More Choices
Our 100+ carefully crafted itineraries span four different trip types, to fit your vision and budget. For immersive cultural experiences, choose an Insider Tour. For a balance of seeing the sites and experiencing the culture, choose a Classic. If your budget is more limited, or you crave more unplanned time, an Explorer Tour may be for you. And if you want to ditch the bus and enjoy a private tour with just 13 participants, choose a Pathfinder. If none of these seem right, we can customize trips to new destinations, incorporate service learning opportunities and design homestays. Our International Program Team will get to know you and your educational travel goals, then help you choose and customize the ideal tour.
Exceptional Tour Managers
ACIS Tour Managers are the heart and soul of our trips. They’re carefully selected, rigorously trained, artfully matched with group leaders and wholly supported by our overseas network. Best of all, they know how to explain the history and culture of each destination so students are engaged—and sometimes laughing out loud. It’s no wonder group leaders are constantly telling us how much they adore them
Hotels Where You Want to Be
Would you rather stay steps from the Tower of London or within earshot of Heathrow? We thought so—that’s why we have the most centrally located hotels in the business. Commuting two hours a day is a waste of your precious overseas time. And comfort is essential, which is why all of our hotels are three- and four-star rated.
Authentic and Satisfying Meals
Eating the local cuisine is one of the best and most enjoyable ways to experience a new culture. With ACIS, there are endless opportunities. Paella in Spain, pasta in Italy—it’s authentic food your students will eat and enjoy. What you won’t get are pale imitations of the real thing, served at 5:00 pm seatings at suburban hotels. Leave that to the other student travel companies.
Comfortable Transportation
Let’s face it: Getting there is rarely half the fun. But it doesn’t have to be uncomfortable. We make the hassles of transportation easier with flights as direct as possible, 4-berth couchettes on overnight trains and buses that are clean, operated by reputable companies and drivers, and not packed to capacity. So you arrive in a new city feeling refreshed and ready to explore — not exhausted.
Destination Expertise
Our itineraries reflect 35 years of experience in how to maximize your travel time. That means less time waiting and more time experiencing: Getting into the Tower of London just as it opens to beat the crowds. Touring Munich in the evening by bicycle, so you can cover more ground (and have more fun!) than if you’d walked. Whatever trip you’re on, it will run like clockwork, but never feel rushed.
More Inclusions
We simply include more than other tour companies. In fact, it’s not even close. Some inclusions are tour highlights like French cooking lessons or bull ranch visits. Others are smaller touches like 24-hour vaporetto passes in Venice, or timed entrances to the Accademia, so your group can skip the lines. The reality is that bargain prices come from including less. We think you deserve more.
Smooth Sailing No Matter What
Unpleasant surprises can happen on even the best-planned trips—illness, lost passports, even volcanic ash clouds. Our culture of care demands that we sweep in during an emergency (no matter how large or small) and save the day. Something falling short of your expectations? We’re experts at fixing things fast. And we back up our promises with our first-in-the-industry Service Guarantee.