“Well got of to a bad start as my holiday to Jordan was cancelled due to Iran war but I had a full refund which I used to book European capital city's the girl I spoke to was very helpful and patient had to explain the money was in the wallet which she knew all about and finished off the booking did have to pay a bit extra .”
“China (Avatar Mountains) trip was a fantastic experience. Its a full on itinerary but worth the effort. This holiday is the perfect mix of history, culture and natural wonders. We made some incredible memories and our group (26 people) were great travellers to spend 2 weeks with. Recommended adding a few days on the end of the trip to get the most out of Shanghai.”
“Overall, we had a really enjoyable trip, but there were some significant downsides that are worth mentioning.
The guides were good and the coordination of transport, excursions, and the overall itinerary was excellent—we always felt things ran smoothly, and we had a lot of fun throughout the trip.
That said, not all excursions lived up to expectations. While many were great, a few felt overpriced and disappointing. The visit to the Lingering Garden, in particular, was extremely underwhelming and felt like a complete waste of £200.
One of the biggest frustrations was being taken to shops with very pushy sales agents. It made parts of the experience uncomfortable and felt unnecessary. Hotel locations were also an issue—many were so remote that it was difficult to explore independently or even find places to eat. The final hotel was especially problematic: although the property itself was nice, it had no available services, the restaurant was closed, and there was nowhere within walking distance, which left us completely stuck.
We also had ongoing issues with flight arrangements. We weren’t able to check in online or select seats, and the airline website wasn’t usable. When we contacted the company, we were told we would have to pay nearly £300 just to sit together, or an unrealistic £14,000 for an upgrade. This was particularly frustrating when we later discovered that other travellers on the same trip were seated together with extra legroom at no extra cost. Communication and support around this were very poor—it took over two weeks to speak to someone, which added unnecessary stress before the trip.
Despite these issues, the trip itself was fantastic and very memorable. With better organisation around excursions, hotel locations, and customer support, it could have been truly exceptional.”
“The trip was very well organised from start to finish. The meet and greet at my destination went exactly as planned and all accommodation I stayed in was clean and the staff at each were welcoming and extremely helpful. The guide Mohammad was excellent - very knowledgeable and helpful in all respects.
If I had one disappointment, after late arrival to Cairo and followed by a very early flight to Aswan ( only 3 hrs at the hotel which is waste of one day in hotel, could have been used differently). The last day at the airport, help with checking in was much appreciated, overall trip was very good and value for the money.
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“We had a fantastic two weeks in Japan, travelling from city to city. Tokyo was incredible, overpowering at times, but the longer our trip went on, the more accustomed we became to the sheer number of people we were encountering. The first two tours were excellent and were a great way to start the holiday.
Kanazawa was a complete change - far more relaxed and less crowded but the ornamental gardens were exquisite and the old Samurai district was great to just wander through. Gold leaf ice cream - first time for everything. The hotel was some way out of the city centre, and with limited options nearby, we ate microwaved meals from a 7-11 next to the hotel.
The long transfer to Hiroshima took around 5 hours and involved three separate trains (the JLR Pass is excellent value for money). We booked our own tour of Hiroshima and then visited the Peace Museum.
Another move to Kyoto and another excellent day trip. The market and Geisha area are both excellent places to visit, and you pass into Kyoto Castle is a welcome addition.
We used the last day of our JLR Pass to travel to Nara, it's a nice area of parklands and the deer are everywhere!
You're on your own for the final city of Osaka but there is plenty to do. We went to a Sumo Experience (brilliant) and the huge aquarium to see the Whale Sharks.
A brilliant experience but it's hard work at times, getting from A-B in busy city centres.
Top Tips
Book your train tickets on the first afternoon. Your first 2 days are both taken up with day trips, and opportunities are limited.
When you arrive at a new city, we would look to see which vouchers we had to exchange at the train station/travel centre before heading to our hotel.
The train stations are massive and even though Google Maps is your friend, it gets confused when you're two levels underground and the bus stop is at ground level.
We were only ticketed to Shanghai on our return which meant we had to do a domestic arrival in T2 and the move to T1 and check in for our flight to UK. As of March 2026, China had pulled multiple air routes going to/from Japan and we're assuming this fix was to get around one such flight.”
“A exceptionally well priced tour with 1st class guides. The full programme will not suit all given early starts & long days to capture as much of the rich history as possible.
Communication could be improved but overall would consider using Exoticca again.”
“What was good. The price was very reasonable.
Very helpful agent when organising the trip.
We got to see everything we wanted to see. The guides were excellent and the meet and greet at airports was excellent- communication well in advance and always on time. We never had to wait. They always helped with bags.
The packing list was very helpful and the information in the app was useful.
Not so good - everything being in an app, email would be helpful as well as the app did not always work.
No response to our in app queries about baggage.
For some reason baggage was not included in our flight home even though BA offer a 23kg case for free on long haul flights. Fortunately the gate agent didn't charge us 290 dollars after we explained that a tour agency had booked the trip.
Do not use JetSmart - we (and several other travellers) could not book seats on the flight no matter what we did - different cards, different devices, help from hotel reception. They then didn't let us board because payment was pending for the seats. We had to pay £500 for an alternative flight back to Santiago or lose a whole day of our 10 day holiday waiting in Calama airport from 6am to 9pm. JetSmart only offered gift cards as recompense.
The Exoticca agent we contacted for help chose to use very unhelpful language and said it was a personal problem when we asked for help in phoning a Chilean number as our eSim was not working and our UK phones could not get through. JetSmart had told us we had to call to say we were not taking the 9pm flight they had offered.
The esim recommended did not work or provide the advertised discount.”
“A great holiday at a great price. Organisation to see main points of interest with enough spare time to organise any trips you may what to organise yourself.
Guides were always knowledgeable and helpful to any questions you may have alongside sorting out any issues that may crop up.All made for a good experience.”
“Great organisation and communication, everything went exactly to plan . Very good value . Only advice would be don't choose American airline flights, abysmal service but that is nothing to do with Exotica! Will definitely book with them again.”
“An amazing trip to China. All guides arrived on time and were very knowledgeable. Tours were well organised in each city and guides ensured we got on all the bullet trains on time. Would definitely travel with Exoticca again”
“Fantastic trip to Thailand. We were well looked after on this organised 3 centre holiday. Good value for money. Wonderful people. We would use Exoticca again”
“The quality of this 10 night holiday to Jordan was very good, especially for the competitive price that we paid. The airport service on arrival and departure was the best we have ever received. The transport was also of a high standard. The Charm hotels throughout the stay were very good, with special mention for the Oryx in Aqaba. We were on a half board package, the food was generally of an acceptable standard, if a bit repetitive. The sights visited were all excellent and the Guides very knowledgeable. Our only problem was at the end of the trip due to the war. We spent an extra 2 days in Amman, in the same hotel, covered by Exoticca, very good. The rearrangement of our return flight was not so good as we would have liked. But in the end we got home in one piece, so overall thank you Exoticca for a memorable holiday.”
“We used Exoticca twice, most recently for the 8 Days in the Hashemite Kingdom (Jordan). Well organised great trips both. One flaw though is that neither groups had an introduction meeting or ice-breaker at the start. I think a 20 minute chance to meet your fellow travelers would be very useful and enjoyable. We spent a lot of time on transport between sites and didn’t necessarily have the chance to meet everyone. There were several people whose names I didn’t know by the end of the trip. We did a trip to Asia with Trailfinders 2 years ago and they did an introduction which helped the group cohesion and relations, in fact we still keep in touch with some of those people.”
“Enjoyed our adventure to South Africa and Zimbabwe immensely. Helpful staff both before and during our stay and the price is very competitive. It was an excellent itinerary. Full on with not much down time but it meant we saw so much in our two weeks. All six of our flights were on time. Shame we didn’t have checked baggage included in our outbound and inbound flights which would have made our lives easier and the travelling day from Kruger to Cape Town was too long. We set off at 7.30am and arrived in Cape Town at midnight. A lot of this time was the 5 hour lay over in Johannesburg airport!
Accommodation in Kruger and Victoria Falls was excellent but the hotel in Cape Town could have been better. The excursions were excellent.
Despite those few niggles, it really was the holiday of a lifetime and we will definitely book again with Exoticca. Thank you!”
