Why Small Group Tours Are the Best Way to Travel
We believe, without much doubt, that the best way to travel is in a small, friendly group. Esplora’s small group tours cap every departure at twelve guests, small enough that you genuinely get to know your fellow travellers rather than simply sharing a coach with them. That matters more than it sounds: the friendships and shared conversations that grow over a week on the road are often remembered as fondly as the sites themselves. It is also, quietly, the most practical way to travel. A small group can move faster through a busy site, get a better table at a family-run restaurant, and still afford the services of a proper guide and driver throughout, none of which a solo traveller booking independently could easily arrange, and none of which a fifty-strong coach tour can do gracefully. Every tour we run is open to individuals and couples as well as pre-formed groups, so you do not need to already know eleven other people to join one, only to be genuinely curious about where you are going.
What You Get With an Esplora Small Group Tour
Travelling in a small group opens doors that a solo itinerary or a large coach tour simply cannot reach. Many of the wineries, farms and kitchens we visit only host groups: a cellar tasting, a cookery demonstration, a private lunch at a family-run masseria. Book independently and you would need to explain yourself at the door. Travel with an Esplora small group and it is already arranged. A guide and driver are included throughout, so you are never working out local transport or negotiating a fare in a language you do not speak, and every itinerary is led by a specialist guide, not a generalist reading from a script. Because groups are capped at twelve, you get the advantages of group travel, shared costs, shared access, shared company, without its usual drawbacks: no waiting for forty people to reboard a coach, no straining to hear a guide at the back of a crowd, no itinerary watered down to suit the lowest common denominator. It tends to be more cost-effective than travelling independently too, once a guide, driver and group access are all factored in.
Small Group Tours Across the Mediterranean and Beyond
Esplora’s small group tours run across Sicily, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Armenia and Georgia, and Albania and the wider Balkans, alongside a dedicated programme of small group walking holidays for guests who would rather explore on foot. Every one of these tours is led by a guide who genuinely knows and loves the region, built around real history and real food rather than a generic checklist of sights, and capped at the same twelve guests wherever it runs. If you already know which destination you are drawn to, browse our tours by region to see the full programme. And if you would prefer to travel with your own group of family or friends, on your own dates, we can also build a bespoke private tour around exactly what you want to see, with all the same small-group advantages built in from the start.
