Northern Explorer

Customer Reviews

• PB

  Paul

  · September 5th, 2024
  Shae (Guide) & Hans (Driver - excellent. (a) Good idea - Seat rotation on bus. (b) Good idea - Asking person behind if okay to put seat back towards them. (c) Some hotels had fairly loud music playing even at night - had to go outside just to talk and hear each other. Did ask person at reception to turn down a bit but nothing. (d) Bad idea - Music on bus. Many just want to relax, view the landscape a take photos. Music encourages some to whistle and/or sing aloud making the noise even louder. (e) Mob Phone FaceTime - Suggest it should be banned on bus. Gets very noisy with a few punters face-timing. Rude to others. (f) Generally good hotels. Some had no Air Cond with hot weather. Sometimes you just want to kick back in your room and relax in the cool.
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  Expat Explore Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback! We’re happy to hear that Shae and Hans made your tour enjoyable. We appreciate your suggestions regarding seat rotation and courtesy on the bus. We’ll also take note of your comments about the music and noise, as well as the... Show more
  Trip date: July 2024
• 

  Virginia

  · July 15th, 2024
  Less than excellent but very good.
  

  Expat Explore Travel commented on this review

  We appreciate you taking the time to share your review. Your kind words mean a lot to us. We can’t wait to welcome you back for another life-enriching adventure soon!
  Trip date: June 2024
• 

  Chloe

  · June 3rd, 2024
  I had an amazing time. A brief period to see each of the cities and countries on offer. But you were definitely able to have enough exposure to know where you would want to come back and explore in more depth. I enjoyed almost everything included. I didn't do many of the optionals. I enjoyed the buffet on the cruise. There was only one included meal I didn't like and it was collective. The tour leader is well aware and they have already made adjustments for future tours. We had Will for our leader. He was engaging, supportive, informative and passionate about his job. I like almost all of the hotels, some even had gyms, or a pool or a sauna. It is a long time on the bus, but it gives you a chance to see the countryside and smaller places you otherwise wouldn't see. I adored Copenhagen (and wish we had another day there). The old town of Estonia. And Poland. There is quite a lot of walking involved in these tours. While they do make adjustments sif you aren't capable of this. I would recommend being well prepared for 3 hours walking tours.
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  Trip date: May 2024
• JA

  Jeannette Meneses

  · September 9th, 2023
  They tour is very fast paced. Spend most of the time in the bus. I would say the tour is 17 days since the 2 nd last day is driving back from Berlin to Amsterdam and that takes a whole day. I would recommend for pple to take a flight back because it’s very tiring . The hotels are ok except for Vilnius Lithuania where the hotel was like a jail cell. The washroom smelled of urine and the bed only has a box spring. Breakfast has no selection and food looked old. Almost everyone got sick on the bus. I don’t know if the air conditioning has a hepa filter . 1 person was hospitalized before the tour ended with respiratory distress another person had to be seen by the doctor at the hotel and right after the tour had to be hospitalized as well. Like I said almost everyone from the tour ended up with some kind of respiratory infection during the tour. It’s really bad when pple are sick on the bus and there is no sanitation station or even protocols for Covid. I suggest that the bus should be sanitized everyday and the handles at the front and back door sanitized every time there is a comfort stop. The bus doesn’t have WIFI and the bathroom is only used for emergency so you have a comfort stop every 2-21/2 hrs. Branden the tour leader was good he did his research since it’s his first time leading the Scandinavian tour. He informed us and gave us insight of the cities we were visiting and the monuments . The check in at the hotels were efficient. The overnight ferry was decent and the ferry to Estonia was brand new, really nice. The local guided tour was good except for Finland.The guide treated us like children. We saw some beautiful cities but not enough time spend in others like Hamburg we basically just drove by. Overall , we got a taste of cities / countries we want to visit again.
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  Expat Explore Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your detailed feedback on your tour experience. Your concerns regarding the pace of the tour, accommodation quality, meals, and health issues have been noted and passed on for further review. We appreciate your suggestions for... Show more
  Trip date: August 2023
• 

  Keith

  · June 27th, 2023
  Good trip and much of what I expected with some surprise nuggets thrown in. There are many long travel days so be prepared for that. The optional activities were very good. Our guide Aileen and driver Silvian were both great.
  Trip date: April 2023
• LM

  Laura

  · August 13th, 2022
  Itinerary was excellent. Driver was outstanding. Good value for the money. Tour Leader is experienced and knowledgeable but extremely burned out and was very unprofessional. It was my first time with Expat. Would only do another if he wasn't leading. I have come to learn he doesn't represent Expat well.
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  Trip date: June 2022
• 

  Dave

  · August 22nd, 2019
  Overall the tour was ok but with some issues. The guide wasn't up to it.Some of the hotels were poor.
  Trip date: July 2019
• SV

  sylvia

  · August 14th, 2019
  We had a great trip.Its pretty full on as there is a lot to see & a lot of country to traverse.If you have a positive attitude,a sense of adventure & want to see as much as possible with limited time strictures you will receive good value from this tour.
  Trip date: July 2019
• GW

  Gwen

  · August 3rd, 2019
  Matt lacked enthusiasm... farewell dinner was poor and very overpriced...
  Trip date: July 2019
• CW

  Connie

  · July 9th, 2019
  This tour had long time travelling on the road. However, we were still able to see a lot in different countries. For Russia, it would be good to add 1 more day with an overnight stay in Moscow. Just a day trip was not enough to see the place probably and it's not worth the 3/4 hours' train journey. Overall, this was a good value tour considering the high cost of living in Scandinavia.
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  Trip date: June 2019