Which RS tour would you choose?

I would choose Bulgaria hands down. The others are easy DYI trips (no need for a tour as far as I'm concerned, if you're a seasoned traveler). Even Bulgaria could be a DYI trip but the cyrillic alphabet would take a bit more work. There is a lot of bus time on that trip to cover the country, however, and I think it's more expensive than it should be (given how incredibly inexpensive Bulgaria is).

Your first choice is appealing if you include Moscow, although if you are comfortable with Moscow on your own, then the other cities (Helsinki, Tallin, St. Petersburg) would be a piece of cake too. I haven't been to Moscow, but plan to go in a few years only to Moscow and St. Petersburg and taking the Sapsan high-speed train to get from one to the other (really looking forward to that train - looks great!).

lt's a hard choice. (It's always a hard choice!) I think I'd pick Greece because it's a place I've dreamed of going since I was a young girl and this history is so compelling. My second choice would be Bulgaria because it sounds kind of exotic and interesting. Also, it's a place where I think a tour would be more valuable. I've been to Tallinn and Helsinki, so that would put your first option last for me, although it's certainly not a bad option. Good luck choosing!

If you haven't been to Greece, I think that would be my pick. I've been to Greece twice. My first trip was as 19 year-old student and I was traveling solo and took day trips to Mycenae, Delphi, Corinth, explored Athens and then went to Corfu before going on to Italy. The second time, I went with a friend and we were there for a month. Again we spent time in Athens and revisited Delphi. Then we went to Crete, Santorini, Paros and Spetze. From Spetze we could get to Mycenae and Epidaurus. When I look at Rick's itinerary Athens and the Heart of Greece, I'm ready to pack my bags and go! He's taking you to some spots that I would revisit yet again--happily and then to some new places that look really interesting. And while, you can travel to Greece on your own, I think that with all that is going on in that part of the world right now, I would opt for a tour too.

I have taken the Baltic Tour and the Greece tour. Both were great. Not sure which is "better" but I enjoyed the heck out of them. One point is regarding Moscow. Russia is not the easiest place to get into and you will have to do that twice if you visit Moscow first. When we entered Russia from Helsinki we went via train. First the Finns checked us very thoroughly then Russian border patrol checked us out. A stern looking guard held my passport and checked it for about 10 minutes while two large men with automatic weapons stood behind her. So it wasn't "hard" but unpleasant. When I went to Moscow several Americans I met there said it was a longer process to enter the country on their own.... so just a thought. When I took the tour, I went to Tallinn a few days early (it was easily worth an extra day and a half) then started the tour. Afterwards, I found a cruise which went from St. Petersburg to Moscow. While I am not a big fan of cruising, it was a convenient way for a solo traveler to see an additional part of Russia. Moscow was cool as were the small towns on the way there from St. Petersburg. The Moscow airport is also pretty easy to fly out of in terms of leaving Russia (some of my friends who left after the Rick Steves tour mentioned a few problems with St. Petersburg doing extra checks etc. but that is not firsthand. More Russians seems to speak English in St. Petersburg than Moscow but in general, I think you will find a smaller percentage of English speakers in Russia than in other parts of Europe, but that's just my experience. If it were me and I went to Moscow on my own, I would consider some day tours. I took the Greece tour after spending time in Turkey. If I were just going to Greece, I would consider either visiting an island or two after the tour is over or going north to Meteora. The tour itself does a wonderful job with the Peloponnese and most of Athens. Bulgaria looks interesting too! Good luck with your choice.

I've been on all three tours and I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. That being said, the Tallin-Helsinki-St. Petersburg tour was my least favorite. I felt that the tour was too short for the cost (add in visa) and that the three cities each deserved more time. There is a lot of hassle factor in going into (and getting out of) Russia - too much for such a short visit.

I loved seeing Bulgaria, which I knew nothing about. That tour includes a good amount of contact with locals (more than any other RS tour that I've been on), which I thought was a big plus. And, yes, it's a very scenic and interesting country.

Greece was, by far, my favorite of the three tours. I thought it was a very well thought out tour and that our time was used very efficiently (not always the case on tours). It covered very diverse areas, was very scenic, included great food and was just plain fun. I'm leaving Thursday for six weeks in Greece and I can hardly wait to get back!

Chani,

Of the three tours you mentioned, I've only been on the Athens & Pelopponese tour, and would highly recommend it. I've considered taking the Bulgaria tour and may do that yet. The Tallin & St. Peterburg tour is the one that I find least appealing (but that's just me).

I combined my RS Greece tour with an extra week or so on Naxos and Santorini after the tour ended to see a bit more of the country. I used one of the Greek travel agencies on Matt Barrett's Greece Travel website and they did a fantastic job in setting up transportation, hotels, transfers, etc.

Good luck with your choice!

Chani,
We traveled with you in Turkey. I agree with the positive comments by other posters in regards to the Greece tour. It was our 2nd RS tour and we loved it. So much of the history there affected and is seen elsewhere in Europe. We were glad we experienced Greece before seeing other areas of Europe.
Ron S.

Hi Chani,

We haven't done Tallinn or Bulgaria yet but have spent two weeks in Greece. It is hands down our favorite trip to date. Greece gets my vote. But you'll have a good time no matter which tour you do.

Mary

I will go along with the majority of responses and vote for Greece. It was an amazing tour and one I would happily repeat. We stayed on Santorini a few days before joining the tour in Athens. I have also been on the Tallinn-Helsinki-St. Petersburg tour and must agree with Nancy from Beaverton. It was a wonderful tour but too short a time in both Helsinki (only one night at that time) and St. Petersburg. We spent a couple extra days in Tallinn pre-tour and it quickly became on of my all time favorite cities. We did not go on to Moscow although several on the tour did and had a terrific time. I am sad to say I haven't been to Bulgaria yet but hope to do so sometime soon. I will also echo the thought that which ever tour you choose will be wonderful. Hard decision!

I have been to Tallinn and Helsinki and taken RS tours to Greece (2014) and Bulgaria (2015). I would recommend Bulgaria as that country benefited from the RS tour. I could have done the Greece tour on my own and probably seen more of the country.

Hi Ron, I remember you well and of course your lovely wife Teresa too. Best regards.

Thanks to everyone. I'm now leaning toward Bulgaria and would love to hear more from those of you who've been on the tour. My idea is that the Russia trip would cost me at least $1000 more and, except for Moscow, I'd be returning to places I've been before. Maybe if I choose Bulgaria, I could manage to add in Greece in the fall. Those of you who've been on that tour made it sound absolutely terrific.

Russia - with my Israeli passport, I get an automatic visa on entry, so no hassles, no extra expense. Plane fare right now is about $600. After being in Petersburg with friends for 2 days, I am pretty sure I would not enjoy it on my own so I definitely want to return with a tour.

Sofia and Athens are practically next door, 2-2.5 hour flights and tickets under $300, which make return visits as good an option (maybe better) than staying longer on the initial trip.

Chani,
I may go on the RS tour to St Petersburg Tallinn Helsinki next year but in August. I really want to go to Moscow, too. I am the one who started a topic in the RS section of the forum and you asked me why I would not go to Moscow on my own. If I knew of others who were going on to Moscow, I would definitely go. Any advice here? Would the RS office be able to help? I suppose I could ask.

Now, to your travel plans...I agree Bulgaria sounds interesting and then to go to Greece later on in the year would work out well for you. The Greece tour just moved up higher on my travel list based on the laudatory comments posted here!

Happy travels, travel is the only antidote to the travel bug! How fantastic for you to take two trips in one year.
Judy B

Chani,
It was another poster who asked me why I did not want to go to Moscow alone, you suggested several things to do in Stockholm.

Just wanted to correct that.

I really enjoy this Forum, everyone is so helpful and loves to share their ideas and experiences about travel!

Enjoy,
Judy B

I guess I'm confused by the first responder who said that Bulgaria would be the most difficult as it uses the Cyrillic alphabet. So do St. Petersburg and Moscow, and Greece uses the Greek alphabet. i.e. all of the options Chani is considering involve a non-Latin alphabet in all or part of the tour. So I'm not sure why Bulgaria should be "singled out" on that measure.

@Kim - I didn't say that Bulgaria would be the most difficult or should be treated differently solely due to the alphabet - I just expressed my view that it may be the best choice for a tour in comparison with the other two choices, and given where Chani has already traveled and her comfort level with those places. This is mostly because the tourist infrastructure is not as robust (it's probably quite modest), and most parts of Bulgaria don't see as many (non-European) tourists as even St. Petersburg, which gets plenty of international tourists due to blockbuster cultural attractions (they're on a different level than even the lovely UNESCO sites in Bulgaria). Plenty of people see Greece on their own without a tour, despite the language, and they seem to do just fine. Tallin and Helsinki are easy to do on your own, and probably Saint Petersburg as well. The RS Tour's time spent in Saint Petersburg seems dictated more on the 72 hour Visa rule (i.e. ability to get away without one) than a realistic time-frame commensurate with the sites to be seen there. For that reason alone, that tour doesn't appeal to me - that part would be the only valued added for me since the other two cities are easy to do as a DYI trip.

If you had to cover the landscape that the Bulgarian tour covers on your own, you'd have to be comfortable with using buses, trains, or car rental and the cyrillic alphabet - doing that yourself would not be as efficient timewise unless you're very organized and can stick to a schedule without much backtracking or errors (but of course it's doable, I could do it if extra time was not a factor). Chani seems like a seasoned traveler to me, so I doubt she'd need to do a tour of any of these places - but to pick one that's more off the beaten track where access to a local tour guide would have most utility, I would pick Bulgaria.

Chani, sorry to intrude on your post. I applaud you for seeking out input, and know you will get the insight you need here.
Agnes, just to clarify. The RS tour does require you to get a visa. The tour itself is in SPB for 4 nights which clearly exceeds the 72-hour requirement. Some people on our tour stayed on in SPB for more nights, while others went on to Moscow.
Judy B, the people on our tour who went on to Moscow all wished that they had been able to coordinate their trips to Moscow by being in contact with tour members prior to the tour. Unfortunately, the RS company will not give out that information even if you are willing to share/be contacted.
What you can do is place a general message on this forum, and ask that anyone going on your tour who is interested in traveling to Moscow send you a private message. That would allow you to plan something together.

TravelingMom,
That is a very good suggestion to post my plans to go on to Moscow after the tour ends and ask others who want to do the same to PM me. If I do more research and mention the neat and interesting sights that Moscow offers that may entice others going on this trip to extend as well. I am at the very beginning stages of planning...

I will call the RS office and discuss and perhaps they could suggest to other callers to go to the travel forum if they mention an interest in Moscow.

Thanks - I really love this forum!
Judy B

Thanks again to everyone who's contributed their thoughts and shared their experiences.

After mulling it all over, I've decided not to take the Baltic tour. The friend I was in Petersburg with is definitely interested in going back, maybe with her married daughter who was also with us then. I'm fine with being there without a tour, as long as I have travel companions.

I've thought a lot about your comments on the Bulgaria tour, and I read the tour "reviews." It sounds like I could visit Sofia on my own. This destination wasn't even on my wish list until I started looking at the RS tours, so I've decided to drop it as well.

So it's probably going to be Greece. The more I read your comments about Greece, the more excited I became about the idea.

"Even Bulgaria could be a DYI trip but the cyrillic alphabet would take a bit more work."

I was merely saying that the Cyrillic alphabet is also a factor in a trip to Russia -- not just one to Bulgaria -- and the Greek alphabet similarly is also a factor in a trip to Greece.

I have not taken any of these. I haven't been to anything on the first 2, but I have been to Greece. I would suggest Bulgaria, because it seems the one that would benefit most from the tour (you've never been, it doesn't have as much tourist infrastructure, just very different from what I can tell). However, I consider Greece a must-see. You can do it easier on your own, and you'd probably have an easier time finding someone to go with you - more people want to go to Greece than Bulgaria. So if I had the decision, I'd go Bulgaria, but all seem quite interesting. Assuming they get good reviews from people who have been on the specific tour, it doesn't sound like you can really go wrong.