Know what you want to do but flexible on where you want to go? Or maybe you have a burning desire to visit a certain country but need recommendations on how to spend your time there? Whether you’ve decided your travel preferences or not, we can help.
1) Walking or cycling the Austrian Lakes – From the base of a cosy lakeside property or a 4-star hotel in the town of Strobl, you’ll spend each day exploring the idyllic waters of Austria. Your activities will be flexible, with a choice of cycling and walking. Along the way, you’ll be able to visit the Mozart museum, take a cable car up the Zwölferhorn mountain and explore Salzburg’s fairy-tale Baroque palaces and Renaissance gardens.
2) Cycle Indochina & Angkor – After the ultimate biking holiday? The Indochina & Angkor cycling activity holiday takes you through three fascinating countries: Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. By bike, we’ll see the eucalyptus and tapioca fields of rural Thailand and, of course, the jungle-surrounded wonder of Angkor Wat and its network of ancient temples and moats. You’ll also cycle across the Vietnamese border and through the “rice bowl” of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta.
3) Canoeing on the Dordogne – Canoeing is a simultaneously active and relaxing way to see one of the most interesting waterways in France. After we’ve given you all the essential know-how for canoe-handling, you’ll be on your way, admiring golden-pink limestone cliffs, medieval chateaux and medieval villages. All your hotels are in lovely spots with their own swimming pools for you to unwind in.
4) Arctic Circle Aurora Adventure – This amazing winter adventure takes you to Sápmi (also known as Lapland). Picturesque, icy and remote, you’ll enjoy this region while hosted by two Sámi residents, learning about their way of life and looking out for the Northern Lights each night. Your holiday will be packed with winter activities such as dogsledding, snowshoeing and skiing in the forest.
5) Namibian Family Adventure – This family activity holiday (for age 9+) will take you to a landscape of rolling desert scenery and star-studded night skies untouched by city lights. We’ll watch the sun rise from one of the tallest sand dunes in the world and see desert elephants roam around Namibia’s highest mountain. We’ll get to many of our destinations by car, but there will be plenty of chances to walk amongst the scenery and try other activities, like sandboarding and quad biking across the sand dunes. You’ll never forget sights of classic African wildlife such as zebra, wildebeest, giraffes and lions!
FAQs about our activity holidays
What types of activity holidays are there?
There are all sorts of activity holidays you can go on abroad with Exodus. Whether your thing is trekking, canoeing, skiing or cycling, you can find trips with the activity focus you want. A lot of our holidays roll several activities into one so that you get a great, all-round experience. Will you zip-line through a jungle, trek a mountain range, or try out some snorkelling?
We also have a great selection of mixed-activity family-friendly holidays with opportunities to explore at an appropriate ability level (see each individual package to get an idea of the minimum age appropriate for the trip).
How are the activities graded?
You’ll notice we’ve given each of our activity trips a “leisurely”, “moderate” or “challenging” rating. This is to give you a good idea of what to expect from your holidays so that you don’t turn up and find it’s too much or too little for your taste. As a guideline, all trips require a certain level of good health and enjoyment of the outdoors. You can read more to find out how our grading system works in full detail.
We’ve also put together some handy guides to help you prepare for your activity holidays and make sure your fitness is up to scratch before you go. These complement our activity grading system and we recommend you take a look.
What age groups are suitable for your activity holidays?
This depends on which holiday you’re looking at. If you’re bringing the whole family, including children, you may want to look at our family activity holidays specifically.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have challenging hikes for experienced walkers aged 16 and above, such as our Everest Base Camp treks. Most of our cycling holidays are also 16+.
If in doubt, simply consult the age recommended at the top of the page of the holiday you’ve got your eye on!
What do I need to wear for an activity holiday?
This has a lot to do with the activities you expect to participate in and the climate. As a rule, sturdy walking shoes that you’ve broken in are an essential. If you’re going on a winter holiday or something that involves boating, you should consult the overview tab to see if any additional equipment is provided by us, or if you need to bring it yourself.
Please be aware that even if you’re going on an activity holiday abroad to a region that generally has a warm climate, your adventure may take you to higher altitudes where the temperature can drop or where colder nights might be common. Wherever you go, it’s always wise to bring layers!
Are flights and accommodation included?
Please see the individual trip pages and Trip Notes for details of what is included in specific trips. We have 1000s of flight options at our fingertips so if you would like to book your flights with us as well please discuss your plans with our Sales team, or if booking online, let us know what you’d like and we’ll come back to you with some options. For more details on the flights we offer and the benefits of booking your flights through us, please see our flight information page https://www.exodus.co.uk/your-flights-your-choice.
Are the trips guided?
We offer a mix of guided and self-guided trips. Some people love to travel in groups and others prefer to go at their own pace, so we’ve taken this into account and designed amazing activity holidays for every type of traveller.
If you’re eying up a specific holiday, it should indicate whether the trip is guided or self-guided in the “Ways to Travel” field at the top of the page. Some holidays also offer the option to travel in a private group with people you know only.
What are the groups like?
If you choose to travel as part of one of our guided groups, you’ll probably find it’s a mix of solo travellers, couples and friends. This can be a really enriching experience; in fact, it sometimes results in travellers making new life-long friends who they plan future trips with!
Our first experience of Portugal terrain, people , culture , food n the port Wine and the weather …
This trip to the coast of Portugal was the best. I have travelled all over the world on different trips and this one ranks at the very top of my list. The scenery, the daily hikes, the hotels and the food – all wonderful. We were fortunate to have spectacular weather. I highly recommend this trip for anyone wanting to experience truly amazing scenery and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
We went on this trip April/May this year and the weather was cold, very wet and very windy with the odd bit of hailstone. Headwater (to whom this self-guided trip was seconded) need to get their agents in the Azores (Melo) to tighten up the transfer arrangements made by Melo and their agents (Novo Rumo) in Faial & Pico. Buses on the islands are very few and far between and cannot realistically be used for going to the start and ends of the walks. Taxis are mentioned but this needs to be stressed more in the notes. The Cantinho do Piano “self-catering” accommodation on Sao Jorge made it quite clear that the kitchen area could be used for coffee/tea making with the cooker not to be used (it was boarded in) and not even a table supplied. Not the best for making even just your own breakfast. The Aldeia da Fonte accommodation on Pico (in a gorgeous setting) really needs to put its staff on a customer relations course – a bit like Fawlty Towers where guests seemed to be an inconvenience. On Faial, the Pousada Forte da Horta was a very nice place but its dining was not equal to this and HB could be dropped there as there are many alternatives for food in Horta. As SATA has very few planes it is NOT advisable to have a domestic flight returning to Sao Miguel on the same day as the international flight home. One lost plane caused chaos one day.
