Explorer Belt 2025 is going to be held in Poland. This year Surrey Scout’s are hosting it. For more details please visit:


The Explorer Belt is the challenge of a lifetime
It’s a 10-day expedition that will bring you a deeper understanding of one of our European neighbours, its people, culture and way of life. It’s an independent exploration of a foreign country in a small team. It’s Scouting’s most challenging Top Award.
Read on to find out more about the 2025 Explorer Belt to Poland. Then click this link to register your interest and to attend an Explorer Belt Information Session on 28th September, 2nd October or 13th October.

Kraków in southern Poland is the location for the 2025 Explorer Belt
Kraków dating back to the 7th century is one of the oldest cities in Poland and was Poland’s capital until the 1500’s.  Kraków is a major academic, artistic, cultural and historical centre.  In 1978, the whole of the Old Town and the historic centre of Kraków were designated by UNESCO as Poland’s first World Heritage site.
The countryside surrounding Kraków, where you will spend most of your Explorer Belt, is made up of farmland, fields, woods and forest.  Some areas are similar to the UK’s New Forest.  In other areas there is higher ground and historic castles.  There are frequent houses, farms, villages and small towns.
Your Explorer Belt expedition will bring you into contact with many Polish people.  You will find their life experience is often very different from your own.  The oldest people you meet may have grown up during the Nazi occupation of World War 2.  Any person over 35 will have grown up during the Soviet occupation that continued into the 1990s.  More recently the Poles around Kraków have experienced the very significant political, economic and social impacts of joining NATO and the EU.
At the end of the Explorer Belt expedition you will visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former Nazi concentration camp.  The visit will help you learn about some of the most important events in Europe’s history.

Your Explorer Belt expedition
You’ll travel through Poland as a small team of 4 or 5 Explorer Scouts or 3 to 5 Network members for 10 days.
You’ll meet local people, talk to them and complete a series of projects. These will help you gain a deeper understanding of this area of Poland, its people, culture and way of life.
During your expedition, you’ll select your own route and accommodation and cover about 150 km on foot.
After your expedition you’ll make a presentation to gain your Explorer Belt.
Previous expedition members have said the Explorer Belt is the best thing they did as part of Scouts.

Check you meet these important pre-requisites and can make these dates
You must be either an Explorer Scout aged 16 or over before the start of the expedition, or a Scout Network member.
As a guide, you should have hiking, lightweight camping and expedition experience at Chief Scout’s Diamond / Silver DofE award level.
Ideally, you will have formed a team and will register as a team for the first training weekend in November. Explorer teams must have 4 or 5 members, Network teams can have 3, 4 or 5 members.  It’s no problem if you are not in a team for the first training weekend.  Many teams are actually formed during the weekend.
You must attend the two training weekends, on 16th and 17th November 2024 and 15th and 16th March 2025. They will be held in Surrey and south west London.
You must organise and carry out two independent training expeditions with your team between 1st December 2024 and 30th April 2025. The first of these training expeditions will be 2 days / 1 night and the second will be 2 days / 2 nights.
You must attend one of the Explorer Belt one day first aid courses held between December and the end of April or already hold a First Response or equivalent or higher first aid certificate.