Balkans Tours and Trips

I thought the itinerary for this trip was good. Warsaw, Wrocław & Kraków are lovely cities. I would suggest that Auschwitz is added to the itinerary as the majority of the group had booked the trip to visit there. Even with the links provided by Explore, and booking far in advance, one member of our group ended up having to leave the hotel at 2:30am to queue for hours to get tickets. I think if Explore organised this, it would make things much easier for everyone. The traditional Jewish dinner with music was an absolute highlight for me, make sure that stays on the itinerary! The Salt mine was incredible & the Gnome hunting was also fun. While our tour leader was a lovely person, this was her first time doing the trip, which meant things were not always what I've come to expect from an Explore tour leader. She seemed a bit disorganised at times, we didn't get a proper introduction and she didn't always communicate to the entire group. At one point we were having a walking tour and I didn't even realise, I had been told it was later and that this was the walk to lunch! I'm sure though with a few tours under her belt this will change. The local tour guide we had in Wrocław was excellent, very funny. No complaints about the accommodation. The place we stayed in Wrocław, which had been changed last minute, was a bit quirky but not unpleasant. A note about the food, the portions are very large, so you might not spend as much money on food as you would expect. I would recommend this trip but just be aware that some of it is very emotional at times, due to the nature of the places you visit. For the free time in Warsaw, I would suggest visiting the Rising museum. I also did the optional excursion to the Ksiaz Castle in Wrocław which was well worth a visit.

Tour Director & driver were excellent, very informative Lisa was fun to be with & made the tour very enjoyable Enjoyed all the sites with the local guides who were also excellent as well

An excellent trip, with the highlight being the mountain gorillas, but there was far more to this trip than I was expecting. The walking safari was also excellent, we were very close to giraffes. There are a lot of cultural experiences in this trip, which are excellent as you get to see how the local communities benefit from tourism and learn about their background. However, these all come with purchasing opportunities 'please buy from us and support this project' etc etc. So beware - do not do all your shopping at the first project! Hotels were better than expected in most cases, however the Kampala hotel could be improved on. It was very noisy with music noise most of the night.

It was a very nice Itinerary some of the stops were a bit higher paced than expected. The Hotel’s were great and our tour guide Vanessa was absolutely wonderful. She was extremely knowledgeable and gracefully helped a few of us with issues we had.

It goes to a great range of places, each with their own unique history. The sites visited are all amazing and worth seeing. The people in each place are welcoming and proud of their history.

Excellent….i think a few less catherdrals and a little more time in Porto, Lisbon and Costa de Sol Betty, our guide could not have been more accomadating. She was very articulate and always informative wherever or whatever we wished to know Overall, great tour