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 Just last week I got back from a brief 10 days extremely eventful journey through a part of Central Europe. We covered the majestic capitals of Prague, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest - or as they rightfully called, The Imperial Capitals. Though this was not the first time to this part to Europe - infact many moons back I studied and lived in Prague and had pretty well traversed this region then and many more times later. Why am I mentioning this now - only that this trip somehow seemed as if it was my first time there. Apart from the many attractions that the region offers - be it palaces, gardens, gastronomy, music, architecture, friendly people there was something this time that I found very moving and even magical. Travel within Central Europe has, over the years, become very comfortable, convenient and problem free. Inter country travel is without any delays at border crossings - infact border posts are unmanned and donot even mandate one to reduce speed when passing by signs of "Goodbye" and "Welcome". Inter city travel, whether it is within one country or crossing to another one can be done by comfortable cars/coaches, and my favourite, trains. Whether it is by train or the auto group a lot of time and frustration is avoided by not having to go to and through the airpots. The fun of this particular one was I guess in the mode we chose - a chauffeur driven mini van that took us in comfort across the entire trip over four countries at our convenience with an English speaking guide. Alternatively, if you feel that you would like to drive yourself one could certainly do that too - however traffic congestion and parking, as in any of the major cities in the world, can be very time consuming especially when one is visiting prominent and popular sites. Public transit within the cities is very user friendly - be it using public buses, overground trains to underground subways and taxis - all offering information prominently laid out with preferences in English over continental languages like German, French, Italian, Spanish and Russian.
The best part is that prices of daily requirements in this region of Europe have actually gone down and are now even more reasonable (or shall I say, "a steal") when you take into account the good value that one gets for the Euro against our Dollars. With all this now, some of our European tours enter our popular "SVT branded tours".(SVT stands for Special Value Tours) which is a selection of exclusively tailored tours that offer good value for money. The different categories of hotels we have contracted allows us to offer a wide range of services at a price never before. To give you an idea, a similar four country tour is now priced as a scheduled departure at US$ 1250 only - and that includes 7 nights accommodation, most meals, guided tours, inter city transportation, English speaking driver, etc. The flexibility of being able to add pre and post tours of other European countries and cities is another very big advantage. So if your bucket list is to see and experience Central European culture and history, or your list is to see as many countries and UNESCO World Heritage Sites - or you just want a good holiday at a decent price, this is the time. Once again your Bestway Tours team is at hand to be of service to you. Europe - like never before - here we come! Bon Voyage
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Posted by Mahmood Poonja, Chief Explorer