Tour Operators - Explore Worldwide

I have been on 3 EXPLORE tours, all brilliant. Lasting friendships. Great value for money. Their guides really care about providing what their tourists want. This is Extensive exploration, briefly hitting highlights, rather than Intensive, wallowing in the atmosphere of a place.

My wife and I have travelled with Explore 3 times now. Each time we have thoroughly enjoyed all our adventures. Our latest was to Djibouti a fasinating country and a great place to snorkel.the tour leaders and guides are extremely knowledgeable very approachable. no problem however small is dealt with very efficiently. we have booked to go with Explore again and we would recommend them 100%.

We booked the China Highlights through Explore this summer and went August 2011. This was a trip of a lifetime subsequently ruined by Explore. My wife had used them previously and had great experience. Even though they were more expensive in comparison to other operators we decided to use them because of their previous reputation. I would however recommend that you book through any other operator than Explore if you decide to go away. The flights were indirect meaning a stop off in Dubai and a total 20 hours travelling before we arrived in Beijing. The hotel they used was below standard. In fact three 3 hotels out of the 4 during were either undergoing serious construction work or were health hazard. Other operators offered direct flights and better hotels for a similar or cheaper price than Explore. They hired lots of local tour guides who were terrible. In Bejing for example, we had just finished the Forbiden City tour, which was included in holiday package and our local guide then said another tour around old town Hutong would cost extra (be aware, there were lots of hidden cost tours). We decided we did not want to do this optional tour resulting in guide just leaving us their outside the Forbidden City without any travel advice on how to get back to our hotel. No taxis had heard of the obscure hotel Explore had booked. The three police officers we asked could not help either! After spending several hours lost in Beijing we had to pay a guide who worked for rival tour operator just to get us back to the hotel in a private car. Complaints made to Explore upon our return were brushed aside and not taken seriously. Every member of our tour group had significant concerns on the quality of the tour, yet the Company seemed oblivious to customer care.

I have now been on 3 trips with Explore Worldwide (one in South America and two in Asia). Each trip was amazing and a unique and the itineraries were pefect with many activities and just the right amount of free time. The Explore Worldwide guides were excellent, and the lodgings very good and sometimes. I have travelled with a number of tour operators, and I found Explore to have the most interesting itineraries and quality for the price. I recommend Explore to friends and have taken friends with me the last two times I've traveled with them. Changing itineraries and tours getting canceled for various reasons are the risks of travel. I don't agree with those reviewers who give poor reviews without ever actually going on their trips.

If I'd written this review a couple of years ago I would have agreed with the previous reviews but sadly if appears that Explore have gone downhill - so far in fact that I would recommend that they be avoided. In the last couple of years they have greatly extended the number of trips that they operate and have spread their resources too thinly. For example they used to provide their own independent, properly trained, Tour Leaders for most of their trips. Now for many of them they use local tourist guides who just don't provide the same level of service and in many cases are nothing more than cheerleaders for their country. Explore also appear to have developed some teflon tendencies as when you contact them with negative feedback or a complaint nothing ever appears to be their fault. Its very disappointing as they used to be a really good company to travel with but now they just aren't worth the risk.