Eastern Europe Active outdoor Trips

Pablo and Bill took complete care of us and made our trip special. Both had lots of knowledge about the history and country of Portugal which they shared with us. Bill prepared awesome picnic lunches for us on three of the days. Much appreciated.

It was an area of the world I had always wanted to explore and it lived up to expectations. In part to our excellent Tour leader Alex, who was very knowlegeable and companionable. As well as the stunning landscape, history, architecture, food, I could go on! Another benefit was being in such a small group, meant we could all gel together and not have to fight for the leaders attention. Not forgetting the the skill of the driver Edward, ensuring we all arrived safely!

Excellent travel experence,very well organised with a highly efficient knowledgeable and personable tour Leader ,Alex and two great drivers. We managed to visit the major cultural sites vast distances apart thanks to an internal flight and a speed train plus two long bus journeys. The food was good and the bread delicious. The people were so friendly. All in all a lovely holiday.

Loved the 4 countries we visited. Accommodation seemed below explore standards. In several places wifi did not work in room, although it did work in some place outside of room. Hotel Mecavnik was very cold in the room with no heating available. I did not do the optional boat trip on Skadar lake, there was nothing else to do apart from sit at a restaurant for the 2.5 hours while waiting for others to finish the boat trip, it would have been better if there was a good walking area while waiting. Apart from these details, the rest of tge trip was excellent. Daniela our tour leader made everything run smoothly and she really excelled at sharing her knowledge of the area.

This was genuinely one of the best experiences of my life, and a huge amount of that comes down to how well Explore organised the whole thing. Pabel, our tour leader, was absolutely brilliant - knowledgeable, warm, and incredibly well-organised. Everything ran smoothly from start to finish, and you could tell the whole operation had been carefully thought through. The route Explore uses is particularly impressive - we managed to avoid the bulk of the crowds on the trail, which made the whole experience feel far more immersive and special than I'd expected. We were a small group of seven and that made such a difference. Everyone gelled immediately and we had so much fun together. The porters deserve a special mention: they were phenomenal, and the food on the trail was genuinely outstanding. They even baked a birthday cake at the highest elevation campsite, which tells you everything about the spirit of the team. The one thing that held me back from a perfect score was the main hotel in Cusco. The location is excellent, but my room was really noisy - you could hear the reception phone and conversations drifting in from the courtyard throughout the night. For a trip this good, it felt like an easy fix that would make an already brilliant experience flawless. Highly, highly recommend Explore for the Inca Trail. Already thinking about the next one.

The trip was well described so we knew what to expect, the local guides were knowledgeable and were able to accomidate the range of abilities of the group. Beware that the description, "basic Berber village house" is an accurate one!