Reviews

Highlights of the Dolomites

What a fantastic trip, loved every single minute of it. Fun was had in abundance and it was definitely the best group of people I’ve ever met and walked with. In fact I’m laughing to myself as I’m writing this I had that much fun!

The Dolomites are stunning and Campitello is the ideal location from which to explore them. The Sporthotel Enrosadira was brilliant, a lovely family run establishment where they couldn’t do enough for us. Dinner was great, all five courses of it!

Would I recommend this trip to others….. absolutely!

Highly recommended

After waiting 2 years it was good to eventually be able to go on this trip. The organisation was perfect, and although only 2* the stay was in a traditional family hotel with friendly staff, a clean and comfortable room, and a good shower to end the day with. The views from my room were spectacular, and the evening meals were superb.
All the walks were of the standard I expected, and all in beautiful surroundings. It was interesting to take the local train to the start point of each walk on most days.

All Weathers Tour

We had a fantastic start in the Tetons , great hikes and beautiful views. We managed to see black bears on one of our hikes. Some surprising dramatic weather whilst we went up the cable car. We were very disappointed to not be able to visit Yellowstone because it was flooded, but our guide Mark Harding more than made up for this with great walks in the Tetons and Glacier Park where we were able to stay another day. We saw grizzly bears and bisson on the reserve. We had a fantastic boat ride and dinner at Coeur D’Alene .All our accomodation was good. My favourite was staying in Glacier park, where Mike, our guide provided us with a fantastic breakfast everyday.

Exciting and stretching!

Very enjoyable. The number of steps on several of the walks was daunting and I had very stiff legs for days! I think it is more of a 3 rather than a 2/3.

regaining confidence

Having had two trips to the Lake District with appalling weather conditions where I struggled with hill climbing and broke my wrist on the first occasion, this Highlights trip has restored my confidence and I will be back for more. Our leader, Jeff, knew exactly how to reassure less confident climbers in the group and by the end of the first day I was relaxed about meeting any challenges in the week ahead. His expert knowledge of the flora and fauna in the area was obvious. The walks were varied, the wildflowers amazing and views of the Alps stunning. Clare and Liz were superb hosts at Chalet Chamonix. Food was excellent and Liz’s home-made cake every afternoon was a particular treat. I had a fabulous holiday. Thank you Exodus!

A fantastic cycling holiday

This was a very enjoyable cycle tour with a wonderful combination of cycle routes, spectacular scenery, excellent food and beer/wine, history and mythology . The two guides Dimitri S and Dimitri G excelled at making sure everyone was looked after and nothing was too much trouble – from providing vehicle support to explaining Greek history and recommending local wines.

Good for early birds and insomniacs, not recommended for sun-seekers.

This is certainly a trip for wildlife lovers, and on that score it certainly does not disappoint, though a good pair of binoculars is probably more important than a good camera. However, I think marketing this trip as something which can be enjoyed in the rainy season is misleading at best. It doesn’t just rain for a bit then the sun comes out – when it rains it can rain for hours and hours. While we were lucky in that in rained mostly at night on our trip, on a few occasions we were caught in it, and our trip was at the beginning of the rainy season.
The early starts were too early at times, and when you’ve just come on two long flights involving twenty four hours of airports, security checks, passports, flights . . . being told you need to get up for a 6.00am breakfast seems just cruel.
Our tour leader argued that because of the early sunset around 5.30 – 6pm we needed to make the best of the day light, which is a fair point, but our afternoon trips invariable finished well before dinner, so a later breakfast at say 8am would not really have created a problem.

Very enjoyable

This trip did not disappoint! I had wanted to visit Albania for some time and seeing it on two wheels was the obvious way to enjoy the scenery and surroundings. The people were friendly, the scenery varied and stunning from the mountains to the coast and the added visits to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Butrint and the National Parks added to the enjoyment. The accommodation was lovely and better than we had had on previous Exodus trips and ranged from hotels on the sea front to rustic homestays. Our guide Arjan was helpful and informative and picked some great places where we could eat luch and dinner with confidence.
We found the cycling quite challenging in parts, especially day 2 when we were just warming up and then day 7 which was a killer but to be honest there wasn’t really an easy day. However, the ups mean that you also get the downs which were hugely enjoyable and worth the climb! We were all encouraged to both the big climbs on the last day. The first one was great once you managed to get out of the town, which was demanding, but then transformed into steep undulations and pretty villages with great views and an excellent long downhill. But the second climb between coffee and lunch up the switchback was quite frankly brutal, especially after the first climb of the day! It was very hot, offered no shade and little in the way of things to see on the way, although the view towards the coast was stunning. I confess to riding some of the way in the bus on that climb and I still got to enjoy the views!! The challenge was rewarding!
However, whatever your cycling ability, it is very doable as a few opted for E-bikes which seemed very sensible on reflection, the better cyclists enjoyed the challenge of completing all the climbs and there is always back up from the bus if you feel tired.

Fabulous weeks hiking .....

A wonderfull weeks hiking amongst the most beautiful scenery, Egle (Agi) was a brilliant tour guide and managed the difficulty of varying walking speeds of the group really well. She was also very knowledgable, patient and all round delightful …every day was met with a smile. The host’s at Chalet Chamonix Claire and Liz were also top notch, very helpful, nothing was too much effort, food was great, and even arranged a cake and candles for my wife’s birthday……. and they didnt seem to mind too much when teased about women’s driving!!!! 🙂 ….only slight downside was the chalet, a little tired/old and in much need of some tlc (that is no reflection on Claire or Liz), on a plus it was well situated to walk into the town centre! We were lucky with the varied international group as well, 2 Canadian, 2 Americans, 2 Aussies, 2 Koreans and 3 English; a lot of laughs were had – some great and interesting characters.
Chamonix itself is beautiful, many bars and restaurants to choose from and some great cable rides ‘Aguille du Midi’ and ‘Brevent’ in particular. We chose to book paragliding, if your ever going to do it …..there is nowhere better.
This was our third Exodus trip, and can never fault them; we have already booked Tuscany for next year ….bring it on!

Cycling past the cypress trees

Very enjoyable trip, a great part of the world to go cycling.