WALKING THE GREAT WALL

11 days from GBP1,549 to GBP1,839 including flights
Tripcode: TCW

Countries Visited: China

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Our Clients’ Reviews

Average Review Rating: from 22 reviews.

Louise Amandini

WALKING THE GREAT WALL

Written October 2011
6 different and interesting days/part days walking along the wall but not enough to do everyday. Beijing interesting historically if a little a smoggy! Terrocotta Army and X'ian a must do extension amazing.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The Terracota Warriors and the history behind them was amazing. Well worth a visit. The Great Wall is an amazing unbelievable sight aswell and walking along it for 6 days did it justice and showed how variable it is especially the non rebuilt bits which were better than the main stream tourist parts.
What did you think of your group leader?
Made the trip "without sparkle" from your previous options. Slow to impart information and normally the group leader with Exodus is amazing and you learn loads about the country, unfortunately John gave little information out.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Take wet wipes as our 1st homestay had no running water and take snacks as food a little unreliable!!
Take a good camera as sites worth a picture!!
If you go in October it's really cold at night in homestays, take warm clothes or layers as we were all very chilly, there was frost one night!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Could have done better with food at homestays.
Elizabeth Cranfield

WALKING THE GREAT WALL

Written October 2011
An extremely enjoyable trek with fantastic views of the snaking wall and the surrounding autumnal mountainous countryside, contrasting with the crowds in Beijing. The variety of overnight stays added to the oberall enjoyment. Highly recommended.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Clambering up the various 'one in one' parts of the wall. The sheer scale of the Great Wall. The support of fellow travellers. The shy red beaked blue magpies. Staying with local people so that we could se how they lived.
What did you think of your group leader?
Very friendly, making sure that everyone in the group was coping alright and knowledgeable about the route. However he could have told us more about the areas we were travelling through and the day ahead on the long bus journeys.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Take warm clothing - and a sleeping bag if you feel the cold - for the evenings if travelling in the autumn. It gets cold after sun down and some of the overnight stays were not heated.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
October seemed an ideal time to go as the weather was warm during the day, rather than very hot, which made walkin much easier - and may be the reason why the walks were much shorter, timewise, than suggested in the trip notes. One also gets the benefit of the autumnal colours, and plenty of locally grown produce for meals. The Acrobats and Kung Fu shows were far more expensive than Exodus suggested.
Stephen Taylor

WALKING THE GREAT WALL

Written September 2011
One of the 7 Modern Wonders of the world-and easy to understand why.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Every day was special-but the walk from Gubeiko to Jinshangling along an airy ridge was the best walking day for me.
What did you think of your group leader?
Danny Mao is a great tour leader. Always cheerful, helpful and knowledgable. Never intrusive but always there when you need him to be. Told us all about Chinese history to pass the time on the bus. Worth giving him a hefty bonus Exodus!
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
The accomodation is pretty good even out in the country-obviously upgraded from some earler reviews. The food is excellent and there is lots of it. Practice with chopsticks before you go. The Wall is amazing, climbing over mountains and snaking away into the distance. Returning to see the sights of Beijing and then on to Xi'an and the Terracotta Army are pretty special experiences too, so increase your "wow" factor and do the extension.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Great sights, great leader, great bunch of other walkers. Great holiday!
Sylvia Dorfman

WALKING THE GREAT WALL

Written September 2011
A good value trip incorporating nice places of interest.
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Juliet Stagg

WALKING THE GREAT WALL

Written September 2011
I will have some fabulous memories of the trip and the group. It was well organised and ran smoothly from start to finish, although parts were often not quite as good as I had expected. Overall it was a great experience, and travelling with Exodus is worthwhile and fun.
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What did you think of your group leader?
Our group leader was diligent, thoughtful and well-meaning. It was a shame that his spoken English wasn't stronger, as on a trip such as this, in such a different culture with such a rich history, it would have been great to have someone who understood our questions fully and even better, could explain things more spontaneously. Nevertheless, our leader worked hard to cater for everyone and was very entertaining, and we think he liked us!
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Definitely take:
- sleeping bag liner
- walking poles
Don't forget:
- a towel
- good socks, blister plasters etc.
- biscuits / emergency snacks!
- insect repellent etc.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
This is a great trip if you enjoy walking, but beware that there's not as much involved each day as you may think. Overall the trekking is not that hard-going; there are some steep or narrow parts, but these are largely towards the start of the trip and do not last for long. There are also ways to accomodate these parts, although ultimately, not to avoid them, so do consider before you go. I would have preferred there to have been a little more walking every day, as there's very little to do when you finish, particularly as meals are often very short affairs! However a good group and team spirit sorts that out and you will have plenty of fun in the downtime. The Trip Notes often implied that there would be more walking each day, with no obvious good reason given by our guide for cutting things short. Overall though, you'll see much more and walk much more of the Wall than on other trips that are offered, and will probably feel completely drained one way or another at the end, so this is still a great activity trip. The sightseeing at the end is also fantastic. Brace yourselves for the mindboggling translation attempts on signs - and enjoy!
Velitchka Ivanova

WALKING THE GREAT WALL

Written August 2011
it was a great experience!beautiful scenery,challenging walks good food fantastic group of people and perfect guide-michael cheng was helpul, friendly and good fun!!!
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
seeing the sunrise at jinshanling part of the wall-what a profound experience and calmness
What did you think of your group leader?
the best one
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
just enjoy the experience
Is there anything else you would like to add?
thanks exodus for putting so many different people into one great group !
i loved every moment of this trip and will be going on more trips with exodus in the future!we walked a lot ,eat a lot,drank a lot,laughed a lot and sweat a lot but this will be memories well lived and enjoyed!thank you
Martin Christopher Brennan

WALKING THE GREAT WALL

Written August 2011
A fantastic trip made infinitely more enjoyable by the people in the group.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Meeting such a diverse group of people and seeing how each of us coped with our particular challenges; then witnessing the support from within the group... Couldn't have been better!
What did you think of your group leader?
Excellent! Really nice guy, very knowlegable, very helpful... and somehow managed to understand our strange sense of humour.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
This was a moderate to challenging trip, you can challenge yourself and make it more difficult if you like, however, what I would suggest is that people enjoy the downtime and also to look around and enjoy the countryside. For the first day of the climb, with the heat and the terrain etc. I missed some spectacular views because I had my head down trying to get somewhere fast.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
A worthwhile experience, great companionship, strange food (we are all expert chopstick users now); to see people outside of their comfort zone, adapting to new experiences, and managing to maintain a great rapport amongst the group was an enlightening experience.