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.

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14502 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Jay Bordoloi

Reviewed September 2017

Wonderful first group cycling trip experience!

The itinerary is accurate. This was my first experience with a group cycling tour and I was a solo traveler. I would say the trip exceeded my expectations because I saw local towns/areas that I would not have normally visited on my own in the country-side, the travel group was a great set of people from all over the world, and the places we visited for food were very tasty and a great sampling of local cuisine.

During the visits to capital cities, I learned a lot about the history of various Baltic countries from the medieval to modern era. Overall, I enjoyed the routes we cycled (generally minimal car traffic) as they were in scenic areas.

Most Inspirational Moment

Cycling through a small town and the tour guide striking up a conversation with an old lady sitting with her cat. Hearing about the lady's history in the town was fascinating and was something I would not have been able to do, had I been traveling on my own.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our trip leader was a wonderful tour guide. She worked very hard to make sure everyone was having a good time and was clear in her directions for what the itinerary for the day would be. She worked well with our driver to coordinate van support and our safe transportation. In addition, her friendly personality helped facilitate the group getting to know each other.

Advice for Potential Travellers

While the route is very flat, I would say 'leisurely' is not so accurate. As generally the group needs to cover 20-30mi/day and have time for van transfers, there is not so much time for frequent breaks. While the pace is certainly comfortable and doable, 'leisurely' to me implies more frequent stops for photo opportunities or small snacks/picnics during the route. I would rate the trip as a 3 or 4, as 10 days of riding in a row on mostly flat terrain does require some level of effort.

Rachel Harrison

Reviewed September 2017

A superb trip with breathtaking views.....

This is a superb trip. Fitness tested but did improve as the week went on. A “fast and light” way to achieve the Tour du Mont Blanc with only a weeks leave. I enjoyed it from start to finish. Many thanks Exodus.

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking down into Orzieres and finding our quirky little hotel with a friendly manager and lovely food. A beer in the local cafe rounded off the day. Waking up in Italy to bright blue skies and phenomenal views that we hadn't seen the day before. The coffee in the refuges was a highlight and a welcome pit stop. This is a challenging trek and completing each day left you tired but happy (and nursing the odd blister!)

Thoughts on Group Leader

Nick was an excellent leader with extensive alpine knowledge. He looked after the group well, altered plans as required and kept us entertained!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Travel light! The hardest bit is carrying 10 kgs on your back. You really do not need much. I managed to wash a tee shirt and trousers and they dried (just) overnight. If your feet are at all vulnerable, protect heels and toes with tape (zinc oxide/kinesio tape - learnt from my fellow travellers) as walking with open blisters can be very challenging!

Janet Gibbons

Reviewed September 2017

Highlights of Albania

A wonderful trip to a country emerging from very difficult times, accompanied by a good group and fab guide.

Most Inspirational Moment

Most days there were great experiences. Berat and Gjorokastra were stunning cities, beautiful mountainous scenery, the Blue Eye, the icon museum at Korce, having lunch with a lovely family in Dhoksat, archeological ruins at Butrint, etc. I could go on. And then there was friendly welcome from the Albanian people.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Klodi was an exceptional guide. Passionate about and proud of his country, extremely knowledgeable and professional, caring and very good company with a great sense of humour!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Nothing in particular.

Susan Hely

Reviewed September 2017

Great way to discover southern italy

I recommend this tour of two regions of southern Italy – Basilicata and Puglia and our wonderful guide Guissepe. Relaxing walking off the beaten track together with great local food and wine. Guissepe took care of all the details including organising gluten free food. I was particularly impressed by his plant knowledge as well as history, particularly of ancient Matera. Good amicable and interesting group. Highlights included staying in the Masseria, home cooked feast of food from their garden, swimming at a beautiful sandy beach after a long hot walk followed by a memorable seafood lunch. And dinner at a farmhouse where they kept cows and made all their own cheeses.

Most Inspirational Moment

Sunset at Matera - really beautiful

Thoughts on Group Leader

Loved Guissepe. Never had my Coeliac's disease looked after so well. Very helpful. Good knowledge.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Maybe ask for different rooms. Webput up with a very damp and airless room at the sassi hotel - room 610 - and the third night I was really sick with a cough and had to sleep with my daughter who had a lovely room - 502. Should have asked to change!

Sarah Byrom

Reviewed September 2017

Cycle Cilento, Amalfi Coast

This was the first Exodus trip I’ve done and I can honestly say it’s one of the best holidays I’ve ever had. Our tour guide, Alessandro, was EXCELLENT, so helpful, hard working, knowledgable and friendly. Nothing was too much bother, he really did go the extra mile to ensure we all had a great holiday sharing all his local knowledge and taking us to some fantastic places. If you like mountainous national parks, stunning coast lines, amazing food and some golden sun then this is the tour for you! The only thing I would say is that there are definitely some steep ascents involved so if you’re not feeling 100% energetic an e-bike might be a good option for you (as I opted for & highly appreciated – although all the others in my group who opted for a normal bike seemed fine with this option too so just a personal preference at the end of the day). I should also say, Raffaele, our driver was GREAT too. A fantastic trip – highly recommend and a big thank you to Alessandro, Raffaele and all at Exodus!!!!

Most Inspirational Moment

Cilento national park Amalfi coastline Ravello Amazing food!!

Maggie Burghuber

Reviewed September 2017

Chianti walking and wine

The setting in the converted farmhouse is absolutely idyllic – but remember that September is the beginning of autumn and the altitude is high, so you really need to pack something warm for the evenings. The staff are really friendly and very helpful and the accommodation is clean.
I did find the twin beds narrow and the shower a little cramped : but then you get used to it.
The meals at Castella were excellent, especially the antipastas, and the buffet on the first night was to die for – but overall I was disappointed at the vast amount of meat and the lack of fresh salads/vegetables. We found the same trend even when eating out ….. meat, meat , meat.
Perhaps the wine compensated for it? I’m sure I got my 5 -a-day from the wine alone!! it flowed! Oh, and don’t forget the gelatos!
I must say we had a fantastic guide- nothing was too much for him. We’d slog away at the “undulations” (the in-word on our tour)and spent 2-3 hours relaxing in the town, while he’d WALK back again to pick up the minibus.
And the wine-tastings were brilliant: we’ve all learnt about chianti classico. Fantastic cheeses and delicious olive oils were provided. No tasting was the same! Honestly, we all got on so well. Thanks Mark for making our tour so enjoyable and such fun.

Most Inspirational Moment

The scenery was so beautiful. Vineyards and olive groves lining the hillsides. Tall, slender Cyprus trees pointing their way up to the sky - hilltop villages, many of them walled. While walking the vistas would open up, one after the other and I never grew tired of taking them all in

Thoughts on Group Leader

Mark was fantastic. He had so much energy : was up early, kept the timings so that the full itinerary was completed and more; his sense of humour was encouraging. We all know the Italian for "undulating" now - some of them were "cheeky undulations" - or a "little bit of an undulation". What I really found good was the way Mark would drop back and walk with the slower people to encourage them on. After we had walked 9 or 12 km he'd leave us at a town, so we could get a bite to eat, while he'd walk back to fetch the minibus up. Or he's run on ahead to bring the bus down to a meeting point. Incredible- he must be so fit. And whilst out on the walks he carried extra supplies of snacks for the group, so we could up the sugar intake and find our energy for the next etappe. I couldn't believe the extra mile he went to deliver pizzas on his day off. We were sitting in the town and saw him bent on a mission - staggering out with a pile of pizzas for those who chose not to leave the villa His planning was meticulous and he was so knowledgeable about the area. I would say he helped to make the tour so enjoyable

Advice for Potential Travellers

Pack rainwear - Pack a torch Take something warm to wear in the evenings

Neil Hatherley

Reviewed September 2017

Good holiday, Rubbish Equipment

Excellent holiday. Hotel wasn’t bad, Equipment was crap, we had a bike mechanic that didn’t care and didn’t know what he was doing. Should of better bikes and if we had more people on the holiday, then I wouldn’t know how they would of coped.

Most Inspirational Moment

Went to Petra to see all the temples.

Thoughts on Group Leader

I've had better before. The first group leader never rode with us

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take more money for the add ones.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Neil for his feedback, although we are very sorry to hear that he was disappointed in the quality of equipment provided for the trip. The safety of our clients and quality of our bikes and equipment are of the upmost importance to us, and we will be investigating the issues Neil has raised in order to ensure all equipment meets the high standards we expect from our local operators.

Monica Princic – Product manager for Jordan

David Bruce

Reviewed September 2017

The Italian Dolomites: Self Guided Walking

Dobbiaco was a tremendous centre and the Park Hotel Bellevue was everything that we would have wanted. The guidance notes for the walks were excellent and each of the itineraries gave us a different view of the Dolomites from rolling pastures to jagged peaks. I would unreservedly recommend the holiday.

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking in the Tre Cime was beautiful and quiet with glimpses of marmots and alpine, wild flowers hanging on to the rugged terrain. Other walks were almost as spectacular and each had a different character and high point.

Thoughts on Group Leader

N/A

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are up to it, always choose the longer walks. They are quieter and allow you to work off some calories in preparation for the excellent food at the Park Hotel Bellevue.

anne higgins

Reviewed September 2017

Excellent Baltic Tour

Excellent Baltic tour covering three countries and popping over to Bosnia for lunch.

Most Inspirational Moment

Great culture tour, very varied with city tours and history together with village life. Completely different.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Evelin Balta was an excellent tour guide and very attentive, going out of his way to make sure all the group enjoyed their holiday.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Weather was good and only needed rain mac for one day. Nice and warm for this time of year. There is a swimming pool in Hotel Park Lakeside, Ohrid but it is very cold and you have to pay extra for your sun bed, so make sure you swim and relax around the lake. Make sure you visit Bunk Art 2 in Tirana, an excellent museum, very interesting some of the group said. It was a shame i didnt have time to visit, so an extra day may be advisable at the end of your trip.

Sandra Calfe

Reviewed September 2017

An excellent way to see Albania

My husband and I have recently returned from cycling in Albania. What a fantastic adventure it was. Prior to going on this trip our bikes came out of the shed about once a year and since we are not in the flush of youth we had to go out cycling every weekend for the previous 5 months to make sure we were fit enough and boy were we glad we did. It was a challenging trip but we loved every minute of it. The scenery is fantastic, we could not fault the food and the hotels were a lot better than we anticipated and even quite luxurious at times. Armand is an excellent guide with plenty of local knowledge. He offered to run a kitty for meals and drinks and ordered a variety of food at every meal which made meal times so easy and enjoyable. It is a fast paced trip and we had to be up early every day for breakfast and be ready to leave by 8.30 every morning but we were glad of this because at least it was cooler when we set off and we always had a nice stop for coffee to look forward to after a couple of hours. It is a great way to see Albania and it was great to start inland and then move to the coast offering different scenery and a chance to have a swim in the sea. We enjoyed the cultural stops and the chance to learn about the history of Albania. The minibus driver was always there with extra water, bananas and snacks when you needed them and greeted us with a smile at the top of every climb. I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone but to enjoy it make sure you do plenty of hill training. We hired the bikes offered by Exodus and these were of good quality although we took our own saddles. We used the pedals on the bikes ie. no clip ons and managed it okay so if you fancy it go for it – you won’t regret it.

Most Inspirational Moment

Getting through the first day without hopping on the bus and actually thinking I might be able to actually cycle the whole route - I had been panicking before we went that maybe we had overstretched ourselves. it was harder than I imagined but we had trained enough and so were able to do it. A great feeling!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Armand was a good leader. He made sure we always knew what time we had to be ready, where we were going and when the next stop was. He ordered all our food for us and made excellent choices at every meal. We have never enjoyed food so much on holiday before.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Make sure you are fit enough to cycle up hills and for consecutive days. Take energy drinks and snacks as you definitely need these as well as the Zero sports drink tablets to stop you getting dehydrated. We didn't have these and had to beg, steal or borrow some from the rest of our group.

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