"Our trip was fantastic"

Our trip was fantastic. Our guide learned our group and led in a way that was both educational and fun for our students. Planning for the trip was easy and I had any and all questions answered in a timely manner. Our kids had a wonderful time!

"Worry-free trip"

Everything flowed well without any logistical problems. Good variety and spacing/timing of activities. EXCELLENT tour guide (Pável Sancho) and bus driver. Restaurants were good, hotels were good or at least fine for the most part.

""Italian Highlights" an incredible itinerary!"

The "Italian Highlights" itinerary was excellent as-is, but I was really happy we chose to add an extra day in Venice to start and an extra day in Rome to finish, allowing us some "chill time" and the opportunity to do a couple of extras such as a gondola ride and visits to other attractions. Free time in walkable Florence and lovely Verona in the middle of the trip was a fantastic offset to the expected urban congestion and flooded-with-people bigger cities of Venice and Rome. Clara, the Tour Leader, was AMAZING and a superb, flexible problem-solver. Local guides were excellent. Half the dinners were good, half were insufficient/bland, so opting for upgraded dinners will be my plan for future trips.

"Jenny was an amazing guide"

Jenny was an amazing guide, she took time to get to know each and every person on the trip!

"PARIS-ROME EXPRESS WAS BITTER- SWEET..."

Our recent trip to Paris-Rome Express could have been better. I want to totally give credit to our tour guide: EZIO DiGiulliano. He was the best part of this trip. He made our adventures in Paris and Rome be fantastic! He patiently taught us how to use the metro system in Paris. He gave us plenty of time to shop in Galleries Lafayette. He was very kind, caring, and patient. He was extremely calm and collected when he handled the situation of our bus dropping us off at the wrong airport on our way to Rome. The guides that he hired for our tour of the Coliseum and the Vatican were passionate and funny!
The reason why I am giving you 3 starts is because the dinners provided in Paris left much to be desired. We had dinner in Montmatre ( which consisted of roasted chicken and potatoes) it was the worst tasteless, flavorless piece of chicken I had in my life!
Then, the following night we had crepes. Honestly, the ones we had just walking around Montmatre the previous night were much better than the ones at the creperie restaurant. My group and I were starving in the evenings while staying at Hotel IBIS. The only food they have after 8:00 pm in the hotel's cafe was frozen pizza or pasta heated in a micro-wave oven. Next door to the hotel, there is a place to eat, but closed kind of early. On the first night they took pity on us and made us a PIZZA to take to our room. The continental breakfast at hotel IBIS made up for the tiny rooms at this hotel.
Hotel in Rome called Parco de Medici was very confortable. The rooms were much larger but the continental breakfast at his hotel was pathetic.
My biggest complain is going to be to the person that booked our flight. Other members of my group and myself expressed the concern before departing that we only had 50 minutes to catch the plane in Frankfurt to Houston. My tour director assured us in separate phone conversations and emails that we were going to be fine. Well, as anticipated, we were not fine! The plane almost left us. We had to go through customs in a line of other 600 people! We had to run from one end of the airport to another because gates were changed at last minute. I saw people in our group literally running, huffing, puffing, and using their inhalers. It was a mad rat race! Why not be proactive like we asked you to be?
Also, due to the fact that our layover stay in Munich to take the plane to Paris was about 4 hours, this long wait costed us half a day in Paris. Therefore, we were unable to visit the Latin Quarter, the Notre Dame Cathedral, nor have dinner there on our first night in Paris. My group felt upset and disappointed. These are the two main reasons why I give this trip a 3 star rating. EXPLORICA needs to improve on these two extremely important components: Dinner and flights

"Smooth Sailing from Start to Finish"

The flights were well planned out and timed appropriately, and the agenda for the tour of the Italy Highlights was refreshing and inspiring, and Giorgia (our guide) was phenomenal in how she handled the tour and any issues that arose.

"DO NOT USE EXPLORICA"

Explorica waited to purchase airline tickets late, so we ended up on the wrong flight, which meant day 1 went directly into day 2 without time to rest after the long journey, After a 24+ hour travel, we were shuffled into day 2 of sightseeing. We did not go to the hotel to sleep, relax, or eat. We were put directly onto a bus, not notified that we were starting our sight seeing, and went on a 10 hour sight seeing trip. All of us had about a 40+ hour day, Provided meals were not "meals". They were snacks. Example-One evening meal after walking all day was one small roasted chicken leg, mashed potatoes, and bread for a desert. The next evening's meal was a crepe as a main course, Crepe with chocolate as the desert. Everyone gets the same meal, no choice in food for anyone. Instead of using tour buses, we were shuffled through the subway system, not on tour buses. With 31 of us on the trip, we were targeted to be robbed by pick pockets 6 times in 2 days in Paris. Explorica should have known that our safety would be compromised, but did not protect that. We lost 2 groups of people twice during the trip. Event tickets were not purchased in advanced as requested. They were purchased when we arrived at the events, so our group had to wait at the events, which made us late for the other events as the day moved forward. Itinerary was never disclosed. We were led around for a week not knowing where we were going, the schedule for the day, or the timeframes for the events. Since we got behind on their schedule almost every day, our only free time, lunch, was compromised. We only had time for lunch one day out of 6. We stayed at 2 different hotels, both were dumpy discount places. Trip was a disaster on many levels. I do not recommend using this firm.

"Well planned!"

Well planned, lots of fun, ran smoothly! Students and parents loved it!!

"Tour from Hell"

Worst tour ever. Do not customize. WE paid for 3 full days in Paris and arrived at 4 pm, losing a day. WE had an elderly french tour guide 59, who was completely disengaged. Explorica's tour guide leader was the worst ever. She chose to shop , drink and do drive by tours. She lost 2 students as she would leave us. The had the wrong times for dinner so food sat on the tables for an hour, so it was disgusting & cold. We only ate chicken and creme caramel/brulee or catalan. Same dessert every night with chicken. We paid for a private guided tour at the Louvre, but she dropped us off with no tour planned. She took us to Montmarte, but only allowed 15 minute visit. WE only drove by Champs ELysee & Arc d Triomphe. She only did drive by tours. WE didn't get to spend time at sites we paid for. We only had 20 minutes for lunch. InBarcelona the local tour guide was Francisco, he's horrible he started philosophizing instead of touring giving us history and anecdotes. The tour guides make or break your trips. This will be last time for what we paid and hours spent customizing tour and what my parents and student s[ent in dollars. My griup paid for our own dinners at other restaurants as the Explorica one's were deplorable. WE also had to pay for our own airway to get to Barcelona as the tour guide refused to call the 1-800 and request air service. This was the worst tour I have ever taken with Explorica, it was so bad no one ever wants to return to Paris. Our tour director gave us history lessons on Cuba while we were in France & Spain. She also spoke continually about her political views comparing them to the US. She was not familiar with Barcelona, would go the wrong way and only let us spend 30 minutes in Sagrads Famila, we had 20 minutes in Parc Guell and we rode the cable car on Mont Juic and we didn't get to go to the top or see the Castell. It was a 15 minute excursion ride. She took us to Spanish Village so we could shop and eat lunch, but got us there at 9:45 and it doesn't open until 10, and the shops & restaurants don't open until 11:00 am. She clearly did not do her research. WE spent more time on Metros & Busses & waiting in line due to her lack of being prepared. She was totally disengaged with our group. She was rude to the students and parents. It got so bad a parent yelled at her to stop. Literally the tour from hell, sadpart is I spent months customizing it. This was a bait and switch tour.

"DO NOT USE-worst vacation"

DO NOT USE-worst vacation. Spent $8,000 for 2 people. School trip. Had to pay more for myself (adult). Hotels were not exactly as advertised, in sketchy areas, were not clean, holes in the walls, no air conditioning (open windows to listen to cars ALL night), showers not working, meals not as advertised (Neal was at a gas station), nobody said I’d fiend three days in a row on the bus totalling over 13 hours, being dehydrated so you don’t owe your pants because lack of stops to pee, so your legs swell up. Yes I get free time at the crappy places but not where I want to. I’m exhausted from having to walk all day going on walking tours (even after dinner) when I’d like time for myself to sit and relax or look on my own. I’ve left and spent additional money because the food provided is nasty. If you want a worthless vacation you will regret then book with them. I complained with no reply because they have my money.