Walking in Mallorca

This was my first trip with Explore. I genuinely liked the hiking though 'moderate' should be more 'challengingly moderate' for a couple of the hikes. Thankfully, I had a great group who were very experienced with Explore and/or these types of trips. The hikes were very beautiful and worth the effort. The accommodations were acceptable - Hostal Esporlas was very quaint and the hosts did a great job. The room had a great view. Breakfasts were plentiful and delicious. They were very kind to me as I arrived very early on Friday morning with horrible jet lag (7 hours ahead of my time zone). They allowed me to lie down in a room for a couple of hours so that I could rest since my room wasn't ready yet. Hotel Amoros was a typical tourist hotel. Okay, but not quaint like Hostal Esporlas. Cala Ratjada had more variety of places for dinner and exploring on our own. Starting on a Saturday night wasn't really the best planned beginning. Since we had to go find things to take for lunches for the coming days, there was not much available given the time people arrived on Saturday (and most were delayed due to weather) and when the hikes began first thing Sunday. It wasn't made clear about dinner at the hotel on Saturday when people arrived and that we could also have our dinners there during the week if we chose. The day of the most difficult hike on Wednesday (essentially climbing ~240 floors) was also the day for the long bus ride to Cala Ratjada - where we then had a free day the next day (Thursday) and an easy hike on Friday. It would have been a more logical and efficient plan to have started in Cala Ratjada, have the easy hike, have the break day to prepare for the coming hikes based out of Esporlas, and then travel to Esporlas for the remainder of the trip. The major disappointment was our guide. He was delayed due to flight issues (out of his control) but he had also just come off another guided trip so was not prepared for our trip. He quickly lost the respect of the group (essentially on Hike 1) and then couldn't earn it back later. It was clear he was not experienced on these hikes - more often than not relying on his phone (and not looking at the trail maps by the trails). He provided scant information that is usually shared on these trips (as per several of the group members’ experiences on previous Explore trips). I learned more about Mallorca on the 50-minute show by Lufthansa on my return trip home than I did from the guide. The guide was not informed on the areas, he clearly had not done most of the hikes, and he didn't know the town(s) to recommend dining choices or information. He reserved dinners at the same restaurant for two of the nights in Esporlas and didn't bother to check any other of the available restaurants. He was not knowledgable of any places in Cala Ratjada - just googled places and things and then sent them out to us on WhatsApp. The guide was unprofessional - expressed that he was tired, had a headache, drank too much and shared personal family issues. He was very impatient with the the group and would often hike ahead and leave the us to fend for ourselves. Especially on the challenging hikes, he gave no attention or care to ensure the group members were safe and taken care of. He even had the audacity to try to brag to one of the group members about the tip he got on another trip he where he was the guide. On the last night, group members expressed their feelings to him and he acknowledged that he had not done a good job. Lucky for Explore that having a bad guide won't stop me from trying another hiking excursion with them. The other members of the group spoke about their good experiences with Explore which also showed me that the problem wasn't Explore, it was the guide. Even with that, I did enjoy my trip, loved the hikes and was thankful of all the beautiful places and things I saw in Mallorca.

We arrived in the town of Esporles on a Saturday evening. On Sunday and Monday pretty much everything was shut. The hotel was a beautiful traditional hotel, but there were mouse traps under the bed. in preparation for our first walk we asked the guide whether we would need lunch but he indicated we would just need a snack., this was not appropriate on a six hour challenging walk. Only bed and breakfast was provided which meant we had to buy lunch every day from a poorly stocked supermarket. The second hotel was very much a budget tourist hotel. It seemed strange to move us there mid week to have a free day and then only one walk ! We were then a long way from the airport. This was my first trip with explore, and I was very disappointed as I thought it was very poor value for money. The guide didn’t seem particularly engaged. He went on ahead a lot so he was out of sight for up to 15 minutes at a time. On the last walk, he lost half of the group whilst walking on very difficult terrain because he carried on ahead and didn’t wait. I didn’t find him very professional as on some evenings he drank too much and talked about his personal issues. The walking in Majorca itself is beautiful but much of the enjoyment was taken out of the trip due to the issues described above.

Spaska an Excellent leader.Friendly,helpful and part of group.Very aware of differing ability of walkers.

Wonderful holiday. Challenging climbs. Breathtaking mountain and coastal views. Knowledgable guide who went out of her way to make sure we all were happy .We really found the real Mallorca.

A good mix of walking, both in the mountains and coastal.

Wonderful adventure, excellent tour leader. Dreadful online customer service from London office.

3 stars is mainly due to trip being described as moderate but didnt find it as difficult as other moderate trips but was informed this can be due to terrain as much as distance/ascent/decent. Personally preferred the first 4 days in Esporles. Coastal walks later in the week a bit disappointing. Overall, good walks, good food, lovely guide and nice bunch of fellow walkers.

I enjoyed this trip emmensely - the tour guide Dago was very knowledgeable and when we were walking in the clouds and mist at the top of a mountain he confidently kept going and led up down to our destination. Great and challenging hikes going uphill a lot of the time! But definite would recommend this trip.👍😃

A very enjoyable trip will be it a bit more strenuous than I had expected from the notes although the walks are short the terrain is extremely rugged at this challenge many in the group. The leader was good at leading the walks and handling everybody, but he was a little bit weak on the communications side, and quite a while people were unsure about what was coming up exactly.

This trip was really let down by the leader. Dago was an affable man. He chuckled a lot. He should not be guiding English speaking groups. To be fair, language was not a barrier but there was a huge deficit in factual information of where we would be going, at what time we would be going and what facilities would be available when we got there.

The hotel in Esporles is very convenient for the Walks thus minimising travel, but I had to ask for a plug for the sink and the stairs are extreme. But the food at dinner and breakfast was very good and plentiful, excellent hot water, very comfortable beds and the staff are delightful Second hotel was good: soulless but efficient and perfect site for starting the Walks The first day walk was too short and there was nothing to do in the hotel or Esporles - suggest you look at afternoon visit to La Granja up the road and on the bus route Our Guide was Dago who was Excellent - very thorough, helpful, summarised the Walks well and was flexible when the weather dictated change of plans. One of the best guides - please pass this on

The places we stayed were wonderful, the hosts in Esporles were so welcoming and the food in the Hostal Esporles was great. The hotel in Cala Ratjada was nice and centrally located. It was great having someone take care of the arrangements for eating and hotel. Our tour leader, Dago, was very nice but not the most communicative. He didn't give great instructions and also allowed people to go at different speeds so that the groups was at times very dispersed. This was my first Explore tour so I asked a lot of questions before the trip. I felt very prepared for our hikes (the type of terrain, length and elevation). I was not aware that very little would be shared about what we saw as we hiked. In speaking with others on my tour, I learned that there are different types of Explore tours so I will look into some of the others. (I like a combination of learning about where I am and walking.) When I arrived at the airport in Palma, I was supposed to have been met by a representative of the tour company. I waited about 30 minutes, called the tour representative number I had (no answer) so also touched base with Explore Customer Service. They also were not able to reach the tour representative so they told me to take a cab and they would reimburse me. I'll see if I was reimbursed when I get my credit card statement.

Great walking and amazing scenery . Really enjoyed all the walks and well chosen cafe stops . Contrast of two different hotels in different parts of the island worked well. Pre trip confirmation had a couple of errors that needed addressing and there was a problem with my friend’s transfer not turning up despite us checking twice beforehand that this had been arranged . Our guide took a lot of trouble to check that the eating arrangements were suitable for me . There was a large discrepancy in walking ability amongst us and as such we were quite a fragmented group .