Central Asia Natural landmarks sightseeing Trips

The itinerary was comprehensive. We could have maybe spent a little more time in some of the beautiful towns, but everything had to run on a schedule. Our tour director was wonderful, & our bus driver was absolutely brilliant. Many thanks Insight Vacations.

The cycling was graded as "easy" and I was pleased that was indeed the case as I had never done a cycling holiday with Explore before. The group of 16 looked rather daunting at first, but we all got on really well together and had good fun, especially all mucking in to make an unexpected barbecue in the grounds of our accommodation. The accommodation was appropriate for the places and areas where we were, and the tour leader organised everything well to see the most interesting places, have good meals and a wine-tasting, and stop for appropriate breaks. The "optional" harder day was the most enjoyable, the beautiful scenery and stunning village of Minerve more than making up for the uphill ride.

What a vacation! Relaxing, but thrilling at the same time. Explore have come up trumps with this trip.accomodation was awesome, varied each night a range of hotels, small family run guest houses to a manor house. All were spotless, with good facilities and a super team running each place. The trip was the right mix of challenge and relaxing. There are some long days of walking but the time flies in such beautiful countryside and time spent chatting to other pilgrims. The explore team on the trip were attentive and frankly brilliant, Lucas.our tour leader, did a great job looking after the teams needs in a totally relaxed way.His local knowledge and understanding of the environment we were walking through was invaluable and interesting.a great tour leader. Angela and Emma hosted tours of Leon and Santiago respectively. They were funny, engaging and oh so knowledgeable. We were so privileged to have them all. Us, a small group of seven, were of varying ages from late forties upwards, had an absolute ball. Each was able to find their own time, relax and find friendships which I believe will last. We laughed together and reflected together like old comrades. It was a life changing trip in so many ways. New friends, new experiences and some personal changes. Just perfect, thank you.

The transfers to and from the Lisbon hotel were efficient and on time. As well, the extra leg room in the well-apppointed coach was welcomed! Great food, wine, lodgings, and experiences. Daniel Ferguson was an experienced guide who not only took us to beautiful sites, but also added a couple of extra side trips and treats. He and our driver Felipe worked extremely well together, and the local guides were all knowledgable and passionate about their subjects.

From the get-go, Explore were great with information and deadlines. I felt in very safe hands as I'd never been to Sicily before and would not know where to start. We were based in Recanati, just at the close of the holiday season - plenty of places to eat and drink but not crowded. From there, our fantastic, highly knowledgeable and very friendly guide Lara took us to some amazing sites, including the slopes of Etna, Taormina and the islands of Lipari and Volcano with great (not strenuous) walks and superb scenery. It was like lots of tasters of the East side of the island. Wonderful.

The tour leader Juan Jo looked after us well and changed some of the itinerary days around because of wet weather the first few days, In fact we had the first snow of the season on the Sunday. This worked out fine and we enjoyed the first few days walks until the sun came out. Then having the toughest day last up to the Naranco de Bulnes was great as it was the best day and we had all gained a good level of fitness. As a vegetarian I was delighted with the meals the cook at Casa Cipriano served up. It was a really nice hotel and quiet base to stay at. It was my second visit to Sotres on an Explore trip. I had done my first guided walking trip there back in 1997 and always wanted to go back. I was very happy to see Juan Jo was still the guide and enjoyed the slightly different itinerary with another lovely group of people.