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.

Love Explorica I've traveled 3 times with Explorica to Québec, Costa Rica, and France & Spain and each time has been affordable for students. The quality of activities and tour guides has been exceptional. The students love these trips and look forward to them each year.

Cheap Company Prior to the trip there were no issues. Upon arrival things seemed to be fine, however it was very rushed. We had issues with being early to events that needed less time and then many additional hours of sitting around in places that needed little time. We also encountered many issues with a specific Hotel. We were told that the hotels was in Switzerland and it is was actually in France. That wasn't as much of an issues as the fact that the hotel was dirty with bugs and small live animals. One room even had hair clippings in the sink and the bed. We were also not allowed any extra towels for the hotel because they were only a 2 star. The staff is extremely rude. The tour guide was stressed out what seemed most of the time and got lost. These things should never happen.

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.