North America Tours for Experienced Travelers

On this Explore trip, a friend and I travelled around Belize and popped into Guatemala. My friend had never done an organized tour like this before but had been curious to try one. She loved the way that the group quickly melded into a large family-type gathering of like minded people. I found Belize to be a small but interesting country, with its British roots and Caribbean influences. Most people know it for the scuba or snorkeling, but we ventured inland to hike and swim in a cooling waterfall, and to visit a 'baboon sanctuary' where howler monkeys let their voices be heard. We were able to explore and climb Mayan ruins and learn about the different cultures ... and how the winner was killed at the culmination of pok ta pok games!. Some of our group were avid bird watchers and a dawn boat ride at Crooked Tree was filled with wildlife, including sightings of a manatee and male green iguanas (who are actually orange during mating season). We did have a few days of very heavy rain at San Ignacio, but usually the rain fell while we were in the van moving from one place to another. Guatamala is Spanish speaking, with a more Latin American feel. We enjoyed being in the jungle at Tikal and on the lake at Flores, where the houses have decorative doors just asking to be photographed. We saw a toucan enjoying a breakfast of dates at the hotel, just outside the open air restaurant. Our final day together was spent on Caye Caulker. It was magical to be out on a boat, snorkeling with nurse sharks and watching the captain's "pet" jack fish follow him closely as he pointed out eels, lobster and colorful fish. It was a day that will stay in my memory as a perfect day. Our guide Tarik was informative and well organized. But most of all - Tarik was a lot of fun and could make the dullest drives a pleasure, as he read from his junior school book in the local dialect. Our group had people of varying ages and physical abilities, but Tarik managed to keep everybody in mind as we toured the Mayan sites. He had great recommendations and spent time getting to know each person a bit more over meals and during walks, or evening drinks.

All accommodations were fantastic. Absolutely loved the shows and all the Christmas lights. One complaint I have is our tour guide, Don, was very rude and disrespectful to a few of the elderly people on the tour. I was shocked and upset on his tone with how he treated them.

A fantastic trip with a great mix of history, wildlife and beaches. Our tour leader Tarique was fantastic, he was very patient with the group and passionate about his county and the wildlife. Making for an all round fun trip.

Very well organized and balanced tour with exceptional tour guide (Eileen Coloretti). Favorites were the walk through Central Park West on a beautiful sunny morning after a snow, the Rockettes spectacular, seeing two other shows, and much sightseeing (Christmas decorations, landmarks)done via bus, which helped these 70+ yo bones.

Favorite experience was seeing the Rockettes Holiday Show. It was fabulous! The bus tour from the 9-11 Memorial was extra lengthy, we thought. Not sure if it was traffic or construction or what(?), but it seemed it took us at least an hour longer to get back to the hotel than it took to get there. The included restaurants were great. We loved our tour guide Robert Rubinski. Kathy Fil was very knowledgeable and interested in our experiences.

The New York City Holiday Tour on 11-15 December 2025 was AWESOME! Great tour guide Matt, great bus driver Franklin, and hosts from KCRG-TV Joe and Terri Winters were amazing and made the tour very enjoyable and organized. We saw most of the NYC highlights and the Broadway musical MG The Musical was awesome. As far as my most favorite memorable experience was between the Rockettes and the Christmas lights in Times Square. They were amazing. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in Times Square and we could walk anywhere within 10-15 minutes. Plus, we even enjoyed the first measurable snowfall in NYC the day we visited the 911 memorial. Collette did a great job!