West Africa Group Tours

We had two leaders - one in Sri Lanka and another in the Maldives. Both were excellent, but particularly Su in Sri Lanka because we encountered very difficult circumstances due to exceptionally heavy rainfall during our trip.

1. Loved Murano Glass, felt they should have let us know they had discounted stuff in the lower level--believe more $$ would have been spent by the group. 2. LOVED the serenaded gondola ride. It felt magical and awesome!! 3. Loved the tours in Rome, but felt the Vatican did a terrible job of crowd control, and could have designated lanes for timed entry. It was scary when the crowds pushed and everyone shifted because we were so tightly packed in as we waited. And our group, dispite having a leader holding a "flag" was splintered into 3 as we struggled to move forward. Some not so nice people attempted to "snake" their way through the crowd by holding hands, moving single file and pushing forward. I had terse words with a man and his group that were doing that. Would NOT choose to go back in a Jubilee year again. 4. Disliked the hotel on the canal in Venice--can deal with no A/C by opening the windows, but we were on the second floor (convenient for walk up from lobby) but with windows open and no bars on the windows-someone could have climbed out onto the ledge that was on our side of the second floor-traveled down to our window, and climbed in through our bathroom---so I felt vulnerable going to sleep with the windows open, and and was uncomfortably warm with them closed. 5. LOVED the Castello del Trebbio visit. Pasta making was a fabulous and memorable event and tasted just as fabulous. Their environment was "happy-sigh" inducing. I was glad I volunteered to cut the pasta. The chef was informative, and collaborative, and did a great job teaching the pasta making class!! In the future, Collette could consider offering entry to the Duomo, or other Pay-entry churches as choices for excursions. 6. LOVED walking Assisi. 7. LOVED walking Cortona and Perugia. 8. LOVED the hotel in Perugia-Sangallo Palace Hotel 9. LOVED the hotel at Lake Como--Hotel Barchetta Excelsior. Would definitely go back to Italy again. Even though this was our second time to visit Rome-I was amazed that we saw different things this time.

My first trip with explore after being introduced to it by a couple of colleagues. A great trip fitting in a lot of Morocco into the 9 days so quite fast paced and a lot of travelling but this is mentioned in the trip notes and expected due to the amount of the country you cover in the 9 days.. Nabil our tour leader was excellent, very knowledgable and made the trip very enjoyable especially the long bus journeys..

This trip is fab for those that like being at sea, chilling out with like minded people, eating great food and most importantly getting in the water to explore the underwater world. Explore know how to put together a great itinerary which looks after the environment and benefits the local community

The tour manager and individual tour guides did a wonderful job of giving us a good overview of each site we visited. No long rides - and in most cases good time on our own to discover each site. It would be nice to have more time in Florence - as in around 6 hours we only scratched the surface of the beautiful city and its museums and other sites. More specific recommendations on where to dine would also be helpful. The group activities were much more enjoyable than expected. The hotel was good (the one in Rome, even better.) All transportation went extremely well.

Good overview of Saudi Arabia. Loved Hegra area. Recommend the tour. Felt tour guide could provide more upfront info about the plan activities so that the whole group is in the know. However, overall a good tour leader.