Trip vs. excursion

[sinbadnj]

Test No. errors/advan-5 "At the Airport", question 3

As the working party had several hours to wait for the next flight, some of the members decided to go on a short expedition to a local castle.

(a) several
(b) for
(c) expedition
(d) local

Test No. errors/advan-5 "At the Airport", answer 3

As the working party had several hours to wait for the next flight, some of the members decided to go on a short excursion to a local castle.

Correct entry: excursion
The error was: (c) expedition

You have found the error but your entry is incorrect.
As the working party had several hours to wait for the next flight, some of the members decided to go on a short trip to a local castle.
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may I use trip instead of excursion? thanks

[Tim Munro]

*** the word expedition is okay to use in this sentence...there is no error!! An expedition is "a journey or excursion undertaken for a specific purpose."(Mirriam Webster) While expedition may be considered to be a long excursion, it does not have to be great in length...in this sentence, there is a specific purpose for the trip - to go to the castle, so there is NO ERROR in this sentence.

[Alan]

Hi Sinbadnj,

An interesting point. I can't accept expedition in this sentence but the difference between trip and excursion is debatable. I would say trip is usually something organised as a journey for the day but I have chosen excursion because it's a word often used in travel and holidays where a visit is arranged to a place of interest when you have arrived at your holiday destination.

Alan
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[Jason]

Hi Alan, how about "journey"? Can i use it here? Thanks!

[Lehongsang]

Alan, " the working party" What does it exactly mean?
thanks