Stress Free, but they cut corners. As someone who used to plan students trips on my own, I loved the elimination of the stress. Everything is planned out and handled for you. But they are CHEAP and cut corners. Dingy hotels, only include tap water as drinks with dinner, awful breakfast options, and no food choices with dinner. For the amount we pay, I expect more.

Still waiting for refund, 31 days later After I paid the full balance of my Explorica account, over $2k+, 1-week before it was due, this company then took the same amount out of my bank account 7 days later, leaving my account at a negative balance. I did not authorize this transaction. I am now on day 31, still waiting for my refund via a mysterious check that I have been told was "in the mail". I have made multiple phone calls and emails trying to escalate this refund, only to be lied to. Their business tactics are shady and opaque.

Overall tour was awesome - inspiring and highly valuable for all participants!. Overall tour was great. We loved it. Restaurant food in France was Horrible at worst, mediocre at best, service also poor. Italian restaurants were good, service very good in Italy Hotels were good (2.5 stars) across the board. TOUR DIRECTOR EXCELLENT! PS. The only negative was food at 2 restaurants in France BUT Explorica made good by offering to pay for a pizza party for all participants once we got home. Above and beyond, thank you!

I don't understand this quesiton. Important for what people to know? You or people thinking of using Explorica or parents or students? The tour guide, Emma, tried her very best, but she was in over her head. She needed more time with a mentor before being in charge of a group by herself. She wasn't familiar enough with Paris or the metro or the airport so there was a lot of waiting and googling. The itinerary and hotels were changed by Explorica after we were given our schedule. The restaurants were far from our hotels so it meant long walks or metro rides late at night. I'm wondering if either the hotel or restaurants could have been changed. 2 meals were the same (crepes) on the trip, we were hoping for more variety. Out of the 8 dinners there were only 2 with vegetables (salad), all the other dinners were meat and carb.

Group size and the time dedicated for shopping were a downer I did not like the large group size. Traveling with a group of 48 in Japan is not feasible or fair to the tour leader and the rest of the group. Getting 48 people off a train in less than a minute is not feasible. I also did not like all of the time alloted to shopping. The trip to Odaiba felt like a wasted day. My students went to Japan to learn about Japan, not to attend a science museum and go to a mall and eat at an American buffet. On the positive side, the guide was very knowledgeable, the hotels and hotel breakfasts were perfect, and the visits to the gardens and temples and market were great.