Yatra.com’s Jewels of Europe Tour – The Good , the Bad and the Ugly

In Feb 2015 after having shelved plans to go to Goa my wife and I decided to plan a Europe Trip in May 2015. As time was short and we had limited time to plan, buy tickets and get the required security clearances, we decide to book a group tour. After going through online information, itinerary and prices of Yatra, Make My Trip, Thomas Cook and SOTC  we finalised on Yatra.com. The reasons for selecting Yatra.com were the fact that they were willing to extend my return ticket to enable me to stay on my own in Europe for an extra week at no extra cost. Additionally their cost was among the lowest of the travel providers we surveyed. Being based in Srinagar we were not able to check out the brick and mortar tavel agents like Veena World , Carnation and De Paul.

First and foremost I would like to say that I would never again travel with Yatra in a group tour or use their services again because of the pathetic customer service and very poor response after they received the payment. I will clearly clarify each of my observations and justify my stance subsequently.

Our group tour was a 15 days and 14 nights tour which covered a large number of cities and countries in Europe. We covered most of the important landmarks but did not stay long enough to truly experience Europe except in the last destination Italy where we spent our last week.

The good points of the tour were as under

• Good hotels with lovely surroundings and nice locales.
• The hotel rooms were nice and comfortable
• We were well fed and were  never hungry on the tour. 🙂
• The coach bus for touring was nice and comfortable.
• Keukenhoff gardens in Amsterdam thought time was limited.
• Walking tour of Florence.
• Marissa our guide in Vatican and Rome.
• Breakfast at Arora International in London and Ibis Hotel in Amsterdam.
• Lovely and pleasant weather in most parts of Europe
• Snow while travelling to Innsbruck in Austria.

General Feedback 

• The tour manager did not brief us about the cities or the attractions we were visiting. He was always pointing out the shopping areas instead of the attractions.  He seemed not interested in his work and wanted the tour to get over somehow.  Moreover, he had a habit of telling vulgar jokes in the presence of children and on the final day had to be told sternly to stop doing so by my wife.
• The breakfast at most hotels was very poor and as it was segregated, basic items like hot breads were not available even though they were available in the standard breakfast of the hotel. This was with the exception of Arora International in London and Ibis Hotel in Amsterdam.
• Most of guided city tours from the  bus ( in Rome , London  &  Paris ) were drive through and not of any use.  They needed to be substituted by walking tours like the one in Florence.
• Number of cities (Brussels Lucerne ,Venice and Amsterdam) had no guide or local tour.
• No maps or basic tourist information was provided for the cities and attractions we visited.
• In my conversation with the sales manager Abhishek and Gipsa I had clarified if we would stop at all the locations mentioned in Bold in the group Itinerary but still we did not stop at  quite a few places listed.
• The quality of coach in London was poor with uncomfortable and dirty seats.
• The driver of the coach in Europe was rude and ill mannered. His behaviour did not warrant even a single Euro as tip.
• Waiting times at meals specifically Lunch and Dinner were very high as all groups were landing up at the same place for meals. This cut down time for sightseeing drastically.
• Standard of food for most Indian Restaurants was poor except for a handful – Those are Harlington Tandoori in London and Dosa diner in Amsterdam.
• The documentation and brochures of the tour were below par.
• Yatra credits promised have not been credited till now. –  These have been credited after repeated followups but are effectively useless as they can only be used as a part discount on the main fare. The discounted fare after applying Yatra credits is invariably more expensive than room rates available from other sites.

Specific  Feedback

• “London” – Change of Guards at Buckingham Palace was not shown as we were taken to Madame Tassauds in the morning instead of evening without approval or intimation to the group.  We did not  stop at Big Ben in London even for a photoshoot.  Dinner on second day at Seasoning Restaurant was most pathetic food I have ever eaten and the place was dirty and unkempt.
• “Paris” – Very poorly conducted City tour of Paris.Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triumphe in Paris not shown.
• “Brussels” – No conducted City tour   – the places were shown by the tour manager  without any background information, history or importance of the place.
• “Amsterdam  – Kaukenhoff gardens” –  Only one hour was given at Kaukenhoff gardens in Amsterdam with the tour mamager specifically discrediting the place by describing in as just another garden. The place was  wonderful and we deserved to stay for a minimum of 2 to 3 hours. Even on reaching Amsterdam we were free for some time because of delayed cruise timings which could have been checked by  the tour manager in advance.
• ” Amsterdam – De Simonehoeve farm –  You may taste all of the nine cheeses produced here and enjoy it with locally produced wine.” There were only  three cheeses to taste and no wine.
• ” Amsterdam – City “  – Your exploration culminates with a trip to the Dam Square –  Royal Palace, Nieuwe Kerk, National Monument and Madame Tussaud’s Museum. ” – Again no directions or guidance to visit the Dam square and adjoining places.  We were left to explore the places on our own with the tour manager.
• ” Cologne” – Visit Cologne Cathedral –  you will see the Great Cathedral from inside.” – We did not visit the Cathedral from inside as we had no guidance from the Tour Manager. He left us in front of Cathedral gave us a time to report back and pointed out the shopping streets.
• “Rhine Falls” – Despite requests from no of people on the group we were given only half an hour at Rhine Falls only to land up for dinner at 6.30 pm. There was ample time and opportunity to enjoy the place  which was cut short by the tour manager’s rush to beat the other groups in reaching first at the restaurant in Zurich.
• “Lucerne”   After having lunch at an Indian restaurant, you will be taken on a tour of Lucerne” – There was no tour of Lucerne on reaching Lucerne we were shown the Lion monument and pointed out the Kappeibruke, a covered wooden bridge. Then , taken to a central place and then given a time and place to meet after 2 hours. All this with no guiance or idea of the places we could visit or see.
• “Vaduz” – Again we were not given any idea about this city and what we could see here. We waited for 45 mins for the toy train ride. We went on the train ride for half an hour and then straight for lunch.
• “Innsbruck” – ” Here you will visit here the Goldenes Dachl(Roof). After this, you will see the 17th century fountain,  From here you will be taken to Saint Anne’s Column, in the heart of the city and then the Triumph Forte, also known as Innsbruck Arch of Celebration. The final attraction that you will visit here is the Heiblinghaus. ” – Here we only saw the Golden roof and none of the other sights were show. We were only given an hour to roam around the central square on our own. However it was raining on this day and may have curtailed the program.  But with no local guide and Tour Manager’s limited knowledge  I doubt we would have seen anything even if the weather was good.
• “Venice” – No guided tour was arranged and only free time provided to see the place with no guidance. Here specifically I will mention that I saw Veena World group tour having a local guide who briefed them about the place and history as well as important attractions. I had to stand next to their group to overhear their  guide’s briefing and learn something about the city.
• Florence  –   “After a walking tour of the city, you will have lunch at an Indian restaurant and then go to the Piazza Michaelangelo square, built on top a hiIl. From here, you will get a panoramic view of the city and the surrounding region. ”  We did not have lunch at Piazza Michaelangelo square so we did not have a panoramic view of the city.  On arriving in Florence we had lunch at a shady restaurant in a alley in the city and then went for a walking tour of the City. To Yatra’s credit the walking tour was good and informative. The same could have been done in every city.
• “Rome” –  ” You will return to Rome and visit the famous open space of Piazza Venezia. Between Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill is the gigantic Altare della Patria or the Victor Emmanuel Il Monument.  You will then take a trip through the history of Rome, as you walk past the Roman and Imperial Forums.  From here, you will visit the famous Trevi Fountain”   – We did not  visit  Piazza Venezia, Capitoline Hill ,  Victor Emmanuel Il Monument or the Roman and Imperial Forums.

My final view is to avoid group tours in general and Yatra in particular. If you want to experience Europe travel on your own. It may be a little more hard work but is definitely worth it. Take a few months research your trip and travel on you own doing no more than 3 to 4 countries in one trip. If you do go in for a group tour do take out a week to ten days to travel on your own as we did in Amalfi Coast in Italy. This will be definitely be the highlight of your trip.