Explorica US Omdömen 2 039

The tour was well organized with specific educational visits for the students and parents alike. Our Tour Director was amazing in the way he related with the students. This Explorica Tour got me to plan another tour next year, by popular demand from students and parents.

I have taken 6 trips with explorica and I have the best program consultant, for the last 11 years, she has really helped me and it is partly because of her, that I am so loyal. Of course the trips are great. and the Tour director was fabulous too. But my feeling towards Explorica is from my experience with her.

The activities and expertise of the leader were fantastic. What wasn't so great was that I had asked for the tour to be in German, or at least German language focused, and our tour guide spoke English with us. I asked the company as well as the tour guide to even do a blended German and then repeat in English, and they did not. I don't like that getting my students to learn German and enroll in my curriculum is a challenge, and then when they go to the country where they learned the language, they are taught to speak English with the Germans. I did not like that at all. I feel it did not support their language learning goals at all.

Our cruise was canceled and the tour company would not reschedule.
Had to pay for our own lunches/snacks when they would have been covered on the cruise.
Out of the 5 hotels we landed up staying only 2 of them were nice. The hotel on Santorini shower and bed were terrible.
Sitting on a ferry for 8 hours was a waist of time when we should have been enjoying excursions.
The fast ferry was extremely rocky. There was a teen that landed up trowing up for hours after this trip. I will never do this ride ever again. There was an employee of the superjet that was one of the rudest people I have ever seen. Getting help from the 800 number on the tour was not easy.
Our main tour guide Catherine was amazing. We also liked Yiota the local tour guide at the Acropolis. We made great friends with other people in our tour group from Florida and Canada. We saw some amazing ancient sites and places on this tour.

Definitely wasn’t happy with the flight layovers. While I know at times they may be necessary, I feel like a 6 hour layover is excessive.

In addition, the hotels that we stayed in were bottom of the barrel.

Also, if you’re going to have people in an airport for 8 hrs, then fly for 9.5 hours, the itinerary for the first day should be minimal to no activities as we were exhausted from the plane ride and we went more than 24 hours without showers.

Our recent trip to Washington, D.C. and New York City with Explorica was an unforgettable experience! From start to finish, everything was well-organized, engaging, and perfect for our students.
A huge shoutout to our incredible tour guide, Jen from Alaska, who truly made the trip special. She was knowledgeable, energetic, and so patient with our group—always making sure everyone was informed, safe, and having a great time. Her enthusiasm brought each destination to life, whether we were exploring historic landmarks in D.C. or experiencing the excitement of New York City.
Our students from Mountain View Middle School in Rio Rancho, New Mexico gained so much from this journey—learning, bonding, and creating memories that will last a lifetime.
Thank you, Explorica, for such a well-planned and meaningful trip. We highly recommend this experience to any school looking to combine education and adventure!

My trip to Costa Rica truly surpassed all my expectations. Every single day was filled with amazing activities, each one more exciting than the last. It was the perfect balance of adventure and learning.

The students were highly engaged throughout the entire trip, constantly curious and eager to participate. It was incredible to see how much they learned from each experience, both academically and personally.

Our tour guide was absolutely incredible—knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and always making sure everyone was having a great time while learning about the culture and environment.

Overall, it was an unforgettable experience that I would highly recommend.

I recently organized and traveled on a student trip to New York City through Explorica, and unfortunately, my experience was extremely disappointing. I would give 0 stars if available.

From the beginning, there were significant issues with planning and communication. Explorica was unable to run our selected itinerary on our chosen dates because they could not find another group to match with us. Instead of honoring what was originally agreed upon, we were told to either change our travel dates (which did not work for our school schedule) or switch to a shorter, very different itinerary.

As planning continued, additional problems arose. Our group was paired with another group that did not opt into one of our optional experiences—a second Broadway show—resulting in that experience being canceled for our students. This was especially frustrating after it had already been presented and planned as part of our trip.

Rooming arrangements were also mishandled. Explorica initially planned to room my students with students from other schools, which is inappropriate and raises supervision concerns. When I pushed back, I was told we could pay extra for “exclusive rooming.” After agreeing to cover the cost, I was then told our group was too small to qualify. Only after insisting did they allow it—yet they incorrectly charged the additional cost to my students instead of honoring what had been discussed.

One of the most concerning issues occurred just before departure: our flights had been changed without Explorica’s knowledge. When I checked in, I discovered entirely different travel times and routes. Even the Explorica representative I worked with believed we were still on the original itinerary. This lack of awareness is unacceptable when coordinating student travel across the country.

While on the trip, our tour director, JD, was outstanding and did everything possible to make up for lost time due to travel changes. He was a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating experience.

However, other aspects of the trip fell well below expectations:

Food quality was consistently poor, with limited portions and lackluster meals.
One dinner included an “entertainer” who pressured students for tips, which felt inappropriate given that these were minors.
Dietary needs were not properly accommodated—one student requiring gluten-free options was given minimal guidance and unsafe recommendations.
Our hotel was located over an hour from the city, significantly cutting into our time for activities.

Due to flight changes and logistical issues, our “5-day” trip effectively became a rushed 3-day experience in New York City. We lost valuable time that students and families had paid for.

Finally, while Explorica may appear more affordable upfront, pricing increased throughout the process, ultimately making the trip significantly more expensive than comparable companies. In my experience, they did not deliver on key promises and communication was consistently poor.

I would not recommend Explorica for student travel. Based on my experience, I would strongly encourage others to consider alternatives such as EF Explore America, which offers clearer communication, better planning, and more reliable service.

TL;DR - Poor planning, poor communication, and broken promises.

Couldn’t honor our original itinerary or dates
Canceled planned experiences (extra Broadway show)
Tried to room students with strangers from other schools
Mishandled “exclusive rooming” and incorrectly charged students
Didn’t even know our flights had changed before departure
Hotel was over an hour from NYC, cutting into trip time
Food was low quality, insufficient, and didn’t accommodate dietary needs
Trip was shortened from 5 days to essentially 3 usable days

Only positive: our tour director was excellent and did his best to salvage the experience.

Overall: Started cheaper, but ended up more expensive with significantly worse service. Would not recommend. Consider EF Explore America instead.

I recently did the Athens/Florence/Rome trip spring 2026. This was my first trip overseas and I will definitely go back but not with Explorica. We were not able to make any upgrades for flights, we only got one day in Florence and lost 24 hours on a boat ride from Greece to Italy. The hotels were decent but the food was mediocre at best. We did get to see a lot of sites, our tour guide was great and our drivers were awesome. There is a better, cheaper way to experience the beauty of Italy.

Our trip to Puerto Rico was wonderful! Our guide Alberto was very helpful, accommodating and knowledgeable. He took the needs of each group into consideration and went the extra step to come into the airport at drop off to make sure we knew where to go. Thank you for a memorable experience our scouts will always remember!

UPDATE AFTER COMPANY RESPONSE:

The company responded, but it was a generic, copy-and-paste apology that did not address any of the specific issues mentioned.

There was no accountability, no explanation, and no effort to make things right.

Everything outlined in my original review still stands.
If I could rate this lower than 1 star, I would.

This trip has been extremely disappointing from start to finish, especially considering what families paid for it.

We missed multiple major stops that were supposed to be included, including the Supreme Court tour, proper time at the Vietnam War Memorial, and other planned locations that other groups were able to experience. When we did visit some sites, there was little to no explanation or guidance provided.

The tour guide has been largely disengaged. There have been multiple instances where she disappeared, failed to explain key locations, or relied on others for basic information. Students and parents were often left confused or sitting around waiting with no direction.

The most concerning issue has been the bus driver. He has repeatedly missed turns, taken us miles out of the way, driven on roads clearly marked for no buses, hit curbs, and had multiple close calls with other vehicles. At one point, he even ran over part of a brick wall at a hotel. This goes beyond inconvenience. It’s a safety concern.

To make matters worse, when concerns were raised, we were told there isn’t much that can be done at this point in the trip. That response alone says everything.

Between the missed experiences, poor organization, lack of communication, and safety concerns, this trip has not delivered what was promised. I would strongly reconsider before booking with this company.

Our tour guide Alex White was AWESOME!
This was my first time on a trip with our school and I didn't really know what to expect. Explorica has it dialed in. All the things. Even our great bus driver! It was tailored to our group (7th graders) and even when many of us got sick, Explorica knew what to do and helped us figure that out.

Guide - Jean Luc, is absolutely incredible. He was knowledgeable and attentive to the kids, and was especially consciencious of allergies. He was also flexible and willing to work with the groups needs, and is everything one can ask for in a guide!

Rooms - Rooms and amenities were better this trip compared to the last (Loire trip) one we had. The only issue we ran into was in the Ibis Style in Paris where a large group of Spanish students were being incredibly disruptive and interfering with our sleep. We have spoken with hotel staff (and Jean Luc), so we hope that that this can be addressed with that hotel and that specific group of kids to prevent future disturbances.

Sites - All the sites were incredible, and since we have customized the trip to include for more free time, the students found the pace much more suitable for exploration and we felt less rushed than previously.

Food - Possibly the biggest let down on this trip. Most students did not enjoy the pre-planned foods at the restaurants/hotels, notably due to the American palate being used to more seasoned foods. We also think that since the hotels are catering to Americans, they made some assumptions on how we like our foods (very very very dry well-cooked meats, unseasoned, little to no vegetable or fruit, carb/potato heavy). In the future, we might opt-out of pre-planned foods (or reduce them) so that students may find something more to their palate. One restaurant in Paris was also incredibly hard to work with, and our kids/staff with severe allergies were essentially kicked out to have dinner elsewhere. This was unacceptable, but luckily, Jean Luc handled the situation with grace and provided an alternate dinner.

Our Tour Director was excellent on this trip. He made us all feel comfortable and he was in total control the entire trip. He worked hard to make sure that everything went smoothly for us.

Rome to Sicily was a wonderful experience. Explorica has always provided a good tour for a good price. I wouldn't want to travel with students with any other company.

There was great value for the money. Meals need to be better coordinated between restaurants so it isn't reputative. More time should be spent at interesting sites with the option for free time for those that don't want an in depth experience.

Enjoyed traveling again with Explorica; so helpful throughout the booking process, answering all questions, arranging every need. My only suggestion is not have the hotel so far from the city center. Thank you again for everything.

My recent experience with Explorica was exceptional from beginning to end. The planning process, led by Meaghan (Tour Consultant), was organized, responsive, and highly supportive. Once the tour began, Adam (Tour Director) ensured that every aspect of the trip ran smoothly. Their combined professionalism and commitment to customer care were evident throughout, and they contributed significantly to the overall success of the experience.

If there is one area that warrants improvement, it would be the location of the hotels. While I recognize that choosing not to upgrade accommodations can result in less central placements, being situated at least an hour from major city centres proved challenging. The lack of nearby activities for students made some evenings feel particularly long. I would strongly recommend that Explorica consider securing hotels closer to key destinations or, at a minimum, ensuring that there are accessible amenities or activities in the surrounding area.

Additionally, although I understand the complexities of providing meals that satisfy a wide range of preferences while minimizing waste, I believe dinner offerings should consistently include a balance of vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates. Ensuring these basic food groups are present would greatly enhance the dining experience for students and staff alike.

Despite these suggestions, I remain confident that Explorica is the premier company in the student travel industry. Their dedication to creating meaningful, memorable experiences for students is unmatched. I have no intention of exploring alternative providers, and I commend the entire Explorica team for delivering a trip that my students and I will remember for years to come.

First, I am very pleased with our tour guide, Carlos, and the bus driver David. They were some of the best Stewart’s of Costa Rica. Any group could’ve asked for. We had a little airplane troubles, but those were solved. We traveled in a group of 14 mostly students the hotels that were provided or nice. We had two issues with two of the hotels, but those were handled through our guide Carlos the Carlos gave us the best experience you could ask for he was super knowledgeable in all plant life and surrounding environments. It did feel a little costly, but Money well spent the tour where we went on was a little exhausting but worth every moment especially when you get to spend it with a group of children that are awesome and well behaved the adults that were caring for those students and themselves and once again the Guide and the driver, the best and I couldn’t ask for better

The whole planning process was so easy and stress free. Sarah, Majo and tour guide Alberto were all so amazing! Our experience was so positive and would DEFINITELY reccomend ! Already wanting to plan another trip 😊