ACIS Educational Tours Avis 

Our experience was great because of the pre-planning by ACIS. During the trip, it was our tour guide, James Higginson, who made the trip special and run smoothly - planning ahead on tours and accommodations, timely communications, problem solving, staying in control so we felt everything was under control and providing terrific in depth historical information in an engaging way.

It waa a great experience with ACIS. Our guide in Peru, Saida was amazing and took care of every single detail. The itinerary was well developed and organized. The students enjoyed the lectures while riding on the bus and learnt lots oc important data about Peru and the different archeological sites.

As a retired teacher who has traveled with ACIS over 20 times, I can attest to their quality. They go above and beyond in their support and connection with teacher leaders. Their hotels are great quality and always well placed. Meals and activities are diverse and geared towards the traveling group. I have the highest trust and respect for ACIS Tour Managers who are the cream of the crop. For all these reasons, I still travel with ACIS, only now I lead adult trips! On my last custom "girls trip" we traveled from Bordeaux to Paris, with ACIS coordinating amazing meals and experiences. I wouldn't attempt the responsibility of leading a large group without the support and help of the people that make ACIS great.

ACIS was easy to work with, communication was great and response time quick. Everyone from our ACIS contact, Cara, who I worked with for months getting ready for the trip, to our ACIS tour manager, Julia and our Icelandic tour guide Marta, were all amazing. I would definitely work with this company again in the future!

Helena, Medo and Caroline deserve awards for this incredible once in a lifetime trip!!! Their MAIN concerns were our safety and security at all times during this vacation. Honestly they were on top of everything! After that…I had a blast! Every single experience was worthy of mentioning and absolutely catered to our group. ALL of the hotels were amazing and the staff very welcoming! Even down to carrying our giant suitcases we all brought. I would absolutely stay at all of these hotels again. It is obvious that your guidelines for tour guides is top tier because Helena and Caroline are professionals! I would recommend them for anyone and I would trust their experience and expertise in any situation. They made us all happy and accommodated a group of all WOMEN! I would definitely use your company again and would send any loved one of mine on a journey with y’all!

Our tour guide Matteo was amazing. He has such a great personality-- funny, calm and knowledgeable. We had some stressful things to deal with- a student who got hurt, one who was seriously ill, very hot and humid conditions, and through it all he was a great leader and very kind to everyone. I would definitely recommend him to anyone as a tour guide.

Our hotels were very good too. The one in Sorrento was awesome. We loved the rooftop lounge and the rooms were very nice. Our Rome Hotel was not as beautiful, but it was in a nice area– with shops, restaurants, and regular people, not just tourists. My one area of feedback would be to utilize this area a little more - maybe have dinner and gelato in the area. It would be less stressful than the touristy area of Rome. The Florence hotel had a great outdoor lounge area that everyone gathered at night, and was very close to the tram, which cut down on the walking distance.

The restaurants we ate in were overall pretty good. The pizza place across from Pompeii was amazing and the dinner at the Mozzarella Farm in Sorrento was a favorite too. The places in Rome and Florence weren’t as memorable, and I felt like the food was a little repetitive. We had caprese salads every night for five of the dinners. I know it’s probably hard to find affordable restaurants in Rome, which is why I think we could have done dinner near our hotel for a lot cheaper. I have mixed feelings about the two voucher nights. The kids seemed to like it, but I missed the togetherness of having dinner as a group.

We decided to take a day trip via the train to Arezzo on our last day, and we loved it! The town had such a cool laid back vibe, and it was easy to shop and eat like a local. I would highly recommend adding this as a permanent stop, and maybe even have groups stay there and just take a day trip into Florence.

The city parts of the trip were really not that great. The Colosseum was very crowded. The bus parked a mile away from the colosseum and then we had to walk there, but it seemed like public transportation would have dropped us off right at the entrance. Our tour guide at the Colosseum was very good though, and helped us navigate the crowds. It seemed like often the bus was supposed to save us walking in the heat, but instead dropped us off way far away and then we still had to walk quite a bit in the burning heat. Florence was a little less crowded, but by that time I think we were all sick of the heat and crowds. The city guide in Florence was very good though. He knew how to keep the kids entertained.

Overall, we had a great time! The only negative things were things that ACIS could not really control, like how hot it was, the crowds, and when someone got sick or injured. They responded to these things professionally and with kindness, and the majority of the travelers had an amazing, life long memorable experience.

Sheila, our tour coordinator, had everything arranged and the schedule was good. Our driver, Niel, was super knowledgeable.

James Higginson continues to be an excellent tour manager who gets along with all of our passengers—from our college-aged students to our donors in their 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The wealth of information he provides about culture, history, politics, art, and literature throughout every tour is amazing—and it is all extemporaneous. He never reads from notes—he knows all of this from his years of experience. I have traveled with ACIS since 1995 and have had several very good tour managers, but James is exceptional. We have worked together for over 20 years now! On the pre-trip side, my contact Heidi Pettit does an excellent job of helping me organize my itinerary, and Claire Altimira is always there in Paris to help with some of my requests for special events and activities. I love traveling with ACIS, and this year’s trip was, once again, amazing. Thank you to the ACIS team for all of their help!

It was lovely to meet so many new people and to see France. It would maybe have been better if each stop was 3 days rather than 2 and the length of time spent on coaches was too long.
Difficult to please everyone but would have preferred longer in each place maybe seeing more in one area and not stretching the journey so far.

Itinerary, hotels, good food, tour guide

The tour was poorly planned with little thought to the importance of what we were seeing and large gaps of unplanned free time. We did a speed run of the acropolos and museum in 2 hours only to have 6+ hours of free time to manage with teenagers. If not for our contact on the ground Artemis, it would have been a complete disaster. She was the only redeeming part of the trip. Each day was speed run an ancient ruin with no time to actually take it in and then have 4-6 hours of free time in a random city. This would have been a recipe for disaster if we didn’t have good students.

Tour guide Elana was excellent, trip was well planned, hotels were very nice and no major issues with travel, hotels , food or excursions.

Every aspect was superior.
Site selection - all of the sites were unique and interesting.
Logistics - the coach service was excellent
Tour guide - Ian Graham added great perspective and interesting context
Meals - fun and great food
Hotels - better than experienced on past tours
Schedule - action packed

James Higginson is far and away the best tour guide I have ever had - extremely knowledgeable, well spoken in English and French, always a positive attitude, and any problems were quickly resolved.
The tour was well organized and executed to near perfection. I don’t know how it could be improved.

Our women's trip to France was well organized and filled with fun activities. The wine tastings, the wonderful food, the walking tours, and the visits to the quaint towns made the trip special. No activity was too strenuous or difficult for those on the trip. The sites were amazing and the stops well planned with enough free time to fit additional personal exploration of the towns, shops, and restaurants. Our tour guide was experienced, welcoming, and addressed unforeseen issues immediately with a calm and friendly attitude. She was very knowledgeable and fun. The included food was wonderful and appropriate for a group of ladies who expected a high level of cuisine. The hotel accommodations were excellent. The only issue that arose was with the hotel in Paris. We experienced a heat wave when we arrived, and the hotel had an issue with the air conditioning that affected several rooms. This issue was resolved the following day.

The restaurants were ideal.The tour guide was terrific.

Great trip!
Some days started too late. Didn’t have time to explore the area . Late nights or short stays ( 1 night stays) also. Everything was great! Marian and Ian were both great!

The hotels other than Tokyo were not great. The baggage handler between Kyoto to Tokyo broke my wife’s Away bag. The rest of the trip was fine

Picture This! A wonderful tour organizer, Marian St. Clair from Greenville, SC, coupled with a super U.K. based guide, Ian Graham, and a lively coach driver led to an amazing trip for our group! The tour participants were all incredible people and we got to see some of the most beautiful gardens + the Chelsea Garden Show together. The overall experience was very special and memorable for everyone.

Ian Graham our tour guide was the best and the coach driver Maurice was great as well. Hotels and restaurants were excellent choices. Disappointing to find out there was no porter service available a couple of times though. Even if there was a wedding scheduled there, arrangements should have been made to accommodate all guests.