Month in Review: August

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Last updated:
31.08.2018

Even though it is difficult to part our ways with summer, the ending of the month also means that we get to update you on what we have been up to during the sunny days of August, and we enjoy it almost just as much as planning your trips.

So, if you are ready to learn which destinations our travelers were exploring this month and where they are planning to go next season, as well as the number of different itineraries we sent to our clients and the hottest news from our blog and channel - let's get down to it!

Top Destinations for Traveling in August

As you probably know by now, the summer months are perfect for exploring our top destinations in the region of Scandinavia and Russia. The green nature and pleasant weather make these places a hub for tourists during the month of August. By the way, do you know, what's in between that stunning duo? The Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia - which our travelers like to add on to their Scandinavian or Russian trip itineraries and kill a few birds with one stone.

  • Norway - famous for its spectacular nature, including fjords, forests, and mountains;
  • Sweden - known for its charming capital Stockholm and its Gamla Stan (Old Town), the oldest district of the city;
  • Russia - Trans-Siberian railroad is one of the country's main attractions for our travelers;
  • The Baltics - this breathtaking country trio is especially green during the summer and offers picturesque scenery with forests, lakes, and magnificent cities.

Most Popular Tours of the Month

While some of our travelers were busy exploring the north and east of Europe, others were occupied making their travel plans come true by booking trips to the must-travel destinations in fall - Italy, Sicily, and Morocco. Others were also making arrangements to travel in the winter season and see Northern Lights this year with one of our most popular tours to Scandinavia. Here is the breakdown of our most booked tours this month:

  • Sicily Small Group Tour - an all-embracing 9-day small group tour of Sicily's highlights. You will explore Palermo, and take a day trip to the medieval hilltop town Erice, then visit Monreale and scenic Cefalu, as well as other few city-gems, and, of course, the famous Mount Etna too!
  • Norway Northern Lights Tour - an unforgettable 8-day Scandinavian winter private adventure filled with Northern Lights seeking, husky dog sledding and fantastic sightseeing in Norway's three most outstanding cities - Tromso, Bergen, and Oslo;
  • Platinum Italy - there is no better way to explore the best of Italy than with our 10-day small group tour to the main highlights of the country, including Venice, Florence, Rome, and the Vatican. Your trip will be genuinely top-notch with stays at 5 and 4-star hotels, private drivers, and knowledgeable local guides;
  • Grand Morocco Tour - in 13 days you will discover the whole country from north to south and see almost all 9 UNESCO sites, including the blue city of Chefchaouen, spiritual Fes, the Roman ruins of Volubilis and Meknes, exceptional Marrakech, and immortalized by the eponymous Hollywood movie - Casablanca. You will also experience the overnight in the Sahara Desert at a Berber camp and go camel trekking across the dunes.

Itineraries Created: 2.251

One of the things that we pride ourselves on is the level of personalization that is available to our clients while making travel arrangments. This personalization comes in the form of a travel plan, also known as a travel itinerary, and the power of making one is in the hands of our destination specialists. They have outdone themselves this month and had prepared and sent over two thousand of such travel plans to our lovely travelers. If you are thinking about traveling to any of our 37+ destinations in Europe and beyond and would like to have a travel itinerary made just for you, Contact Firebird Specialists, they will be happy to help!

Updates from the Blog

Moreover, as you have seen, our travelers love exploring Italy, and we want to prevent them from missing any exceptional gastronomic experiences, so we've made a list of dishes to try on an Italian adventure. Psst... read with caution as it can make you hungry for a taste of Italy. We have also made our mission to enlighten our readers about nature's beautiful phenomena, Northern Lights, but added a small Icelandic twist in our recent post - Best Time to See Northern Lights in Iceland. Furthermore, for travelers who crave to see a little more than just Northern Lights we have also compiled a list of Top 10 Sweden Experiences.

Lastly, during August, we have been also sharing new posts on our blog dedicated to Russia. We started the month off by comparing different types of Trans-Siberian rail tours that our clients can take. Also one of the clients from a recent rail tour has written a poem about Russians, so we shared it with our readers there too. Finally, we have honored one of the best days of the year - National Waffle Day, with a post where we share a recipe for traditional Russian waffle rolls. So, grab yourself a cup of tea and enjoy reading about our top destinations and things to do and see.

Updates from our Youtube Channel

Once you're done reading, we recommend to catch up with the Firebird channel on Youtube, as our video representative Vera was busy traveling and documenting her experience throughout the month. She began the month by showing us a bit more of Mongolia, with a second part of the series taking us around a Ger camp and Chinggis Khan statue. She then made her way to visit Kazan and give us a tour of this incredible Russian city, of course. In the third video this month, she traveled outside of Kazan and gave us a chance to learn more about Tatarstan culture with a visit to Sviyazhsk island and Chak Chak museum. Vera then traveled to Saint Petersburg, taking us to one of the most iconic sites of all Russia - the Catherine's Palace. She ended the month by telling us why visiting Russia in summer is a great idea:

 

Review of the Month

We have a monthly tradition to share recent reviews from our clients, and here is one that struck a chord with our team:

We just returned from a small group, 16-day tour of Scandinavia and Russia. The itinerary was well planned, and the hotels were 4/5 star and always centrally located in the heart of the Cities, with easy access to attractions, restaurants, cafes and city parks. Pickups and tours went smoothly. In every City, the tour guides were knowledgeable, informative, interesting, helpful, fun and spoke good English. The tour was everything we wanted. The free time provided gave us plenty of opportunity for local culinary experience, other additional tours and for theatre experience. We were really lucky to be with a group of people (9) who got on so well and basically was happy to not only tour together but also to dine and vine together at every opportunity. We have traveled with numerous other companies in the past and this is the best tour we have ever been on.

A special mention should be made about the Firebird tour consultant we dealt with 'Gabby Navickaite' who was polite, patient, listened and helpful at every step of the organising phase. Never failed to return a call or respond to an email. It was not like forget the client after receiving the payment attitude.

Minor issues were not providing porterage at the hotels and at transfers for training stations. Tours of attractions could have included a half an hour more for souvenir shopping at the locations rather than rushing. The price was comparatively higher than other tour companies, but it was worth every penny. Planning on organizing another tour with Firebird soon.

" - Erin Perera via Trustpilot

If you went to Europe with us, make sure to leave us a review for your chance to be featured in our next post!

To summarize, during the month of August, our travelers explored the north and east of Europe while others were making arrangements for the southern countries like Italy and Morocco, we have also regularly updated our blogs and the channel and sent a decent number of travel itineraries. So don't hesitate to start putting together your travel plans with us and we will see you with one more update next month!