Reviews

Being on the top of one of the highest mountains in Bulgaria!

Beautiful wildlife everywhere you looked, really nice hikes and beautiful home cooked food!

a beautiful holiday for a sunchaser

Was a beautiful holiday for a Sunchaser who loves a nice hike beautiful weather, landscapes, heat ng in lagoons and eating delicious food!

Portugal:Walking & Wine

I thoroughly enjoyed our walking tour through the Douro valley and Porto with our guide Carla and her husband Fernando. It was so beautiful and made into a very special experience because of the guides. Carla made you feel like you were part of the Portuguese family because she introduced you to the culture and traditions that are so important to her and her family. They worked together so well and Fernando seemed to be there whenever you needed him!
The walking destinations were remarkable and in spite of the forest fires we encountered (during our time there) Carla worked hard to make the rest of our tour interesting and satisfying. That could not have been easy!

Wonderful trip

The trip to the Douro Valley was excellent in its variety of terrains, wine tastings and walks. But what made the trip were the 2 leaders -Carla and Fernando. Carla not only has a wealth of info to share but she really cared that we all were getting the experience we wanted. She took so much of her personal time for us and totally extended herself to make our time memorable. Fernando was always there when we needed him. He seemed to pop out of the corner at just the right moments-in our walks or when guiding us. He’s a fabulous naturalist and photographer. I can’t speak more highly about the two of them!

MMI Cycle Morocco’s great south

Really loved the cycling, it was challenging and very rewarding .Our guides Mohamed and Yusuf were excellent as were the drivers. And the food was wonderful. Apart from the hotel in Agadir which survived very ordinary buffet food. Sadly neither the bikes or the transfer vehicles were up to the job. The bikes were worn out and constantly needing attention and the vehicles did not have enough legroom for comfort, particularly the Prado, which was painful if you were unlucky enough to be in the back.

Excellent trip

What a fabulous week in the Dolomites

Nearly excellent

I do feel a little mean just giving 4 stars but there were a few niggles. It’s a great trip and particularly satisfying in that there are no transfers until the end – you cycle from hotel to hotel for 6 days. Lovely scenery, though not quite as gorgeous as described in other reviews. Accommodation basic but clean – no luxury but you don’t spend much time in it. Sardinian food and wine is pretty awesome but mostly fish based.
Gripes. Bikes are old and heavy which make the second and third rides more onerous than they should be- 3400 feet ascent in 36 miles does not usually faze me but knees were complaining for a few days after. I experienced a degree of bike envy for the guide’s lightweight gravel bike. As noted elsewhere the flight times are awkward and we were pretty bored by the end of the last day awaiting our transfer to the airport- a late check out from our rooms on a hot sticky day would have been good. The trip notes were inaccurate which, sadly, is a common issue with Exodus trips. Biggest grouse was, however, that there was only ever one guide on the rides, which meant that the weakest member was either cycling alone or dependent on the good nature of other participants for company. To my mind a bit of a safety risk but I guess we might have been spoilt after our trip to Indonesia where there were always three guides.
I am sounding a bit negative. We had a great time but some minor alterations would improve the experience substantially.

Walking The Algarve in Portugal

Roberta Johnson
September 2024

We have been on many Exodus trips and this one was one of the most beautiful places I have visited. The varied scenery on our coastal walks and paths were breathtaking. This is a very unspoilt, tranquil, cultural region with passionate local people. Each hotel we stayed at was lovely, especially the Aljezur as it was set in a peaceful, uncrowded location with very friendly, fun staff. Francisco and Rafael guided us throughout this wonderful trip doing their utmost to make our holiday special and enjoyable. They were very passionate in every way and extremely knowledgeable. They explained things to us in a kind, caring, relaxed and fun way. They always made sure we were comfortable and happy with what we were doing each day. They worked very hard and well together.
I felt privileged to share this trip with inspiring people, exploring the region and making this a magical holiday.

A fabulous Trip

Our first guided tour with Exodus, and first ever, was great. The setting, food, group dynamic and leader were all more than I for!

Exotic trip with a few flaws

The itinerary for this trip was remarkable – saw oragutans and Komodo dragons in the wild, snorkeled, and enjoyed touring around Bali and the various islands. Did the Gili Trawangan extension and went scuba diving there. And Elly was a wonderful tour guide. However, there were some downsides, including the boat in the Komodo islands and some of the other transportation. The boat itself was not very comfortable, and actually a little dangerous in certain regards. The boat was not set up to accommodate the number of people on the tour, so was at times crowded and uncomfortable in the common area. There wasn’t just an option to sleep on the deck, but a requirement for a few people, as there were not enough cabins to accommodate the entire group. And when those deck sleepers needed to use a restroom in the middle of the night, they had to barge in to one of the cabins in the dark – no restrooms on the boat except inside the few cabins. The dining table where they served all the food buffet-style was crammed in a small room, with the stairs leading down to a couple of the cabins right alongside of the table -as you were getting your food, it would have been extremely easy to fall down them if you weren’t very careful. The refrigerator with all of our drinks was very often blocked by people sitting at the table, so there was major shuffling to do you when you wanted to get a drink. There was a low railing around the boat, which in rough seas would have been very easy to fall overboard.
there was only one support skiff with the boat that could only take half of us ashore at a time, so getting everyone onshore took forever. The local guide that accompanied us on the Komodo boat trip was not very good. He didn’t do any kind of assessment of everyone’s snorkeling abilities but instead took off on the first snorkel in a strong current, and didn’t look back to see if everyone was following, or try to keep the group together. People fell way behind and because there was only one skiff, that skiff couldn’t (nor ever intended to, it seemed) stay with the snorkelers. People were scattered over a large area in the water and in some cases, were told to just wait in the water when the first half of the group had already filled the skiff for the return trip to the big boat. It was a situation ripe with the potential for disaster. And the guide wasn’t around to stay with the people who had to remain in the water waiting. And if you wanted to jump in and swim off the big boat, the ladder was so high in the water that it was very difficult to get back on the boat – and there was no safety line deployed behind the boat to make it any easier, or safer, to get to the boat.

Other transportation was disappointing. The small group of us that went on the Gili Island extension had to wait over an hour at port the ferry terminal, after arriving back in Bali, for the driver to show up to transport people to the airport for thir flights. I stayed a couple extra nights in Bali before going home, and the driver that was supposed to transport me from the hotel to the airport never showed up at all – the hotel had to make alternate arrangements for me.

In closing, it was a wonderful, adventerous trip, but Exodus has some work to do to make it a little safer and comfortable.