“My husband and I have just returned from a fabulous trip to China. Despite initial concerns that it seemed to cheap we booked and were thrilled. Mostly the hotels were great, Chengdu not so much and the guides passionate and knowledgeable about their respective cities. We will definitely be booking another trip through Exoticca, as we loved China!”
“I have just booked a Ha Long Bay to Angkor Wat holiday for December 26, initially online but had a lovely chat with Mark about the finer details. So far so good!”
“An amazing itinerary covering breathtaking sights both above and below the water. Wonderful, friendly people everywhere. Good hotels and seem less travel. Couldn’t have been better.”
“The trip was very well organised from start to finish. My outbound flight was at a civilized hour and the airline was excellent. 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. If I had one criticism it would be that the Nile Cruise was very tiring, due to a very early flight to Aswan followed by some very early morning departures for excursions. Maybe a temple less with a little more relaxation time would improve the schedule and overall experience. The guides for both parts of my trip were excellent - very knowledgeable and helpful in all respects.
The only disappointment was that the final three days had to be re-arranged because of travel restrictions imposed by the Egyptian Government. One whole day was wasted when we travelled two and a half hours to our next destination, only to be turned around to travel back, although we did get lunch first! Hassein, our guide did a fantastic job in organising an alternative programme, although from a personal point of view, I was pretty much 'temple and tomb' ed out! I had been looking forward to the contrast of the desert activities but I accept that this was beyond the control of anyone - except Mr Trump!
My taxi from the final hotel to the airport was on time and the help with checking in was much appreciated.
This is my third holiday with Exoticca and it will not be my last.”
“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 well priced holiday but the excursions seemed expensive. Hotels all fab, some meals better than others. Great guide and driver. Pegasus flights on time, allowed my small backpack in the cabin on the way out but charged 20 euros to bring it on board for return flight (didn't use our 20 kg allowance). Overall a wonderful holiday, have been with exoticca before and would book again with them.”
“Writing
This was my second time using this travel agency, and once again, it has been an amazing experience. They offer hands-down great prices, which makes planning a holiday much more accessible and stress-free.
One of the standout features is their app—it provides all the information you need for your travels in one place, which is incredibly convenient. The itinerary matched the booking perfectly, and everything ran smoothly from start to finish.
The guides they work with are excellent—friendly, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about sharing the country’s history and traditions. They were always helpful and accommodating, which really enhanced the overall experience. Transfers were also well-organized and reliable, making the entire trip feel seamless and relaxed.
I will definitely be booking more holidays with them in the future. One suggestion I would make is to offer more options for solo travellers, including better pricing and a wider range of dates. Additionally, customer service could be improved—having to go through AI responses can be quite frustrating when you need direct assistance.
Overall, a fantastic experience and a company I would happily recommend.”
“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.”
“Another wonderful trip with Exoticca, Mehmet our guide around Turkey was really knowledgeable and entertaining. The group we were with was also amazing, met some really lovely people that we will keep in touch with. This trip for my husband 70th Birthday has really turn out to be one of the memorable one's.
Well Done Exoticca !”
“Well done Exoticca, once again you have exceeded our expectations with a wonderful, life enhancing trip this time to Egypt. An action packed 7 day itinerary which left us feeling we had really experienced this friendly country at its best. The new GEM was the icing on the cake, simply awe inspiring.”
“What we loved: China is an amazing country. Its growth in the last 25-30 years has been immense, and yet it has maintained its sense of community and society.
What we appreciated: Our guides. They were very informative and knowledgeable.
What annoyed us: There was a minority of people who wanted to travel around some of the places on their own, which is fine. What was not fine was how they used the guides to find out how to use the metros to get to places. The guides are for people doing the trip and not for personal assistance for those individuals who want to travel independently. A few people were also rude, saying they could not understand some of the guides. However, if they stopped talking and asking guides irrelevant questions then they might have understood what was being said. Despite this, the guides did really well to be patient and to make sure that everyone had a good time.”
