Middle East Small Group Trips

I loved this trip. Our guide KK was excellent, calm, knowledgeable, patient and kind. Botswana is a truly beautiful country with friendly people. Of all the wildlife tours I have done this was the best. The trip notes were a little brief on the accommodation and lack of power availability (i am being generous here)! I believe it is always best to be upfront about what explorers are letting themselves in for so that they can prepare properly. I would love to do another tour to Botswana, same guide, something else!

A lovely trip from start to finish, great leader, good group and just loved the different Greek Islands. The itinerary was just right with plenty of free time for relaxing.

This was a very full-on trip to two very interesting countries. Both guides were brilliant, their in-depth knowledge and willingness to answer all our myriad questions added considerably to my enjoyment of the trip. My only criticism is that in places the itinerary was a bit too full-on, meaning that some elements were a bit blink-and-you-miss-it. For example Lake Sevan was listed as a highlight of one day but we only caught a glimpse through the window as we drove past. Cutting a couple of elements would allow greater focus on the rest. Other than that, a brilliant trip!

This was such an excellent holiday. We were lucky to have perfect weather, which enhanced the stunning views we enjoyed along the route. The walks were different on each day, with a variety of terrain and therefore experiences, including stopping for freshly squeezed pomegranate juice or herb pancakes for lunch. It was fascinating to see the ancient Lycian ruins, particularly at Patara. I loved the boat trip, swim and lunch on the last day too - such an fantastic way to finish the holiday. Our guide, Zep, was brilliant too. She made sure that she talked to everyone, kept us on track at a pace that suited everyone and entertained us with stories and other information about the places that we visited. I had asked her if she had any knowledge about local plants, an interest of mine, and she was able to give me lots of information. I highly recommend this trip

The Silk Road of Uzbekistan is great trip, the country is much easier and safer to travel than expected, except for non English menus the guide helped translate. A unique country well worth a visit. The trip covers 3 major cities on the Silk road Samarkland, Bukhara and Khiva with a range of great sites in each and our hotels were central to easily enable exploring. The Yurt camp was a great contrast and worth the travel. Large spacious coaches and an entertaining guide Muhammad made the travel days go quickly. The desert castles optional excursion is worth it but also enables a rest day for those wishing to recover from Day 1 and Day 2 of the trip which were full on after early morning flights.

Really great trip, Antonio is a fantastic leader, extremely knowledgeable about Sicily’s history and he imparted his knowledge with skill and humour. We were slightly concerned before the trip that there wouldn’t be much walking, we’ve been on over 10 holidays with Explore and they’ve mainly been chosen so that we get exercise as well as sightseeing. We needn’t have worried, we put in the kilometres exploring some of the large temple sites. As we went in October, we anticipated mixed weather but generally it was lovely and warm. The slopes of Etna were a bit chilly but definitely not to be missed. A great holiday and a great bunch of fellow travellers, very multinational group.