We knew this was going to be a special holiday the moment we saw the lovely backpacks and wallet containing our tickets and information, but were surprised at just how special it was.

The tour included a couple of nights in Bucharest – a wonderfully interesting city, which exceeded our expectations on every level. Our stay at the Sheraton was very good – we upgraded to the Club floor, where the lounge was open from breakfast until 11pm. Bucharest was certainly as clean and safe (or safer) than Barcelona, with an amazing amount of history to discover. A city tour was included and the People’s Palace was a real highlight, even though we only saw 10% of the building – and that took over an hour!

We had an extra day in Bucharest, so also took a free walking tour and a “Hidden Bucharest” tour we found on Viator. All three tours showed the city off in different ways. With a freak heatwave of up to 30C, it was too hot to go to the Village museum, so we visited the Peasant Museum – I got told off for taking a photo by a security guard who then started talking on her phone! Apart from that incident, we found the Romanians very friendly and enjoyed very good service everywhere we went. Read more