5 independent reviews for Central America highlights tour
Reviews for Central America highlights tour
Sue Jones review 23 Mar 2025
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Boat trip on Atitlan Lake to San Juan. All the beautiful buildings in Grenada. Mombacho volcano hike where we saw 3 sloths in their natural habitat.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Try to use a softshell bag to help with compacting luggage into smallish buses. Use packing cubes to limit disruption caused by constant packing & unpacking almost every day.Be aware that laundry services are available at most hotels Bring a reusable water bottle3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes. All hotels had recycling facilities & where the water was safe to drink, provided filling stations to avoid use of plastic bottles.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Excellent & we were very lucky that our border crossings went smoothly & did not take too long.Jeff Watts review 2 Dec 2024
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Seeing the active volcanoes, amazing lakes and wonderful local people2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
There is a lot of travelling sometimes and maybe the schedule could change to accommodate this. For instance, there was no reason to go to Guatemala City as we didn't have time to see anything there and the traffic in and out was horrendous.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes, as we spent money in markets, etc. Couldn't answer if it helped environmentally4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Some fantastic highlights and a trip helped by having a great group. There was volcano visit (see the lava, etc so big tick box) in the itinerary that had been shut for a year so not sure why Explore were not aware or why the local company used had not lined up anything else. It was a massive disappointment to the whole group. Flooding in Costa Rica meant another activity had to be cancelled but it had been like this for 3 weeks, so again, why had something else not been lined up. The Guide was very blase about this and didn't understand why we were all frustrated. To be honest, I don't think the tour operator are liaising with the local company enough and assuming they are doing what is expected, when it appears if a saving can be made then they will do it. Harsh, but this is the second trip i have had with the tour operator where at times the local company are just not good enough. Because of people on trip contacting tour op we did get an optional trip included, but don't think they realise what is really going on! Also, poor transport that wasn't fit for purpose from El Salvador onwards. Too big for some areas to access and too old so took too long to get anywhere. A 3-5 hour journey took 6.5 hours, so we get less time to see things!! Will leave it there for now as will send the tour op a full report soon, as will many of us.Jacquie Radford review 8 Dec 2022
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Seeing the inside of a volcano at night and the lava bubbling away or running (mostly walking) down the side of another volcano or zip lining through the Costa Rican jungle.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
This trip involves a lot of travelling around (>1600km in just over 2 weeks) so you have to be prepared for the amount of time it takes. A couple of days include a number of border crossings that take as long as they take (and in one case with us that was a long time) so be prepared and take stuff to entertain. When the description says that the trip is fast paced, this is true and there is little downtime especially if you take on any of the optional activities.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes, the guides were all local, the hotels were locally run as were the restaurants we visited.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Very goodSusan Lewis review 12 Dec 2022
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The whole trip was varied and interesting. Highlights included the colonial cities of Grenada, Leon, Suchitoto and Antigua, wildlife spotting, especially in Las Isletas on Lake Nicaragua, seeing the lava bubbling at night at Masaya volcano, Chicicastenango market and Mayan rituals.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
As you might expect, there is a lot of bus time. The border crossings are often lengthy and frustrating. Dollars are widely accepted and many ATMs dispense them. Although many places take cards you need cash for border crossings, optional activities, markets etc. You can buy a monthly simcard covering the whole of Central America for about 20USD.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Apart from having some local guides and spending money in the local economy, not especially. Some entry fees supported conservation. Would have liked to have seen more local crafts.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Overall, a very good holiday.Janice Eastman review 5 Dec 2022
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Climbing a volcano and sledging down the other side2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Make sure you are comfortable sitting on bus for long journeys3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Helped by giving employment but not with carbon emissions from lots of travelling by mini bus4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Fun, varied good hotels, some not so good, great guide and travelling companions. Lots of cultural experiencesHoliday Reviews
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