Southern Africa Walking Trips

First, the Picos de Europa are stunning mountains, with beautiful beech forests on the lower slopes. But the logistics of walking are complicated because there are very few roads. The great thing about this tour is that the itinerary is designed to overcome those logistical challenges. The tour guide has been leading tours for 35 years and is passionate about the mountains and the paths. He and his family run the small hotel where the tour is based. The hotel is clean and simple, and the food is very good. The guide's detailed knowledge of the mountains meant that he was able to make rapid adjustments if the weather required it. Some of the walks are demanding, but all of them present awesome vistas. I thoroughly enjoyed the week and would definitely recommend it.

Our tour leader was amazing. Sanse (probably incorrect spelling) was very knowledgeable and did a great job organizing the daily activities. She made sure our group was well informed and knew what to expect before each activity. The dinners were excellent and accommodation very comfortable. Would highly recommend this tour.

This was my first walking trip overseas and was a fabulous introduction. Our tour guide, Nigel, was extremely competent and knowledgeable and he made me feel safe at all times. He was also extremely considerate to the mix of capabilities. The itinerary was just right. Whilst the distances don't look great, the cliff walking (ascents and descents) together with the heat, all added to the challenge and should not therefore be underestimated. The scenery is breath-taking making the walks so worthwhile. The Agriturismo was a great way of supporting and immersing oneself into the local community - it was perfectly comfortable and we were well fed too! Highly recommended.

Susi was a superb guide, hands down the best I’ve had with Explore (and I’ve been on several Explore trips.). She’s the kind of person who’s just made for this kind of work (although she has done other work as well.). The kind of person I’d want to be friends with outside of an Explore trip, that is for sure. She made the whole trip enjoyable. I’d just bet she could have done that if our hiking weather was bad (but it wasn’t.) I don’t think we had any issue the entire trip (except maybe the one day the hotel didn’t have coffee at breakfast because the machine broke, so we just had some at a cafe during a short break period.). However, she gave me the impression that she had the confidence to deal with issues if they happened our way. I told her at the end of the trip, in a note that I included with my tip, that she completely made me forget that I was turning 68 in November. She made 38 miles over five days seem like a walk in the park. She was always encouraging, also solicitous (but not excessively so.) Susi is Austrian but lives in Barcelona (and travelled a lot in Europe) so that was a plus for me in getting intel over dinner for future travel plans. She knew plenty about Portugal as well and helped fill in my information gaps nicely. I think you will be fortunate to keep her working for Explore. She will make travelers want to come back for more. I understand she has done biking and cultural trips, as well at the hiking ones, which didn’t surprise me a bit. She’s enthusiastic about all of it.

As usual (for the third time!) most wonderful scenic walks, warm welcoming guide and family, lovely Asturian food, comfortable accommodation. Will be back "home" again next year. Thank you JuanJo and family.

We greatly enjoyed our Lake Como trip with Explore. The trip leader, Kris, did a great job of guiding us, making sure we were fully briefed, and ensuring the group were all managing well. Kris provided a lot of local history and color as part of the walks. He was knowledgable and communicated very well. The hotel, The Regina, is very well situated on the shore of the lake, and affords some amazing vistas. The staff were friendly and helpful. The food was okay but not fine dining. The rooms were comfortable but lean towards spartan. The trip is rated level 3. Perhaps two of the walks were level 3; the others were level 2. The walks blend time on trails and paths with time on roads going past homes and through small towns. All the walks include lovely views of Lake Como and the surrounding Southern Alps. You will need to count on time waiting for public busses as you go to and sometimes return from daily outings. It's good to have a lower impact on the environment but can be tedious and requires careful timing to ensure busses are not missed. Overall, this was an enjoyable hiking / walking trip with great scenery and expert guidance.