Poland Tours in Fall

An amazing tour with great experiential visits to the cities. Can’t pick out one favorite but here’s a few: cooking class in Prague, kleezmeer restaurant and dance, visit to and guided tour of Benedictine monastery and so many more.

Varied opportunities from waltz class to spa experience to symphony and historical sights, the Hapsburg dynasty, the Ottoman influence, and remnants from WWII and the Holocaust. Particularly, I was most impressed with our tour manager Pavel. Not only ws he fluent in the needed languages but he was also of lover of history and quite knowledgeable. Collette should work to keep him as he prefers to work free lance.

Our Legendary Fjords and Northern Poland End Warsaw tour was an incredible adventure and we enjoyed every moment. The landscapes in Norway were incredible and visiting the small towns along the way, and experiencing the Fjords was wonderful. Tours of the big cities were also enjoyable, and the local guides were real experts. We would have liked more time in Oslo in the Sculpture Park, felt a bit rushed. We loved the included funicular, Ferries, and especially the overnight Ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen which was a unique experience. Overall, the itinerary was excellent. There were 2 days of very early morning start, but most days, we started the days in comfortable times. The 2 days that we covered 500+ km would have been better if there were scheduled comfort stops rather than people having to ask to stop. On Sunday, after Gilo, we stopped at a place that had no lunch, everything was closed, and the Guides shortened lunch time by 30 minutes, so we did not eat at all for hours. Tour guide Miguel and Veronica were very good. It was hard to listen to translations in 3 languages. Both were knowledgeable and gave us enough information, but not too much to overwhelm. Guide Veronica was sometimes in a bad mood. The hotels were very good, itinerary and logistics were excellent. Would have loved to have more walking opportunities during the many days on the bus in Norway. Bus needs to have wifi and charging port.

I thought the itinerary for this trip was good. Warsaw, Wrocław & Kraków are lovely cities. I would suggest that Auschwitz is added to the itinerary as the majority of the group had booked the trip to visit there. Even with the links provided by Explore, and booking far in advance, one member of our group ended up having to leave the hotel at 2:30am to queue for hours to get tickets. I think if Explore organised this, it would make things much easier for everyone. The traditional Jewish dinner with music was an absolute highlight for me, make sure that stays on the itinerary! The Salt mine was incredible & the Gnome hunting was also fun. While our tour leader was a lovely person, this was her first time doing the trip, which meant things were not always what I've come to expect from an Explore tour leader. She seemed a bit disorganised at times, we didn't get a proper introduction and she didn't always communicate to the entire group. At one point we were having a walking tour and I didn't even realise, I had been told it was later and that this was the walk to lunch! I'm sure though with a few tours under her belt this will change. The local tour guide we had in Wrocław was excellent, very funny. No complaints about the accommodation. The place we stayed in Wrocław, which had been changed last minute, was a bit quirky but not unpleasant. A note about the food, the portions are very large, so you might not spend as much money on food as you would expect. I would recommend this trip but just be aware that some of it is very emotional at times, due to the nature of the places you visit. For the free time in Warsaw, I would suggest visiting the Rising museum. I also did the optional excursion to the Ksiaz Castle in Wrocław which was well worth a visit.

Exceptionally well organised tour. The tour leader, Pawel, was professional, helpful and engaging. His local knowledge and the fact that he took time to share local history all contributed to the success of the tour. The itinerary was very good and varied, something for everyone.

I felt it was a good solid pace with a lot of nice variations in location. My only wish was perhaps start at Auschwitz instead of ending on it (a bit depressing) if possible.