Scandinavia Small Group Trips

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.

This was a fabulous walking trip in spectacular surroundings. Our guide was excellent, informative, pleasant and helpful. The walking is challenging in places - negotiating rocky stretches, some steep gravelly parts, but manageable when taken carefully. The guide gave good advice on negotiating the tricky parts. Other parts were much easier.

Overall and excellent trip with a diverse group of 10 travellers. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour especially the boat trip to Rinko and Komodo islands. Flores is under development and extremely rural with glorious verdant vegetation and stunning landscapes. A real ‘away from it all’ destination. Bali was very busy with dreadful traffic, however the area this tour goes to offered some tranquility from the hubbub. The boat trip exceeded expectations, was very comfortable with great friendly service. Despite being told we would have a shared multi-berth cabin, we had our own with bathrooms! To finish at the beach in Jimbaran was a great way to relax and restore our energy before the long journey home. Tip: massages are excellent and very cheap!! Highlight: Komodo dragons, snorkelling on pink beach -fabulous!

I went to Jordan because my husband wanted to see Petra, but the country had so much more. The people, the culture and the history from over 9000 years before. Our guide was excellent, thank you Mo. You were kind, made history accessible without overwhelming us with information. Well worth arriving a couple of days before to get a feel for Amman and the people. and R&R at the end at Aqaba and Dead Sea was most welcome(safest snorkelling trip we have been on)

This trip is not for the faint- hearted. But for me, part of the appeal was very basic accommodation, sleeping in a hammock on deck and showering in cold river water. If you don't expect any luxury on the water, you'll love it. With no changing facilities on board apart from a rudimentary loo/ shower you get to know your fellow travellers very well. And great teamwork when the boat was caught in a storm, battening diwn the hatches. Explore make it clear that it isn't what most people would describe as a cruise!