionalism of the guide, the volume and quality of the information provided.

What might not like?

Anything can happen on long bus trips: traffic jams, tourists late for the meeting point after excursions, and tire punctures ... In addition, one should not forget that a bus trip is not an individual trip, but a trip as part of a group. Therefore, it is especially important to thoroughly study the program of the trip, descriptions of hotels, performance characteristics of the bus and the list of services included in the price of the tour, even before buying a tour: no conscientious tour operator will make secrets from any of these points.

What will be shown and when to go?

So, the nuances and possible "pitfalls" when choosing a bus tour have been sorted out. It's time to move on to the details. So, what are the bus tours in Europe today and what will they show your tourist?

Bus tours in European cities are very diverse. Operators offer a variety of travel options, during which you can see from five to eight capitals, as well as several major cities in one trip. The duration of the European "rides" - from a week to two and a half.

The choice of direction, of course, primarily depends on the sphere of interests of the tourist. For example, you can go through Poland and Germany to France, visit several cities, and then continue your journey through Spain, ending the trip on French territory. Another option is to go on a two-week tour of European capitals: Warsaw, Prague, Luxembourg, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin. Those who want to get the absolute maximum of impressions from the trip, during their stay in the cities listed above, will be able to additionally visit something else of interest nearby. For example, being in Paris, in addition to Versailles and Loire castles, visit also Rouen. The disadvantages of the maximum density of excursions during this kind of travel are obvious: this is a limited time for visiting local attractions, long journeys between cities and the almost complete lack of free time for tourists to travel independently.

One of the most popular bus routes in Europe includes visits to five European capitals: Warsaw, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris.

In addition, it is worth considering in advance what time of year to choose for the trip. If a trip to Europe is combined with a vacation at sea, then you can go on a trip from late spring to early autumn. It will not be hot inside the bus, but crowds of tourists on the streets and in museums during the high season are guaranteed. If the traveler chooses a tour that includes only an excursion program, then almost any season is at his disposal. The smallest number of guests in European cities is in winter (with the exception of the New Year and Christmas period) and late autumn.

Previous photo 1/ 1 Next photo

Five capitals of Europe

One of the most popular bus routes in Europe includes visits to five European capitals: Warsaw, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. Some programs replace the Belgian capital with Luxembourg.

As a rule, the capital of Poland is chosen as the starting point of the route, and the excursion program of the tour also starts there (usually it does not exceed a day). As you know, the Second World War did not spare the local historical sights: the Old Town was practically wiped off the face of the earth. Nevertheless, Warsaw was restored, and, thanks to a carefully carried out reconstruction, today you can see the most beautiful Royal Castle with a square, the main Catholic church - the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, and other architectural monuments. It is significant that the restored historical center is under the protection of UNESCO, having entered the list of valuable cultural objects as a wonderful example of scientific restoration.

The funniest linguistic discovery for tourists is how the Poles refer to shops. The word "crypt", which Russians associate far from products, means "shop" in Polish.

The next stop on the way is Berlin, the largest city in Germany, divided until 1989 by a wall into two parts with different political systems. There you can not only stroll through memorable historical places, visiting the medieval Nikolaiviertel quarter in the Mite district, seeing live the symbol of the city - the famous Brandenburg Gate, but also climb the Reichstag or visit one of the many themed Berlin museums. Some travel companies organize afternoon excursions to Potsdam, the former royal residence. The palaces and Sanssouci Park in Potsdam deserve the attention of everyone who is not indifferent to luxurious grandiose architectural complexes. As a rule, a whole day is also allotted for visiting Berlin.

Then the travelers go to Amsterdam. This city, which has earned the fame of Venice of the North, is well known to many tourists not only for its historical sights (of which there are really many) but for the red light district and the freedom of morals reigning in it. However, one should not think that brothels and coffee shops are all that the capital of the Netherlands can offer a guest. Beautiful medieval buildings, excellent gastronomy based on seafood, all kinds of museums and cultural centers, among which the Van Gogh Museum occupies a special place, and finally, countless canals that win the heart of any inhabitant far from the waterways - all this is just a small part of what it is worth come to Amsterdam.

The next stop is the Belgian capital Brussels. There is something to see, from the unique collections of Flemish paintings presented in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts to the Museum of Comics. Local architectural sights are under the protection of UNESCO, among them it is worth highlighting the Grand Place, the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, as well as buildings on Mount Arts. The statue of the famous Manneken Pis is known far beyond the borders of Belgium, just like the Atomium - a model of a gigantic iron crystal lattice.

The next point of the European journey is a city that romantic natures want to see and die, and lovers of figurative expressions often mention the possibility of flying over it as a piece of wood-layered product. It must be admitted that sightseeing bus tours very, very superficially reveal the beauties of the French capital. True, often the time spent in Paris is delayed for several days - then the participants of the trip have a chance to feel the hidden magic of the Parisian streets, the famous Louvre, the entrance to which is symbolized by a glass pyramid, echoing the Egyptian obelisk and other traces of one of the oldest cultures on earth, the Eiffel Tower , the original ugliness of which eventually turned into a symbol of the city, the famous Notre Dame Cathedral and much more. In addition, if France is one of the longest stops on the routes, travelers have the opportunity to see the unique, protected by UNESCO, castles of the Loire, going on a day trip outside of Paris. At the beginning of this trip, tourists inevitably face the question: is it worth it to “smear” the already short visit time into a sightseeing tour of several palaces at once? The answer is: worth it if travelers are not planning another trip to France in the foreseeable future.

The final stop on the journey is the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Despite its big name, this is a very miniature state. A distinctive feature of its capital, which bears the same name, is exceptionally beautiful landscapes. Luxembourg is a very picturesque city with beautiful parks and many old bridges, among which the Adolfo Bridge is the most famous. The local Cathedral of Our Lady is one of the main attractions of the capital.

Best Destinations for Bus Tours

All articles about bus tours on "Subtleties"

• By bus throughout Europe or in the Benelux
• Germany Berlin)
• France Paris)
• Czech Republic, Prague)
• Baltic States: Estonia (Tallinn) and Latvia (Riga)
• Scandinavia: Norway, Finland (