Santiago De Compostela Art and architecture Trips

The Explore leader was excellent and provided way more services than expected. The trip began with a slow start in that none of our fellow travelers received the promised shuttle from the airport and had to make our own way to the first hotel. This is where we first met our Explore leader, Jessica. I did not expect any more from Explore than a once a day briefing on our route but Jessica looked after us like a mother hen looking after chicks. She kept track of who was leading and who was lagging. Escorted the willing on side trips to visit churches or monuments, directed us to pharmacies, restaurants, laundries. Arranged for taxis for those that needed them and followed up to make sure that the taxi had actually arrived etc. She was outgoing and personable and made what turned out to be the hottest week in a century more tolerable. Great job!

First and foremost we had a most wonderful guide, Jessica. She gave us a rundown daily of what to expect ie: mileage, terrain, history of the area, landmarks. She made sure we were well hydrated during the heat wave. Had numerous bathroom breaks as well as nutrition stops. Jessica was able to negotiate and translate with the locals when we needed her in restaurants and hotels. To me Jessica made the entire trip memorable. She is a ray of sunshine.

I will start with a couple of small things that meant a lot to me. I had been travelling all day and arrived a Madrid Airport around 11pm local time to be met with Alex our guide who had a taxi waiting for me. He ensured the hotel checkin went very well. Everyone on the Camino was incredibly friendly if anyone was in trouble everyone came running to help. I mentioned above about being met at the airport and everything going smoothly it was the same for the whole trip. The hotels were all first class, the staff could not have been nicer. I felt that we were given the freedom we needed to experience the Camino with the support of a guide there in case anything went wrong. We formed a good group who got on really well. I can see why the pilgrimage is rated so highly, the scenery was excellent, the churches were fantastic along with some of the historic towns and cities. Something which surprised me about the Camino was the number of single women walking on their own. The fact that they feel that it is safe to do so should be a source of pride to the Spanish people. Everyone I talked to who completed the Camino took away what they needed from it.

Luca's was a fabulous guide and very knowledgable about the area. He was the perfect advocate for the group. The walk was more of a challenge than I expected and not for the faint hearted. It was great to start the walk a few days before the 100km mark when the crowds joined in. The accomodation was mostly good but a few places were a little poor.

Walking The Camino de Santiago was an absolute amazing experience that can not be described in a few sentences. One should make this journey and immerse themselves in the people, food, history, culture traditions and deeper connection with others. Highly recommend you do this at least once in your lives. Our guide Ester was phenomenal, providing great details on the trails, hidden gems along the way, and the best lunch and dinner locations; Explore is the only company that i could find that fulfills the milage requirements to get your Compostela Certified.

Our guide, Ester Galindo, was caring, considerate and kind as well as being professional, organised, knowledgeable and punctual. She could even recall if a specific hotel had bathrooms, despite there being so many in a single trip and with all her different tours. She was also fun!