DORDOGNE FAMILY ADVENTURE - FAMILY HOLIDAY

8 days from GBP529 to GBP569 land only
Tripcode: FVQ

Countries Visited: France

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Our Clients’ Reviews

Average Review Rating: from 6 reviews.

stuart herritty

DORDOGNE FAMILY ADVENTURE - FAMILY HOLIDAY

Written August 2011
This would be hard to beat for a start point of activity holidays for families with younger children. Comparatively easy to get to, fairly low intensity exercise and European standard camp sites make for an out door experience without going too far from your comfort zone.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
All of the activity days were fantastic and pushed us out to enjoy the area in a way that would have been easy to miss if it had been an option within an ordinary family holiday.
The Dordogne is renown for the Chateau and the river canoe trips take you past severally truely beautiful scenes. The steady down stream pace allowed for plenty of time for taking in the scenery as well as horse play and swimming in the river.
The walks were the toughest for the children as it was very hot on both days. That said everyone made it including our 7 year old and still had the energy to do something with the rest of the day. For adults the walks are strolls and the pace was not hard with plenty of breaks for littler/unfitter legs to catch up.
The cycling was a really fun day and a tandam was found so that even the youngest could participate. The route is gentle for most people as the bikes have good gears for the few climbing bits of the route but beware the tandam as it has v. v. basic gears and you can't count on little ones to pedal!
What did you think of your group leader?
Mark was an excellant leader throughout the trip, making everyone feel involved, answering questions and ironing out any little issues quickly without fuss.
He was "on duty" for the whole holiday and helped the group to bond and explained in detail all the activities and options as they arose throughout the week.
You could not wish for a more helpful organiser.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Due to engineering work by SNCF none of our group travelled down by train. You don't need a car for the trip but it is useful if you want to explore the area on your one "rest" day. If you do drive research your route and try to pick one that avoids Paris or gets you past really early in the morning. (we hit traffic that delayed us for 1.5hrs both ways). In total from the Channel tunnel to the camp site, round Paris, it is a 8 - 9 hour drive with about 60€ of tolls.
Don't over pack! this is camping and the whole week is really casual.
We have a vegetarian in the family and the French clearly don't believe in non-meat menu's. We struggled to find alternatives to pizza and cheese omelettes.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I can't imagine a lovelier location (especailly the second site) and a more enjoyable break for a start to activity holidays. It's safe, not too challenging while pushing you to experience things that you would miss if you didn't have the group.
There were 4 families in total on our trip and as much to them as to Exodus I have to say thank you for a great holiday.
Carol Whelan

DORDOGNE FAMILY ADVENTURE - FAMILY HOLIDAY

Written August 2011
We had a fantastic holiday - lots of great activities, well balanced holiday with plenty to do but also with time to relax by the pool etc A great way to see the Dordogne.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Kayaking, with the children jumping in the river off the boats and swimming downstream. Seeing all the wildlife and just enjoying the scenery. Stopping off on the way to jump in the river off the rope swing!
Also loved the full day cycle - my son said the downhill at the end was better than a ride at Disney!

What did you think of your group leader?
Mark was great - very helpful, happy to change things around to ensure we all had the best time including organising a barbeque for us on the last night in camp.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
The activities are as described in the brochure - so they are full days but great fun. At the end of the day we were tired but soon revived with a swim in the pool.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
This was our first Exodus holiday and we had a brilliant time. The other families were great company, there was a good mix of activities and down time. It was very relaxed and Mark was always there with help and advice. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys an active holiday.
Garrett Duffy

DORDOGNE FAMILY ADVENTURE - FAMILY HOLIDAY

Written August 2011
A terrific holiday for younger children,varied activities,not a boring minute and plenty to keep the adults interested as well
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Canoeing down the Dordogne was an amazing experience-just pretend you have it all to yourself!
What did you think of your group leader?
Mark had time for everyone adults and children,had great patience and worked really hard to make sure we all had a good time
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Consider a car if you want to visit some of the other sights while in this amazing part of France such as the cave paintings of Lascaux. However you do squeeze in a lot of sights and experiences in one brief week without a car
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We really loved this part of France.It is packed with history,picturesque chateaux and amazing caves. The scenery is beautiful and this holiday takes you right to the heart of the area.Thanks to Mark and also the other families in our group for a great time
Lea Baines

DORDOGNE FAMILY ADVENTURE - FRANCE HOLIDAY

Written August 2010
We had a briiliant time with really lovely people and very much enjoyed the variety of activities.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Feeling really good after a week of exercise and this inspiring me to do more exercise at home and more activity weeks in the future.

What did you think of your group leader?
The leader was fantastic. He was fun to be with and equally at ease with both the adults and children in the party. He organised the week so that it passed without a hitch. He was very supportive to those who were at the back of the group during the activities. He listened to and followed up on ideas that people had.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
To do some exercise before they go. We don't do that much exercise and would have benefited from doing more. We did manage to do (and enjoy) all activities though.
I would also recommend people checking that the times given for the train journey allows plenty of time to cross Paris. We did have time and the journey worked well but I think I would have been happier with more. The train back to Paris was delayed and if it had been any more delayed we may have had a problem. In addition I bought a pack of 10 metro tickets at Eurostar in London. If I hadn't bought these I think the journey across Paris could have been more stressful. I booked our travel with Exodus.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
The holiday was better than I expected. I have travelled with Exodus before on longer trips and didn't feel that staying in Europe would be as exciting. However, I enjoyed this holiday as much as any of the others I have done. The range of activities were brilliant and I loved the fact that we did a different one each day. This meant that if muscles ached after one day different ones were used the next. The countryside was stunning and historically interesting and there was a good balance between visits and activities. The campside pools were lovely and the children had much fun in these. We went to a different restaurant each night and the food was excellent.
Jonathan Molloy

DORDOGNE FAMILY ADVENTURE HOLIDAY

Written September 2008
We had a brilliant week of canoeing, cycling and walking - our children loved their first ever week under canvas.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Canoeing along the Dordogne was a stunning experience. The scenery is amazing with classic castles appearing on cliff tops around every river bend.
What did you think of your group leader?
Marc was a great leader, who went out of his way to make our week enjoyable. Seeing him wheeling a large fridge on a trolley to our camping pitch was a sight to behold! The children loved it when he capsized his canoe - this was an accident but they told him he had to do it on every trip from now on to entertain his guests!!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
One thing that would make the trip more family-friendly would be to run it from Saturday to Saturday. This would make it easier to combine with another week's holiday as part of a longer trip to France.
Overall, highly recommended - a good mixture of challenging but manageable activities. Our children (aged 6 and 8) loved the whole package.
Sarah Hughes

DORDOGNE FAMILY ADVENTURE HOLIDAY

Written August 2008
Going on holiday with another another family worked out really well. It did not matter that we did not know each other before the holiday. Everybody got along well. It was great for our kids to meet other kids and have new friends to share the days with. It was a fairly active holiday, but we had some choice as to how hard we wanted each day to be, we could take it slightly easier if the day was too hot or we were feeling tired.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Canoeing down the rivers with incredible scenery. I really did not imagine it would be so spectacular.
What did you think of your group leader?
Mark, the group leader was lovely. It was obvious that he was experienced at leading groups and was very chatty and friendly, but also able to give everyone space when they needed it. He was also understanding and patient around grumpy and/or overexcited children. He knew his way around the area well negotiated the paths etc without problems on the walks and bike rides.

Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
The ground at the campsites is very hard - unless you are hardened campers take some extra padding and pillows.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
The walks and cycle rides were on quiet roads and paths, we had a real sense that we were exploring the area and were a little bit of the beaten track. In contrast, the villages we stayed in and visited were busy and touristy (but not spoilt by this). The rivers were very popular and extremely busy (particularly the Dordogne). This wasnt a problem but might upset someone wanting to feel they were on a real adventure....