Simple stays with essential amenities. Typically guesthouses, hostels or hotels rated below 3 stars — clean, no-frills, and great for value-conscious travelers.
Comfortable and reliable 3-star stays. Expect private rooms, en-suite bathrooms, and solid amenities — a great balance between comfort and cost.
Upscale 4-5 star hotels and lodges. Enjoy high-end service, refined comfort, and premium locations — ideal for travelers seeking extra indulgence.
We had an absolutely wonderful week with Explore in Sri Lanka. Our tour was packed with amazing locations and fascinating experiences, but our tour guide, Sudesh, still managed to fit in a few extras requested by the group.
Our only regret at the end of the trip was that the wild elephants had evaded us, but that was just bad luck!
For us, this trip was the perfect way to experience a very different country and culture with the insight and knowledge that comes from an excellent local guide.
Active and outdoorWildlife
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
Accommodation
Hotel, Resort
Age Range
16-99 yrs
Operated in
english
Destinations
Colombo, Negombo, Wilpattu Natio
Colombo, Negombo, Wilpattu National Park, Mihintale, Kandy, Koggala
A really great experience visiting Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Our guide Mads was excellent! He was very knowledgeable, giving detailed info for every location we visited, as well as being attentive and kind. The Fjords are amazing, as well as the Flam Railway but then everything we did was enjoyable!
We had such a great bunch of people in our small group of 11.
Would highly recommend this trip, absolutely no negatives!
AdventureExplorer
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
Excellent trip overall. Itinerary was full on, varied and interesting. Some days were perhaps too full and one visit could have been better the day after ( say). Mohamed or guide was excellent. His explanations were VERY detailed and perhaps more of an overview would suffice for those of us who were not keen Egyptologists! He looked after us very well though. The Old Cataract Hotel is a must but we organised that ourselves.
Active and outdoorExplorer
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
A brilliant trip covering many highlights. Our top 6 would be walking with Penguins near Ushuaia, Hike to Torres base, Boat trip on Serrano river, walking along Perito Merino glacier, hike to Fitzroy base, Iguazu boat ride.
Bear in mind that all except Fitzroy are add on extras costing around £1000 in total ( Perito Moreno is an exorbitant £400). The boat trip to lago del desierto is not available despite being shown as such in the trip notes.
It was a strenuous trip with long bus and minibus journeys as advertised.
We had a great group and Andres our guide was excellent.
It is worth taking lots of dollars and exchanging at the blue rate on the street which is around 20 percent better than the official rate and 10 percent better than credit card rate.
It was the best of our 6 Explore trips.
WildlifeActive and outdoor
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
Accommodation
Hotel, Lodge
Age Range
16-79 yrs
Operated in
english
Destinations
Buenos Aires, Perito Moreno Glac
Buenos Aires, Perito Moreno Glacier, El Chaltén, Mount Fitzroy, Puerto Iguazu, Iguazu Falls, Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego National Park, Punta Arenas, Torres del Paine National Park, Los Glaciares National Park
This was an excellent tour. We a nice sampling of Argentina and Brazil in just two weeks. The countries are huge, so many weeks could be spent traveling to much of their sites and cities.
Diego, our tour guide, was terrific!! Hats off to Diego!!
Active and outdoorExplorer
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
I am very pleased with the trip. The program was very interesting and carried out calmly without rushing. Many thanks to the guide/driver (Pelle), who can be an example for others. He even washed the bus windows every day so that the photos would be successful. He was helpful in all situations. Many thanks.
RaftingAdventure
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
Accommodation
Hotel, Resort, Lodge
Age Range
16-99 yrs
Operated in
english
Destinations
Auckland, Christchurch, Hokitika
Auckland, Christchurch, Hokitika, Franz Josef, Wanaka, Te Anau, Dunedin, MacKenzie Country, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park
The trip gave a comprehensive tour of some of the main sights in Vietnam. The walking elements in Pu Luong, the hike to My Son temple, and the Mekong Delta were highlights, as was Hanoi. Most of the other walks were sightseeing tours in the cities. Our guide Juan was very organised and professional, and his insights into the history and people were very interesting. The standard of the accommodation was very good. The walking was very sedate and would be doable for almost all travellers. As an introduction to the country, it ticked all the boxes.
Active and outdoor
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
Well-paced trip without being exhausting - excellent Explore leader, Ana: very knowledgeable and professional providing exactly the right level of information. Group was small but very companionable as one might expect from regular Explore travellers. As a suggestion the itinerary might benefit from a stay in Puebla and one less night in Mexico City - which would reduce the travelling time on one of the longer days - but that is an observation rather than a criticism. Elected not to do the Yucatan extension, so cannot comment but would expect that would be as good if one had the time.
Active and outdoorExplorer
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
Explore leader: for Sri Lanka only satisfactory. Not easy to understand, didn't seem to feel part of the group, didn't join us for meals, a poor communicator (relative to past explore trips)
For the dhoni Maldives cruise: Moosa was excellent in every way.
Active and outdoorWildlife
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers