Explorient and specifically Kervin Yu was recommended to us, (my husband and daughter), by a…read moreprofessor friend who lived in Japan while his parents were in the diplomatic corps as he was finishing high school. Our daughter was attending a weeklong conference in Tokyo with Google/YouTube and had asked us if we were interested in joining her, as she planned to do some more touring after her conference was over, over the Thanksgiving holidays in 2019. We jumped at the chance. We had ideas about some of the cities and activities we were interested in, however, we also had to take into account the use a rollator, as I was planning on a hip replacement early in 2020, and it was crucial that I rely on it. I had already booked the three of us in a brand new boutique hotel close to our daughter's Tokyo conference for the first week when she would be working and my husband and I would be visiting sites. Kervin seamlessly, incorporated the Tokyo week into our touring and included tours with our daughter whenever her schedule allowed. He paired us with private guides throughout the trip, who were knowledgeable and most enjoyable. From Tokyo, we visited Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima and back to Tokyo for our return home. Explorient worked with us when we preferred a different hotel in Kyoto, and all the activities and guides they provided based on our preferences were top notch. Ranging from rickshaw tours, boat tours, tea ceremonies, cooking lessons. foodie tours, sake tasting, shrines, temples, and museums visits, (just to name a few), as well as all our train travel including Shinkansen trips and luggage transfers were on time and without glitches. We look back on this holiday and on Explorient's expert guidance as one on our most if not the most enjoyable of all our vacations. We will not hesitate to call on Kervin Yu again in the future to provide us a most delightful experience; we highly recommend Explorient and Kervin. Vivian F. Berkeley, CA

We had an amazing trip that Kervin planned for us through Asia. We went to Indonesia, Singapore,…read moreand Thailand and Kervin planned the perfect trip for us. We are very well traveled so it was very difficult to find places or things that we haven't done and Kervin managed to exceed our expectations. The hotels were on point with what we told him we wanted. I can't wait to plan another Trip with him!

Just finishing a pilgrimage to Ireland with NAWA'S. In short, the hotels were listed as 4 stars…read more They could only be 4 stars if on a 10 scale. Beds were tiny, old and the hotels fair at best. We were led to believe that the accommodations were top notch but they were subpar. The itineraries were exhausting. Would i ever take another tour with NAWA'S? NO, NEVER.

My experience using Nawas International Travel has been nothing short of WONDERFUL. I have…read moretraveled on three different Catholic pilgrimages with them and each trip was more memorable than the last. The accommodations were better than expected, the tour guides were outstanding, knowledgeable and entertaining and the bus drivers were polite, attentive and incredibly skilled! No complaints here. My first experience in 2018 was to Italy (a trip of a lifetime) and our tour guide, Gloria, was terrific! Every part of that trip was meticulously planned and we toured some of the most amazing sites in Italy. We were also given ample opportunities to explore on our own. My second trip in 2022 was to Germany, Austria and Switzerland (including the Oberammergau Passion Play) which was delayed for two years due to the worldwide Covid pandemic. That was such a crazy time but it wasn't a problem for us to be patient. I'm so happy we had that trip to look forward to. Again, we had the most wonderful tour guide, Deborah. She was a delight! That trip so beautiful and memorable. Each scenic location took our breath away. I recently returned from another pilgrimage to Poland & the Czech Republic (2025). Once again... nothing but praise for Nawas! Our hotels were excellent, the food was amazing and our tour guide, Bogdan, was a hoot! Our tours were outstanding and, again, we were given plenty of time explore independently. Pure enjoyment! Nawas has always been responsive to emails and well organized. I have been on two other pilgrimages with another well-known Catholic travel company and was incredibly disappointed each time... mostly due to very negative experiences with the tour guides who showed no interest in the welfare of the pilgrims but instead herded us like cattle and YELLED at us if anyone was talking. Very unprofessional. It was clear neither guide enjoyed their jobs. Additionally, we were often taken past important sites on the tours rather than entering them and getting a full tour as we did with Nawas. Needless to say, I will NOT be traveling with that other tour company again (sorry, Peter). (IYKYK). I won't hesitate to participate in future pilgrimages with Nawas! Challenges may arise occasionally, but the key is to be patient and realize that you are paying to experience another culture. Don't expect things to be like home. Give thanks and enjoy your travels!

Sooo thankul for Courtney! She has turned my dream into reality with all her expertise, knowledge…read moreand tips for my vacation. I thought it was going to be extremely stressful planning my vacation but Courtney has proven otherwise. She truly takes care of her clients and makes sure they are at ease with all their planning. She went above and beyond and now I know who ill be using to help plan and book all my vacations. Thank you for being the best!

Courtney was extremely friendly and made the whole trip less stressful than i could have imagined…read more She was very considerate and helpful to all our needs. It was more than a pleasure dealing with her. She was available whenever i needed her and answered all my questions right away. I would use her again in a heartbeat. Use Courtney and i am sure you will be as happy as i was and you will never be disappointed. 5 star recommendation.

Absolutely happy! Everything was perfectly arranged. It was the most relaxing vacation I have ever…read morehad. To think how easy it was getting this amazing trip arranged at the last minute was amazing! Despina Makris was very knowledgeable. I told her what I was looking for. She was able to to that and then some. I cannot say enough about my trip. I know I will definitely be using her service again.

Despina is my GO TO for all things travel! Whether it is planning every detail of my honeymoon,…read moreplanning a local weekend bachelorette, helping me decide where to go or what to do when I get there, Despina is knowledgeable and thorough in her planning no matter the size of the trip! Despina herself is an avid traveler - locally, nationally and internationally. This quality is really shines through - she plans every trip as if it were her own! I couldn't recommend her more!

I called and a rude lady answered the phone saying "who is this?" I said my name and mentioned that…read moreit's my first time using a travel agent and asked if she could explain how it works. She said that the agent will be in tomorrow from 11am to 1 and to call back. I said ok but before I do that can you please explain how it works in general. She said "ugh I can't talk right now." Not welcoming, or helpful. She could have been polite and asked to put me on hold or something but yea safe to say I'm not calling back.

Yurek Majcherczyk from Classic Travel is an expert in his field who plans group trips from Poland…read moreto Peru and around the World. I have booked 4 private tours with this company and found their services to be excellent. Margaret Majcherczyk arranged my trips to Spain, Morocco, Egypt and most recently a safari to East Africa. Classic Travel offers great services to their clients and they never disappoint.

I HAD to go back to this because it's such an amazing experience. I'm sure they do more than "Fall…read moreFoliage" trips but that's when I visited in the past. Despite my best efforts in the past to do Fall train rides, which turned out to be disappointing only because there was never any good colors on trees, this by far is the very best fall foliage experience I've ever had in my life. You get great views of the tree color transitions and just great photo opportunities. It does get cold on the water so bring a jacket. Experience is as excellent as last time with beverages and snacks for purchase. If you enjoy fall colors, great scenery and boats then you have to do this at least once.

A peaceful Hudson River cruise from Peekskill to Bear Mountain. Beautiful views and a truly…read morerelaxing experience! Such a wonderful way to spend the day. Very pleased with this cruise!

WORST TRIP EVER! The trip we were on was arranged by the…read morechurch covering holy sites in Portugal , Spain and France. Payment was made well in advance however, upon getting to JFK airport we found out that our nonstop flight to Lisbon was non a connection in Germany! Those extra flight and plane change meant a busy bus vacation was now crammed down by loss of a half day of wasted flying! Our luxury coach bus had a toilet however we were not allowed to use it as they didn't want to pay for cleaning or charges to dump wastewater. That meant ever stop was a race to a toilet and most were not public so you needed to buy something to use the facilities. If you bought a beer at a tavern you then needed to look for another toilet that much sooner. The other pee stops were a concessions that turned out to be frauds. I bought a solid gold cross at a high price that turned out to be plated after a month of use. STAY AWAY FROM THIS TRAVEL AGENCY!!!

Part 2 to prior review:…read more On November 11 we headed to Inverness early in the morning. One person asked why we were leaving so early as Inverness was not that far and the tour guide just said that was the schedule he was given. We first stopped at a memorial with 3 soldier statues. When we stopped there the guide said that we were going to stop for 5 seconds! Then he said 5 minutes. We thought - what's the rush? Next we saw the locks and had lunch. We arrived at our hotel in Inverness at 1:00 p.m. However, only some of the rooms were ready. The tour guide worked with the hotel staff to get some people checked in. Unfortunately, they gave several younger people rooms and left the more elderly customers to wait for 2 hours until they could get into their room. On November 13 the guide said we were going to Braemar first. The tour bus driver said she did not know we were going there. The guide said it was the site of the Highland Games. He never explained what these were. I had to look up. We then went to see the ruins of St. Andrews and the North Sea. We were then told we were leaving for Edinburgh. I asked the guide if we were going to see St. Andrews Castle. He said he had not heard of St. Andrews Castle and that this was not on his agenda. He then looked at the agenda and saw that it was on there. They drove us to the castle and told us to get off for "2 seconds," take a picture and get back on. Again, why put this on the agenda and then allow us only "2 seconds" to see it? Originally we were supposed to visit Balmoral Castle, but were told before the trip that it was closed (presumably because the royal family was visiting). Given our experiences on this trip, I decided to check and found out that the royal family visited in late August and early September. The reason we did not see the Balmoral Castle (actually you can only see the grounds and go to the gift shop), is because in November they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays in November. This was poor planning on the touring company's part. We were surprised the tour guide did not mention at all the large Cairn Gorms National Park we drove through on the way to Edinburgh. We would rather have heard about that then how much Queen Elizabeth hated Margaret Thatcher. On Tuesday we were given a new tour guide to take us to St. Giles Cathedral and Edinburgh Castle in a nice and warm bus. He was wonderful - showed up in a kilt, was very informative, was able to answer a lot of questions and made sure we saw everything on the agenda. We were taken to the airport on November 15. The woman and man who took us were very good - made sure we all got to where we needed to be. In summary, when we signed up for this trip, we did not know we would not see Balmoral Castle, the ferry to the Isle of Skye, the Clan Donald Center, with park and museum, etc., or that we would only be allowed "2 seconds" or "5 minutes" to see other things. My suggestion to NAWAS is to not put items on their agenda that we are not going to see in November. Due to all of the above, we will never use NAWAS again.

No showed and left me stranded!…read more I purchased a Living Social voucher for Connecticut Haunted History Tours "Haunted Walking Tour for Two". I made the reservation online per instructions and on September 18th, 2017 I received an emailed confirmation for my booking from 5 - 6:30PM on 30NOV17. Instructions said to meet in front of the main entrance to the Maritime Aquarium (not on the IMAX side) at 5PM. Me and my guest were in front of the main entrance to the aquarium at 4:55PM. By 5:05PM we were still the only ones outside so I called the tour operator at 203-919-6163 and received a voicemail of Christine with CT Haunted History Tours. The message stated their email and web address then at the end it said "this mailbox is full and is not able to accept any messages" before disconnecting on me. I sent an email to their email address asking for a status update and, 2+ hours later I've still never received a response. I'm shocked this sham organization doesn't have someone answering their phone during working hours, certainly on a day a tour is scheduled. Further, a voicemail box that isn't accepting voicemails? Shameful. Leaving a guest stranded and over 2 hours later still no reply to an email? Unacceptable. Don't. Ever. Use. These. Crooks.

From the owner: Tours, Ghost tours, Haunted History, History, Connecticutread more