Tour Testimonials 2016
Read what customers say about usHigh Tatras tour - Slovakia & Poland
Rich from the USA
- rating 5
Family history tour around Banska Bystrica
Thank you again and we would love to visit in the future.
Sue from the USA
- rating 5
Individually adapted tour of Slovakia
Yes, I had a lovely time in Slovakia. Lucia is an excellent guide (and safe driver) and we had a good time. She understands how to figure out what her client wants and then to meet those needs. She also helped me with luggage when the stairs were a bit too much for me.
I enjoyed the trains I took as well and the other cities I visited, especially Kosice, Banska Stiavnica and the Danubiana museum outside of Bratislava. Everyone was very helpful, even when we didn't share a language!
I would definitely recommend your services.
Marilee from France
- rating 5
Best of Slovakia tour with ancestral villages visit
The trip was great. We enjoyed seeing the country and meeting relatives. Lucia is a great guide with lots of knowledge. She was flexible enough to deal with anything that came up.
Thanks for planning the trip for us.
Pennie from the USA
- rating 5
Mala Fatra Walking Holiday
We enjoyed all the walks and found all the maps useful. We will add a review to Tripadvisor.
Many thanks for your help.
Steven from UK
- rating 5
Family History tour
We arrived home safely and are adjusting to the 6 hour time difference and our jetlag.
We thank you, Miro!!, and Katka for the experience of a lifetime.
We are so grateful that you paired Miro with us. His travel style and easy-going personality truly complemented our own travel style and personalities. We had a great time! The trip was just the right combination of historical sites, natural beauty and personal history.
We cannot completely express how wonderful it was for us to meet my family in Ladomirova. Special thanks to you and to Katka for finding them and for setting up our meeting. We are so very, very grateful to Miro for his patience, kindness and participation throughout the day (and throughout the trip). We still cannot believe that we actually met my uncle (age 89) and my aunt (age 87) and 5 of my cousins. It is so very nice and comforting to know my family's history and to see their strength and determination throughout adversities. Now I know where my mother, and I, got/get our strong will and faith. One of my goals was to bring my mother home in some small way and we feel we accomplished this goal.
Slovakia is a hidden, undiscovered gem. The country is stunningly beautiful and the people are warm and welcoming. We have already told others about our trip and your wonderful company. Please feel free to post any of this information on your website. We fully endorse your company's services. If acceptable, we'd be happy to post a review on Trip Advisors or other travel site.
While we enjoyed Prague, it wasn't Slovakia....
D'akujem z celého srdca (hopefully this really says Thank you from the bottom of our hearts),
Mary and Chris from the USA
- rating 5
Low Tatras day tour
I thought the tour and just seeing the caves was spectacular. Please thank Martin for me, as he was a great and informative guide! The other perfect thing was that the weather was timed perfectly since it started to pour right after we finished...must have been the magic of Slovakia ;)
Many thanks for a great adventure in the Slovakian caves!
Jeaneas from Prague
- rating 5
Jewish Heritage tour
Our trip to Slovakia was extraordinary, informative and an emotional experience. We learned much about my family’s past heritage, history, and the land where they once lived. We visited the towns where my father lived, my grandmother’s burial place, and where my uncles and aunts and their families lived before they were sent to concentration camps. It was amazing and an eye-opening experience that helped us resolve some missing pieces of my family’s roots in Slovakia, and gain new important insights into the life of my father’s family before World War II.
The trip could not have been so successful and meaningful without your help and dedication. From our initial communications, you showed interest in our special Jewish heritage itinerary and demonstrated professionalism in handling all the logistic of the trip from making sure that sites will be open upon our arrival, for someone to open the gates on time, to arranging for meeting locals who gave us local tours (as in Topola). You catered all of our special needs. All accommodations were excellent and transportation was fine.
Jan Bukovcak the driver-guide you hired was special. His dedication and sensitivity to satisfy our needs was great. He has a wonderful sense of humor and is a delight to be with. It was a long, emotional and complex tour. We visited many restored and destroyed synagogues, cemeteries, monuments, and Holocaust memorials and he had a great sense of how and when to get involve and when to be quiet and give space and time to reflect. Everything was well organized and on time we even didn’t know the “behind the scenes” arrangements and all he did to make our travel proceed without major hick-ups and be a great experience.
His English is excellent, he has a great love for his country and his people, was very friendly and outgoing, and made travel with him fun. We are senior citizens and at first we thought his young age may not be compatible with our needs but by the time our 3-week travel was over we realized that Jan is not just our great driver-tour guide but that we became friends.
Finally, your choice of expert guides with knowledge of Jewish heritage in Zilna, Bratislava, and Auschwitz was great and made the trip more meaningful. We were not that happy with the guide in Krakow, she was very knowledgeable abut the city but we felt she was didn’t exhibit appropriate sensitivity for Polish Jewish history.
We would highly recommend your service to anyone.
Best wishes and kind regards,
Rami from the USA
- rating 5
Best of Slovakia tour
Thanks dearly
Jose from Turkey
- rating 5
Customized tour of Slovakia
We just left Maria and I wanted to write you briefly about our trip. Diane may write you separately when she has time.
Maria was a joy and her patients with Diane's dietary needs and listening to my horrid Slovak pronunciation, was amazing. Both Diane and I have done a bit of traveling elsewhere so we recognised that we were probably Maria's first long term tour. That being said her willingness to research and provide answers to our questions, her enthusiasm, and her personal stories about growing up and living in Slovakia, for me made up, for her just starting out as a tour guide.
Her English was very good and by today, had taught us a few essential words. Our accommodations were acceptable and staff helpful and warm. Of note 2 of the hotels required carrying bags up stairs, Maria helped Diane, but it might be worth while for you clients and your employees to ensure a porter would be available. The beauty of the land in Slovakia, made this trip wonderful. Maria gave Slovakia a heart and a face, which made this trip special.
Billie from the USA
- rating 4
Customized tour of Slovakia
We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Lucia and had a lot of fun getting to know her and learn more about Slovak traditions as we toured. She was so welcoming and friendly and we could not have asked for a better guide. We also met Miro as our paths converged on a couple of days and had a chance to talk to him and his client as well.
We mentioned Travel Slovakia to several on our hiking trip and recommended they contact you if they planned future travel throughout Slovakia. It was definitely the best way to experience the country.
Thank you again for all your efficient and helpful coordination of our trip to Slovakia.
Martha and Nancy from the USA
- rating 5
Best of Slovakia & Prague
Jenny from UK
- rating 5
Customized tour of Slovakia
Thank you so much. The tour was wonderful! Our guides were the best! My daughter and I had a great time hiking and sightseeing! Our guides went above and beyond to make every day enjoyable. And Michael took what could have been an awkward situation when meeting our cousin and made it easy and relaxed.
Thank you got everything!
Katherinne from the USA
- rating 5
Central Europe tour
we were extremely satisfied and impressed with the service provided. Congratulations. You run a good and tight organization, which we hope to use again in the future and will be glad to recommend to others.
Augustin from Costa Rica
- rating 5
Hut to hut self-guided tour
I would like to thank you and the whole Travel Slovakia team for our amazing time in Hight Tatras!
It was absolutely perfect and delightful starting from the very first step in Bielo Pleso and up to the last call for taxi at Poprad.
The tour is well organized and I would say works perfect for newbies in hiking (such as we were:)) because it gives you enough time and opportunity to restore and at the same time provides some challenge.
I also would like to point out that all the locations where we stayed were of the highest quality and with it's own atmosphere.
Thank you very much for organizing the trip for us.
Kate from Belarus
- rating 5
Low and High Tatras customized tour
Sorry for the late reply but we just returned home yesterday.
The trip was great and the guide was very helpful and did an excellent job throughout these two days.
I would definitely recommend your agency to anyone who wishes to visit Slovakia. Probably in two or three years' time we would be back.
Regards,
Antoine from Malta
- rating 5
Tour of 3 National Parks
I am now on my way back home.
Thank yoy so much for a fantastic vacation in beautiful and surprising Slovakia.
You do have an amazing country blessed with a huge diversity of landscapes , trails, villages and charming people.
The hotels were great and transfers were right on time.
Thanks to Martin I have followed all his suggestions and had a great experience day after day.
Taking extra days in Slovenski Raj and Strbske Pleso was a very good decision which enabled me to enjoy those places even more.
So thank you very much for everything!
All the Best
Meirav from Israel
- rating 5
Bicycle Tour from Budapest to Krakow
Who we are: A couple from western Canada (ages 48 & 59), regular cyclists (on road, including some touring and off road – mountain), somewhat above average fitness level, competent with bike maintenance and repair.
What we booked:
Ten-day self-guided cycling trip from Budapest to Krakow including nine nights in local pensions en route, with dinner and breakfast (known as “half board”) plus bicycle rental. TravelSlovakia also provided an android GPS with thorough details of the journey accessible off line.
What was included:
Pre-trip: Screen captures of all the maps from the GPS, names of all pensions. Lots of timely answers to our many pre-trip questions! (Thank you Lenka!)
During the trip: Delivery of bicycles and necessary accessories (locks, spare tubes, tools, spare brake pads (!), 1reflective vests and ankle straps), hard-copy of confirmation coupon for all Pensions (confirming half board and secure bike storage), and print-outs of all maps in plastic sleeves organized by each day - to the place we were staying in Budapest. (Thank you Lucia and Jakob!). TravelSlovakia also provided contact information so we could text or phone en route if needed (and we did – for a luggage transfer, detail later in the review).
After the trip: Pick-up of bicycles from the place we were staying in Wieliczka, time to debrief and discuss the journey. We were encouraged to follow up with additional questions and to provide a review. (Thank you Martin!)
What was also included - but we chose to decline: Daily transfers of our luggage from one pension to the next, plus two transfers for us and the bikes – on Day 7 (Banska Bystrica to Liptovska Osada) and on Day 10 from Zakopane into Krakow.
What Worked:
The bicycles were equipped with lockable front suspension and seat-post shocks. Both were appreciated, as the journey covered exceptionally varied terrain (ranging from hard sand, to gravel, to rocky goat-paths, to pavement, which was very smooth in some sections and very rough in others).
We brought our own clipless pedals and shoes that helped a lot on the longer, harder accents. We also brought our own helmets (recommended by TravekSlovakia), small backpacks with hydration systems and blinking red LED tail lights which we always used on the busier roads. TravelSlovakia offered basic bike tools, but we had our own.
The GPS App (“Locus Maps Pro” ) was excellent. It kept us on track and we seldom had to backtrack from any wrong turns - highly recommended. The daily routes were all pre-programmed and the App was quite user-friendly. We are grateful to TravelSlovakia for insisting we take the android GPS. Staying on course for some of the more interesting twists and turns would have been very challenging (if not impossible) with paper maps (thank you Lenka!).
Daily distances were well paced, leaving us with (almost all days) a bit of energy at the end of the ride to do a little exploring in the area. The trip started with a couple of relatively short, level days along the Danube (Duna), increasing on Day 3 to more hilly terrain followed by more mountainous ascents, but correspondingly shorter distances.
The exception was Day 7 and this was due to our having declined the half-day vehicle transfer for us and our bikes. When we realized the challenge of the terrain (1900 m elevation gain) and the distance (~75 km), we called TravelSlovakia the day before to ask if they could take our luggage (panniers) to the end-of-day destination (for a fee). This short-notice request was accommodated promptly and executed efficiently (thank you Lenka!).
Accommodations were (all but one) excellent. Staff were helpful and friendly. The exception was perfectly acceptable, just not as exceptional as the rest. Some beds were more comfortable than others, but this is to be expected. Without exception, all accommodations were very clean and well appointed.
Food was also (with one exception) excellent. Dinners ranged from coupons of a fixed value at participating local restaurants to in-house meals from the entire menu, to “half-board” menus from which we could choose. Breakfasts were buffet style, always more than adequate. One of us is vegetarian, and had no trouble meeting protein requirements with the breakfast buffets provided.
Vegetarian dinners were often provided also, as TravelSlovakia had called ahead to request this (a much appreciated extra on short notice - as we forgot to mention this during the booking process!)
Suggestions/recommendations for TravelSlovakia:
Supply travellers with blinking clip-on LED red lights, or advise them to bring.
Give the bikes a thorough servicing prior to renting them out.
Make sure the valve stems on the spare inner tubes are compatible with the rims on the bikes.
Janne and Chip from Canada
- rating 4
Customized ancestral villages tour
More details: did meet our Slovakian cousins at their home in Giraltovce. We also visited their church and had lunch with them in a restaurant of their choosing. Foods and slivovika were plentiful. We visited the three other family villages and their cemeteries, were invited to the homes of 2 of the priests, and the office of the mayor of kalna rosztoka. The scenery was superb and Katarina managed to have us visit other sites, including UNESCO and Bardejov locations. I think we made a lot of other people laugh, including a grocery store (poppy seeds) and postoffice (stamps, postcards, lottery tickets).
I appreciate Katarina getting forms for us for further family genealogy gathering.
Barbora and Katarina, please accept our thank yous for making our trip a memorable one.
Margaret from the USA
- rating 5
Central Europe tour
I wanted to thank you for arranging such a wonderful trip for us! We have departed Budapest with many happy memories of our holiday in Prague-Bratislava-Budapest. Thank you for making it possible and for being immediately available for help when I needed it. The tour guides you arranged were knowledgeable, personable, and able to tailor the tours to our needs. I will certainly recommend your services to my friends and colleagues!
All best,
Jennifer from the USA
- rating 5
Customized tour of Slovakia
Have been home a few days now and in reflection on this trip, I wanted to send a big thank you for the awesome tour of Slovakia that you arranged. The attention to detail, the planning, the accommodations and everything about the trip was top-notch. This was one of the best travel tours I've attended in a country that is so beautiful and a secret from main-stream tourism. Additionally, I can't say enough kind words about Lucia. She was attentive, informative and caring..... And so patient with my cousin in her translations. She was supportive and willing to be flexible every day........ And heaving my luggage deserves her a medal!
Of course, finding my cousin and his wife in Dubinne was the highlight of the trip for me. Walking in the footsteps of my grandparents' village, and realizing the courage and determination it took 150 years ago to carve out a new life in America was truly amazing. I am so touched and so grateful for this opportunity....... And your team made it possible!
You have an incredible team and I will highly recommend Travel Slovakia and your country to everyone in sharing about this journey!
Best regards,
Linda from the USA
- rating 5
Customized tour of Slovakia
Thank you so much for your help and I will most definitely recommend Travel Slovakia to any friends and family that may be travelling there in the future.
Beth from the USA
- rating 5
Ancestral villages day tour
The tour exceeded my expectations! Lenka was amazing--she was a bright, insightful, patient, committed, and fun tour guide and translator. The entire experience was incredibly meaningful and I learned so much. I am hoping to return to Eastern Slovakia again in the future to learn more about my heritage and will definitely reach out to you again for your services.
Thanks again to you and Lenka for an experience of a lifetime.
Kind regards,
Stacey from the USA
- rating 5
2 Days Customized Tour to High Tatras
Yu Jia from Singapore
- rating 5
Family history tour
On behalf of all of us I wanted to thank you for your help in putting together a wonderful heritage trip to Slovakia. Both hotels were wonderful (despite the lack of an elevator). And Janna did a fabulous job of helping the Petro family find connections in Babina, even going to the trouble to contact the mayor who turned out to be a gold mine of information. At one point, they were amazed to find a woman who had pictures of their uncle and Christine's mother during a visit in the sixties.
We were thrilled to reconnect with my cousin and his family in Raksa and amazed by the wonderful welcome we received there. We are hoping to get baptismal certificates from the Lutheran Church in Mosovce where both grandmothers were baptized.
Also many thanks to Barbora for the leads she found for us. You are all wonderful! Although my sister and I had visited many years ago, this experience renewed our view of our Slovak heritage and made us very grateful for this knowledge of our past. I am only sorry that my mother was not alive to visit one more time.
Many thanks again for all your work.
Your friends in the USA.
Cheryl from the USA
- rating 5
Hut to hut tour in the High Tatras
It was a pity about the weather forcing us to curtail the trek but it did give us extra time to see your country. I regret not being able to complete the High Tatras trek but thoroughly enjoyed what we saw of it. You have a beautiful country. I will just have to come back!
Many thanks for all the help that Anton gave us. He was a great guide, good company, caring and always willing to help. He was much appreciated.
I attach a few photos.
Thank you again for a memorable holiday.
Tony from UK
- rating 5
1 day trip to Banska Stianvnica UNESCO
Ger from Ireland
- rating 5
Customized tour of Eastern Slovakia
We used your travel service with guide (Lucia) for our five day tour last October. We were very pleased with the itinerary you helped us select. We were happy with the modest cost and the accommodations at our hotel in Kosice (City Residence Apartment House) where we were courteously and well treated. Most importantly we were very pleased with Lucia, our guide, for five days.
Lucia greeted us upon arrival at Kosice airport and and was our best friend for five days. She drove us everywhere, safely, and was very knowledgeable about the High Tatras (Strebske Pleso). Also, Hervartov, St Elizabeth Church and Spiss castle ruins. We also enjoyed visiting Bardejov and Presov and Levoca with walking and church tours.
Lucia knew the best places to dine for lunch each day. Nora and I fondly recall the nice lunch in Kežmarok with great borsch soup and beer and slivovitz at modest prices. Also at Kežmarok I particularly remember the wooden Lutheran church. Most impressive inside. I never knew any of the Slovak wooden churches were Lutheran.
Two exceptional services beyond the call of duty were provided to us by Lucia. 1- Our High Tatras trip was burdened by overcast and foggy weather. Lucia knew of a nearby resort she was familiar with and called them to see if the view at their high altitude was OK. The view there was sunny with a view of a high water fall, bubbling creek and inside the lodge wonderful cake and coffee. We took great photos and videos there. 2- Nora wanted to see if families with surname Kolarcek were still living at village Sedlice. Kolarcek families would be distant cousins of her grandson Ashton. Lucia found time to squeeze an unplanned side trip to Sedlice, find a Kolarcek family and visit with them. The Kolarcek family gracefully hosted us, called other relatives for a family visit and took us to the local church and two cemeteries to view family resting places. The family permitted us to take samples for DNA testing which revealed they are related by DNA as third or fourth cousins. Lucia was translator and the perfect go between for our adventure.
Nora and I would recommend Slovakia Travel and LUCIA to anyone based upon our experience. In fact Lucia would be a welcome guest in our home anytime.
Nora and George from the USA
- rating 5