Untravelled Paths Anmeldelser 664

My partner won the ‘Husky Experience’ in a work raffle that originally was supposed to be in Slovenia. For reasons not given this was then relocated to Romania. Normally we travel to other places and self drive and stay in hotels we choose but unfortunately this was not the case. Untraveled Paths puts you up in hotels they choose and all bar one did not have a lift. We are both able bodied but I was aware that anyone with disabilities or lack of strength would struggle to get their luggage up multiple flights of stairs (we saw an elderly lady having such problems at one of the hotels). The vast majority of the ‘experience’ involved driving 800km in a Renault Trafic van to multiple locations. Traffic in Romania can be heavy so over the course of 6 days we assess we spent around 16 hours sat in the vehicle which was less than ideal.
The highlights of the trip were supposedly Bran Castle and of course the main headliner event-husky sledding. Bran Castle is impressive from the outside but inside its a case of slowly jostling behind masses of tours and the whole town obviously has commercialised the whole ‘Dracula’ piece.
And so to the Main Event and the reason my partner bid a lot of money- The Husky Experience. You make a 2 hour drive (with an unknown reason earlier start and so breakfast was a doggy bag of unpleasantness from the hotel) to be met by the Husky guides. The itinerary given plainly stated: ‘You will be given proper instructions in learning how to drive a husky sled. Then, you’ll get to try it out for yourself!’
So much for the promise-here’s the reality: They prep the dogs and then you are invited to sit in the sled with the driver behind you. The course is 2km long (you can apply to do a 10km course which we did. They advised us to book when a few days before travel due to the weather. When we tried to do that we were told when we arrived that this option had been fully booked up weeks ago and was not available). 2km on a dog sled doesn’t take long and so we made around 3 stops along the route for unknown reason (I suspect to make it seem longer). I was filming the ride (which is magical by the way) and confirmed afterwards that the entire ‘experience’ lasted a whole 10 minutes. So the USP of the trip over 6 days (husky ride) in reality was a 10 minute taxi ride with dogs. No instruction. No driving them yourself as stated. You sit there get dragged along and 10 mins later it’s over. Guide takes a few photos and then its back in the van for many hours whilst the conveyer belt of next groups get their turn.
Seriously?
The Rembrandt Hotel in Old Town Bucharest is noisy and is on the edge of an area best described as ‘Costa Del Sol’ in Romania. Hordes of pubs and strip clubs and people trying to get you into eat at their restaurant. May as well be Corfu just colder. You get woken up by drunken idiots screaming and shouting at 0430- just what you want when you’d off at 0800 (after a mediocre breakfast-final day we ate somewhere else).
So in short this trip was a total rip off and completely misrepresented by what was promised. We still don’t know why Slovenia was taken off the table (Slovenia is fantastic by the way) but we felt cheated and I felt it was 6 days of our lives we weren’t getting back. The driver was a nice guy but was struggling to pad the trips out. Not his fault. To hinge your entire 5-6 day event around a 10 minute experience is disingenuous and frankly insulting considering how much it cost. All the documents we received say the same thing as a Headline- ‘The Transylvania Husky Experience’. Make it the ‘extensive road trip of South East Romania experience with a few attractions and a quick husky taxi ride’ would be more fitting.
We also calculated how much it would have cost us to replicate the trip ourselves. Answer was roughly half of what was paid out so that’s double the insult. My other half now knows NOT to bid on these con jobs at charity events!
Sort this out Untravelled Paths. I hope this review costs you business as frankly you deserve it.

I took the dracula experience with my father from the 07/01/2025-13/01/2025 and it was amazing, the hotels we stayed in were very clean and had very helpful staff and our tour guide dragos was amazing, very kind and helpful, I fully recommend this trip.

Our tour of Romaina was everything I expected and more, all the sights and experiences were fantastic. With my favourite being our NYE overnight stay in the Ice Castle (all the people running the castle and lodge were so friendly and accommodating) and the husky bob sliding ( I recommend you extend this to at least 1hr, before you go, as 15min was not long enough). Romaina was such a beautiful country.

Eddie, our tour guide, was amazing!!! One of the best tour guide we have ever had. We would definitely travel again with this company.

Overall we were happy with the tour and the experience. We had a lot of fun with the people on the tour and with the tour guide. Some disappointment was that even though I mention this before, we could not opt in for any optional extras such as city tours as everything was booked out:( We came a long way from Australia and booked last year in February and so we are a bit disappointed that a) no arrangements were offered before and only in last minute b) Visiting the Outdoor museum also got cancelled and no alternative arrangement were made.

Fabulous experience in Lapland. Our guide Edi was so friendly and kind. A brilliant trip all round - the Northern Lights Ranch was super special in particular. Magical memories made for our whole group.

We booked to go on the dracula trip and it was fab, very well looked after by Edi who was kind, knowledgeable and passionate about his country. Hotels were good although the Old Town in Bucharest is noisy and full of lap dancing clubs!! Not ideal. Minibus was a bit cosy, some more room would have been nice!! Loved România and plan to return. Didn’t need to worry about anything, all taken care of. Would definitely recommend.

We were so lucky to have our own private tour with our own local Bosnian guide who made our trip so special! Nothing was too much trouble, we added things to the itinerary to suit our interests. The places we visited were beautiful, amazing and so interesting, our guide was so knowledgeable and no question went unanswered. Our kids (aged 12,10 & 6) had so much fun and the guide was so good with them. Can’t recommend highly enough! Best trip!! We will definitely book another trip in the future

Just come back from the Halloween Dracula experience, and what can I say other than it was an absolute dream come true! What an amazing country, topped off by the absolute rock star Dragos who looked after us from start to finish. I cannot express enough how well organised, informative, and personable Dragos was with our small tour group of 4. The hotels we were booked into were stunning. As a mad Dracula/Vlad the Impaler fan I was blown away by the sites we visited and the history Dragos talked us through. Nothing was too much trouble (even after a few too many palinkas 😂) highly highly recommend UTP, we would not have seen or learnt half as much had we done this on our own, we will definitely be back, thank you!

Excellent guide and fascinating country
It was a very last minute trip. There were a few teething problems due to the late booking but we had an excellent guide who was very flexible about the itinerary. The country is wonderful - particularly inland and we did white water rafting, canyoning, hiking as well as sight seeing. The coast was a bit disappointing compared to the rest of the country - overbuilt and crowded. The organisation was generally very good - just one or two things which could have been done better.

Had a wonderful week on the Transylvania Experience tour with the fabulous Edi.

The scenery, castles, hotels (especially the amphitheater!) food and the craic with the small group and guide was fantastic.

Please add the Wednesday academy to the tour as was great fun and worth seeing whilst not far off the itinerary.

Big thanks to all involved for organising but especially Edi for putting up with us. Xx

Fantastic Transylvania Experience.
Edi was a fabulous guide. It would definitely not be possible to see all the gorgeous towns, castles and scenery without a tour like this.

All the hotels were really good.

Small group of great people to travel with. We were all firm friends from early on.

I recommend this trip to anyone.

You will leave a bit of your heart in Transylvania.

What isn't there to say? What an adventure, what beautiful scenery and what incredible company.

Firstly Edi, thank you for looking after us/me with great care and kindness, even right until the very last minute- nothing was too much for you. Your humour and knowledge made my experience so much better than I expected.

From the 1st day until the last, Edi made everything and everyone feel special. Bears, Bran, high mountain tops, Wednesday Academy, Peles Castle and of course my mate Vlads house was all an epic adventure and worth every penny.

This has been a dream holiday for me for a while and without Untravelled paths it would never have happened. The hotels were quirky and nice, the food was amazing and my wonderful Bran castle lived up to all of my expectations, my heart belongs to you Bran ♥️

I've gone away from this experience with new friends that I was incredibly lucky to have met and will never forget this experience.

I will absolutely reccomend this experience and will be doing this again in the near future.

I recently had an amazing trip with Untravelled Paths on the Mini Montenegro Experience in August’24, and it was truly one of the best trips I've ever had. As a solo traveler, I was looking for peace and a break from my routine, and this trip provided exactly that. I felt secure throughout the journey, and it really helped me find the relaxation I was seeking. Our guide, Ilija, was exceptional—extremely flexible, knowledgeable, and always supportive. His helpfulness made the experience even better. Thank you to Untravelled Paths for such an unforgettable trip!

We recently went to Slovenia on a trip called a Taste of Slovenia with Untravelled Paths. Whilst we were unlucky with the weather all our guides were upbeat and positive as well as very knowledgeable and friendly guides. Each guide gave us a slightly different perspective and by the end of our trip we really felt we knew much more about Slovenia and its’ people. It was a very full on trip, some days we were with our guides for 10/12 hours and we felt that everything was done to ensure we had a good time.

We had a wonderful holiday with Untraveled Paths in Sept 24. We had a great time up in the mountains with some absolutely unbelievable views and a great sunny time down on the coast. The tour guide Ilija was very helpful, very friendly, knowledgeable and very concerned that we got the most of our trip and adapted the itinerary to suit the needs of our group and the weather. I would recommend the trip to anyone.

We had an incredible journey with Untravelled Paths. The Dracula tour took us all around beautiful Romania. Far from just visiting tourist sites, our driver and tour guide Edi made it a personal journey into the heart of Romanian history and culture.

Edi was amazing, arranging everything for us, making sure we had a smooth and always pleasant trip and organising extra special detours and stops along the way (Nevermore Academy!) to make our stay unique and memorable.

Our hotels were also great, especially Bella Muzica in Brasov where we stayed in a huge luxurious suite (upgrade highly recommended!).

We were lucky to go in early September and the weather was perfect throughout the whole trip. The ride up Transfagarasan to Bâlea Lake was unforgettable. We don't want to take too much of the surprise away from future visitors, but the tour has so much more to offer than even the (highly detailed) itinerary could convey.

Thank you to the whole team and especially Edi, you’re the man! We can't wait to come back to Romania for another visit soon.

For anyone who loves their food and is interested in how it is produced this trip is a must. We managed to pack so much into the four days and still had plenty of time to explore the fascinating towns of Bologna and Modena. Our tour guide Marius was fantastic, he had a wealth knowledge and nothing was too much trouble for him. He kindly took us to the Ferrari Museum and waited while we visited. It was our first trip with Untravelled Paths, but certainly won't be our last.

Transylvanian Experience. Incredible whirlwind 7 days. Brilliant organisation and excellent guides. Highly recommended.

This was our third trip with Untravelled Paths; our second visit to Romania. This was another incredible trip with everything you could possible wish to experience from a holiday; culture, history, wildlife, amazing scenery, great food, a warm welcome, gentle, warm and dignified people who really love their country. Again, we were sad to leave this special place. We spent independent time in Bucharest at either end of the most incredible journey through the stunning Transylvania countryside; starting with Peles Castle, then on to Ampiteatrul, where we stayed in the most beautiful location at the top of the world! Next day on to Bran Castle (said to be the one described in Bram Stoker’s book). The very beautiful Brasov followed, with its many historic buildings (alas in the rain this time). Next was a heart-rending but lovely visit to the Libearty Bear Sanctuary where rescued circus bears, dancing bears and those generally treated badly, are allowed to live out their lives healthily and at peace in beautiful surroundings. On to Viscri - where we stayed in the heart of the village and were lucky to see and hear the evening procession of the cows and goats coming back from the pasture to their individual own homes. Saturday took us to the beautiful and colourful Sighisoara and then Sibiu overnight before heading back to Bucharest via the spectacular and awesome Transfargarasan - described by Top Gear as the best road in Europe! It is! Just as we thought our adventure had ended, we passed three bears in quick succession by the roadside on the way back to Bucharest. The whole trip was brought to life by our knowledgeable and capable guide, the lovely Edi. Like our previous guide for our other trips, Marius M, nothing was too much trouble for him and he reinforced the whole Untravelled Paths ethos of customer care and quality. Accommodation at each location was spotlessly clean and comfortable. If you have never thought about a holiday in Romania - Just go - but make sure you go with Untravelled Paths!

Really well organised tour visiting some beautiful places in Puglia and staying in traditional accommodation in prime locations. Marius was an excellent guide with a wealth of knowledge & good humour.