Explorica US Omdömen 

The trip was good. However, it didn't provide enough time to see Madrid. Toledo was definitely a big rush. No time for photos, etc. We didn't get to see anything in Malaga. The last hotel was not good.

Our guide, Christine, was amazing! She went out of her way to make sure everything we needed was taken care of. We had emergencies and sickness on our trip and Christina was always there with a solution.
The vendors used at times were a little unreliable (one restaurant wasn't ready for us, and one hotel didn't accommodate giving us breakfast as early as we needed it) and I wish there was a bit clearer communication of accessibility to bathrooms, to bring euros for places that didn't accept cards, and details like that. I didn't like that we flew into Milan just to get on a bus and drive 4 hours with no time to actually see and visit Milan. The other places we went were beautiful though.

Clean hotels, variety of food, amazing tour guide and interesting destinations!

Our custom tour of France, Belgium & Netherlands was absolutely incredible! Working with Joe Wyatt to plan and cost the tour two years ahead of time was a smooth process in itself, and he also touched base with me during the tour, which was much appreciated. Our "on the ground" Tour Director, Luca Salamone, was just phenomenal in every way. He was flexible and supportive of us teacher chaperones when a few unexpected issues arose, and we had complete confidence in him from start to finish. Luca was extremely calm, friendly, and relatable with my students (ages 16 - 19), which earned him a great deal of respect and admiration. He was SO amazing, in fact, that I asked him (and he agreed) to be our Tour Director for the next two March Break trips we will undertake: Spain, Gibraltar & Morocco (2027) + Rome & Sicily (2028).
Although the itinerary I had custom-crafted was the most ambitious one yet - we were indeed VERY busy each day, but by design - students and parents could hardly believe the variety of incredible things we managed to see and do during our 10-day adventure in France, Belgium & Netherlands. From the glories of Paris and Versailles to pilgrimages to Vimy and Ypres to the charms of medieval Bruges to the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, we left students with both thrilling and poignant memories to last a lifetime. Students and parents alike have said this trip offered great value for money; if the "customers" are this happy, well, that means the Explorica team and us teacher chaperones who planned and oversaw the tour in motion have done our jobs very well indeed.

Days of delays, rushed itineraries, canceled excursions, poor hotel quality, While it could have been a life-changing experience, the “well-organized trips“ were cancelled last minute. I can also complain of “long days, subpar food, and rigid policies” because they just send you to a third party insurance claim form. Your loss may or may not be refunded. Be sure to travel with DAYS of extra medication and carry on clothing because the tickets weren’t all booked as the group so the airline didn’t pull all the luggage for the delay. The claim ticket was surrendered but no luggage or claim ticket returned. Two days departure AND return delay. Poor decisions. The group leader was emailing and on the phone trying to get support for hours. They offered a $30 credit on the $4000 trip. Still waiting to get home, missing two days of classes, work and paying for a farm sitter too.
One star for what “could have been a nice trip.”

Looking for great Spring Break travel with students, Explorica offers organized travel and does all of the work....arranging lodging, transportation, tickets to historical sites and the evening meals. Bring your students and prepare to have entertainment for both students and adults. (parents and grandparents can tag along and enjoy the trip as well!) We have several trips through them and they never disappoint.

These trips are loaded with great experiences. We get to see so much and learn behind the scenes information. The guides are always knowledgeable and take care of issues that arise. Every problem we have experienced such as lost luggage and cancelled flights explorica has had an answer for or taken care of.

My small drawback is we have added experiences over the years that our students have really enjoyed. We have also found hotels that are within walking distance of sites. We did not have those when we changed school contacts. I wish Explorica would keep a file on what our preferences were and continue to offer them.

Overall it was a good trip.

Jean Lavoie was great and our tour director Jamie Smith was amazing as always.

Our students loved it and were sad to leave for home!

Our school trip was an excellent experience, largely because of the professional and careful service of our tour guide and bus driver. The itinerary that Explorica built for us was the right amount of sightseeing, visiting popular attractions, and balancing time for leisure. If there was ever a surprise or issue, our guide was sure to resolve it right away. I will use Explorica in the future and recommend them to others.

If I could rate this company any lower, I would. They deserve zero stars. The communication within the company is horrible with customers. The agents are VERY polite but this only goes so far when it comes to actually facilitating what is being offered and the details behind it. EF Tours is a much smoother transition start to finish and an overall good experience. I will never book with this company again. If the agents/supervisors/managers tell you they will reach back out to you with information, please know this is a lie. Please know you will be cast aside once you pay with no care from this company. Ethically horrible!

I would not even give this place a 1 I’m so mad and frustrated
I got hooked into this idea that me and my daughter would go on the New York trip this year with the school and paid almost in full for both our spots that cost $2400 a piece
I logged on one day to check on the schedule and make a payment and it showed that the trip goi push back a whole year and I just couldn’t make that work and I was literally never notified of the change and we were supposed to leave in 2.5 months
So I decided to cancel with ample amount of time and because the school changed it on me I did nothing wrong. In order to cancel it cost me $600 of my hard earned money that they will not give me back
I can understand the 99.00 deposit for each account hit $300 a piece when all they did was hold my money and the change to the trip was not because of me
These people robbed me and the insurance ment nothing and was a scam also cause they denied my claim
These people sick and I will never book again with them

Well organized tour with an outstanding tour guide, nice hotels and the most amazing service project that will leave a lasting impact on myself and my travelers.

One of the other groups was out of control, rude and loud.

Food was maybe a 6/10.

Our guide, Alberto Melendez, was fantastic! He made the trip easy and fun. Thank you!

Our flights were good and our overall experience was ok, but there were issues.
1. I was not happy as a chaperone having to have kids fill out wavers and that I was expected to sign them for every activity. This should be done ahead of time and by parents. I will not do this again. That means, if something happened to a kid, I am taking legal responsibility and I did not know that would be the situation ahead of time and that is not fair to me at all. It was not the situation on my Costa Rica trip. If this doesn't change by the next trip I will not use Explorica. I did not like having to get food orders from kids every single time. There needs to be a more streamlined way of doing this. The students should be able to submit their order on an app. The system you have in place is chaotic and stressful.
2. The hotel you chose was nice but the pool is WAY too small for the amount of tour groups you have staying there. We might be back at the hotel at 7:00 p.m. and there is NOTHING for the students to do but swim but the pool is just not big enough. The roads are dangerous to be taking large groups of kids to stores. I recommend you change hotels and consider the pool size and safety of the surroundings for the kids if the tour has down time.
4. There is nothing to do for kids who did not do the optional activities. That is not fair to them to sit for hours waiting for the kids who are doing the optional activity to finish.
5. The food was terrible unless we were paying for it ourselves. The food at the ziplining place was the worst. The kids complained extensively about the food and I agree. For the amount they paid, they should have had a better food experience.
6. It seems highly likely the the tour guides get a "payment perk" for bringing their tour groups to certain places. On our beach day we were brought to a side road place where only 1 person was serving and the line was long. They ran out of food and it took forever. When we went to Luquillo beach, there were plenty of kiosks that we could have ordered from and spread out and not been frustrated with long, slow moving lines that had the same kind of food the kids would have enjoyed.
7. On the snorkeling trip there were NO lifejackets for the kids. It was pretty dangerous. Many of them didn't swim well. The kids should have been provided with lifejackets even for the trip over on the boat. That is dangerous and again..you are asking the teacher to sign a waiver for that with those circumstances? It made the experience stressful.
8. The students felt the bioluminescent bay tour was false advertising. They expected from the pictures they would go out to the bay and see the sea lit up. We were covered by a tarp which caused some anxiety. We weren't expecting that. And had to swish our hands in the water to see anything. We weren't rowing along and seeing the bay lit up like shown in the pictures.
9. Our tour guide did not seem to know things you would expect a tour guide to know. She was impatient and yelled because she "told us something." It doesn't seem like she understands learning and what to expect when people are over stimulated and tired from traveling and being in a new place. Several times she gave instructions or told us something that was incorrect and when she realized it she did not take responsibility for it and yelled at us or the group. My students were amused by here yelling and oblivious to her incorrect instructions or information, but the chaperones were not, nor was the group of 4 adults from New York who were on tour with us. I experienced this with your tour director on the Costa Rica trip as well. I think your tour directors need better training. She was very good the very last day...helpful, informative, and patient. My chaperones and I agreed we wished she had been like the way she was on the last day the whole trip.
I think that is it. I do not know that I would recommend Explorica or use it again. The kids did have a great time despite these things but my opinion is it was too expensive for what they got.

Our students used this company for a school trip to Quebec. The trip itself was fantastic — but Bus 2 was unacceptable.

The bus was visibly dirty (grime, stained/torn seats, trash left behind) and had malfunctioning audio/visual equipment, which prevented planned educational programming during travel. Temperature control swung from extreme heat to cold.

Most concerning: the bus broke down, students experienced smoke/burning fumes near seats, and we waited about four hours roadside despite supposed safety backup plans.

To make matters worse, the other student group on the same trip had a nearly new luxury coach. Same trip. Same cost. Completely different standards.

Our teachers were incredible. The bus company was not. Families deserve better.

Our guides Melanie and Gabriel were professional, experienced, and proactive. My only complaint was our bus. We were a school trip coming from the states. Out of the two buses, one was practically new and the other outdated. Our outdated bus broke down on the way home causing a 4hr delay. Despite the breakdown, the trip was amazing and very much worth the trip!

So far not great. Haven’t even gone on the trip yet and they withdrew the deposit twice but then did refund the second withdrawal. And now a credit that was on my child’s account has mysteriously disappeared a week before the final payment is due and we have an increased payment due WITH NO EXPLANATION. Hope they keep track of the kids on the trip better than they do at managing accounts and payments.

Customer service is terrible. My kid's high school planned a trip for summer 2026 to Scotland. We did not meet the minimum of people, and without notifying us, they cancelled the trip and are keeping 70% of what we paid. I do not agree, they are completely unresponsive and will NEVER use this company EVER again. I do not recommend at all!

Scam!! One star is way too much for this company!! This is now my second review! The same issue happened again! I was double charged again! I am a cancer patient and going through treatment. I can’t afford to be double charged each time I make a payment. I authorized a one time payment and they pulled it twice on two different occasions. They claim they can’t reverse the charge electronically and have to mail a check that could take 6-8 weeks at least. So now I have to pay interest on my credit card and take time to fill out paperwork with my credit card fraud department. I shouldn’t have to do Explorica’s job for them! Looking back at the other 3 accounts (my husband and two children) were double charged when I signed them up last year! After talking to other schools who have used this company has been a known issue and switched to other travel companies. I am going to encourage our school to do the same. Explorica lost 4 customers today over this! This is ridiculous! This 2026 and this company can’t reverse their mistake because they don’t know how! I have to take time out of my day and make multiple calls to get this fixed, I am still healing from surgery, I have to pay interest on this extra transaction, I have to wait an unacceptable amount of time to get refunded for their fraudulent transaction, and this is extra stress I shouldn’t have to be dealing with! I was looking forward to this trip and now seeing all the red flags and bad reviews regret signing up for this trip.