Reviews

A leisurely week in beautiful Tuscany

This holiday is ideal if you are not sure if you want a walking or a sight-seeing holiday. There are three walks, all of which are well within the capabilities of a reasonably fit person. These walks take in the vineyards, olive groves and woods of this part of Italy and also go via small towns with plenty of opportunity for good lunches or shopping. There are also visits to Sienna, Florence and San Gimignano. In the first there is a guided walk included, the second also has the choice to do a guided walk and the third is a lovely small town for wandering or looking at the frescos in the Duomo. The three wine-tastings are all very good, and there is plenty of opportunity to do more either local to the farmhouse where the trip is based or on the visits to the small towns along the way. For food lovers the meals were all very good and vegetarians are well catered for.

Awesome Trip and stay at Chalet Chocolat

Jenny, our hike leader shared her experience with us and made us feel safe throughout the week. Walks were varied each day with breathtaking views. Zoe and Ben were great hosts at Chalet Chocolat. The facilities are very comfortable, the daily homemade cakes and 3 course dinners were delicious and worth going for! Chalet is in a good location where you wake up and watch sunset over the mountains from the garden and hot tub each day. It was the perfect hiking holiday.

Chalet Chocolat

Lovely chalet about 20 mins walk from centre of Chamonix with easy access to buses & trains. Our hosts, Zohi & Ben were lovely and looked after us really well with a freshly baked cake waiting for our return each afternoon and some really tasty dinner menus. Essentially, nothing was too much trouble which goes for our walk leader; Jenny who inspired us all with her enthusiasm, knowledge and fitness. Fantastic holiday throughout which was over way too soon. Roll on next Exodus trip!

Perutastic

A great and very enjoyable trip with a very good guide / tour leader (Daniel). Such varied culture, food and scenery too. I felt like I learned and saw a lot. My one recommendation would be to make sure you read the trip notes carefully before you go / book. You cover a lot of ground (long distances) at times in order to and pack everything in. So there are some long travel days and plenty of early starts.

WONDERFUL TRIP!

A big thank you to Paul, Zohi & Ben from Chalet Chocolate and my fellow hikers who made this trip such a memorable holiday & a fun experience for us. Five days of good walking/ amazing views/ delicious food/ fun chat and a cosy chalet to return to every afternoon where Zohi’s freshly baked cake and tea would be waiting.
Ben & Zohi were wonderful hosts, nothing was too much trouble and the 3 course evening meals were a stand-out. There was plenty of time after a great days walking to rest, soak in the outdoor hot tub with a view up to Mt Blanc, eat more cake while you reviewed the days photos or nip to the local pub with your new friends!

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The town of Moneglia was perfect. Picturesque and away from the crowds, with the same charm and beauty of the other cities.

The Piccolo Hotel facility was great and the staff was wonderful. Helpful and friendly people.

Our leader Paul was also very good. He was knowledgeable, kind, funny and truly interested in making sure that everyone on the trip had a great time.

The hikes were beautiful and a nice combination of challenging and relaxing. The train to and from each hike added to the interest of the hiking.

It was a great trip and great experience.

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The town of Moneglia was perfect. Picturesque and away from the crowds, with the same charm and beauty of the other cities.

The Piccolo Hotel facility was great and the staff was wonderful. Helpful and friendly people.

Our leader Paul was also very good. He was knowledgeable, kind, funny and truly interested in making sure that everyone on the trip had a great time.

The hikes were beautiful and a nice combination of challenging and relaxing. The train to and from each hike added to the interest of the hiking.

It was a great trip and great experience.

Great trip!

Very good in spite of unseasonable weather for September. High winds cancelled ferries for several days. As a consequence we stayed only one night on Paros and missed Santorini entirely. But we got to know Naxos very well, and it is an island with plenty to do. it might have been frustrating, but leader Cecile Deltreil made superhuman efforts to keep us well occupied. Although we saw her frequently glued to her cell phone, she never seemed stressed out and explained changing arrangements in a way that kept us calm and happy. She was also an excellent guide on walks and in the towns we visited. If Cecile is typical of Exodus quality of service, it is an excellent company.

In general accommodation was good and food excellent. Cecile has friendly relations with lots of good restaurants.

I would certainly recommend this trip, and will be investigating other Exodus trips in future.

Hope you like churches and monasteries but skip the extension!

Fortunately, the multitude of ancient churches and monasteries were sited in spectacular scenery so even if they began to merge in your memory, it was worth it for the view! Armenia and Georgia are poor developing countries still coming to terms with their history and feeling like they are still not settled because of their neighbours. Both guides were excellent for their ability to give knowledgeable information about the countries and in their attention to detail and caring approach to the group. Lovely people!
I was very disappointed in the extension to Azerbaijan which was relatively expensive and, despite being billed as a 4 day extension, was really 2 days- day 1 was day 14 of the main trip with an overnight sleeper from Tbilisi which was uncomfortable, noisy and rattly stopping any chance of an adequate sleep. The land crossing took 2-3 hours in 2 parts in the middle of the night- a flight would have been better so that we could have arrived on ‘day 1’, had a nights sleep in a hotel and arisen refreshed for an intensive 2 day tour. Day 4 began at 1am when we had to leave for flights back to the UK. The hotel was very basic, only just adequate, and the guide was mediocre being more interested in decrying Armenia and Russia than in talking about Baku and the country. I would advise against taking this extension in its present form.

The High Inca Trail - 7 day hike

Overall the trip was fantastic and surpassed our expectations. During the acclimatization, we explored Cusco and found it a wonderful and vibrant place, full of culture and life. The hike was amazing! Each day presented breathtaking scenery, from glacial mountains and lakes and fertile forest valleys. The food was way above what we expected. As a group we sat down to 3 courses each mealtime. With vegetarian and gluten options being prepared by the chefs at each meal. There was never any complaints about the food. We could not have asked for a better group to travel with, they certainly helped make the trip as good as it was.