We booked "The Best of 2 Countries in 1 Day: Bohemian and Saxon (Easy Tour)", through Viator. Below is a summary of the issues that we experienced with The Best of 2 Countries in 1 Day (easy) tour by Bohemian Tours:
1. In all of the literature that we found on the Viator website, we selected only that we wanted the EASY tour. If this tour would have been listed as moderate or difficult, we would have never booked this tour. I feel that Bohemian Tours misled and misrepresented their hikes on this tour. NONE of the hikes should have been listed as EASY!!!! The Kamenice River hike should have been listed as moderate to difficult while the Pravcicka Gate should have been listed as difficult to very difficult and not moderate. The only hike that came close to being listed correctly was the Bastel Bridge and with the many stairs, that should have also been labeled as moderate. Again I feel that Bohemian Tours misrepresented the difficultly of these hike and the tour itself.
2. We did receive an update letter from Bohemian Tours less that 24 hours before our tour was to begin. This means that the email came to us after the 24 hour free cancellation period had already passed. In this email Bohemian tours went into more details of the difficulty of the Kamenice River hike with a description of navigating steep hills during the hike. In all of my time I have never came across an EASY hike that has navigating of steep hills all the way to the bottom!!!! Their comment that this was a hike in nature and not in the city was outrageous and deceptive!!! Bohemian tours told us that nature walks are classified differently to city walks. This is the first time that I have heard of this and just added insult to a bad situation.
3. Our tour guide from Bohemian Tours did pick us up at the prescribed time in front of the Prague Marriott. He put all eight of us in the van and started our drive to the first site. After driving for 90 plus minutes, we stopped for a rest break. At that time the tour guide gathered our small group of four together that had signed up for the easy tour and told us the following and gave us the options: He was combining the tours (Difficult and Easy) tours together. We never did agree to this and from his information that he provided to us, it sounded as if this has been done many times before by Bohemian Tours. The options he gave us were that we could upgrade our tour and do the Pravcicka Gate hike, or we could wait for him and the rest of the group at the trailhead (for 2.5 hours), or we could walk back to town of Hrensko and do what they say would be a self guided tour again waiting for the other group for at least 2.5 hours. This was a good way to say you are on your own until we get back!!!!! You need to be careful with Bohemian Tours and read between the lines. Self guided tour means that you are being dropped in a very small town and told to wait until they can get back with the difficult group to continue the tour.
4. On the 90 minute drive, our tour guide gave us waivers to sign and date and needed them back when we stopped at the rest stop. This was done before the guide gathered our small group and discussed our options and informed us about the changes in our tour.
If this option would have been given to us before we left the Prague Marriott, we could have decided to forgo the tour and stay and enjoy the day in Prague. By waiting till we were 90 plus minutes away from Prague, the option of returning to Prague was taken away from us. Two of us elected to do the hike to Pravcicka Gate as we were stuck and felt like we were given no choice but to sit and wait. Two members of our group was DUMPED at the trail head and told to be back at the van in 2.5 hours. Again a change to the tour that we had not agreed or was not in the original documentation. Two of our members after trying and do the activities became ill and it took two days for them to regain their strength to continue. Bottom line is that the tour was a pure waste of time for us and it really cost us two days of our vacation.
5. When we drove to lunch, the Bohemian Tour guide starting give us more information about the hike to the river. He told me that it was NOT and easy hike and had told his management that the description should have been changed to at least a moderate or difficult hike. We went about half way down and knowing how difficult it was, all four of us turned around and headed back to the top as we did not want to delay the rest of the tour.
5. When I questioned the tour guide as to why he did not disclose this information to us before we left the Prague Marriott, he indicated and knew that if we got 90 plus minutes away from Prague it would have been impossible for us to ask to drive back to Prague. Again this sounds like a pract read more
