Balkans Small Group Trips

This tour combines sightseeing and a variety of food experiences ranging from street food, meals with local families, cooking classes and farm visits. It also offers a glimpse into the lives of the locals. This tour is highly recommended! Our guide leader Thin was very knowledgeable, supportive and helpful. For our free time he provided many suggestions as well as offered a list of optional activities that you could sign up for if interested which he would coordinate for the group. This was my first tour with Explore. I had a great experience and will look to Explore when planning my next vacation.

The trip was as described in the brochure and was an excellent introduction to the food of Mexico and some of the archaeological sites. The guide Yves was extremely knowledgeable and a great story teller. His local knowledge was invaluable in spotting opportunities as they arose, and also in solving any difficulties. We were a group of 15 with a driver and a guide and were originally put in an 18 seater minibus. As some of the driving days were many hours long, we requested a larger and more comfortable bus and this was arranged. As some of the trips turned out to be even longer than planned, due to roadworks and unavoidable detours, this was an essential upgrade. One of the hotels, rated as premium, had, unbeknownst to either Explore or the local tour operator, had moved us to a much more basic accommodation. It was disappointing but Explore dealt with it in a very timely manner by refunding the cost of the two nights. Mistakes do happen but dealing with them is the mark of a good company. The group was mixed with some couples and some singles. I travelled on my own but there was always company for meals if I wanted it.

Our wonderful guide Raya Gancheva is the reason I would not only recommend Explore to someone else, but look at booking our next tour with them. We all became close as a group and are still corresponding. The only reason I didn't give the accomodation 5 stars was there was a mix of places including a monestary although it was perfectly fine. The places were alll clean, close to transport systems so can navigate easily back on our own and had laundry faci.ities in the places when needed. The breakfasts were varied but all good. Before we left we had arranged an extra week on our own at the end, so I rebooked the same hotel in Tokyo as I had faith it would be good, and I was not disappointed. The forwarding on of luggage also worked very well.

This was a great trip full of lots of amazing sites, experiences and information. I would definitely recommend the optional extras of Saqqara and Abu Simbel. When packing, I would recommend bringing dollars to save lugging Egyptian Pounds around (you will need a lot of notes!). A lot of places accept card which is a blessing as well. However, you will need small denominations of Egyptian Pounds for tipping and any toilet trips (paying to use the toilet is standard). The overnight train and Nile cruise were contrasting experiences but great fun. Personally, I found my sleeping bag liner really handy on the train - but no one else had one and it didn’t bother them. We also didn’t need the extra snacks on the train as the food was ok. Long, floaty trousers or skirts are a must to ensure you are respecting the culture of Egypt. However, I did feel ok in a tshirt but always had a loose, long-sleeved shirt in my bag ready to wear. The group we travelled with were great and Amr, our guide, could not be faulted on his knowledge and passion of Ancient Egypt. I have learnt a lot! Thank you.

A wonderful way to experience the best iof Morocco in a compact 7 day trip. Souks, royal cities, desert, world heritage sites, high and middle Atlas. We covered it all. Would highly recommend

A full on 2week trip taking in Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, HCM City (Saigon), Pnomh Penh and Siem Riep. Travel is mostly by minibus which was fine mostly. An overnight 16 hr train trip from Hanoi to Da Nang was not great-very uncomfortable bed and noisy. Very little sleep. Second train journey from Da Nang to Saigon has been replaced in the itinerary with a flight which was much better. Accommodation was very good mostly and in a couple of places, excellent. Our tour guide, Quang, was outstanding combining knowledge with humour and great attention to detail. Overall, a brilliant trip which would certainly recommend to others.