Spain Natural landmarks sightseeing Trips

This was a fabulous week of walking in the stunning Picos de Europa. Juanjo was an excellent leader, his knowledge of the area plus his organisational skills really made this a great trip. I really enjoyed the all the walks although it is probably at the top end of a grade 3 with lots of ascents and descents over rocky ground so you do need to be reasonably fit. However, there is always the option to miss out a day if need be. We were really lucky with the weather in the end as high winds and heavy rain were forecast but Juanjo was always able to come with an alternative if we couldn't do the planned routes. The hotel is small, traditional and family run and all the staff are really friendly. Special mention has to go to Juanjo's son in law who was the chef and prepared the most amazing evening meals for us. Each evening was a three course meal with wine included. All were delicious and really big portions too. The only slight negative was having to wait until 8pm to eat but this is normal for Spain. This was a fantastic trip, made even better by the lovely group and also the bonus of having much better weather than expected.

This was my favourite Explore trip to date - have done 4 other walking holidays with Explore. The scenery was fantastic, very pleasant group of fellow walkers and wonderful guide Juan Jose -, for whom nothing was too much trouble. Food in hotel plentiful and very tasty. Visit to Potes was very enjoyable. The walking could be challenging in parts but you were met with stunning scenery and the weather for October was great. Visit to cheese cave also very interesting and Juan is a wealth of knowledge on the area - walks and local economy. If you enjoy hiking - I strongly recommend

Loved everything about this trip. Tour guide Juan-Jose organised everything so well and also took the time to socialise with us during his free time which helped the bond as a group. Scenery was beautiful and the walking was about the level I expected - no walk was particularly challenging in itself but over the week as a whole, the cumulative effect probably put it on the harder end of the moderate scale. If people wanted to miss a day out, that was not a problem (which is the benefit of a centre-based trip). We were very lucky with the weather in late-October - but can't guarantee that every time!

It was a wonderful experience and, as described, a full-on week of travel and sightseeing, but broken up with a two night stay in Craig’s village with two walks through the beautiful countryside. That stay in the small village was really special as was Craig’s guiding. His knowledge of the area and Andalucia’s turbulent history specific to Granada, Cordoba and Seville was exceptional. His energy, insight and humour really helped gell our group - a great holiday.

Firstly, I will start with a disclaimer I would like to stay in touch with our guide Malina as a friend. While I was walking the Camino she was a true friend to me. She always had best interests of everyone on the tour at heart. I valued her honest council on the walk and will continue to value it through life. My previous review mentioned how much I appreciated the guide and the taxi being there to meet me at the airport. On this occasion neither was there. The guide was out to dinner with the group. The taxi driver left after 1.5 hours. (There was a long delay in collecting our luggage) . Malina left me a whatsapp message which I was unable to access due to no internet connection on my phone. I was able to get an internet connection on a different device and checked the explore itinerary to get the name of the hotel. I then got a taxi to the hotel. When I phoned explore I was told that both the hotel name and address as well as an emergency number are in the final confirmation email. I would highly recommend writing both down before you leave home. I would say the main reason for having a guide is not to point out all the interesting things and the great views but to prevent things going wrong and to deal with them when they do. I successfully walked the Camino last year, ok I had a few blisters but still completed it. It was difficult for me to accept that I would have to do shorter walks this year because of blisters and the heat. But Malina was correct. She took a difficult decision with my best interest at heart to ensure that I not only enjoyed my holiday but also returned home without any health issues. Instead of walking in the heat which was difficult for me I got the opportunity to fully experience the excellent hotels and interesting places on the journey. Which Camino was best I cannot really answer that question. In both cases I was in groups made up of wonderful people with guides who went the extra mile to ensure that everyone had a great holiday. I had two different holidays the first was walking place to place mainly enjoying the journey in the second I had more time to experience the destination. The main thing that both had in common was the camaraderie of the Camino.

Walks were varied & were done in a logical manner with easier ones first gradually increasing in length & severity. All the walks were capable of being done by an experienced walker. Our guide, Bert, was very knowledgeable & also ensured that all the guests were comfortable going at their own pace.