groupon mystery trip

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Groupon Getaways Can Be Worthwhile, If You’re Wary

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

Groupon Getaways are generally worth the cost.

The trips do come with some caveats.

Read the fine print, and know what to expect.

For vacationers, scrolling through travel packages on Groupon Getaways feels like waltzing through a discount candy shop.

Consider this sampling of travel offers on Groupon Getaways, the travel section of the deals site Groupon. All of these trips include the cost of hotels and airfare:

7 days in Dubai from $999 a person

8 days in Portugal (including car rental) from $999 a person

7 days in Malta from $799 a person

The prices alone might make you want to start packing your bags. But they also raise the question: Is there a catch?

To find out, NerdWallet talked to three travel bloggers who used Groupon Getaways travel packages to see the world.

» MORE: Costco Travel vacations pack luxury and value

In This Article

Why groupon getaways is worth trying, the downsides of groupon getaways, make the most of your groupon trip.

The travel packages offered by Groupon Getaways are typically run by third-party travel agencies and tour operators. Here’s why you might want to book one.

The planned-out trips are helpful for first-time travelers. Before Shelby Williams traveled to Mexico on an all-inclusive Groupon Getaways tour, she had never flown on a plane or left the country.

Having the whole trip planned out made it a less stressful introduction to international travel, says Williams, a college student in Freeland, Michigan. At $899 per person, the trip was also relatively affordable for Williams, her mom and her sister.

“It’s a great way to travel abroad, if you’re scared and don’t know where to start,” says Williams, who wrote about her experience on her travel blog, Lost Comfort Zone.

Shelby Williams (right) and her mom, Kelly Williams, after rappelling down a waterfall in Costa Rica. (Photo courtesy of Shelby Williams)

You can score great deals. Many of the packages on Groupon Getaways include airfare and top-notch accommodations for a relatively low price.

Williams, who has now been on three Groupon Getaways, says her favorite trip was to Costa Rica with her mom. It cost about $1,200 per person, including airfare, a car rental and a hotel. The hotel they stayed at was luxurious, with a swim-up bar, hot springs and beautiful landscapes.

Although she and her mom had to pay additional fees for activities — including zip lining and rappelling down a waterfall — she found the overall experience to be a good value.

» MORE: How to choose a travel credit card

Maddy Osman traveling in China. (Photo courtesy of Maddy Osman)

The guided tours can be helpful. Some of the travel packages sold on Groupon come with guided tours or excursions (sometimes for an extra fee). For Maddy Osman, a travel blogger based in Denver, these guided tours were a huge plus — especially when she visited China.

Given the language barrier, “having a guide ... was almost necessary just to get around,” Osman says. She wrote about the trips she’s taken with Groupon Getaways on her online clothing website, Tanks That Get Around. (Disclosure: Osman’s blog contains affiliate links to Groupon Getaways.)

The tour guide in China also took the travelers to the city of Suzhou, where he was from. It wasn’t a place Osman would have thought to visit on her own, and she’s glad she was able to see it, she says.

Christian Portilla (left) and Melani Liriano, who is now her wife, in Machu Picchu. (Photo courtesy of Christian Portilla)

They’re good for celebrating special occasions. For Christian Portilla, visiting Machu Picchu in Peru was a life-changing trip. Her now-wife had booked the trip through Groupon Getaways as a surprise. When the couple hiked to the top of the Incan citadel, the view was breathtaking.

“When you’re there, when you finally make it to the top and you feel the energy that the land has — it’s hard to describe, but it’s almost electric,” says Portilla, a freelance journalist based in Miami.

That’s when Portilla’s girlfriend got on one knee and proposed to her.

“I was shaking, I was crying. I wanted to say yes but I lost my voice because I was just freaking out,” says Portilla, who wrote about the trip on her blog, Roam Free Writes. “That’s a memory I’ll never forget.”

Here’s why a Groupon Getaway travel package might not be a good fit for you.

Dates can be limited. “It’s hard to find the perfect [trip] when you’re on a time range,” says Williams, who books her trips to coincide with her school’s spring break.

If you have an inflexible vacation schedule, you might have to compromise to find a good deal. When Williams wasn’t able to find a trip to Ireland that fit her schedule, she opted to go to Italy instead.

In some cases, sales pitches are baked into the itinerary. Guided tours will take you to plenty of popular destinations — but you might have to endure some tedious bouts of souvenir-shopping. Travel agencies can make money, in part, by taking tourists on shopping expeditions.

“A lot of them have this pretense of, ‘Oh, we’re giving you a tour of the factory’ or whatever. And they give you an hour or something to shop,” Osman says. “And if you’re not interested in shopping, that’s an hour of your trip you can’t get back — because you’re more than likely in the middle of a day of the tour, so you can’t just peace out if you want to see the next thing.”

The accommodations can be subpar. While many of the hotels in Groupon Getaways are high-quality, some aren't.

The hotel Portilla stayed at in Cusco, Peru, had limited water. Because of that, the toilet in the room couldn’t be flushed unless a hotel worker was called in to flush it.

“We weren’t able to take full showers or baths or anything like that,” Portilla says, adding that they had to rinse off by filling little cups with water from the sink. It would have been nice to know about the situation in advance so they could have prepared, she says.

Williams says that many of her hotel stays through Groupon Getaways were excellent, but not all. “The one in Rome was kind of bad. Our neighbor was puking all night, and we could hear that. The walls were paper-thin,” Williams says.

If you’re unhappy with your accommodations, you can call the Groupon Getaways customer service line to file a property complaint.

“Property complaints do happen. They’re not among our top complaints, but they do happen. If they call us, we’ll call the hotel and sort of work out the details,” says Chris Stevens, vice president of Groupon Getaways. In cases where Groupon has done something egregiously wrong, he adds, the company may issue a refund.

Going on a Groupon Getaways vacation essentially means going on a trip someone else planned for you. It can be a lot of fun — but if you don’t fully understand the itinerary, some details might surprise you. Here’s what you should know.

Understand what you’re buying. If the travel package you’re looking at seems unusually cheap, it could be because:

The price doesn’t include airfare

The excursions and guided tours cost extra

The cost is for a dual occupancy hotel room; solo travelers might have to pay more

Check these details before you book to make sure you know what you’re getting into. Osman recommends reading the reviews of travel agencies and hotels before booking, too.

Master the details. When Portilla and her partner went to Peru, neither of them had read through the full details of the trip. Because they didn’t have cell service in Peru, they weren’t able to check email for details on their phones.

“Read the fine print,” Portilla says. “Or you’ll find yourself at the airport and you don’t know who’s picking you up.”

Renting a car? Do your research. If your travel package includes a car rental, it helps to know what driving conditions are like in the country you’re visiting. Don’t forget to bring maps or a GPS, Williams says.

When she and her mom went to Costa Rica, a car rental was included in their trip. But their GPS didn’t work because they hadn’t downloaded the maps beforehand, and they were surprised to find that the roads didn’t have signs. Without a properly functioning GPS, driving to their hotel at night felt like an impossible task. Next time, Williams says, they’ll come prepared.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Chase's website

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1.5%-6.5% Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

$300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

on Capital One's website

2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

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Mystery Vacation: The Pros and Cons of Surprise Getaways for Couples

Ready to take your romantic getaway to the next level with your partner? How about a mystery vacation to surprise your partner? Just Imagine you and your partner at the airport, boarding passes in your hands but no idea where you are actually heading. Sounds thrilling, right?

Mystery vacations can change an ordinary romantic trip into an extraordinary adventurous journey . But like any other spice added to a recipe, too much can turn things from north to south literally; you might end up in Antarctica.

Jokes aside, let’s get real. These romantic weekend getaways are thrilling, Trust me. but they are not for everyone.

I’m about to reveal the pros and cons of mystery vacations. So, if you’re curious about spicing up your romantic getaway, stick to the end of this blog post. I have got the full scoop, and trust me, you will want to read this before booking any flights or packing any bags.

What is a Mystery Vacation?

If you’ve ever felt the traditional romantic getaways have become too predictable—fly to a tropical island, sip on piña coladas, rinse, and repeat—then a mystery vacation might just be the game-changer you’re looking for.

Unlike your run-of-the-mill romantic weekend getaway, a mystery vacation turns the element of surprise up to eleven. This can be a refreshing change, especially if you’re trying to break free from patterns holding you back in relationships, like mommy issues in men .

Instead of knowing every detail of your trip, from the flight times to the hotel amenities, you’re given just enough information to pack your bags.

The rest? It’s all a thrilling secret until you’re already on your way. The romantic vacation you thought you knew gets a facelift, adding excitement, suspense, and a dash of mystery.

Ready to dive deeper? Let’s explore how it works, the magic behind the mystery, and why this could be a romantic escape.

The Basic Idea

At its core, a mystery vacation is about adding unpredictability to your romantic weekend getaways.

Instead of meticulously planning every moment, from which charming city to visit to which restaurants to reserve, you surrender control to the experts.

You give them your dates and preferences, and they design an itinerary just for you—without spilling the beans. The essence of this unique romantic vacation is that you don’t know the destination until you either arrive or get very close to it.

It’s like a blind date with a city or a resort, orchestrated to reignite the flame and surprise both of you. So, if you’ve been craving an unforgettable romantic escape that veers off the beaten path , give this concept a whirl.

How it Works

So, you’re intrigued by the idea of shaking up your typical romantic getaways, but you’re scratching your head wondering how this all goes down.

It’s easier than finding the perfect romantic destination on Getty Images, I promise! First off, you and your partner complete a questionnaire. This helps planners tailor the trip to your likes, dislikes, and budget.

Once that’s done, they plan your itinerary—flights, accommodation, the works—but keep it under wraps.

You’ll get a packing list and maybe a couple of clues a few days before take-off, like a real-life treasure hunt.

The big reveal happens just before you leave, sometimes not until you’re already on your way. And just like that, you’re immersed in one of your life’s most unique romantic weekend getaways.

It’s like scrolling through Getty Images of romantic destinations and suddenly finding yourself in one. Intrigued? You should be!

The Pros of Mystery Vacations for Couples

Ignites the sense of adventure.

Let’s kick off the pros by addressing the thrill factor. Who doesn’t love a good surprise, right? Remember how exhilarating it was to click through Getty Images the first time you planned a romantic trip?

Or that adrenaline rush you felt when you tried cross-country skiing or walked hand-in-hand through lush tropical gardens? A mystery vacation amplifies those feelings tenfold.

It takes you out of your comfort zone and challenges you to embrace the unknown. Whether you end up zip-lining in a jungle or savoring fine wine in a hidden vineyard, the uncertainty becomes a catalyst for adventure.

It’s like taking that initial excitement and stretching it out over the trip. You’re not just going from Point A to Point B; you’re exploring every exhilarating possibility in between. And that, my friends, is a surefire way to add a dose of adrenaline to any relationship.

Strengthens Relationship Bonds

Let’s dive into another big pro of mystery vacations— strengthening relationship bonds . I’m not talking about the bonding you get from sharing a Netflix account; this is next-level stuff.

Remember the magic of holding hands while ice skating for the first time? Or how meaningful a simple evening can become when you’re isolated from the world in cozy guest rooms? A mystery vacation takes those sentiments and magnifies them.

These aren’t just ordinary romantic trips; they’re intensive bonding sessions disguised as vacations. It’s about sharing the highs, the lows, and the surprises and coming out stronger on the other side. And isn’t that what strong relationships are built on?

Less Stress in Planning

Now, let’s talk about a pro that’s a lifesaver for the overworked and the overwhelmed—less stress in planning. We’ve all been there, trying to find the perfect romantic dinner date spot or that quaint town in Southern California that screams “romantic getaway.”

It can be exhausting. But with a mystery vacation, that stress is outsourced. You don’t have to agonize over restaurant reviews or double-check weather forecasts; someone else does that for you.

Can you imagine landing in a picturesque destination and discovering that not only do you have a reservation at the most sought-after romantic dining spot, but your accommodation is also in a quaint town you’ve never heard of but instantly loved?

It’s as if someone took the best parts of trip planning and did it all for you, leaving you more time to focus on each other. So, if sifting through endless options isn’t your idea of a pre-vacation, this might be the stress-free alternative you’ve been looking for.

The Cons of Mystery Vacations for Couples

Risk of disappointment.

Now that we’ve sung the praises let’s get real and talk about one of the glaring cons—the risk of disappointment. While the element of surprise can be exhilarating, it can also backfire.

Let’s say you’ve been daydreaming of quaint towns or a romantic destination like San Francisco, with its historic hotels and vibrant culture. Instead, you find yourself somewhere that doesn’t quite hit the mark.

Maybe it’s beautiful but lacks the excitement you crave, or perhaps it’s bustling but misses the romantic elements you hoped for. And just like that, your dream getaway becomes a lesson in managing expectations. While a mystery vacation comes with the thrill of the unknown, it also brings along the risk that the destination or activities might not be what you’d pick for yourself.

So, if you have specific ideas of what makes for a perfect romantic getaway, the unknown variables might tip the scales toward disappointment.

Budget Concerns

Let’s talk dollars and cents, shall we? Another potential downside to mystery vacations is the budget aspect. While the idea of spontaneously finding yourself in a historic hotel or enjoying a candle-lit romantic dinner at an upscale restaurant sounds dreamy, it can also spell ‘budget nightmare’ if you’re not careful. Here are some popular dishes to try if you plan to visit Thailand.

Sure, some packages offer budget-friendly options , but let’s be honest: romantic vacations usually come with a certain level of expectation for luxury and ambiance.

The downside? You might not have control over certain costs that you usually would if you were planning the trip yourself. That romantic dinner you’re imagining could be a five-star experience with a price tag to match.

And that historic hotel? While charming, it might be pricier than what you want. If you’re on a budget, the lack of control over these elements could make your romantic fantasy a financial headache.

So, if you’re watching your pennies, this might be a con worth considering.

Lack of Preparation

Now, let’s touch on a tricky con—lack of preparation. It’s all fun and games until you find out you’re woefully unprepared for the activities at your mystery destination.

Imagine dreaming of a romantic stroll through one of the world’s most romantic cities, only to find that you’ve packed all wrong for the trip. Or maybe you were hoping to soak up some natural beauty, and you find out too late that you should have packed hiking boots instead of flip-flops.

While the unknown can be exhilarating, it can also throw a wrench in your plans, turning what should have been dreamy romantic strolls or awe-inspiring explorations of natural beauty into stressful or uncomfortable situations.

The mystery can cut both ways, giving you a trip full of surprises but potentially leaving you ill-equipped to fully enjoy them. If you’re the kind of person who likes to be well-prepared for your adventures, this is a downside you might want to weigh carefully.

Mystery vacations offer a blend of excitement and unpredictability, no doubt about it. They are capable of reigniting that lost flame in your love life with your partner.

But let’s keep it real: they are also a bet that might not pay off sometimes, leading you into disappointment or financial snags.

Ready to dive into the unexpected and fan those romantic embers with your partner? Then this could be the love adventure you both have been missing. What do you say? Willing to gamble on love? Your next romantic chapter is just a choice away.

Hey, Nice To Meet You, I’m Steffo.

I am the founder of the Tantric Academy . Here at the academy, I host a mentorship program called The Tantric Man Experience – the #1 love and relationship program for men in the world. Through this program, I strive to empower men to realize and tap into their full masculine confidence, intimate power, and their ability to connect with themselves and their partners on a deeper level than ever before. Throughout my years of experience in hosting this mentorship, I have helped hundreds of men from all around the world to master their masculine life force energy to save their relationship or attract their dream partner.

Book Your Trip : Check Out My Resources for Your Travel Needs

Use Skyscanner to find a cheap flight.  This is my very first stop when I’m looking for my next trip . It’s a fast, easy-to-use search engine that is perfect for finding an affordable flight, a perfect hotel, and the right rental car for you in locations around the globe.

Book Your Accommodation

If you are looking for a super budget friendly location and are open to a hostel stay, make sure you book your hostel with Hostelworld . It offers the broadest range of quality hostels around the world. 

If you’d prefer a hotel or a guesthouse for stays less than 28 days, drop on over to Booking.com It’s perfect for providing excellent options, a ton of user reviews, and prices to fit every budget.

For stays over 28 days, AirBnB still remains my #1 choice. User reviews and monthly pricing allow for some incredible deals all around the world.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is but a small up-front investment that you won’t want to leave home without. After just one experience of having to delay or cancel your trip or having your luggage stolen, you’ll wish you would have made that investment.  I’ve hated my life a few times when the moment arose, and I decided to skip out.  Let’s just say, I’ve changed my ways and recommend each of the following companies to protect your ass-ets.

My favorite companies are:         

• SafetyWing (best for All Travelers)
• World Nomads (best of Adventure Travelers)
• MedJet (great for additional evacuation coverage)

Want to Travel for Free?

Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to getting free flights to get started.

Ready to Book Your Trip?

Check out my Resource Page for the best companies to help you book your travel at reduced rates!  This list will help you get to where you’re going.  I know-I use them ALL the time!  

• jill charpia
• September 4, 2023
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Hi! I’m Jill, a Dallas, Texas girl traveling the world. After a career in the Air Force and touring over 50 countries later, my need to explore keeps going! It’s time to rock & roll and find all those places I never knew I was missing.

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Groupon launches mystery holidays from £89 including the Maldives and New York

Lucky holidaymakers could bag themselves trips to New York, the Maldives, Dubai, the Amalfi Coast, Milan, Turkey, Iceland and many more through Groupon's mystery holidays

• 10:58, 20 Feb 2023
• Updated 11:00, 20 Feb 2023

Brave holidaymakers could bag themselves a trip of a lifetime for just £89 to the likes of the Maldives, Turkey, the Canaries and Portugal.

Groupon has just launched mystery holidays , a lucky-dip style getaway draw where gambling travellers could win big.

This offer includes more than 50 destinations, all with hotels and return flights included.

All you have to do is buy two or more vouchers from £89 each - one for each person going on the holiday - and fill in a form stating when you can travel.

The draw will take place immediately and you will be contacted within 72 hours with details of the destination that you've won.

The breaks cost £89 per person for the early-bird tickets from January to March and September to December, £99 for non-early-bird on the same dates, and £129 for trips between April to July.

Holidays vary from two-night breaks to seven-night breaks, and there is limited availability depending on the destinations.

Some of the incredible hotspots include the Maldives, New York, Santorini, an all-inclusive Turkey holiday, Italy's spectacular Amalfi Coast, the Canary Islands and Portugal's Algarve.

For those tempted by a city break there are heaps of destinations such as Rome, Venice, Milan, Budapest, Prague, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Seville.

You could also bag a holiday to the likes of Iceland including a Northern Lights tour, or Switzerland with a 'Chocolate and Cheese Train Experience'.

You can find out more here .

Be warned though - once you've bought the tickets, there's no backing out.

Weekender Breaks, which runs the holidays, has a no refund policy or exchange to another destination once bookings are confirmed.

If the Foreign Office advice changes to advise against all but essential travel to the holiday destination, you will be entitled to a full refund.

The deals are valid for selected dates through to December. When we took a look, the majority don't include the key school holiday dates so this may work better for those who aren't tied to term times.

Don't be disheartened if the mystery holidays offer isn't quite right for you. We've got more holiday deals here which we regularly update with offers and sales we think you'll love.

You can also sign up to the Mirror's travel newsletter for a weekly dose of the best deals, news and inspiration worth having on your radar.

MORE ON Holidays

Desperate to travel anywhere? Mystery trips will make it happen

May 12, 2021 • 5 min read

Ready for a surprise? © Hello World/Getty Images

Mystery trips - where you pay an agency to organize your vacation and don’t find out the destination until the last minute - have been a niche section of the travel industry for a number of years. With travel gradually returning to some countries, they’re betting on people wanting to shake up their routine and embrace spontaneity after many months of staying at home.

Lonely Planet reader Markus Wittich from Germany is a very frequent traveler, racking up 18 trips in 2019 alone. After more than a year of staying at home, the idea of holiday where he doesn't know the destination is extra-appealing to him right now.

“That Groundhog Day feeling is real! We've been stuck at home for over a year and it feels like every day has been kind of the same. Since there haven't been many - or any - pleasant surprises throughout the pandemic, a surprise trip could be a fun idea to visit places that haven't been on your radar before.”

For river cruise company Uniworld, that bet is already paying off. A 10-day Mystery River Cruise in June quickly sold out and a September voyage is on the horizon. CEO Ellen Bettridge confirmed to Lonely Planet the original idea actually came from their customers.

“Our guests communicated that they’re willing to travel anywhere to get back out there and explore the world again as vaccines began rolling out and the light at the end of the tunnel finally neared. We created the Mystery Cruise with that sentiment in mind, to spoil our guests and provide them with a surprise trip of a lifetime with all details and decisions taken care of.”

But after so long being careful, are travelers ready to hand over the reins to someone else, especially when safety is still such a top priority? A quick poll of Lonely Planet readers revealed a mixed bag; 21% said they would be more likely to take a mystery trip now but 27% of people said they would be less likely, expressing concerns of safety or the possibility of being exposed to COVID variants despite being vaccinated. But others were tempted by the novelty. Rachel Van Raan-Welch, a reader from New York City is torn.

“I LOVE the idea of a mystery trip, and especially after being more or less on lockdown for the past year, I'm totally up for traveling anywhere right now. But that's in a hypothetical world in which COVID suddenly totally disappeared. In reality, it's hard to know when ‘after the pandemic’ may be. I wouldn't be comfortable taking a trip without knowing where I'm going or what I'm doing, and I think I'll probably feel that way for a long time.”

Safety and reassurance are priorities of any travel company right now and established surprise travel agencies have been quietly changing up their offerings. Netherlands-based Srprs.me expanded their themed vacation packages to include self-guided road trips in 2020. As travel slowly returns to Europe, spokesperson Anneke told Lonely Planet that road trips remain the top choice for their customers.

“We only send our travelers to safe destinations, so there's no need to stay updated on the travel advice to decide where to go; we do that for them. I think that people definitely still have an appetite for the mystery [and] spontaneous element, but under the current circumstances they prefer the more 'safer mysteries', such as our road trips closer to home.”

Of course, there’s another big reason why many seasoned travelers want to try out a mystery trip and it has nothing to do with the pandemic. “I sometimes plan out my trips too much by researching all the restaurants, museums and sights that I absolutely want to visit,” Markus says. “This can sometimes eliminate the opportunity to being spontaneous. Not knowing the destination before you arrive at the airport forces you to keep an open mind and to go with the flow.”

“Please sign me up!” he adds.

5 mystery trips you can book right now

Pack up + go.

A surprise travel agency specializing in domestic US vacation packages. After a personalized survey, they’ll send you to a mid-size US city with a list of curated recommendations. Since COVID, they also have a Staycation option to explore closer to home. 

Guess Where Trips

Embracing the hyper-local, this Canadian company specializes in creating itineraries around Ontario. They are all self-guided which means it’s a great budget option when you really want someone else to do all the planning for you. They are expanding their offerings to trips starting from Vancouver soon. 

Uniworld Mystery River Cruise

A 10-day river cruising experience, the first voyage in June this year has already sold out and a second date added in September due to popular demand. Everything is included in the price and you’ll be sent a detailed recommended packing list beforehand, One thing you’ll need for definite is your passport. 

With departure airports in Europe, this company specializes in city breaks and has a few different themes that you can choose from or you can specifically request them to send you somewhere new. Self-guided road trip itineraries are also available from the UK, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. 

Departing from the UK, Spain, Germany and more, this is a straightforward surprise platform where they will set you up with a flight and a hotel. There is no option to customise with your interests though you can veto a few places during your booking process. 

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Mystery deals

You pick the destination, we pick the resort. it’s that simple..

Here’s how the magic happens:

• Complete a booking with one of the Mystery Deal package options below.
• We will pair you with an incredible resort* that matches the destination and star rating you selected—all at an unbeatable price.
• We like to let the suspense build...so the name of your resort will be kept secret as your vacation inches closer.
• Two days before your trip, the name of your resort will be revealed. Cue happy dance.
• And that’s it! Take off to your beautiful resort.
• 7+ (0)
• Adults Only (0)
• Culture (0)
• Gambling (0)
• Golfing (0)
• Mystery Deal (0)
• Nightlife (0)
• Romance (0)
• Shopping (0)
• Spa/Relaxation (0)
• Recommended
• Hotel Name (Ascending)
• Hotel Name (Descending)
• Star Rating (High to Low)
• Star Rating (Low to High)

*Your resort placement is at the discretion of Southwest Vacations ® . We will not accept requests for specific resorts. Modifications to this reservation are allowed; however, all standard resort and airline fees will be assessed based on the nature of the change.

Seats are limited and may not be available on some flights that operate during peak travel times and holiday periods. Flight and hotel rates may vary by day of week. Hotel surcharges may apply to weekends, holidays, and convention periods. Flights available on published scheduled service only. Rates may be subject to change until purchased. Discounts are valid per reservation before taxes are applied. Offer not valid on existing reservations and may not be combined with any other offer. Subject to availability. Restrictions apply. ALG Vacations Corp. is the tour operator for Southwest Vacations ® .

Groupon Review [2024]: Is It Useful for Finding Travel Deals?

Traveling's fun but becomes costly when done often. But travel deal sites like Groupon can help you save while doing what you love. Want to know more? Discover what Groupon has to offer in this review on the deal platform.

You may already know Groupon for its deals on physical goods like clothing, bedding, homeware, and more. But did you know that Groupon can also help you save money while traveling? 

You can use Groupon to find deals on accommodation, food, and entry to tourist attractions. In this article, I'll tell you what Groupon is, how it works, and tips for sifting through scams.

What is Groupon?

Groupon is an online marketplace that connects local businesses in 13 countries to customers looking for a deal.  Over 1.5 billion Groupon vouchers have been sold  since the company was launched. 

You can find all sorts of deals on Groupon, and Groupon offers lots of travel deals that can help save you money. Still, you'll also come across some activities or eateries you may otherwise skip over. 

Which Countries Have Groupon?

In 2024, you can buy Groupon vouchers for cities in the following countries:

Which Groupon Deals Are Best for Travelers?

As a traveler, you'll be most interested in Groupon vouchers for:

• Entry to tourist attractions
• Accommodation
• Airport Parking
• Groupon Getaways
• Transport deals
• Cool local experiences

Groupon sometimes has offers that include plane tickets, but they aren't always the best deal. If you're still looking at flights for your trip, make sure you're booking the cheapest flights available on the market with  Skyscanner !

Skyscanner helps you find the cheapest flights available so that you wouldn't have to pay more for flight tickets and save that money for more things to do or food to eat! 

And if you still need to decide on a destination, check out some  budget travel magazines  for inspiration!

What is Groupon Getaways?

Groupon Getaways is basically what people call a "package holiday." These can take you to Las Vegas in the USA, Iceland, France, Hungary, and many other countries. 

Flights, accommodation, and sometimes entry to special events or guided tours are included in the price. You will not always get meals as part of the deal. Read over each Getaway deal's "What you get" section carefully. Every deal is different.

Customers can leave reviews for the Getaways. So be sure you read them, as not all Groupon Getaways receive only praise.

Want to make sure you get the best deal? Then check how much the trip would cost if you booked everything yourself. Groupon Getaways is a great deal in most cases, but sometimes you can create a cheaper trip yourself.

How Does Groupon Work?

Groupon works by connecting businesses with customers. It's the middle-man. On the Groupon website, you'll find thousands of listings. Each tells you which business you deal with at the bottom of the offer's page or in a byline. You usually see a location map for hotels or travel deals.

When you see an exciting offer, you don't buy the service or item straight away. You buy a voucher, which you'll then have to redeem. This can happen in person if the coupon is for a tourist attraction, a restaurant, or online via a merchant's website.

You need to create a Groupon account to buy vouchers. Your account is where your coupons are stored and where you can activate them. You can also add deals to your wishlist for later. All you need is your name, an email address, and a secure password. The website does a great job guiding you through the sign-up process.

How to Use the Groupon App?

The  Groupon mobile app  is an excellent tool on your phone when you're on holiday. Checking local deals while on the go is a great way to find cool places to eat or local experiences not listed in your tourist guide.

You can download the app from the Apple App Store and Google Play or enter your number on the Groupon site. They'll send you a link for the download.

How to Find Groupon Deals Near Me?

Groupon has thousands of listings. You don't want to browse deals that aren't close to your location. Luckily, it's easy to filter deals on Groupon. It would help if you allowed the website or app to access your location. If you want to avoid doing that, manually enter a place in the search bar.

Of course, the search feature also allows you to search for deals in your future destination. If you know you'll spend a weekend in London, you can quickly check out what Groupon has to offer in London.

Features of Groupon

Easy-to-use website and app.

It's easy to browse Groupon's deals, no matter whether you use the website or app. Choose a category from the top, use the search bar to look for something specific, or browse. 

It's fantastic that the site works the same in every country, so you don't have to get used to a different layout!

Available in 13 Countries

Groupon's got offers on some fascinating destinations, as mentioned above. Many of them are popular travel destinations with a thriving tourism industry. This means there'll often be tourism-related deals.

Multiple Payment Methods

I love PayPal, and so do many other travelers. The good news is that Groupon allows you to pay for vouchers with PayPal, which adds an extra layer of safety on your end. But you can also use all major credit cards and debit cards that work as credit cards to pay.

Email Alerts For New Daily Deals at Your Destination

Say you're planning a trip to London and would love to save some bucks, but there's no deal on Groupon right now. There's still a chance the perfect deal will come. You can set up an email alert if you don't want to check Groupon daily. 

You can change the settings for that in your email preferences. Click "add another city," choose London, and you'll get email notifications.

Groupon Bucks For Every Voucher You Buy

Every time you buy a Groupon voucher, you collect Groupon bucks on your account. You can use these towards future purchases on Groupon, also called "Groupon credits."

Interactive Maps

Every Groupon listing comes with a handy interactive map. It shows you where the business is located, and you can even ask the map for directions. Under the map, you'll usually see a link to the business website, so you can check them out before you buy the voucher.

Groupon Gift 

Groupon deals can be sent to others as a gift. Instead of checking out as usual, click "Give as a gift." You'll be guided through the following steps so that the gift will arrive at the right place.

Extra Discounts For Students

You can save 9% extra on top of Groupon's deals if you register as a student. You'll need to verify your student status, but that's easy if you have your student ID.

The Groupon Promise AKA Money-Back Guarantee

Groupon wants happy customers, so they want to make refunds and cancellations easy. Even if you've already used your voucher, you may still be eligible for a refund. There are exceptions, and deals that aren't eligible for refunds are marked as "non-refundable" in the fine print.

Fine Prints That Are Easy to Understand

I mentioned fine print a few times. Boring stuff, I know. But it's essential to read them. Groupon's fine prints are to the point and contain vital information. I like that you don't have to be a lawyer to understand them!

Cancellation/Refund Policy of Groupon

How to cancel a groupon.

If you want to cancel an unused Groupon voucher, you need to do this:

• Log in to your account
• Click on "my stuff"
• Click on "view details" of the coupon you want to cancel.
• Cancel the coupon, or contact customer service via web chat.

How Do I Contact Groupon For a Refund?

You can start the refund process without contacting customer service. When logged into your account, you can request a refund by clicking "view details" in your "my stuff" section. If there's no refund button, you can contact customer service via the live chat, as you may still be able to get a refund.

What People Are Saying About Groupon…

People have mixed opinions of Groupon. On review websites, some people rave about great savings, fun getaways, and excellent food. 

But some people reported issues with the Groupon booking system. To avoid problems with restaurant or hotel bookings, it's a good idea to double-check with the restaurant or hotel itself to see whether the Groupon booking went through.

Other negative points often mentioned are lousy customer service and that some merchants sell cheap copies of expensive brand names. Fortunately, travel-related listings seem to be less of an issue.

Are There Any Drawbacks of Groupon?

Groupon's a safe site to use. Scams happen very rarely, but that doesn't mean Groupon is perfect. Like every app, Groupon has its downsides, and here are some of them…

• A good deal can become more expensive if you want to customize it. Traveling solo, changing departure times, or going somewhere during prime time can soon make a deal less attractive.
• Some vouchers are challenging to redeem. Some places, like restaurants, only allow vouchers to be redeemed during their off-peak hours.
• Sometimes, you can get things cheaper elsewhere. I found that flights are often more affordable when you use Skyscanner.

Remember these tips, and you will find some incredible deals on Groupon.

Is Groupon Worth It?

Yes, as long as you realize it's not always perfect! 

You can find incredible deals on Groupon if you read the fine print and do your research. I know a couple who arranged their whole holiday via Groupon. 

Saving money while traveling  was always a big priority for them. They saved a huge amount on parking fees at their local airport with a Groupon voucher. 

It helped that they weren't particularly picky about where to go, so they booked a so-called "Mystery Getaway" via Groupon and were lucky enough to get a week in the Maldives, including flights and accommodation, for a ridiculously low price.

Even if you only use Groupon to save here and there, it's still worth signing up. Saving a few dollars for a nice lunch or saving 50% off the entry for some tourist attractions adds up fast.

My Rating: 3.5/5

• Great savings
• Cool discoveries
• Easy to use
• Available in 13 countries
• Invalid for some destinations
• Some deals aren't worth it
• Bad Customer service

Plan Your Budget Adventure with Pilot!

Now that you know how to save with Groupon , you can start to craft your ideal travel experience for you, your family, and your friends

Disclosure : Pilot is supported by our community. We may earn a small commission fee with affiliate links on our website. All reviews and recommendations are independent and do not reflect the official view of Pilot.

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Does anyone know which hotel this current groupon is for?

Step outside this 4-star top-secret hotel and you’ll see Bourbon Street mere blocks away. Follow the sounds of trumpets and horns and the scents of creole-spiced seafood and you’ll be in the city’s famed French Quarter.

•For city views, choose a larger king room.

•In your room: a mini fridge and free WiFi

•Grab a drink and share tapas at the hotel’s lounge.

•Feel the beat of live music on select nights (usually Monday).

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/msyac-ac-hotel-new-orleans-bourbon/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2

How do you know for sure? Just wondering.

I looked at the map and went to various hotel websites in that area. I then compared the Groupon pictures to the different hotel pictures online...it took a while but I found it. The picture of the bar is the same on the Groupon pic as the hotel website.

We have used the "Mystery Hotel" before and it was very nice (different hotel then this one). I would trust that the description is accurate and the hotel is decent.

You're a "'groupon" detective cjqueen! That is awesome! ;)

Thank you!!

Typically misleading headline: The AC is not in the French Quarter. Close, perhaps, but once you cross Canal it's a whole different neighborhood.

It was fun to figure out :)

True, its not the French Quarter, it is the CBD. It's a little bit of a hike to the quarter but doable if there are no mobility issues.

This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity.

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Are Groupon Travel Deals Really a Bargain?

Caroline Morse Teel

Caroline Morse Teel is the Managing Editor for SmarterTravel Media. Follow her adventures around the world on Instagram @TravelWithCaroline.

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Groupon’s travel deals can seem too good to be true. Can you really get six nights in Hawaii including airfare for under $650? We investigated Groupon Getaways to find out if the deals are worth it—and the important catches you need to watch out for if you book.

Do Groupon Getaways Actually Save You Money?

No matter what Groupon deal you’re considering, always price check it against the cost of booking it yourself directly. This will help you be sure that the Groupon is really worth it.

To find out if Groupon Getaways actually save you money, we compared three current Groupon travel deals against the cost of booking it on our own. We compared the prices based on two people traveling, as Groupon Getaways generally charges a single supplement fee for solo travelers. Here are the results:

Editor’s Note: All prices were accurate at the time of writing, however, deal costs and fares are likely to change quickly.

The 10 Best Group Travel Tour Companies

4-Night Hawaii Vacation With Hotel and Air

This trip includes round-trip airfare from Los Angeles to Honolulu, along with four nights in a City Mountain-View room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Alana – Waikiki. The cheapest Groupon option is for dates between March 10 and March 31.

Groupon Price for Two People

Total Price: $1,462.92 / $731.56 per person. The package price is $649 per person and there is a $20.64 daily resort fee. 

Cost to Book Directly for Two People

Flights: $568 Total / $284 per person. The cheapest round-trip flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu costs $284 for a March 24 departure and March 28 return.

Hotel: $1,342.38. Booking the same City Mountain View room directly through the DoubleTree’s website costs $1,342.38 (including the resort fee).

Total Price: $1,910

In this case, booking through Groupon Getaways saves you a few hundred dollars. 

10 Trips Millennial Travelers Will Love

Cofresi Palm Beach Spa Resort

A Superior Garden-View Room with VIP Amenities at the all-inclusive Cofresi Palm Beach Spa Resort is on a super sale through Groupon. There is a four-night minimum stay on the Groupon deal, and the cheapest rates are found for stays starting April 1. Only one voucher is needed for two guests sharing a room.

Groupon Price

Total Price: $247 for 4 nights.

Total Price: $520.46 for 4 nights.

The same hotel room costs more than double to book directly on Cofresi’s website

However, one of the FAQs on Groupon’s website should throw up a red flag regarding this hotel. “Will I be approached to attend a timeshare sales presentation? Our customers are never obligated to attend a sales presentation. If you are approached and decline a presentation, you will not lose the value of your voucher or have to pay additional fees.”

Be sure to check the reviews carefully (both on Groupon’s website and other sites to determine the quality of the hotel included in the deal.

What Is Travel Hacking—and Should You Be Doing It?

8-Day Tuscany Vacation with Hotels and Air From Gate 1 Travel

Since this deal is also available directly from Gate 1 Travel, we compared it against booking it through Gate 1 as well as booking it on our own.

The cheapest package option includes round-trip airfare from New York (JFK) to Milan, an economy manual rental car, 5 nights at the Grand Hotel Plaza & Locanda Maggiore, and 1 night at the Hotel Novotel Milano Malpensa Airport. The $699 price is valid for departures on October 11.

Total Price: $1,398 / $699 per person

Cost to Book With Gate 1 Travel

The price is exactly the same to book via Gate 1 Travel .

Flights: $812 total / $406 per person on Tap Air Portugal.

Hotels: $586 total: $500 Grand Hotel Plaza & Locanda Maggiore + $86 Hotel Novotel Milano Malpensa Airport

Rental car: $194 total

Total Package Price: $1,592

Booking this deal through Groupon or Gate 1 Travel saves you a bit of money compared to booking directly.

The 14 Best Vacation Rental Sites for Travelers

Watch out for the Fine Print

Always read the terms and conditions before booking a Groupon Getaway. You’ll also want to carefully scrutinize what’s included in the deal. Here are a few things to look out for:

• Single supplements: How much extra will you have to pay if you’re traveling alone?
• Expiration date of Groupon voucher
• Age restrictions (many travel deals are for 21 and older)
• Cancelation policies
• Additional fees you’ll have to pay at check-in
• Flight options (including number of stops and departure times)
• Rental car options (generally the cheapest car type with a manual transmission is included, so you might want to investigate how much an upgrade will cost you.

Should You Book Through Groupon Getaways?

Groupon Getaways are undeniably a good deal. However, be warned that Groupon Getaway costs can quickly escalate from the rock-bottom advertised cost. For example, the Tuscany package mentioned above is promoted at $699, but will quickly increase to $849 if you would rather fly out of Miami. Adding the hotel “upgrade” package will be another extra cost. Picking a different departure date can bring the cost up to $1,049 per person. Make sure you pay attention to the extra price as you customize your trip.

Before booking, you should evaluate all of the options included in the deal. Independently research the hotel included in the Groupon Getaway. Is it in a good neighborhood? Does it have good reviews? Is it near the things you want to see and do? What bed types are included in the deal?

Also see if you can find out what flight options are included before committing. Is the flight nonstop or will there be layovers? Is the flight at a convenient time? 

Booking a trip through Groupon Getaways can definitely save you money. However, if you would rather have a bit more control over your flight times and hotel choices, Groupon Getaways can also be a great jumping off point to plan your own vacation. For example, if you see a cheap package deal to Tuscany, it likely means that travel to Tuscany is pretty inexpensive during the dates that the Groupon is valid. You could then look up your own flights and hotels for the same time period and find something similarly priced that would give you more flexibility than booking with Groupon. However, if you’d prefer not to have to do all of the trip planning research, and just want someone to take care of all the details, a Groupon Getaway can be a great deal. 

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Moscow Travel Guide

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Why travel to Moscow

Contrasts: 12th century monasteries and some of the tallest skyscrapers in Europe can be found side-by-side in this complex and captivating city. The diversity of this mega-city is astounding. Only a few steps away from the solemn red facade of the Kremlin and the sounds of righteous church bells, a buzzing night scene and alternative-fashion boutiques can be found.

Culture: In Moscow only the best goes. Be it a theatre, restaurant or gallery, the standards are certain to be world-class. The Bolshoi ballet company is reputed to be even better than the Mariinsky’s and “MMOMA” (Moscow’s museum of modern art) exhibits works of art as profound as any that could be found in the famed MOMA.

Convenience: Unlike the rest of Russia, it’s easy enough to get by with just English in Moscow and, driving excepted, it is surprisingly safe: the murder rate is lower than in some of America’s major cities.

Top Sights in Moscow

St. Basil’s

Novodevichy Convent

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Why visit Moscow

It would take more than two days to walk around the perimeter of the biggest city in Europe, Moscow. Many of its inhabitants barely know what’s beyond the few blocks around their flat and there are so many attractions that it’s almost impossible to know where to start. If there is such a thing as an antidote to boredom, Moscow City is it. The mind-boggling range and diversity of things to do, places to eat, parks, historical monuments and more means that a vacation in Moscow has a wealth of activities to offer for every type of traveler, from young families to retirees.

Reasons to Vacation in Moscow in 2022

The Bolshoi theatre is familiar to almost everyone as Russia’s grandest theatre, but what people don’t know is that there are many more bolshoi (big) sites in Moscow that are worth travelling all the way to Moscow to see. For more than 100 years, the world’s biggest bell has been hidden behind the Kremlin’s walls and inside Moscow’s main park (which is bigger than some countries!) there is the world’s largest outdoor ice-rink. Travelers that visit Moscow can stay at the Izmailovo, Europe’s biggest hotel, then eat at the largest and most historic McDonald’s in Europe and after that have fun at the largest European indoor theme park!

Ancient Past & Stunning Architecture:

As those who travel to Moscow will see, just because Moscow is a city of record-breaking, glitzy high-rises doesn’t mean that there is no history. On the famous Arbat street, time-worn, wooden storehouses and century-old churches are squashed up against grey, soviet blocks which are then towered over by 21st century office-blocks. Unlike its much younger sibling, St Petersburg, Moscow’s roots stretch way back to the 12th century. Within the walls of the Kremlin, the city’s oldest building the Cathedral of Assumption can be admired in all its 500+ years of age.

Culture & Convenience

For a foreigner who has never visited Russia, Moscow is the perfect stepping stone into this great land of mystery. From the country’s best classical ballet troupes to snow-white troikas trotting through the parks, all the highlights of Russian culture can be had in Moscow without any of the complications that would be expected in other, less developed regions of Russia.

Cheap as Caviar

In Moscow, everything is bargain when with the current foreign exchange rates being what they are. Even caviar doesn’t seem so dear when the exchange rate is at 60rub to the dollar, so go on indulge yourself! Take your 2022 vacation in Moscow and have the best of both worlds, with European luxury at very affordable prices.

Lena, our guide in Moscow was excellent. She was very knowledgable and could answer any question we had for her. We liked that she could pick up on our interests and take us places we might not have thought of to go. When we realized that one of the places we had chosen to see would probably not be that interesting to us, she was able to arrange entry to the Diamond Fund and the Armoury for us. Riding the Metro with Lena was a real adventure and a lot of fun. In Saint Petersburg we found Anna well versed in the history of the Tsars and in the Hermitage collection. Arkady in Veliky Novgorod was a very good guide and answered all of our questions with ease. Novgorod was perhaps a long way to go for a day trip, but we did enjoy it. Vasily was a great driver to have and kept us safe with good humour and skill. We enjoyed ourselves so much, my daughter says she is already planning to return. We would both have no hesistation to recommend ExpresstoRussia to anyone we know.

Just wanted to let you know that My grandson Bruno and I couldn´t have been more pleased with our week in Moscow (6/15 - 6/21). We were absolutely enchanted with the whole experience, including getting lost a couple of times in the Metro during our free time. Although both our guides (both Eleanas) were excellent, I would particularly commend the first one (she took us to the Tatiakov, the KGB tour, and to that beautiful cemetery where so many great Russian artists, authors, composers, musicians, militarists, and politicians are buried). Her knowledge is encyclopedic; and her understanding of today´s Russia as a product of its past was, for us, truly enlightening. I will be taking another tour in Russia, with my wife, within the next two or three years. I will be in touch with you when the time comes. Meanwhile, I will refer you to other potential visitors to Russia as I meet them.

We had a great time both in Moscow and St Petersburg. Your travel agency was excellent in coordinating the whole trip. Everything worked like clockwork. The guides assigned to us were very nice and friendly. They had a great knowledge of their subjects. The cars and the drivers were great. The hotels were good and the itinerary was good. All in all, it was a wonderful experience. It was nice dealing with you and your company. Thank you very much for a great Russian experience. Have a great future ahead

• 31 reviews of Express to Russia Moscow Tours in Moscow

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In Transit: Notes from the Underground

Jun 06 2018.

Spend some time in one of Moscow’s finest museums.

Subterranean commuting might not be anyone’s idea of a good time, but even in a city packing the war-games treasures and priceless bejeweled eggs of the Kremlin Armoury and the colossal Soviet pavilions of the VDNKh , the Metro holds up as one of Moscow’s finest museums. Just avoid rush hour.

The Metro is stunning and provides an unrivaled insight into the city’s psyche, past and present, but it also happens to be the best way to get around. Moscow has Uber, and the Russian version called Yandex Taxi , but also some nasty traffic. Metro trains come around every 90 seconds or so, at a more than 99 percent on-time rate. It’s also reasonably priced, with a single ride at 55 cents (and cheaper in bulk). From history to tickets to rules — official and not — here’s what you need to know to get started.

A Brief Introduction Buying Tickets Know Before You Go (Down) Rules An Easy Tour

A Brief Introduction

Moscow’s Metro was a long time coming. Plans for rapid transit to relieve the city’s beleaguered tram system date back to the Imperial era, but a couple of wars and a revolution held up its development. Stalin revived it as part of his grand plan to modernize the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s. The first lines and tunnels were constructed with help from engineers from the London Underground, although Stalin’s secret police decided that they had learned too much about Moscow’s layout and had them arrested on espionage charges and deported.

The beauty of its stations (if not its trains) is well-documented, and certainly no accident. In its illustrious first phases and particularly after the Second World War, the greatest architects of Soviet era were recruited to create gleaming temples celebrating the Revolution, the USSR, and the war triumph. No two stations are exactly alike, and each of the classic showpieces has a theme. There are world-famous shrines to Futurist architecture, a celebration of electricity, tributes to individuals and regions of the former Soviet Union. Each marble slab, mosaic tile, or light fixture was placed with intent, all in service to a station’s aesthetic; each element, f rom the smallest brass ear of corn to a large blood-spattered sword on a World War II mural, is an essential part of the whole.

The Metro is a monument to the Soviet propaganda project it was intended to be when it opened in 1935 with the slogan “Building a Palace for the People”. It brought the grand interiors of Imperial Russia to ordinary Muscovites, celebrated the Soviet Union’s past achievements while promising its citizens a bright Soviet future, and of course, it was a show-piece for the world to witness the might and sophistication of life in the Soviet Union.

It may be a museum, but it’s no relic. U p to nine million people use it daily, more than the London Underground and New York Subway combined. (Along with, at one time, about 20 stray dogs that learned to commute on the Metro.)

In its 80+ year history, the Metro has expanded in phases and fits and starts, in step with the fortunes of Moscow and Russia. Now, partly in preparation for the World Cup 2018, it’s also modernizing. New trains allow passengers to walk the entire length of the train without having to change carriages. The system is becoming more visitor-friendly. (There are helpful stickers on the floor marking out the best selfie spots .) But there’s a price to modernity: it’s phasing out one of its beloved institutions, the escalator attendants. Often they are middle-aged or elderly women—“ escalator grandmas ” in news accounts—who have held the post for decades, sitting in their tiny kiosks, scolding commuters for bad escalator etiquette or even bad posture, or telling jokes . They are slated to be replaced, when at all, by members of the escalator maintenance staff.

For all its achievements, the Metro lags behind Moscow’s above-ground growth, as Russia’s capital sprawls ever outwards, generating some of the world’s worst traffic jams . But since 2011, the Metro has been in the middle of an ambitious and long-overdue enlargement; 60 new stations are opening by 2020. If all goes to plan, the 2011-2020 period will have brought 125 miles of new tracks and over 100 new stations — a 40 percent increase — the fastest and largest expansion phase in any period in the Metro’s history.

Facts: 14 lines Opening hours: 5 a.m-1 a.m. Rush hour(s): 8-10 a.m, 4-8 p.m. Single ride: 55₽ (about 85 cents) Wi-Fi network-wide

Buying Tickets

• Ticket machines have a button to switch to English.
• You can buy specific numbers of rides: 1, 2, 5, 11, 20, or 60. Hold up fingers to show how many rides you want to buy.
• There is also a 90-minute ticket , which gets you 1 trip on the metro plus an unlimited number of transfers on other transport (bus, tram, etc) within 90 minutes.
• Or, you can buy day tickets with unlimited rides: one day (218₽/ US$4), three days (415₽/US$7) or seven days (830₽/US$15). Check the rates here to stay up-to-date.
• If you’re going to be using the Metro regularly over a few days, it’s worth getting a Troika card , a contactless, refillable card you can use on all public transport. Using the Metro is cheaper with one of these: a single ride is 36₽, not 55₽. Buy them and refill them in the Metro stations, and they’re valid for 5 years, so you can keep it for next time. Or, if you have a lot of cash left on it when you leave, you can get it refunded at the Metro Service Centers at Ulitsa 1905 Goda, 25 or at Staraya Basmannaya 20, Building 1.
• You can also buy silicone bracelets and keychains with built-in transport chips that you can use as a Troika card. (A Moscow Metro Fitbit!) So far, you can only get these at the Pushkinskaya metro station Live Helpdesk and souvenir shops in the Mayakovskaya and Trubnaya metro stations. The fare is the same as for the Troika card.
• You can also use Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

Rules, spoken and unspoken

No smoking, no drinking, no filming, no littering. Photography is allowed, although it used to be banned.

Stand to the right on the escalator. Break this rule and you risk the wrath of the legendary escalator attendants. (No shenanigans on the escalators in general.)

Get out of the way. Find an empty corner to hide in when you get off a train and need to stare at your phone. Watch out getting out of the train in general; when your train doors open, people tend to appear from nowhere or from behind ornate marble columns, walking full-speed.

Always offer your seat to elderly ladies (what are you, a monster?).

An Easy Tour

This is no Metro Marathon ( 199 stations in 20 hours ). It’s an easy tour, taking in most—though not all—of the notable stations, the bulk of it going clockwise along the Circle line, with a couple of short detours. These stations are within minutes of one another, and the whole tour should take about 1-2 hours.

Start at Mayakovskaya Metro station , at the corner of Tverskaya and Garden Ring,  Triumfalnaya Square, Moskva, Russia, 125047.

1. Mayakovskaya.  Named for Russian Futurist Movement poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and an attempt to bring to life the future he imagined in his poems. (The Futurist Movement, natch, was all about a rejecting the past and celebrating all things speed, industry, modern machines, youth, modernity.) The result: an Art Deco masterpiece that won the National Grand Prix for architecture at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. It’s all smooth, rounded shine and light, and gentle arches supported by columns of dark pink marble and stainless aircraft steel. Each of its 34 ceiling niches has a mosaic. During World War II, the station was used as an air-raid shelter and, at one point, a bunker for Stalin. He gave a subdued but rousing speech here in Nov. 6, 1941 as the Nazis bombed the city above.

Take the 3/Green line one station to:

2. Belorusskaya. Opened in 1952, named after the connected Belarussky Rail Terminal, which runs trains between Moscow and Belarus. This is a light marble affair with a white, cake-like ceiling, lined with Belorussian patterns and 12 Florentine ceiling mosaics depicting life in Belarussia when it was built.

Transfer onto the 1/Brown line. Then, one stop (clockwise) t o:

3. Novoslobodskaya.  This station was designed around the stained-glass panels, which were made in Latvia, because Alexey Dushkin, the Soviet starchitect who dreamed it up (and also designed Mayakovskaya station) couldn’t find the glass and craft locally. The stained glass is the same used for Riga’s Cathedral, and the panels feature plants, flowers, members of the Soviet intelligentsia (musician, artist, architect) and geometric shapes.

Go two stops east on the 1/Circle line to:

4. Komsomolskaya. Named after the Komsomol, or the Young Communist League, this might just be peak Stalin Metro style. Underneath the hub for three regional railways, it was intended to be a grand gateway to Moscow and is today its busiest station. It has chandeliers; a yellow ceiling with Baroque embellishments; and in the main hall, a colossal red star overlaid on golden, shimmering tiles. Designer Alexey Shchusev designed it as an homage to the speech Stalin gave at Red Square on Nov. 7, 1941, in which he invoked Russia’s illustrious military leaders as a pep talk to Soviet soldiers through the first catastrophic year of the war.   The station’s eight large mosaics are of the leaders referenced in the speech, such as Alexander Nevsky, a 13th-century prince and military commander who bested German and Swedish invading armies.

One more stop clockwise to Kurskaya station,  and change onto the 3/Blue  line, and go one stop to:

5. Baumanskaya.   Opened in 1944. Named for the Bolshevik Revolutionary Nikolai Bauman , whose monument and namesake district are aboveground here. Though he seemed like a nasty piece of work (he apparently once publicly mocked a woman he had impregnated, who later hung herself), he became a Revolutionary martyr when he was killed in 1905 in a skirmish with a monarchist, who hit him on the head with part of a steel pipe. The station is in Art Deco style with atmospherically dim lighting, and a series of bronze sculptures of soldiers and homefront heroes during the War. At one end, there is a large mosaic portrait of Lenin.

Stay on that train direction one more east to:

6. Elektrozavodskaya. As you may have guessed from the name, this station is the Metro’s tribute to all thing electrical, built in 1944 and named after a nearby lightbulb factory. It has marble bas-relief sculptures of important figures in electrical engineering, and others illustrating the Soviet Union’s war-time struggles at home. The ceiling’s recurring rows of circular lamps give the station’s main tunnel a comforting glow, and a pleasing visual effect.

Double back two stops to Kurskaya station , and change back to the 1/Circle line. Sit tight for six stations to:

7. Kiyevskaya. This was the last station on the Circle line to be built, in 1954, completed under Nikita Khrushchev’ s guidance, as a tribute to his homeland, Ukraine. Its three large station halls feature images celebrating Ukraine’s contributions to the Soviet Union and Russo-Ukrainian unity, depicting musicians, textile-working, soldiers, farmers. (One hall has frescoes, one mosaics, and the third murals.) Shortly after it was completed, Khrushchev condemned the architectural excesses and unnecessary luxury of the Stalin era, which ushered in an epoch of more austere Metro stations. According to the legend at least, he timed the policy in part to ensure no Metro station built after could outshine Kiyevskaya.

Change to the 3/Blue line and go one stop west.

8. Park Pobedy. This is the deepest station on the Metro, with one of the world’s longest escalators, at 413 feet. If you stand still, the escalator ride to the surface takes about three minutes .) Opened in 2003 at Victory Park, the station celebrates two of Russia’s great military victories. Each end has a mural by Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli, who also designed the “ Good Defeats Evil ” statue at the UN headquarters in New York. One mural depicts the Russian generals’ victory over the French in 1812 and the other, the German surrender of 1945. The latter is particularly striking; equal parts dramatic, triumphant, and gruesome. To the side, Red Army soldiers trample Nazi flags, and if you look closely there’s some blood spatter among the detail. Still, the biggest impressions here are the marble shine of the chessboard floor pattern and the pleasingly geometric effect if you view from one end to the other.

Keep going one more stop west to:

9. Slavyansky Bulvar.  One of the Metro’s youngest stations, it opened in 2008. With far higher ceilings than many other stations—which tend to have covered central tunnels on the platforms—it has an “open-air” feel (or as close to it as you can get, one hundred feet under). It’s an homage to French architect Hector Guimard, he of the Art Nouveau entrances for the Paris M é tro, and that’s precisely what this looks like: A Moscow homage to the Paris M é tro, with an additional forest theme. A Cyrillic twist on Guimard’s Metro-style lettering over the benches, furnished with t rees and branch motifs, including creeping vines as towering lamp-posts.

Stay on the 3/Blue line and double back four stations to:

10. Arbatskaya. Its first iteration, Arbatskaya-Smolenskaya station, was damaged by German bombs in 1941. It was rebuilt in 1953, and designed to double as a bomb shelter in the event of nuclear war, although unusually for stations built in the post-war phase, this one doesn’t have a war theme. It may also be one of the system’s most elegant: Baroque, but toned down a little, with red marble floors and white ceilings with gilded bronze c handeliers.

Jump back on the 3/Blue line  in the same direction and take it one more stop:

11. Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Revolution Square). Opened in 1938, and serving Red Square and the Kremlin . Its renowned central hall has marble columns flanked by 76 bronze statues of Soviet heroes: soldiers, students, farmers, athletes, writers, parents. Some of these statues’ appendages have a yellow sheen from decades of Moscow’s commuters rubbing them for good luck. Among the most popular for a superstitious walk-by rub: the snout of a frontier guard’s dog, a soldier’s gun (where the touch of millions of human hands have tapered the gun barrel into a fine, pointy blade), a baby’s foot, and a woman’s knee. (A brass rooster also sports the telltale gold sheen, though I am told that rubbing the rooster is thought to bring bad luck. )

Now take the escalator up, and get some fresh air.

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