EF Educational Tours Reviews

When a several day delay happened on their trip they made the best of the situation and got the kids out on more tours in the city they were stranded in. Overall great experience.

My son really enjoyed your tours and everything he learned. The way you planned everything out and were able to give us a timeline on everything was amazing. Thank you so much for introducing our child to a whole new world and experience! Can’t wait for my other two to be old enough to travel as well through you.

This was a great experience. Parents were kept informed about everything going on in the group chat. All pictures were loaded into the photo center. I definitely want my granddaughter to experience another trip through EF.

Our recent tour was, overall, a memorable and rewarding experience that brought our group closer together and allowed us to explore some truly beautiful places. While there were a few minor setbacks, the trip was still well worth it. The hotels we stayed at were generally comfortable and well-located. Most were clean and functional, though we did encounter a few issues—mainly with air conditioning struggling to keep up in the unseasonably hot weather, and some bathrooms that could have used a more thorough cleaning. These weren't deal-breakers, but they were noticeable. Meals were generally well-prepared and tasty, but one area that could use improvement is portion sizes—especially for the teenagers. The meals sometimes fell short of satisfying bigger appetites after long days of activity. Despite the heat and a few logistical bumps, the overall experience was positive. The sights we visited were stunning, the itinerary was well-paced, and the memories we made will stick with us for a long time. With a few tweaks, this tour could easily go from great to excellent

This was an amazing experience!! I got sick on the trip from the plane & boat rides. All I can suggest is urging people to get medicine ahead of time. Whether they think they need it or not. I never imagined I would be affected that badly. But my group came together & helped me, so I made it through. The things that were planned for us were amazing though! Maybe try to make it a day or 2 longer so people can visit the Amazon rain forest too.

Great educational tour planning from start to finish! Value is unmatched- customer service 5 stars!

Well organized tour. Lot packed in. Kept kids safe.

Everything was great except the hotels.

The "upgraded-added" dinner in Switzerland was incredibly angering since we were served one fondue starter and then a mediocre meal. Servers were rude and since we were a large group that prepaid then we were treated like they just wanted to serve us quickly and then get us out of there. There was another group in the dinning area that paid less per person and had a significantly better meal than us. They charged for a second drink whether it be soda or wine. The value was completely missing and it seems that the hostess of our trip was handsomely incentivized to keep using EF and we the paying people got the short end of the stick. Maybe more of that incentive should be used to make the trip better. I will tell other parents the truth which is this trip is overpriced for the experience provided. Most hotels were too far from anything to go experience the town-city-village so more wasting of our time. The guides were overall great BUT at times it seemed like we were being held hostage forced to wait for relevant info until 20-40 mins later which wastes precious time. Most of the time we had very little free time, one to four hours max, so this was very aggravating but improved as the trip progressed. Efficient processes could be taught to the guides to help with hotel check ins, walking tours, dinner plans and available free time. Everyday was hurry up and now wait for 20-40 mins.

Our Tour Director Emma was incredible and really made all involved feel welcome provided a lot of insight

I enjoyed my EF educational tour from 6/15/25 to 6/24/25. It was my first trip abroad. I feel the tour was well organized and the landmarks selected for the tour were not only popular but interesting too. Each day was filled with activities. From my point of view, it was too packed. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and passionate. I didn't feel they were truly appreciated or respected by many of the 17/18 year olds that were in attendance. I was disappointed with their behavior. Many were rude and loud which caused the main tour guide to repeat his instructions on numerous occasions. Some repeatedly failed to return at the determined meeting or meet back time. From my perspective the hotel stays were satisfactory with the exception of one, where there was no hot water for showers for either of the two days during our stay and also upon arrival late the first night, the room was extremely hot inspite of knowing of our arrival beforehand. The complimentary meals were not satisfactory because everyone was served the same dish. A minimum of 2 choices should be given for a more enjoyable dining experience. The bus travel was exceptional. The buses were well maintained and the drivers were not reckless. They were also professional and courteous. Special mention to Mr. Paola. I felt safe and it was so apparent that he loves his job. He described the roads he navigated as a work of art. I would like to do a repeat tour during a less busy time of the year and accompanied with individuals that are in my age group. Thanks for the opportunity to share my touring experience.

My daughter had a wonderful time on her trip to Madrid and Andalusia. Other than the airport debacle (not EF's fault) where the group missed their connection flight to Madrid, spent 36 hours in airports, and lost a day of the tour, everything went smoothly. (Looking forward to seeing how EF handles the insurance claim for the loss of a day and cost of one night hotel). The tour guide Maite Campos was wonderful! She and my daughter connected well and they had fun communicating with each other in both Spanish and English. The only downside my daughter conveyed was there were some tours where the group felt rushed by the tour director and didn't give the group time to capture pictures, but the overall experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Great tour guide and chaparones

Our tour guide Shinya was 1000% the best tour guide. He took care of any troubles and concerns we had. He was attentive to all our needs. Gave great recommendations to food and shopping places. 2 of our leaders fell ill and he helped them and we continued our trip with minor hiccups. The hotels were very accommodating with customer service and laundry rooms. The bus drivers and additional guides we had along our tour were knowledgeable and helpful. We also played BINGO on the bus when taking the long drives. We had lots of laughs and enjoyed the prizes. I can’t forget the dinner experiences they were exactly that a great EXPERIENCE!! I will definitely be planning another trip back. My daughter and I enjoyed the culture and everyone was so friendly. Till next time Shinya and Japan!! Thank you

EF is reliable and organized. They take the stress out of travel for the most part. They use amazing Tour Directors and Guides and always strive to improve their performance. They went above and beyond for one of our travelers who had unexpected foot surgery a few months before our Tour.

Great service from start to finish!

The trip was great, but.... our school joined another school and it ended up being 42 people and traveling with that many was just too much. We never got enough free time in the cities and we spent more time every day on a bus than we did walking or exploring locations. I would likely not do another EF tour again. Our hotels were far outside the cities so it left no option, as an adult traveling with my adult son, to explore the city further after dinners were complete. I feel like we got so little time, I have been left unsatisfied with my experience in each location that I have to go back and actually experienced the culture of just sitting in the cities. We always looked like annoying tourists coming off big busses. I prefer intrepid...no more than 13 pple per tour.

First - This tour was far less educational than a previous tour I attended with my daughter. I actually came home not really able to recall learning much of anything about the places we visited. And the little our guide did share was read from the internet. I could do that myself. Second - we had FOUR instances where we were stranded for hours at a time without a bus. The first time seemed to be a misunderstanding and my husband and I paid for two Ubers to get students to our hotel - around midnight in a foreign city! EF did reimburse for the Euro cost of the Uber but didn’t consider that there were conversion fees and a credit card bill to pay in US dollars upon our return. This was frustrating. The second time, our bus was apparently broken down. I really have issue with the tour guide for our first bus here. When her bus arrived she put her group on it and left us in the dust in Salzburg without one care as to if and when we would have a bus. Over half of bus 2 COULD have fit on bus 1 to get to our hotel. But we all stood out in the sun forbidden to sightsee more while we waited for two hours for a bus to rescue us. It just got worse from there with two additional occurrences of us not having a bus. Some people chose to be disrespectful to everyone in the group chat when this happened and this only made it worse. Third - our free time just plain stunk the majority of the time. We were given 20-30 minutes at times when literally NOTHING was open (either too early or too late in the day). What was the point???? We were also only given 30-45 minutes several times to “shop and find lunch” with absolutely ZERO guidance as to which direction to go to find restaurants or food carts. We spent all our time wandering around trying to find something to eat. Sometimes we never did and therefore went without lunch several days. Fourth - when I’m on a tour with my children I would expect to be put on the same floor as them in the hotel. This was only the case one night out of 12. Adults were placed on every floor where we had students so why weren’t we near our kids??? Overall this was a disappointing experience. I doubt very seriously that I will travel with EF again.

I loved my tour guide, Kent. He made the experience super interesting and educational with everything he explained. However, the dinner provided was awful, especially at the hotels. I would have preferred eating at a restaurant where we could get real Italian food, not stale pasta, the same meal over and over again, or places where you weren't even allowed to fill up your water bottle. Being vegetarian, I got the same dinner meals almost every day, and I was sick of eating the same thing for dinner every night. I wish we didn't have to pay more for the trip to have dinner included and I wish we could have instead payed less for the trip and find dinner for ourselves. The food provided by EF was awful. I also hated how I had a 9 hr layover. Paying for this trip almost 2 years in advance should provide enough time for EF to find better flights, or at least a lounge or some place where we could have stayed. It was unfair that my group got the Montreal before the other group even had to leave for the airport. It sucked that the other group didn't even have that long of a layover coming back and got home before us. It was unfair that we had to spend 9 hours in an airport, and food wasn't even provided. There was enough time for EF to find a better flight for us. I also hated how little time we had in Pisa. Having paid extra to see Pisa and not even being able to go inside was a waste. I wish EF were more transparent about what you were going to get by paying to go see Pisa. I was under the impression that we were going to do everything you could in Pisa, including going inside.

The experience was so wonderful for my son and his classmates. They visited Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland and learned so much about their history. They had a fantastic tour guide, Sybren!