For the first time in Explorica’s history, a group of travelers went on an expedition to Antarctica. We spoke with Mary Jo Westlake and Cricket Guyer, the co-leaders of the trip from Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids, MN, about this experience of a lifetime. What brought you to Explorica? We had the opportunity, as Read More …
Justin views educational travel as a way to help his students experience faraway places they probably couldn’t visit on their own. “I like to choose destinations that are outside of Europe—a little less conventional,” says the veteran group leader who has logged successful tours all over the globe. In 2015 Justin reached out to his Explorica program consultant, Emma, and they designed a dream Read More …
Explorica’s unique online Tour Diary allows family and friends of Explorica tour participants to check in on their loved ones and follow along with their tour. This private trip log is maintained by each group’s Tour Director, an area resident and expert in the local customs and language. Each day, they update the Tour Diary Read More …
Husband and wife team Darren and Andrea weren’t always travelers. “When I decided to start leading trips, I’d never been to Europe,” admits Darren. “Here I was teaching all this European history, but I’d never actually been there myself.” When a friend asked Darren and Andrea to co-lead an Explorica tour they jumped at the opportunity. “That was 10 years ago,” says Darren, Read More …
“Watching the students interact with the locals in the Trastevere district was glorious. They were using the language appropriately and navigating around the locals and the street vendors with ease, really embracing everything they’d learned. It changed them.” –Morgan, art teacher, Insider’s Italy 2015 Sun-soaked from a long day of sightseeing, you find yourself walking Read More …
Europeans love bicycles—many cycle to work daily, wearing suits, dresses, even high heels, weaving through cobblestone streets at a leisurely pace. Cycling is an essential part of European culture, and a great way to sightsee without the hassle or pollution of a motor vehicle. That’s why a number of European cities are making strides to Read More …
In most cinematic renditions of World War II, the main events are illustrated with explosions and guns and soldiers bunkered down on the Western front. Movies portray war heroes like General Patton, MI6 spies like James Bond. Yet not all of the Allied achievements were action-packed and explosive enough to grace the silver screen with Read More …
Even incomplete, the Sagrada Família will leave you breathless. The 558-foot-tall structure strikes an alien figure across Barcelona, contrasting the Medieval and Spanish Colonial architecture of the centuries-old Catalonian capital. Zoom in close and you’ll see the angular, hand-sculpted figures lining each of the façade, seemingly carved out of the stonework, illustrating scenes from the Read More …
Right from the entrance, you’re captured by the colors that zig-zag across 42 acres of chiseled vegetation and stone. As you sit on the famous Serpentine Bench—with its row of concave seats said to be formed by the park laborers taking a break in wet clay—you hear the pitch-perfect notes of a flamenco guitar. Following the music, you find a young man casually dressed, hunched Read More …
As you enter the Opera Garnier, you’re immediately struck by an aura of mystery. Crystal candelabras illuminate gilded cherubim with an ethereal, golden glow throughout the expansive halls, and you feel like you’ve stepped into a dream. You make your way to the iconic double staircase, climbing its white marble steps. As you take your seat, Read More …
