Baltic states plus Russia with Grand European Tours

We were pleased with every aspect of our 18-day “Russia and the Baltic States” tour from Grand European Tours (6000 Meadows Rd., Ste. 520, Lake Oswego, OR 97035; phone 800/552-5545 or visit www.getours.com).

Our tour, May 20-June 6, 2006, visited FINLAND, RUSSIA, BELARUS, LITHUANIA, LATVIA and ESTONIA. The basic tour cost about $8,000 for the two of us, starting in Kansas City. This tour had a number of optional events. When booking the tour, you should be aware that these options will cost about $1,000 per couple if you choose all of them, but we were glad we did.

The hotels were very good or the best available and were well located for exploring the areas.

Included meals were very good and the optional excursions, well planned. We needed to buy 13 lunches and six dinners, and these could be as simple or fancy as we chose. We paid as little as $7 for a light lunch and never more than $50 for a dinner for two. That did not include wine.

I nominate Alex Golovko as a perfect tour director. He filled all of the important qualifications and was superb. The coach driver, Raimonds, was excellent. Never did we worry about traffic conditions, for we knew he would handle everything well.

Alex went out of his way to be sure we learned as much as possible about the countries we visited. He also knew how to keep tour members happy. Alex grew up in Siberia and he has many interesting stories to tell of his own experiences as a boy and young man. It speaks well for the company that these two and the local guides seemed to want to work for Grand European.

We would warn travelers of one thing. Be sure that your visa for Belarus has the correct date for entering and leaving. One passenger with our group, a resident of the Netherlands, had the wrong date on his visa and was delayed several hours in Minsk. Alex handled this well, but it was a very stressful situation. (Note: all tour members other than this gentleman and his wife were U.S. citizens.)

This tour allowed some time for shopping but didn’t make it a primary part of each day. The most tempting item in this part of the world is amber jewelry and it is available everywhere. Prices were higher in Estonia than in Lithuania. This may be due to the fact that large cruise ships stop in Tallinn, Estonia, and not in the other Baltic states, so the merchants know they can charge more.

There were 35 in our tour group. That is more than we prefer to have, but all were congenial and it was not a problem. Grand European says it has the most leisurely tours of Europe, but if you include the options you will be busy all the time. Our mornings usually started at a reasonable hour, however, and there were only a few late-night events. We have no complaints about any aspect of this trip.

RUTH HARRIS
Concordia, KS