Tour Testimonials 2011
Read what customers say about usUNESCO Sites Tour
Thank you for all the travel arrangements you made for my trip to Slovakia. Everything was perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed your extraordinary country and the hotels were all I had hoped for. A special thanks to Mayo for his guiding, driving and companionship. He was always on time and full of enthusiasm for exploring and explaining his country. I thoroughly enjoyed each of our destinations and special sites. Through Mayo, I really felt I came to know Slovakia quite well.
Also, I must again thank your parents-in-law for their wonderful hospitality over a delicious lunch with them and with you. The outing to the very early church and Neolithic sites were particularly memorable. Many thanks.
Best wishes for your continuing success in the tourism business.
Regards,
James from Canada
- rating 5
Best of Slovakia and Sheep Farms Tour
I have been meaning to write and let you know what a fabulous time we had. Our time in Slovakia was the highlight of our 5 week trip to Europe. Thank you for arranging such a comprehensive program for us which took into account our interests. The combinaion of national park walks, rafting, visiting farms and cultural sights (particularly the wooden churches and the Spis Castle) was wonderful.
We had no problems along the way and even the weather was kind....hot and sunny for all but one day. We particularly enjoyed the Penzion Fortuna in Poprad with great accommodation, good food and friendly, helpful staff.
Lucia, with her fabulous English, managed very capably to translate conversations with farmers, national park rangers and a wide variety of people we met along the way. She was always cheerful, enthusiastic, on time and full of fun with a great sense of humour and very safe driver. I enjoyed her guidance through the various Slovak menus with recommendations of traditional food as well as the out of the way restaurants we went to such as the 1st Slovak Pub in Bratislava. When people in Australia ask what was the highlight of our time in Slovakia it is difficult to decide. Every day was a new adventure.
Many thanks to you and Lucia.
Kate and Chris from Australia
- rating 5
Best of Slovakia Tour
Greetings from Vienna.
I would like to thank you for all the itinerary you have planned for us during our 5 days in Slovakia. Lucia have been very helpful too.
Hope to be in touch with you again should i plan to visit Slovakia again.
Melissa from Singapore
- rating 5
Family History Tour
I AM EXTREMLY GLAD TO HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH MICHAL ON THIS. HE MADE IT ALL POSSIBLE. THANK YOU, MICHAL.
Andrew from USA
- rating 5
Family History and Best of Slovakia Tour
Wow! We had a great vacation from Bratislava to the High Tatras and back. I cannot thank you enough for all that you did to personalize our Best of Slovakia Tour. Since this was my first trip to your beautiful country, it was a wonderful mix of tourist highlights of Slovakia with visits to my ancestral villages. I will never forget the stunningly beautiful castles, ruins, villages, vistas and churches we saw along the way. And I will cherish our visits to my grandmother's and grandfather's villages.
I also want to thank you for arranging the Modra majolica factory tour, where I left impressed by the craftsmanship, beauty and ingenuity of the ceramics. It was also a special thrill for us to stay at the Hutira Relax Club and meet Pán Ivo Hutira. I hope you are able to offer his penzion for future tours.
But I want to thank you especially for providing us with the remarkable Lucia Palenkasova as our tour guide. She is a knowledgeable guide, an accomplished translator and a skilled (and very safe) driver! Her patience and flexibility were a real asset. I am grateful for her ability to organize our visits to the incredible wooden churches as well as the museums and castles.
I knew our trip to Slovakia would be great but it turned out to be even better than I anticipated.
Thank you and travelslovakia.sk for making everything possible.
P.S. If you would like to see a few pictures from our trip go to youtube.com. Here's the address:
http://youtu.be/xH3sDOufXIY
Dakujem!
Karl from USA
- rating 5
From Hut to Hut High Tatras Tour
Unser Urlaub begann in Wien, wo wir bereits am 15. Juli ankamen. Am Vormittag des 16. Juli wurden wir von unserer Pension in Wien abgeholt und mittels PKW in Richtung Tatra gefahren. Unser „chauffeur“ erklärte und zeigte Besonderheiten entlang des Weges. Bei Ankunft in Poprad waren wir von dem wunderschön und liebevoll renovierten Stadtteil begeistert, ebenso wie von unserer dortigen Unterkunft, der Penzione Atrium. Am Abend lernten wir unsere Wanderführerin Zuzanna kennen und besprachen bei einem leckeren Abendessen die Etappen der nächsten Tage.
Am Sonntag-Morgen wurden wir zu dem Ausgangspunkt unserer Reise gebracht und dann ging es bei strahlendem Sonnenschein los. Erst durch die sturmbedingt zerstörten Waldreste, dann in den Wald und vorbei an kleinen Seen zum Strbske pleso. Wir bestiegen noch den Predne Solisko (2117m) und genossen die herrliche Aussicht in die Gipfel der Hohen Tatra. Nach einem ersten langen aber auch wunderschönen Tag erreichten wir unsere erste Unterkunft Horsky Hotel am Popradske pleso. Am 2. Tag starteten wir ohne grosses Gepäck in Richtung Rysy. Am Gipfel riss der Nebel immer wieder mal auf, so dass man auch hier den Blick schweifen lassen konnte. Nach unzähligen leckeren Hüttentees auf der Chata pod Rysmi und einem Besuch der „schönsten Toilette der Hohen Tatra“ ging es zurück zur Hotel am Popradsee Hütte.
Der nächste Tag begann mit einem steilen Anstieg zum Pass und dann immer entlang des Berghangs zu dem Schlesien-Haus. Das Hotel – ein äusserlich recht unsympathischer ehemaliger sozialistischer Prachtbau – erwies sich von innen als wunderschön renoviert und modern ausgestattet. Nach 3 Tagen wandern war eine heisse Wanne das Paradies auf Erden. Zuzanna zeigte uns die „Berg-steigerhütte“, in der es die beste Suppe gab, die wir auf der gesamten Reise gegessen haben. Nach einem kleinen abschliessenden Spaziergang um den See gab es ein wunderbares Abendbuffet. In der Nacht tobte ein Gewitter und auch der kommende Tag bescherte uns viele Wolken und einen kräftigen Regenguss. Die grossen Wasserfälle gingen etwas im Regen unter und wir waren froh als wir auf der Hütte Zamkovskeho ankamen. Das Abendessen auf dieser wunderschönen kleinen Hütte war unglaublich – ein exzellentes 3-Gänge-Menü. Der krönende Abschluss des Abends bietete der Besuch eines Braunbären bei der Hütte, welcher letztendlich von dem Schäferhund der Hütte verjagt wurde. Der 5. Tag ging leider komplett im Dauerregen unter. Vorbei an der Liftstation zu Lomnitzer Spitze maschierten wir über den Pass Sedlo pod Svistovkou zur Hütte Zeleno pleso. Am Abend riss kurz der Nebel auf und wir konnten die schönen Bergspitzen sehen und so eine Vorstellung von der wunderschönen Lage der Hütte bekommen. Und wieder wurden wir am Abend kulinarisch verwöhnt und auch am nächsten Morgen mit einem perfekten Frühstück für den Tag gestärkt. Fast ohne Nieselregen machten wir uns zur letzten Etappe unserer Tour auf. Der Nebel liess uns leider auch am letzten Tag keinen Blick auf die Berge erhaschen. Über die Chata plesnivec ging es nach Tatranska kotlina, wo wir nach kurzer Stärkung noch die beeindruckende Höhle Belianska begutachteten. Mit dem Bus ging es zurück nach Poprad in unsere Pension, wo wir den letzten Abend von der Tour geschafft aber begeistert ausklingen liessen.
Am nächsten Morgen strahlte unfairer Weise die Sonne von einem blauen Himmel und wir konnten die Berge in ihrer schönsten Pracht bewundern. Die Rückfahrt führte auf unseren Wunsch hin durch die niedere Tatra zurück nach Wien.
Auch wenn das Wetter nicht immer mitgespielt hat, waren wir doch begeistert von der wunderbaren Natur, den Hütten und dem kulinarischen Angebot auch auf der abgelegensten Hütte. Zuzanna, unsere Wanderführerin, war stets bemüht uns Besonderheiten, geschichtliche Hintergründe und Interessantes zur Hohen Tatra, der Slowakai, zu einzelnen Hütten und Gipfeln zu zeigen und zu erklären. Wir fühlten uns gut betreut und informiert.
Abschliessend bewerten wir diese Reise als positiv. Es war ein interessanter Urlaub in einem uns fremden Gebirge und Land. Wir wollen nicht ausschliessen einen erneten Anlauf zu starten ... dann vielleicht mit etwas besseren Wetter ;)
Mit freundlichen Grüssen,
Familie Fernkorn aus Deutschland
- rating 5
Family History Tour
Tom from USA
- rating 5
Helpa Tour
No need to apologize for the hotel, I suspect the owner did not tell you they were doing major renovations on it. I do have to say the two meals they made for us were quite good.
Your guide Marion was wonderful. He was friendly and knowledgeable during the trip and always made sure even simple things like arranging meals for us was taken care of. Most of all, we are very grateful for his hard work in finding my relatives in Helpa. He was very determined to track down everyone he thought could help us and because of that, we were successful in finding my father's cousins. All of us on the trip appreciate Marion's work and we wish him all the best.
Thank you Lenka for arranging the last minute ride to Bratislava and the trip to Helpa. We are very satisfied with your company and certainly recommend your services to anyone else travelling to Slovakia.
Randall with family from Canada
- rating 4
Tour of Wooden Churches and Sightseeing of Eger and Budapest
We returned yesterday from our trip to the EAST. We had a wonderful time and everybody enjoyed every minute. Together with the tour guide Karin - she was great, especially with her historical knowledge. We optimized the tour, by changing the programm a little bit, by reducing it by unnecessary kilometers. Our private party in Jahodna was great too. In Hungary we had a wonderful time too and the last winetasting dinner was superb.
The bus driver was very careful and a very good driver.
Let me also thank you and your team in Slovakia and Hungary for a wonderful holiday.
Best regards,
Ekkenhard with his group from Austria
- rating 5
From Hut to Hut High Tatras Tour
Improvements on the hike experience. Well young lady I must write I think you did an absolutely fantastic job with the planning and organization of the trek and accomodations. I could not ask for anything more. All chatas and hotels were comparable to those I've stayed in while trekking in the Italian and Austrian Alps. The meals were fine and most of the hotel staff were pleasent and helpful. I must write the chatas and food in Slovakia was a step above that in Czech, Jeseniky and even Austria!! Italy? Well difficult to compete with Italian food.
All and all it was a fantastic experience. The mountains and trails are magnificant, the people we met along the way were friendly, food and pivo was very good and our guide Martin really helped to make the hike a hugh success.
You take care and God bless
a hui hou
Roger from Hawai
- rating 5
From Hut to Hut High Tatras Tour
I was back home a week ago, and back to work today. I have really enjoyed my trek in the Tatras. Ivana and Marian did their best to make the trip enjoyable. We had very good time there, other people from the group were nice too. We were a kind of european team (3 germans, 1 austrian, 1 slovaque and 1 french !) It has been a pleasure to discover aspects of slovakian culture and way of life. Thank you for hotel accomodation in Bratislava, every thing was ok.
Regards,
Bernard from France
- rating 5
National Parks Tour
We had a wonderful time in Slovakia and the beautiful Tatras. Our guide Martin was especially nice and wonderful. Please give Martin our sincere appreciation and thanks, and tell him we hope he made it out of Budapest without too much problem.
Regards,
Wilkie and Becky from USA
- rating 5
Best of Slovakia Tour
the tour and lucia as aguide were excelent we love slovakia , the wiew and all the places that we visit it was so good that we plan to visit slovakia again
thanks again
Oded from Israel
- rating 5
High Tatras Trip – Guided/self-guided
All the arrangements you made for my family were quite wonderful. If you could have brought out the sun more, I am sure you would have done that as well. I will certainly send along your name to others considering travel to Slovakia and the surrounding countries.
The staff at Tulipan, especially the chef, were wonderful. They prepared delicious meals and the staff that served the food were also wonderful.
Vladimir, the taxi driver, was very kind especially since we had bad traffic coming into Krakow. , traveling to the Old City to get the key took some time, so we gave him a little extra money for the effort.
Thank you for all your help to make this a wonderful trip.
Jeff with family from USA
- rating 5
Best of Slovakia Tour
Thank you very much for your e-mail. I would like to convey to you that my week-long trek of Slovakia was beyond my expectations. It will be a very long time, if ever, before the pleasant memories are erased from my mind. I would especially like to tell you how much I appreciated what your company was able to do for me by way of transportation, guiding, accommodations, meals, and opening up to my your wonderful country and its unforgettable people. Please convey my special thanks to Cecilia for a spectactular job. I shall endeavour to do whatever I can to relay to my friends and colleagues that your company is one of the best ways to easily see and appreciate Slovakia, and at a very affordable and reasonable price.
It is unfortunate, however, that my experience with the Grand Hotel in Banska Stiavnica was less than ideal. I strongly suggest that you not use this hotel in the future. Happily, this little glitch did not diminish in any way the superb service I was given in the rest of the country. I do appreciate the compensation you offered to me by way of river rafting on the river boredering on Poland.
Again, thank you very much for your excellent service. Continue to do what you do so well.
With kindest regards,
Calvin from Canada
- rating 4
Tour of Wooden Churches
Thanks again for your email. And thank you and Travel Slovakia for making all our arrangements so efficiently and charmingly. I enjoyed our email correspondence and we are grateful to you for taking care of little details as well the programme overall.
Our tour of Slovakia was everything we hoped for and more. We saw all the churches we knew of before we went and besides those saw others, as well as mountains, forests and lakes. Very much depends on the guide and we were excellently looked after by Lucia with help from Martin.
It is a great luxury to be driven and guided throughout and Lucia did it all beautifully. She drove with care and courtesy – which is reassuring to strangers on busy roads and made our journeys restful rather than tiring. She drove a long way – we went literally from end (Ukraine) to end (Czech Rep) of Slovakia and driving through the High Tatras on the last day even caught sight of the Polish Border. And L never seemed to be tired or lose her good humour. She told us about Slovakia, the countryside, the people…. as we went along.
Lucia always knew where restaurants were where we could have lunch and helped us to choose local favourites – potato dumplings, cabbage soup, garlic soup. She was also well briefed on the churches so that there was always someone to open a church when we arrived and also to explain its history and the paintings and sculptures there. It would have been difficult for an overseas visitor to arrange that without help.
Both Lucia and Martin were imaginative and generous in thinking of some extra things we might like to say and do (outside your itinerary). Martin found us an extra church, Lucia showed us the High Tatras and took us a walk round a mountain lake.
One point about the opening of museums, houses and some churches. Many of them open their doors only once an hour on the hour. So that if we arrived at say 10.10 am we might have to fill in 50 minutes before going in at 11am. I’m not sure that L’s brief included that.
Arrival, day in Bratislava
It was a very good idea of yours to arrange for us to be met at the airport. That worked perfectly and it’s very restful not to need to find transport, explain the destination, negotiate the price reasonably and so on. Our driver confirmed that the demand caused by the Hockey meant some high taxi charges for visitors. 15 euros didn’t seem expensive between three people. It was not too easy to find a nice restaurant at 9pm and a few suggestions from you might help others.
We thought Pension Virgo an ideal choice – smart, comfortable, informal and friendly. Being out of the famous part of town but close to it makes a difference if you’re there only for a day. In the evening we could walk to St Marten’s restaurant – a good choice we made – by the Church and walk back afterwards. Virgo’s street is a pleasure to be and quiet too. (You need to be down quite promptly for breakfast to avoid queuing for the quite small breakfast parlour!)
We enjoyed our day’s sightseeing in Bratislava – the streets of the old town, St Marten’s church, the Gobelin tapestries, the town hall, the view from the tower, the pharmacy museum, the weaponry museum – but were quite pleased we’d decided to go out to the country on the second day.
Spisska Sobota
We saw nowhere we would have preferred to stay in any town or village we visited. It was a good decision of yours that we should spend all the nights at SS – again it’s a luxury not to have to arrive-and-depart more than once. The amount of driving – expecially for the driver – was just reasonable though it would have been quite a different matter if L had not had a friend to say with quite close by.
SS itself is obviously an attractive village to be in. Nearly every house frontage has things about it to look at and enjoy. St George’s Church was not on our original list but would have been, if we’d known about it. The altars, and a sort of tableau of Jesus in the tomb, are special.
Pension Sabato was again an ideal choice. We had a really spacious room with kitchen and luxury bathroom in what had once been a timberbuilt outhouse of some sort which meant we had a few steps of refreshing walk through the garden to get to the main building. Again all the staff were efficient and exceptionally welcoming and friendly. Four dinners there with wine and a few occasional drinks came to E250 for the three of us. The equivalent of ?18 per head for dinner-with-wine seems very good value.
Tour as a whole
Our ideas and your research made an excellent programme. All the churches we saw are worth visiting. A week was probably long enough though it could be good to put in a day or two for some walking – say along the ridge of the Low Tatras.
It could be that a tour like ours could find a market in Britain among art-lovers. There are specialist magazines they read where it might be advertised. We estimate that the whole trip, including flights, airport car-parking, your charges, lunches and dinners will have cost us roughly ?750 each – which looks not all expensive when it includes car, driver and guide.
With many thanks from
Janet, Margaret and me from UK
- rating 5
Family History Tour
Gene and Kathy from USA
- rating 4
Family History and Best of Slovakia Tour
The tour you prepared for us was a marvelous experience, and all arrangements were in place and available without any difficulties. Our guide met us on time and was easy to find at the airport in Vienna.
The guide you provided, Ms. Lucia Palenkasova, could not have been more helpful or attentive to us, and I believe she was the key to making this trip so successful for us. She had done an immense amount of groundwork and research on our ancestry on her own time even prior to our arrival, and she was the one who actually located and contacted our relatives in Levoce. She was also very flexible for adjusting our itinerary to accommodate our changing needs during the trip to visit national archive facilities for further research on family ancestors.
The Penzions you booked for us were for the most part very nice, comfortable, and hospitable, particularly Penzion Kachelman in Banska Stiavnica, and Penzion Atrium in Poprad.
Though we ended up staying only one night in Penzion Grand in Kosice, there seemed to be a few worrisome practices at this penzion for which I would not be willing to stay there again in the future.
All together, a very enjoyable, successful, and stress-free tour! Congratulations to both you and Travel Slovakia, as well as Lucia Palenkasova for her friendly, knowledgeable, and completely reliable guiding service!!
Very Warmest Regards,
Gregory from USA
- rating 4
Presents from Slovakia
The basket arrived today in fine condition. Thank you so much. It is exactly the style I wanted. The Easter Basket Blanket that Igor found for me in the high mountain village about an hour southwest of Poprad fits perfectly. Blessing the basket at the Easter Vigil will be a new experience for our Priest - our Parish is mostly Italian. Now I have to learn to how to bake Paska for Easter!
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Bob from USA
- rating 5