The organization of the tour was planned with preciseness. We were able to see so much in a week. It was definitely worth the cost. Our Tour Director was phenomenal. Janine (Adriana Van Lanen) took Customer Service to a whole another level. She accommodated all the needs of my group members. Whether it was finding requested jewelry, accommodating frequent bathroom needs, making a change in the schedule, allowing additional time at a site, or locating a lost item, etc., she handled it effortlessly. The only reason I did not give 5 stars is the airline flight. We had three flights going and returning which made it seem like we stayed at the airport for two days for departure and two days on return to the US. British Airways lacks significantly in Customer Service. Our Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Sharjah Tour definitely warranted a flight on Emirates United States.

I enrolled my son for a Costa Rica trip with his school but unfortunately, I had to cancel for personal reasons. Even though I bought the insurance they are charging me almost $500 on cancellation fees and I won't be able to get a refund of my money for the next 8 weeks. . Overall, I do not plan to use Explorica for any of my kids' trips or any trip. Worst travel company ever. DO NOT use it unless you would like to throw money away. Teachers and schools should know about all of this before encouraging kids to travel.

My son and his school will be traveling to Italy, France and Spain in March 2023. I unfortunately missed the deadline to enroll him with time and after communicating with the teacher/organizer she stated explorica would be changing a late registration fee which I was okay with. After signing up my son the next day I notice Explorica overcharged my credit card. I contacted them and they said there was a glitch in the system and they would get back to me. They have given me different information about my refund every time I call and get in contact with them. This has been a nightmare! It has been over 2 weeks and they cannot provide a breakdown or refund of the fees listed the invoice, specifically the $247.00 private group fee multiple representatives confirmed it was included in the tour fee. This going back and forth is debilitating and I just want my refund.

A great company that is so well organized and communicates so well with travel leaders.

This was the first time I had traveled to Scotland. The trip was a great experience. I secretly want to move to Scotland now.

My grown daughter and I very much enjoyed our first trip to Europe, via Explorica. I will say upfront that our guide, Jean Luc Vasta, was GREAT, and I also think that Explorica did a very good job with transportation, getting us from city to city and country to country. We were very happy with our itinerary and all of the cities and sights that we were able to experience. Those were the pros of the trip, now for the cons - Enough of which would likely make me re-consider another trip with your company. First, I realize that lodging and the cost of lodging are a HUGE driver of the cost of this trip. As such, this is most likely the explanation for the fact that we were in hotels 30+ minutes outside all the cities and sights we were visiting. Those locations lessened our costs, or increased your profits. While MOST of the places that we stayed were very comfortable, it was a definite minus that we spent SO MUCH time each day traveling to and from our hotels, and it was basically impossible to return to the hotel mid-day or any time between the early morning departure and the late evening return. To address these concerns - and allow for more comfortable days and more opportunity to see things - I would definitely suggest that you investigate the possibility of housing participants in closer facilities. While we are on the topic of lodging, one of our hotels - the Hotel Les Trois Lys, in Azay-le-Rideau, was UNACCEPTABLE. While I have heard all of the 'reasons' post-COVID that this was the case, the hotel was completely unprepared to accommodate a group of our size, the quality of the hotel (bugs and broken furniture and fixtures that looked like they were from a yard sale) was NOT equal to the price we were paying, or any of the other locations that we stayed at. The town was lovely, but the lodgings and breakfast AND dinner that we were provided here were DEFINITELY sub-standard, even to the point of receiving a refund for what we paid. On the topic of food...Everyone in our group - it even became a joke from our guide - was VERY disappointed in our pre-arranged meals. The fish and chips in London was good and representative, and the meals in Amsterdam were notable, but THROUGHOUT France, which was the majority of our trip - in a country that is KNOWN for it's fine cuisine! - we were served dry, baked chicken. Even the 'free continental' breakfasts that we had in the Ibis hotels were better than the dinners we were locked into b/c of timing and the fact that we had already paid for them. I am sure that there is a contractual agreement between Explorica and the restaurants we ate at, but it was OBVIOUS that this was a significant area where corners were cut and price savings/profit were more important than customer experience. There were also some 'personality' issues among some of our tour leaders, but I don't know that Explorica has much control over that, so I will leave that be for now. Overall I am very glad that we participated in the trip, b/c now I have some comfort and familiarity in knowing that I can successfully travel abroad. I will definitely plan on doing that trip myself next time, though, so that I can choose my own food and lodging and so that I can see and do the things that I would like. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this review.

Costa Rica is beautiful and exciting. Once in country we went sightseeing to animal sanctuaries and parks and a volcano. Visited hot springs, went zip lining, horseback riding (I rec skip that), kayaking. Eating was mostly subsistence but still good. Explorica mostly enforced masking on the crowded tour bus, much better than the airline, which quit checking vaccines and requiring masks just prior to our trip. We had a COVID outbreak in our combined group of 40-something, mostly high school-aged people, starting on day one, so he was probably sick before getting on the plane. Two in our sub-group of 12 were COVID-positive by the time they got home. The last leg of our return flight was cancelled, and the airlines did not cover our hotel room for that expense or compensate me for my lost day of work. I never heard if our sub-group leader was compensated by Explorica for that expense. I loved Costa Rica, but I will watch expected travel conditions more closely in the future. I'm in my 60's, have never had COVID, and don't want to run that risk.

Excellent Trip. Our Tour Director Adam Self went above and beyond to make this a sit back and enjoy trip. Loved our trip through the Highlands with Reese our bus driver from Maynard Tours. Frank our coach driver in Ireland was wonderful. The only issue that no one liked was the plane reservations. We were put in different locations on the planes. More care needs to be taken to put the people who room together to be able set together on flights. Most of my group had never traveled internationally and this was not a good experience for them. I would definitely take another trip with Adam as our Tour Director. Very Very Enjoyable Trip. Thank you everyone for making this a bucket trip of a lifetime.

Overall, our trip to NYC was AMAZING!! There were so many sights to see, and our tour guide tailored our trip to sights that the girls wanted to see (Disney Store in Times Square and the Harry Potter store). Our tour guide, Mike Morgenthal, was so knowledgeable about the city, made the tour very entertaining, and kept us on track! Group dinners, especially the first night at Havana Central, were disappointing. Our group primarily consisted of 11-12 year-olds with limited palates. While I know that part of traveling is to expand horizons and try new things, we also can't host a dinner that the girls won't eat after a long day of site-seeing. We also had a vegan in our group, and she didn't receive her meal until the rest of the group was almost finished eating. At the second restaurant, Coke, Sprite and water were offered as drink choices, but there were no diet sodas provided. Also, this group was for the troop of Girl Scouts, but we only received notice that Girl Scout Central wouldn't be open during our visit unless something had been arranged in advance. It was disappointing that Explorica did not know/look into this in advance of our trip. With the amount to see and take in at some of the stops, it was a little overwhelming. I guess, we'll just have to go back to NYC!! Like I said, overall, GREAT trip!!!

Me gusto mucho el viaje me gustaria en el futuro hacer otro