Explore Worldwide Anmeldelser 246

Great trip to Costa Rica ...our flight was diverted and we didn't get there until 2 days later. Explore sorted out transport to hotel and onto join the group next day. Hotel was provided free but we had to pay for transport, which was fair enough. Group leader was excellent and a great wildlife spotter. A couple of walks were cancelled because it was too wet underfoot...a bit of overreacting but safety first. First rate accommodation and if anything too much food...but then we didn't have to eat it.
I've travelled with Explore for years but they have changed in some ways not for the best, but having local tour leaders who are passionate about their country is a great move.

A very poor leader who told us almost nothing about the countries we were visiting. Many questions were met by a shrug of the shoulders or a look at google on his phone. Meals had to be paid as one bill, leaving the group to find different currencies as we travelled through the Balkans as we could not pay with our Credit Cards. The leader on one occasion sat with 6 of us for dinner, and spoke to no one, he just looked at this mobile phone right through the meal. RUDE.
We were taken along a coast path then led off the path the path through rough scrub land. It was dangerous and stupid, an accident could have easily happened. Our guide said nothing, but carried on and left us to help each other. Most of us had cuts to our legs and arms. RIDICULOUS DANGEROUS SITUATION.
We did visit some nice places, but these were outnumbered by the poor leadership and lack of information. I was glad to get home.
This is one holiday I will remember for all the wrong reasons.
After appx 18 holidays with Explore, this will be my last. We were badly let down. We expected better and we deserved better. AVOID.

If you enjoy cycling, DO NOT TAKE AN EXPLORE TRIP!! It is only novices on e-bikes. You must stop every 500 meters at a 12km per hour pace, and if at any time you attempt to go faster, the tour leader yells at you and threatens to terminate your ride!

3 days before I'm due to go on holiday with Explore they contact my wife to tell us we now have to make our own way back to the airport at the end as our flight times have changed by 40 mins, and they can't change their drop off times to help us out. So now we're left scrambling to make alternative arrangements and it will hang over us all holiday! We'll now have to make our own way and hope that there aren't any train delays or issues with bus transfers or we'll miss our flight home! Feels like we're being punished for the airline changing the flight times (which we have zero control over). The ironic thing is that they changed their pick up times at the airport meaning we have to spend 3 hours there waiting for them at the start of the holiday! And they changed the itinery so we miss out on a day in Toulouse. It all feels very one sided and leaves a very bad taste in the mouth before we've even got the holiday. Updated: on the holiday and the local tour guide is fantastic (Erwin) and he has sorted out earlier transfer for us. So I’d give him 5 stars but Explore as a company never got back to us and weren’t helpful at all so they deserve 1 star.

Highlights of Portugal Tour
Overall, I'm glad I went on the Highlights of Portugal tour. Explore did a good job of getting us to cool neighborhoods and viewpoints in Lisbon, and showing us some interesting places between Lisbon and Porto. They picked hotels in the right location. And most of the hotels were pretty good, although I didn't love the one in Porto. Explore also took care of getting us from place to place. The tour leader did a nice job of coordinating things and pivoting when we needed that. And she organized some cool things for us to do and generally knew how to lead us to fun.

Warning, Explore offers a pretty low price, but be sure to know what you are paying for and what was not included. The biggest disappointment was finding out that Explore doesn't hire a guide with a wealth of knowledge about the culture and history of the area. So, for example, we were shown some really nice neighborhoods and churches in Lisbon, but given very little, if any, information about what we were seeing. The leader wasn't even from Portugal.

Explore offers a coordinator rather than a guide who knows the culture and history of the country intimately. For that reason, I do not plan to travel with them again.

I have just returned from a tour to Saudi Arabia with explore .. this was my first tour with this company and my first visit to the Middle East!

This was such an amazing tour the country was so interesting and such a contrast everyday! The Saudi people are so friendly and friendly and genuine, they are so pleased to welcome us to their country and love to talk!

There were so many highlights for me from Alula which was beautiful, to the camel market and prophets mosque ..
I would definitely recommend this trip and also explore were fab … and the rooms were all huge!!!! Food was lovely as well ..

Tour leader , was rude and unhelpful. It was the first time he had lead this tour and had very little knowledge of it. He also changed the itinerary without telling Explore or ourselves
The day 2 boat tour was pointless as we couldn’t see anything. Following the boat trip we were taken to a shopping centre to buy lunch. The group dinner, moved by the tour leader by 24 hours, was fried chicken, followed by more fried chicken ( could have been in KFC ). On one of the days you had to carry your overnight bag , whilst walking around lovely gardens or go by bus to put it in a locker at train station beforehand! Not told beforehand
Explore were very good and admitted the faults with the tour, while were away, however, as soon as we returned, we were told we were lying
Many on the tour carried on in Japan, and from their what’s app and photos, had a better time , and saw more on their own
Having travelled with Explore for 19 years, never again
As for your luggage when sent on, it is just left in the hotel lobby unsupervised, you just help yourself, no checking- do not leave any valuables in there!
Explore have changed, every time they change ownership , they are going down hill with it. It is now all about profit and not customer experience as it previously was.
All of the above can be verified by emails from Explore
The tour was disappointing and a waste of money- we should of gone to Japan and travelled around on our own

I have just returned from the Lycian Way hike in Turkey and it was stunning. Beautiful pine scented forests, towering mountains, the warmest people, swimming in sparkling turquoise sea, the most delicious food. Everything was enhanced by a superb guide Nebil who grew up with the history and culture in his veins. Our group was aged between 21 and 79 and Nebil guided us all through a vigorous hike beautifully. I wasn't sure what to expect but I am so grateful to have had the experience I had and will never forget an amazing time.

I have just returned from the Uzbekistan premium trip. An excellent trip! So many 'wow' right up to the last day! Just amazing! A superb guide, Marat, took great care of us all. Organised, efficient and knowledgeable. Thank you, Marat! There were some points to make such as receiving changes to the itinerary en route to Heathrow for my flight. I question the visit to Nukus. The forts were well worth visiting. The art gallery was fine but we had an explanation of the vast majority of the paintings which took considerable time. I felt the visit to the cemetery was a 'filler' and I did not enjoy it. I would have liked more time in Samakand. The train times changed for reaching Samakand and were later in the day. Marat organised a visit to the Summer Palace and a miniatures school whilst we waited for the train. This required an additional cost. The
paintings were superb. Hotels were very good and cannot be faulted. The 'premium' range appears to be attracting a different market. Most of the group were couples with only 2 of us single.
However, a superb trip. Just wish I had visited before! Thank you.

Central America April 2025

Wonderful packed tour covering 6 Central American countries.
We were a small group of 6 including our world explorer guide Tommy "Mash" Morales.
Tommy was excellent and professional, with a detailed knowledge of every country which greatly enriched our enjoyment of the whole trip.
Angela and Kieran

The Highlights of Japan tour is just that & as such is taken at a fairly fast pace. many 1 night hotel stays , a couple of 2 nights. The hotel rooms vary in size but all comfortable. Travel is experienced on all forms of transport which without a knowledgeable guide would be very difficult to navigate! The itinerary is pre set & is on the whole good . The only exception is on the first day ,Tokyo , we feel we didn’t really see anything of Tokyo. The boat tour is not necessary , neither the garden visit . We feel the afternoon time could be of better use & interest visiting Tokyo city &/ or the golden temple.
Favourites of the tour include Kanazawa, snow monkeys , Hiroshima & Miyajima & Kyoto .
The whole experience was made very enjoyable by the guidance ,care & knowledge of our guide ,Hanan . She went over and above to make sure that everyone was having a good time. Special thanks go to her .

My husband and I have just finished one week in Malta and Gozo. Our tour guide Chantelle was excellent. She really went to a lot of trouble to ensure everyone was OK. Plus she loved sharing information about her homeland of Malta. O have done a lot of Explore trips in the past. This trip is definitely one of the best. Channelle.knew so much about the history of Malta going around the temples and museums with her really gave us a great insight into Malta's past. Well done Explore for finding such a superb guide. Also Chantelle knew how to avoid crowds. A fabulous holiday. Thank you Chantelle and thank you Explore.

Ive just returned from the Gozo & Malta trip..fantastic experience that far exceeded my expectations. This trip is jammed full of gems: The Citadel on Gozo, Hagar Qim temples, the views from the riverboat cruise in Valetta, the Mdina & Marsaxloxx were standouts for me as well as an optional visit to the Casa Rocca Picola stately house which was fascinating, especially when we met the Baron himself, who told us more about the property and the amazing interior. Malta is far more historic than i thought, with masses to see, ranging from beautiful scenery to amazing architecture from the Neolithic age & much much more. However, none of this would have been anywhere as interesting or exciting if it wasnt for Althea, our Tour Guide who is simply outstanding-she is perfect in her role-always a font of enthusiasm & knowledge, very aware of her Guests needs & moods & nothing too much trouble. Althea went to great lengths to ensure that we got the maximum enjoyment & understanding from these beautiful islands. Quite a full on tour-not much down time however time is tight because traffic is heavy on Malta so that can cut into 'down time' a little. Locals very friendly, food comes in big helpings & is delicious, the 2 hotels we stayed in perfectly adequate too. Last but by no means least, I was blessed with being part of a fantastic group who gelled together so well & had many great times & good laughs-having such a great bunch of fellow travellers really 'made' what was already a fab time thanks to Althea. If youre considering this trip then dont wait!

The most incredible holiday! Well organised from start to finish. Our tour guide was fantastic and we were all so well looked after! Remote locations, the beaches were beautiful and some lovely hotels where the staff couldn’t do enough for us! A bonus was we barely had our cases, all of this was taken care of! Thank you Explore! I can’t recommend you enough.

First impression arrived in Laos group meet and greet meal not enough food to go around followed by rush tour as disorganised guides caused delays followed by Vietnam worst guide ever just wanted to sell extra trips at inflated prices trip saved in Cambodia by fantastic guide full of knowledge and experience.

Went on Prague to Budapest trip last October 2024. 1 of the things I wanted to see was closed for repairs
If this was unforseen then it's acceptable. If the company knew in advance then they should have told me.
2 of the other trips were unavailable as they "were out of season". The company would have known about this in advance but advertised these as available.
My first 2 emails to Explore stating that I was very disappointed and wouldn't have booked the holiday if I'd known that 3 trips would be cancelled were ignored. Eventually I received £50 in compensation. A paltry amount compared to a whole holiday bring spoilt.
Explore have now removed the trips from the itinerary on the basis that the information was misleading but that's no help to me.

A couple of months ago I tried to book the Simply Japan tour with Explore. It was a nightmare getting a few important questions answered before we could proceed. Multiple times we were told "we will check with the travel guides on the ground". After three times being told the same thing regarding the same question we just gave up. No one ever got back to us. This company has a low Trust score and as others have noted their customer service is quite bad and they appear to just not care!

I have been on 8 explore holidays over the last 20 years and the decline in customer service is very apparent. Yes they offer lots of holiday choices but don't anymore curate any of the experience subbing it out to local tour people and cutting them to the bone. Which you will notice when you are there with poor quality food options or no options that strips out much of the experience of the destination. When you complain they just don't care. With my last 2 trips the guides who are ment to be with you, neither eat with you or eat what you do. Or they take you to places where they are very likely getting kick backs
I suggest anyone looking for a real adventure should look to book either with a smaller company or book direct excursion when you arrive. You will get more for your money and better quality. Sad really

As the company goes, Explore was easy to deal with, good customer service. We got there easily, had fun and got home. No headaches. Pretty much all you can ask for.

As for the trip -

Went on a cycling trip from Marseille to Barcelona.
I'll break it down into a few sections. Group, Group Guide, Places and Food.

The group was a mix avid and armature cyclist with a mix of regular and e-bikes. People on e-bike stayed in the back which was great so noone got ahead of each other, we stayed together and rode as a team.

Our guide Peter is an avid rider and historian. Loved all the facts and tidbit information about the locations we visited. Every time we stopped for lunch had a fully catered meal by our support truck. Which is something to note, had a support truck to carry luggage, bike repair kits and the bikes when we went from biking to taking a train, so it was painless experience getting from point A to point B.

Places - Each day was a 3-5h ride with stops in between, on the road most of the day. Going from lovely cafes along the sea side to cute towns, everything you envision it to be. If you envision an idyllic French towns stopping to get some coffee as the meadows are in the background. Yep that's pretty much covers it.

Both my wife and i are foodies and we were able to experience local cuisine, friendly people and well prepared meals. The ingredients were always fresh.

Well worth a visit.

I contacted Explore several times about giving feedback about my last trip with them and for some reason this was never provided, so I'm writing a review here.
I travelled on the two week Ancient Sicily Tour which was magnificent. The guide, a former academic, was incredibly knowledgeable. I came home feeling like a Sicily expert.
Please be aware that this is indeed a full-on, semi-academic tour and you'll have very little time to yourself outside the group. During what would be your daily free time, there are some excellent talks given by the guide and you'll have to be strong willed to elect to miss these.
When I attended this trip, there were a good number of days when we were on archaeological sites exposed to the scorching hot midday/ afternoon sun.
There are some hotels with swimming pools, but you'll not really experience beaches until the end of the tour, so do consider adding extra days to your stay.
Be aware that the people travelling are mainly indigenous British and not diverse.
On this occasion a large clique was formed by a regular over-bearing female Explore traveller who very much dictated who was in/ out. As I move to the beat of my own drum, this individual and another older female effectively excluded me from the group. A comment was made by a male member of the group, that shall we say was someway to the right of centre and should perhaps not be the subject of discussion at dinner.
These experiences meant my overall holiday experience was average to poor.
Perhaps Explore needs to consider asking people to read and sign up to a traveller code to avoid forming cliques, displaying their petty or major prejudices and request for people to behave like easy going adults.
In future I would give very strong consideration before ever electing to travel with Explore again.