"They cancel, you pay"

They cancelled my child’s trip and conveniently offered an alternative that is $1000 more expensive. No offer for a refund. Frauds!

"Cancelled Trip and Missing Refund"

This organization cancelled my child's trip when we had almost paid the full amount. It has been almost a month and no communication or refund has been received. In addition, her online account shows no account balance. This is highly dishonest and questionable, in my opinion, and I would not trust this company AT ALL.

"Professional excellence!"

Explorica and staff took care of every detail for a fantastic trip for 22 pariticpants to Italy and Spain. Our tour guide, Maria, was professional and highly qualified and stayed with us throughout both countries. The students learned so much and had so much fun! We highly recommend Explorica for student travel!

"Our adventure to Equador and the…"

Our adventure to Equador and the Galapagos Islands was incredible. Our tour director, Braulio, was knowledgeable and so helpful. We saw so many species and had amazing experiences. This trip was truly once in a lifetime.

"The trip was amazing"

The trip was amazing. The hotels were beautiful, the guide and driver were incredible, and the food was delicious. The only downside was that we were told we would have a flight from a city close to us for the entire time I was planning the trip only to have this change at the last minute leaving us to scramble and change plans. Other than that everything was wonderful.

"Excellent Experiences"

I've participated and run four trips through Explorica over the last eight years and have felt supported through all of them. The staff at the office is supportive and knows their business, our tour guides have been fantastic and our students have had a great travel experience. We even had to make trip adjustments due to COVID and our tour rep was incredibly helpful.

"Aura Tripovich amazing and responsive"

Aura Tripovich amazing and responsive! She and Mario (our bus driver) made our trip magical!!! Aura is a is an absolute treasure and made adults and students comfortable, feel well cared for, and she really helped our students understand the deeper meaning of global travel. The reason I did not give you five stars is because one of the hotels did not have any water for period of time. It is a basic necessity that must be met, regardless of the level of hotel.

"Overall our trip was excellent"

Overall our trip was excellent. The Explorica Tour guide, Sabrina, was amazing! I've traveled with tour guides in the past and Sabrina had all the best qualities of my previous guides in one person. Her French and English was outstanding! Her guidance at every step extremely helpful. Her contact with the students perfect: enthusiastic, informative, insightful. She researched alternative options when the Eiffel Tower was closed. She worked very hard every minute of the tour to make sure everyone was well taken care of. She surpassed all my expectations!

I was also pleasantly surprised by the very high quality of some of the activities. The tour guides at the Louvre, for example, were the best of any tour I've taken and I've done many student and personal trips to Versailles. The food tour was informative and fun. Everyone liked the guessing game at the jam store. The tour guide did an excellent job explaining artisinal vs. industrialized bread. The olive oil store worker was super welcoming and very generous with his knowledge. The cooking class was really ideal! As a teacher, I know how hard it can be to not aim too high or too low in expectations. L'Atelier des chefs was absolutely perfect! The creations were very easy and thus accessible to all and yet still very hands on and fun. I was very impressed by the people working there, especially the Italian chef. The food was copious and delicious. Personally, I thought the fruit salad was divine. I also loved the grilled mushrooms. A fabulous experience. A colleague mentioned that the food tour was good preparation for the cooking class and the day held together well thematically.
Leading up to the tour I think communication with the Explorica reps could be vastly improved. I left worried that if the rest of the trip followed the same trajectory we would be in trouble. Fortunately, the Worldstrides Assist emergency line helped us from the moment we couldn't check in 2 students due to problems with Explorica's purchasing of the tickets. They also helped when a student got sick.
I did not enjoy the communications leading up to the trip. I wasn't convinced that Explorica was really trying to help us. Ultimately, the trip was fantastic and I return home grateful.

"Amazing Experience!"

The trip was organized and easy to plan. Brendan was consistently available and kind in answering all of my questions. Our guide, Alberto, was amazing, as was our driver, Carlos. The students and I could not have had a better experience. I will definitely be planning another trip for next year!

"Bait and switch"

If I could put a negative I would. My senior was invited with the French class on a tour in Canada for February 2024. I paid the fee added the cancellation policy ( thank heavens) added the single bed fee as well. The company chose to change the date to June 2024 and we were just about to decide and they changed the date again for February 2025. That made it certain my senior was as no longer available. Mine is college bound. I contacted the school, the teacher ( who did her best to help) and the company. They chose to not refund me all of my purchase saying in the fine print they can change the date anytime they want. This is not a transparent company. This is a bait and switch and I feel awful for the ones who didn’t have the extra for the cancellation coverage. They change the dates and make it so you have to cancel when it no longer works for you. I told them if they were an honest and transparent business the date would have the been date. I do not know anyone who will book a trip for a teenager with out knowing the exact date. The customer service who giggles when you ask for the rest of your refund definitely reminds you of the trick you fell for. The statement of I can give you a discount on a future trip… I have no issues giving to charitable organizations but I won’t help invest in a bait and switch company. If you chose to take your chances with this be prepared to throw money away and make sure you pay the extra for the cancellation fee that you will need when they make sure to keep changing the dates.