Reviews

Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers

Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It’s the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you’re interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.

Simply use the selector below to search our trip reviews and start reading real feedback from real Exodus travellers who have ‘been there and done that’!

Lots of our clients also like to post handy tips and advice about their travels. It’s great to know what to expect on an Exodus adventure before you go, so make the most of their experience and you’ll make the most of yours!

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14493 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Rhonda Moore

Reviewed May 2018

Absolutely Fabulous!

Having thoroughly enjoyed touring Puglia last year, we were looking forward to our Dolomites, Lake Garda and Venice trip. And we weren’t disappointed! Everything from the scenery to the food, the hotels to the guide, was wonderful!

Most Inspirational Moment

It’s hard to pick just one!!! Picturesque villages? Passionate and knowledgeable tour guide? Food? All brilliant! But lunch in the vineyard on the penultimate day was truly wonderful!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, Michele, was our tour guide in Puglia and we were delighted that he led this tour as well. As a local to the area, Michele knew so much about the area and shared some gems that we simply wouldn’t have seen if we didn’t have his local knowledge. From our secret view of the Rialto Bridge in Venice with all the students to our personal tour of Vincenzo, Michele made every effort to make our tor special. His professionalism and knowledge was impressive as was his care and attention to make our holiday so enjoyable. Thank you!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Diet before you go! The food is amazing!!!

Jane Dare

Reviewed May 2018

A great adventure in Costa Rica

This was our second Exodus trip and again, we were not disappointed. An itinerary which covered many different ecosystems, plenty of wildlife, pleasant travel companions and an exceptionally knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide all went to make this trip a fantastic two weeks. Lots of early mornings, some long journeys and very hot and humid conditions did nothing to distract from the beauty, diversity and friendliness of Costa Rica. Highly recommended.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing so much wildlife. Sloths, monkeys, raccoons , a huge variety of birdlife and a couple of snakes. Fabulous!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Katia's knowledge about the wildlife, geography and history of Costa Rica was astonishing. As a bird enthusiast, she was able to recognise everything from a tiny glimpse or a snatch of birdsong. In addition, she went out of her way to ensure everyone was enjoying their trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't forget a sense of humour. It helps enormously when you have a puncture in the middle of nowhere.

Jane Dare

Reviewed May 2018

An great adventure in Costa Rica

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing so much wildlife. Sloths, monkeys, raccoons , a huge variety of birdlife and a couple of snakes. Fabulous!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't forget a sense of humour. It helps enormously when you have a puncture in the middle of nowhere.

Roger Haydon

Reviewed May 2018

FUN TREK

Exodus makes your experience virtually worry free.

You don’t need to wonder about schedules, meals, hotels, baggage transport, and flights. You get to concentrate on a beautiful walk through farmland and beautiful countryside.

You get a paper “passport” to get stamped alone the way. It shows you did the hike and gets you a certificate at the end. A fun souvenir to own.

Most Inspirational Moment

The walk through beautiful farm country and interesting old towns and cities.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Jose was very good at communicating what to expect each day. He really kept the trek worry free for the group. On the trail he sped up or slowed down to keep us together enough to have all stops and meals together. All of the stops were at great places for coffee and food and we put tables together so we could visit. Jose made a point of interacting with all of us. He had excellent advice on how to avoid blisters and offered first aid if people developed them. Having Jose with us allowed us to enjoy the Camino concentrate on the trek.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do an honest self evaluation of your walking skills. Then take time to get to the point that you are able to walk for a few hours and go a long distance. This trek was not a marathon race, but you cover a lot of ground. The days are usually a pattern like : breakfast, walk about 2-3 hours, break, walk about 2-3 hours, lunch, walk about 2-3 hours, break, walk an hour or so, check into hotel with a group dinner scheduled for later. It is a full day that is so interesting and picturesque that is goes by quickly. If you read the blogs they tell you to bring certain kinds of gear. Take it with a grain of salt. Decide what you really need to trek miles per day. Dress for the weather. In May I wore merino wool longjohns, poly tee shirt, Gore Tex pants and jacket, Keen walking shoes. I bought a huge rain parka on the trail. I was warm and dry. I did not carry a pack or knapsack. I had a fanny pack with cash, ID, and small water bottle. I would not recommend bringing poles unless you usually need them to walk. Shoes are the most important thing. Make sure you have shoes you can walk in for hours. I walk 8-10 miles most days. So I know my shoes are broken in and they fit. When you train for the trip trip you will be able to break in new shoes. I only used one pair of walking shoes and never unpacked the second pair. So one good pair of hiking shoes was enough for me. Off the trail I used lightweight slip-ons. In May we had fairly cool weather with rain a few times and lots of sunshine. Walking was usually in the shaded countryside with some mud. It was nice because we did not have extreme weather.

Ann Lydiard

Reviewed May 2018

Fantastic week in the mountains

I have just got back from a fantastic week in Tuscany. This has been one of the best holidays I have ever had. The walks were fantastic and all achievable with a reasonable level of fitness. The accommodation was lovely, comfortable rooms with use of a lounge (where there was tea and coffee available any time) and quite room for relaxing and reading. The food was wonderful, home cooked with all the ingrediants sourced locally. The family and staff were very welcoming and made us all feel at home. The best part of the holiday for me was our guide Sara, who was brilliant. She had a fantastic in-depth knowledge of the area, made sure every person in our group was well looked after, even on our free day. This was my first exodus holiday and despite being nervous as I was going on my own, soon made friends and am now looking at booking my next trip already! An amazing holiday which I highly recommend.

Most Inspirational Moment

Completing all the walks with supportive encouragement from our guide Sara and my fellow group members.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Fantastic and an inspiration. Sara was great at getting to know everyone in the group and ensured we had a great holiday.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Book this holiday now! You won't regret it.

Debra Friezner-Blanc

Reviewed May 2018

Cycling through cherry blossoms

Japan- an incredibly fascinating country with a culture like no other. The 2 week bike trip was a wonderful way to start to get to know Japan. Of course cycling is the best way to travel anywhere but having guides that explain their beloved country, teach you some of its culture, try to teach you the social skills that the Japanese excel at, getting you to test all the interesting food, giving history lessons and nature lessons, explaining the Shinto or Buddhist religion all the while giving you a great cycling experience makes the entire experience beyond memorable. The choice of the route gave us a good variety places to see. Staying in the Japanese inns ( ryokans) was amazing and definitely a must on any Japan trip. The food is an experience all on its own and if you are a fish lover than you will be in paradise. I really felt that the trip was complete and didn’t just focus on one element of Japan so I never felt that I had too much of any one thing which was great. The description of the tour corresponded to what the trip really was and that is always appreciated. In the end, I didn’t have too many preconceived notions of what I would be seeing and I can tell you that I was constantly amazed and ended up having enormous respect for the Japanese and their way of life. I thought my own country of Switzerland was well run but Japan wins on that respect. Kudos to the people of Japan and their being so courteous towards us tourists. Weeks later I am still feeling the effects of this trip and it is wonderful. Oh and thanks to Mother Nature for blessing us with the cherry blossoms.

Most Inspirational Moment

The most inspirational moment for me was anything involving how their society functions. The quietness on the public transport ( no talking on cell phones), how orderly the cities are in what could be chaos, the esthetic of beauty in every detail, the cleanliness, the courteousness everywhere, the most amazing toilets, the taking off of shoes, the lack of crime, the precision of the trains or metros, and I can go on and on. I was just gobsmacked.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Well is there a word better than incredible to describe Tatsuya or Mitch? Tatsuya, besides being a really interesting person with a very subtle sense of humor, was really a wonderful guise. Very attentive to our needs and our safety and an amazing sense of organization. Not easy getting a group through crowded metro stations and onto the bullet trains or biking through a city but they made it easy. He has a great wealth of knowledge of all aspects of Japan and really explained things well. I immediately had confidence in him and therefore didn't really need to think about anything other than riding my bike and experiencing Japan. Mitch and Tatsuya were a great team and this being a first run trip makes it even more unbelievable at how well run it was. They both had a huge amount of patience with us and stayed calm at all times and I know that they are always thinking of the next part of the trip and that their work is never done but I never felt this. They took great care of us and I appreciate how attentive they were with me being a vegetarian. Highly recommend these guides and I thank them for the fabulous experience.

Advice for Potential Travellers

One of the advantages of Japan is that on many of the nights in the inns you wear kimono like robes- so you don't need that many clothes other than cycling. As far as the Japanese baths the women and men bathe separately which wasn't very clear in the instructions and do follow the pre- bathing ritual if there are Japanese there at the same time. If you are vegetarian it can be difficult at times but do buy nuts at the convenience stores to compensate for some lack of protein. Being vegan here would be quite difficult.

Lynn Roulstone

Reviewed May 2018

Gentle strolls and some seriously good vegetarian food

We spent a lovely week exploring the areas round Matera and parts of the Puglia region. The holiday was a very good mix of walking, guided sight-seeing and free time to do more sight-seeing or just relax with a drink at one of the many cafes, or even better eat one of the amazing ice-creams. Staying in three very different, locations, with very different accommodation means that you get a real feel for the area and the people.
The walking is very easy and pretty gentle, though I imagine that in the height of summer when it would be considerable hotter, it might feel a lot tougher. None of the walks was longer than three/four hours, which left plenty of time to do other things. This suited me, but if you are a very keen walker, you might find it a little dull.
This is a great region of Italy to visit, as though there are tourists, it is not nearly so packed as the more famous areas, and you get a much better idea about Italy than you maybe would shuffling round Florence or Rome. The other reason to visit is the food. I’ve never eaten so well on holiday, and as a vegetarian I was spoilt for choice, something that can be rather rare.
Thoroughly recommended for anyone who wants to get away and chill out for a while.

Most Inspirational Moment

The view of the Sassi district of Matera from our hotel room. Watching the lights come one and people wandering about was fascinating. As very little traffic is allowed in the area, you get a real sense of what life would be before cars. The beauty of the flowers and herbs we saw and smelled as we walked. Poppies, orchids, scabious, valerian, wild fennel. The smell of oregano was wonderful.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Guiseppe was a knowledgeable local man, with a real love of his home area that he was eager to impart to us. He was very friendly, helpful and fun to be with.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Although the weather was warmer in England than Italy at the start of our trip, I'd recommend going early in the year. The flowers are very beautiful and the area is very green. Later in the year the Matera region gets very dry and also can be very hot. Seek out the ice-cream shops. There are a lot, selling an interesting mix of flavours, and we didn't come across a bad one.

alan darling

Reviewed May 2018

fine, does what it says on the tin

An amazing experience, better than expected. The 2 days in Petra were fantastic and we saw everything.

Most Inspirational Moment

Just exploring Petra it is so vast.

Thoughts on Group Leader

we had 2 leaders because ours could not take us because of personal reasons. Eddie our second leader was great, very knowledgeable and amusing and organised our trip brilliantly and dinners, a very important part of the holiday . Our first leader Hassan , had his own agenda, good with facts but did not help us with domestic issues.

Advice for Potential Travellers

In April take a range of clothing it is cold in the morning.

Sonia Rios

Reviewed May 2018

Amazing Sri Lanka

It was amazing to discover this beautiful country. The locals, temples, scenery, nature, smells… loved it loved it loved it!!

Most Inspirational Moment

Climbing Adams Peak, elephant safari.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Roshan was THE BEST! So helpful, knowledgeable, kind, funny. It was a pleasure to spend two weeks with him and his team. Thank you Gamini, Nisha and Roshan for such an enjoyable trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just enjoy and be open minded.

John Ratcliffe

Reviewed May 2018

We Had Fun On The Camino

I thoroughly enjoyed walking in rural Galicia (whatever the weather), and the company of our international group. It was good fun and we had a great time. Thanks to Jose for looking after us so well and also to Exodus for the logistical arrangements. Walking the Camino is such a unique experience and one which I would recommend particularly when you belong to a group who you can easily walk and socialise with. Glad I went.

Most Inspirational Moment

On top of the steps leading into Portomarin, the group raised their poles/sticks and formed an impromptu “Guard of Honour” for Jose. He was touched by the tribute and it confirmed to me that we had all well and truly bonded as a group.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Jose Manuel Garcia. In addition to above, I would like to add that Jose is very experienced and knowledgeable about the Camino (he’s done it for 7 years!). He also puts in a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure things run smoothly e.g. tables were reserved or lunch was ready when we arrived.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Use your baggage allowance to take spare footwear and clothing. Recommend wearing well broken in walking boots or trail shoes. Walking continuously in trainers can lead to blisters especially when the weather is hot or is wet underneath.

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