Explore Eastern Europe

Our tour guide Kinga was exceptional and we learnt so much about the culture and history of each country we travelled through. The accommodation was very comfortable as was the bus in which we travelled each day. The walking tour guides were passionate about their towns and taught us so much not only of the politics but of important individuals who lived there.

Our guide was so good, she did such a good job. The areas we visited were beautiful.

This was an excellent tour. We had a knowledgeable and caring tour guide in Kinga. The driver was safe and courteous. The accommodation couldnt be faulted and the places visited and experienced were interesting and varied. We will investigate future tours with BRT in other parts of the World for our next holiday.

This tour was recommended by our travel consultant in NZ. We had a tour of some of these countries via Trafalgar in 2010 and it was not as in depth or as interesting as we experiences with BRTs. We only had 17 in our group (around 45 with Trafalgar), an excellent tour guide Kinga, who was not only knowledgeable, but cared for our every needs.

This tour was well organised. The tour guide and driver were both excellent.
All the destinations were interesting and provided the history in the context of the city and country.
The only drawback was the space in the bus as it was a tight squeeze for the number of people.

The size of the van was ridiculous for 19 adults. Extremely uncomfortable to ride in and difficult, unwieldy and extremely slow to exit. Kinga was terrific. Driver was exemplary. But I will never take another trip with Backroads because of the thoughtless transportation that was provided on a trip that had many, many hours of travel.

We had a great time. Leader and driver were fabulous. Tour was well designed with a lot of interesting visits and activities.

Outstanding tour itinerary with lots of interesting places. Many of these not on the usual tour map.
We had an excellent tour guide Kinga Gyokeres who entertained us with local history, occasional local songs (excellent voice), and was able to fix any minor problems we had.
Bus was a bit small but allowed us to get to smaller sites. Good safe driver Mirek.

The tour was excellent. Both the tour guide and the driver were great.
The only issue was the amount of space on the bus. Maybe limiting tour sizes to a maximum of 15 would help.

Absolutely worth it. Saw many places that you would not normally. Experienced local cuisines and beer, wine etc and a local band at cheese tasting

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour all ran to schedule everyone in the group fitted in well. Enough variety in the things we saw and did

had a great time well organised and visited some great places

Kinga, our guide was marvellous, so knowledgeable on the countries visited and interested in the group as individuals. She made the trip a winner.
Hotels good, places visited worthwhile.
Only downside was the bus. Too small for full contingent. Seats too small for use of seat belts for many.

Great itinerary and the best is the guide Kinga. Just the hotel choice in Budapest is no good.⁷

Tour guide was very knowledgeable and very helpful.

Great tour loved the little towns and Kinga is an amazing guide so fun and full of knowledge which she shares so beautifully as well as local music , books and films that you can further explore the culture.
Would have liked a little more leg room on the bus but otherwise it is a great way to explore the area. Hotel were good . The dunubios in Budapest could use some renovations and a thorough clean. Krakow was fantastic would have liked another day there to explore. The walking city tour was great. The pirogue making was so much fun. Absolutely loved Cesky Kromlov . The cider tasting was okay but the vinegar was definitely surprisingly delicious.

Excellent tour. I've never done a tour across few countries before, and I felt this tour was a great way to explore Eastern Europe.
I liked the selection of bigger cities, charming little towns and idyllic countryside - it allows you to experience both more modern and traditional side of Eastern Europe.
It was an interesting experience to see the colorful hungarian Holloko village; felt like stepping back in time.
Slovakian Tatras mountains were my favourite part of the trip, the views from top were breathtakingly beautiful.
I also loved visiting Krakow, and some of the little towns in Czech Republic felt like straight out of fairytale.
There was a good balance of planned activities and time to explore on your own,I liked the pace of the tour.
Kinga was an exceptional tour guide; she was very knowledgeable.
She wasn't just telling the history of the place, she also has a talent for storytelling and her stories about myths and legends of the places we were visiting made this trip very special.
Would definitely recommend this trip, loved every minute of it.

Loved the variety of countries this tour visits. Particularly enjoyed the Tatras Mountains and Pierogi making class. Our guide was very informative throughout the tour and even sang a few songs for us. Hotels were very centrally located and had charm to them. Eastern Europe has been an area I always wanted to know more about, and this was a great way to get a taster of everything in a fun way.

The tour was amazing. We went to great places. The tour guide Kinga was wonderful. She was knowledgable, kind and personable.

The tour started off in a hotel in Budapest where we all met for a dinner. The quality of the food was poor to say the least, Boiled chicken, boiled potato and some odd vegetables. I got a bowl of fruit salad for dessert that was mostly tinned pineapple. O the tour I felt that I was being bullied by a particular bloke who moved out of the way so that he could stand next to his wife, it would have been nice to be asked instead of being manhandled.
Unfortunately I was comparing this tour to the one I did in Ireland and it did not meet up to the same standard.
We seemed to travel on freeways a lot where there little chance to experience the country side, The tour guide was forever complaining about the Hungarian government's spending, (although she lived in Slovakia) for example, the singing roads which have been installed to save lives of drivers. This became quite tedious.
We were taken to a cheese tasting place which was to be lunch, in Slovakia which is great for the two of us that were lactose intolerant. The tour guide that as it was sheep's cheese we would be ok. How she knew this I don't know but I was not prepared to risk it. I went up and spoke to her saying that I would get lunch when we got back from this tasing and only then was there another offering made to us. Not happy about this.
The Irish tour had little side excursions that the driver and tour guide devised for us there was none of this on the Eastern European Tour.
We spent 2 nights in Krakow which is a lovely city and we could have explored more but instead of this we we given a cooking class making
pierogi. This is when I left the tour. I did not like how I was treated by a group of people in the tour and felt I would be better on my own. I forfeited the money for the rest of the tour and had a lovely time at my last destination exploring at my leisure and without rudeness from other people.
The tour guide did look for me at the Krakow train station where she got me to write a waiver for the company. Not sure whether she was concerned about me or wanting me not to ask for a partial refund..
So glad I did not book the France tour for next year.

Great, all round tour. Fantastic guide, amazing cities, towns and stunning scenery. All the hotels were outstanding.

Very good leader, good places visited. Bus is too cramped with not enough knee room. Happy overall

Nonel l felt the bus to small for that amount of people also it was hard managing my luggage and our last farewell dinner was ordinary no entertainment food ordinary

The bus was too small for the number of people. At times 2 suitcases were in the walkway. There was no leg room and a seat was broken. The meals that were included( not the breakfast)) was unsatisfactory. .

Great itinerary. So many beautiful places.

The tour was a very nice and easy way to explore a region I've always wanted to visit. The hotels were comfortable and well located. I loved Kinga's way of telling us the history and how it related to her own experiences growing up in the region.

Kinga, our tour guide, was fantastic.
We all had a lot of fun, and I would use Back-Roads Tours again.

Interesting and varied experiences. Great hotels.