Ffestiniog Travel

Ffestiniog Travel’s ‘Small & Traditional’ escorted tours are about discovering those areas of Europe and the former Communist bloc that still remain untouched by tourism. So when introducing a new S&T destination, a thorough, hands on approach is required to establish its suitability. Here FT director Alan Heywood invites us to share his experience of his recent research trip to Uzbekistan.

Working up a holiday to a new destination, especially a new country, inevitably means a lot of research. Is there enough of interest? Are the standards (especially accommodation) sufficiently acceptable for the needs of the 21st Century tourist? Is it safe (alas a much too common question in today’s troubled world)? Whilst the answers to these questions can almost be taken for granted in much of the western world, there is a growing demand for more unusual destinations and these require extremely careful planning. Ffestiniog Travel’s Alan Heywood travelled to Georgia to find out if it was a suitable destination for future holidays.

From my experience a trip to Romania promises to be something quite special. Having led several tours to the country I can categorically state that it is a wonderful destination. Ffestiniog Travel has had the privilege of working in close partnership with owner managed local operator Ramona of “My Romania” which gives added value to all FT’s Romanian operations. This association has enabled FT to become one of the UK’s leading tour operators to Romania. A day-to-day itinerary doesn’t do justice to a tour like Romania so I have written a first-hand account of the ‘Romania at Harvest Time’ tour which took place in September 2013 and I hope it provides a flavour of why Romania is a must-see destination.

Our research trip to Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania, June 2013

It probably comes as no surprise to the reader to learn that, once we have decided to explore the possibility of a tour to a new destination, we have to do our homework and, where appropriate, our fieldwork too. What is perhaps unusual is that we have decided to write it up, bad bits as well, for everybody to read. We aren’t trying to put you off, of course! Far from it – we hope that, like us, you will get a lot of enjoyment out of being a pioneer to an area which, thus far, has seen virtually no tourism of any kind. That, perhaps, is the point – we want all customers who sign up for this tour to know exactly what it was like for us so that they can make up their own minds whether it is also right for them.

It is important to stress from the outset that, although Kosovo is a “new” country with KFOR peacekeeping troops still very much in evidence, we felt completely safe at all times. Crime is low in all the countries visited and we kept well out of the way of those areas which border Serbia and where tensions are still occasionally reported. In fact, the nearest we got to becoming the victims of crime was the usual occupational hazard of being ripped off by taxi drivers.