Middle East Escorted Tours and Guided Trips

Early September in Albania was too hot for walking! It was also very humid on some of the walks, particularly day 1. I enjoyed the coastal walks with opportunity to swim on more remote beaches. Our guide Besi was fantastic. He was well organised and good fun. He took us to some great places to eat.

Loved the boat, the tour leader Thanos was excellent and went above and beyond to enhance guest's experiences. Food was excellent, sunbathing on deck was excellent and swimming from the boat was excellent too. We have had a thoroughly enjoyable time.

We saw so much on this trip! Yet never felt rushed or that it too much. Ulf, our tour guide, and Joseph our bus driver were both awesome! The trip was so much better than we could have ever expected!!

The itinerary was jammed with all types of interesting places to see and a country of people to understand. I have two suggestion, one, would be to include some of the optional experiences as part of the regular package, and two, maybe spend a little more time at a few of the locations. I felt a little rushed at times. The tour director, Michelle Worthington, and the driver, Arthur, were amazing and when I come back to do another trip, I hope to be able to request their guidance.

Great, fast paced itinerary that lets you see a great deal of Scotland! The scenery was amazing and our tour director and bus driver were also fantastic! I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who would love to visit Scotland.

It was an excellent trip. As ever with Explore trips a key part of the quality of the trip is the quality of the tour guide. Aston was excellent. His driving was steady and safe. He was kind and courteous. He did his utmost to enable us the see as much as possible. He looked after us very well. The Tortilis camp sites were amazing. They were comfortable and the facilities were excellent. The staff could not do enough for you...hardly letting you lift a finger. So far so good BUT Firstly the vehicle we were in was clearly very old and dilapidated. The seat upholstery was falling a part to the extent that it was so angled that I had to struggle not to slip off the seat...on one occasion I did fall off...fortunately I was not hurt. The vehicle leaked ..fortunately we only had a little rain. There was no air-conditioning so especially on the longer rides it got very hot and the windows had to be closed because of the dust. The seat belts were there but not really usable. On the plus side it didn't breakdown and Aston ensured that it was as clean as possible each day and that water was readily available. However I expected more from an Explore trip and feel I had paid for something better. Secondly we got bumped from the Tortillis camp in Ngorngorn. It was late when we got there and then we had to turn round and go to another site that was greatly inferior. That meant we were extremely late getting there. Our guide had not been told about the change. There was no running water in the tent bathroom. Water for washing was in a jug and flask. There were no electric points for charging things. This had to be done in the communal lounge. And the power was not adequate to charge the groups gadgets. There was no WiFi, although to the credit of the staff there they did provide a hot spot for a short time both mornings. The food there was fine and the staff realised our dismay and did their best to meet our needs and give us a pleasant stay with encouragement from our guide Aston. This wasn't the standard I had paid for and I was very disappointed. I have travelled a lot with Explore over the last 30 years or so and have never complained about anything. I have always had good trips. To show my confidence I am at the beginning of a 6 tour hop round Africa. I always enjoy trips because that is my mind set. But I feel very strongly that I was let down by these 2 crucial aspects of the trip and did not get what I paid for.