Daily routine on tour

Your tour is fully escorted from arrival in your destination to check in for your return flight.

The Tour Leader will keep teachers and students informed of the day to day timings, what to bring, safety and health matters and also give talks on aspects of the country you are travelling in - it's history, culture and customs.

How active your tour is will depend on the exact itinerary you choose but there is always a lot to see so be prepared for some early starts and occasional long journeys. Most days are usually fully taken up with activities so the worry of supervision in free time is minimised.

Travel to far-flung corners of the earth involves lifestyles and conditions that are very different from our own. Ensure you and your students are prepared to cope with local inadequacies and unpredictable events. These are often more than compensated for by the variety of experiences adventure travel affords and are vital learning experiences in themselves.

Group sizes

Travelling in small groups not only minimises the environmental and cultural impact, we believe it enables a far deeper and more interactive experience - something many school tour operators struggle to offer. An ideal group size is 16 - 24 persons - a manageable number for teachers and economical for students, however we can be flexible and in most cases arrange larger or smaller groups.

Minimum age

Though there is no minimum age, Explore School Adventures are ideally suited to secondary age students. More strenuous treks may be better suited to older students.

About accommodation

The majority of Explore School Adventures are journeys and thus a variety of accommodation is used. Accommodation could be hotels, pensions, palaces, lodges, inns or camps. Some camps and village houses will be multi-share, sometimes with the whole group in one room / tent. Most tours are based on sharing a twin-bedded room. Where there is an odd number of students, triple rooms are provided.

Our ideal is to use simple mid-range accommodation with ensuite facilities where possible. The criteria for our choice of accommodation is cleanliness, safety, comfort and location. Standards and levels of sophistication vary tremendously, depending on the type of tour and the country/area in which it is located.

We include all meals on our tours. This makes it easier for teachers as you know everything is paid for in advance. Wherever possible we will eat in local restaurants so that local cuisine can be sampled. On camping trips the crew will prepare meals at camp and sometimes appreciate participation from the students.

We will endeavour to cater for special dietary requirements if we are advised before departure. However, we ask that you have realistic expectations in this respect. In some countries there is a limited choice of food available and it may be difficult (sometimes impossible) to cater for all special meal requirements.

About transport

A popular aspect of our tours is the wide variety of transport used. We use everything from buses, boats and trains to camels and donkeys. You may even find all of these on one tour!

We endeavour to use transport with seatbelts, however, in some of the countries we operate in this is not always possible.

Health & vaccinations

We will provide information on vaccinations required for the country you are travelling to. For the latest information group members should check with their doctor and make sure they allow time to get the appropriate vaccinations. Please ensure you advise Explore and your insurers as soon as possible if any traveller has a pre-existing medical condition which may affect their participation in the tour.

Responsibilities - teacher & operator

Using a tour operator takes much of the burden of organising the trip from the teacher. There are things however that you need to be in control of. You will be the main contact for the group and ensure that all information provided to you before the tour is passed on to the students.

You are also responsible for ensuring that the students will be able to participate fully in your chosen tour and for ensuring the good behaviour and conduct of the students whilst they are on the tour. The tour leader will give briefings about the days' activities including important safety information, dress code and timings. It is your responsibility that all students attend these briefings and fully understand their content.

References

We have organised many successful school trips with many schools returning to us year after year. Should you wish to see a reference from a previous school group, please ask.

Passports & visas

Many of the countries that we visit require visas. We will provide you with all the necessary information to obtain the visas including information on the Explore visa service. Most countries recommend that your passport is valid for at least 6 months from your date of return.

We understand that teachers, students and parents will all want to be fully informed about their chosen trip. We have a wealth of knowledge about our tours and should easily be able to answer any questions that you may have.

If you would like help putting together a presentation we'd be glad to help. We can also come to your school to give a presentation about Explore. Including parents in these presentations will ensure that they are at ease with sending their children on an Explore School Adventure.

Weather

We can advise you on the best time to travel to your chosen destination, or we can recommend where to go at the time of year you can travel. The itineraries on our website show our suggested best time to travel.

Please find more information on our weather pages.

Insurance

For everyone's safety, travel insurance is compulsory for all bookings. If you have arranged your own travel insurance, please ensure that you take a copy of the policy document with you as the Tour Leader will ask to see it at the beginning of the tour. Explore's travel insurance is designed with our trips in mind so you can rest assured that any activity included in the tour is adequately covered. As an added bonus, students under 18 get insurance half price.

Regional flights

If you wish to fly from an airport outside London we will try to find the best connections for you. Where a direct flight is not available, we can offer competitive flight prices to connect with the flights from London.

If you are interested in any of the tours on the website or would like to know what else we can do for your school, please contact schools@explore.co.uk or call 0844 499 0601. We will discuss in detail your ideas and offer sound advice on choosing your trip.

Once we have decided on a suitable itinerary, we will send you a quotation, booking forms and our booking conditions. If you wish to book, simply return the completed booking forms plus a 20% deposit. We will then book all the services for your trip and confirm it back to you along with a personalised trip dossier and general information booklet which includes detailed information on your day to day itinerary, vaccinations, what to pack, visas etc. Joining details, tickets and emergency contact information are sent approximately 3 weeks prior to departure.

Booking conditions

All bookings with Explore are subject to our booking conditions. These are sent with all quotations and are available on our booking conditions page.

Pricing policy

Note the prices quoted are per person guide prices only, based on a group of 16 students plus two teachers travelling in low season, flying from London. All groups will be quoted individually. The price will be based on the availability and cost of services at the time, as well as the number of travellers and dates of travel.

We quote inclusive prices, meaning that there are no unexpected expenses and neither teachers nor students have the worry of carrying large amounts of cash. Your quote will include flights (including UK airport departure taxes), transport, accommodation, all meals, activities and sightseeing detailed in the itinerary, plus 2 free places and the services of an Explore tour leader and local crew.

The only extras that you need to budget for are transport to your UK airport, visas, insurance, vaccinations, tips, overseas airport departure taxes (where applicable), drinks and any personal expenditure.

Free places

The guide prices in this brochure include 2 free places. We can provide you with as many free places as required, however as the costs for these free places are spread over the rest of the group, this can increase the per person cost of the tour.

Call Explore School Adventures on 0844 499 0601 or e-mail schools@explore.co.UK

Free kit bags!

All travellers on tours with a camping element will receive a free Explore Kit Bag.