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Fantastic week in amazing surroundings with great people, we stayed in chalet chocolat which is a lovely chalet with everything needed for a comfortable stay, hosts zohi and ben were brilliant, very friendly and accomodating and kept us well fed with excellent food. 5 days of walking amongst fabulous scenery and a day to explore, paraglide, ride the cable cars etc. Our guide for the walks, tom, was fantastic, friendly, full of knowledge and contributed to a brilliant week. All round a great holiday, would highly recommend.
Everyday brought something new so difficult to pick one moment, the walks offered varying amazing views of the alps and paragliding on the day off was unbelievable.
Our leader tom was brilliant, full of stories, great knowledge of the local area and around the world, and a very friendly guy.
My husband, son, and I just spent a delightful week in Chamonix , France on the Mt Blanc highlights trip. We stayed in Chalet Chocolat and loved every minute of the trip. Each day we enjoyed a great breakfast and packed up a lunch that included sandwiches with fresh locally baked bread and salads prepared by our wonderful chalet hosts Zohi and Ben.
Our guide Shaun would lead us daily to a different area around Mt Blanc for a beautiful hike in the Alps. The hike itineraries were well planned out. We saw a variety of areas and had time for a great picnic lunch each afternoon.
In the afternoons Zohi had a delicious cake waiting upon our arrival back at the Chalet. We could also enjoy time in the hot tub with views of Mt Blanc.
Every night Zohi and Ben cooked a delicous gourmet meal.
We couldn’t have been happier on our trip.
My favorite moment was picnicking in a field of wild flowers in Italy .
My first cycling trip couldn’t have gone better, a great group of people, an excellent leader and luck with the weather. There is a good mixture of cycling and tourism although the itinerary is full so there isn’t a lot of free time or opportunity for stopping en route.
I liked the undulations of the day around Trakkai as knew I would get lost and didnt have to save any energy for other rides! Enjoyed seeing how fast I could go. Really enjoyed the beauty of Palmse. The day at Jurmala was good as we had free time and loved the dachas.
Lina was excellent, organised but friendly. Her sharing of her personal experiences of life in Lithuania brought the whole trip alive. She has an extensive factual knowledge of the Baltic and found some great places for us to eat.
If I had known that a cycle pannier was provided, I wouldn't have brought a cycling rucksack. Water was also provided so a single water bottle was fine. The trip notes said that there should be time to look round Tallinn but the Exodus flights were an evening arrival. Some of the group arrived a day earlier to see the city which was a good idea.
We enjoyed the holiday very much, we had a good insight into the three capital cities and a fiar understanding of how the countyry side worked.
The food was much better than expected ,
we had feared it might mainly be pork and dumplings but it was a good selection of ‘western ‘ and local dishes.
The cycling was mainly through forest tracks which do not give many views of the country side but perhaps it is very difficult to design a cycling holiday in a very forested area to include time to stop and look aroun villages . Although the cycling was not technically difficult there were times when it was necessary to keep close to the leader mto avoid getting lost. A back marker would have been very useful and would have been able to cope with any problems (punctures, accidents) as well as ensuring.
looking around the old towns and being told of the problems which the three countries had faced during the last 100 or so years.
Lina was very personable, knowledgable about the areas we went throuh. She told us in great detail about the histories of the countries, the problems which they faced and, potentailly, still face. She interacted well with all members of the group, ensured that the eveing and lunch time restaurants wer einteresting. It seemsed that the distances which we cycled and were transferred were quite long for the times allocated , we always seemed to be trying to catch up with the schedule. Not sure if that is a problem of the design of the holiday. but loading a nd unloading the bikes takes about one hour
be prepared for fairly hectic days
This was a trip full of variety and dramatic scenery, from the surreal Ashgabat, the amazing Darvaza crater, the beautiful mosques and madrasahs of Samarkand and Bukhara to the truly majestic and ever changing scenery of the Kyrgyzstan mountains. Each of the 5 countries had its own unique character. There are some long journeys but they are full of continuing interest with lots of worthwhile stops on route. 99% of the accommodation was very comfortable, spacious and spotlessly clean.
I found the experience of the continuing journey to new and unexpected sites and places the biggest wonder. There was no tourist commercialism at all. One guide in the walnut grove was highly surprised when I said I would buy 3 packets of walnuts!!
The experienced and knowledgable Suzie Grant guided us effortlessly throughout and 3 of the local guides were outstanding.
Be prepared for ‘4 seasons in 1day’ at Son-Kul lake. Take some warm layers. The stoves in the yurts are not lit until 8.30pm and it is c o l d! That said, it is very comfortable glamping.
I booked this trip primarily to see the bears and enjoy some leisurely walks through the meadows and forests. It exceeded my expectations, mainly due to our guide Thomas, the lovely hosts Herman and Katerina at Villa Hermani and the variety of local experiences from the ride in a horse cart, tea at a hilltop monastery, dinner at a restaurant specialising in game meats, harvesting mushrooms after the rain, and schnapps and cake at a fortified church with an intriguing priest! Transylvania is a beautiful part of the world, still in a time when we were closer to nature where animals are respected and in proximity, shepherds tend the flocks, and the landscape provides a bounty of wildflowers, fruit, hay and mushrooms.
The visit to the Libearty sanctuary, learning of the history and great work they do to return these wild creatures to a semblance of a wild existence they deserve. The story of Maya was very sobering and I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one to shed a tear. Seeing these bears' behaviour compared to the real wild bears from the hide was quite a contrast. I was also pleased to see they had some wolves at the sanctuary - dogs did bark for a short while in the late evening around Magura but the second night I heard distant howling and I want to believe that was some of the wild wolves! Also the bear hide is a must, we spent a good couple of hours viewing well over a dozen bears plus four cubs.
Thomas was a gentleman guide. Literally. Modest, engaging, and genuine. Wealth of knowledge about the history and culture of Transylvania, interested in the experiences and thoughts of the folks in the tour group and always willing to assist. An excellent leader in which you are in no better hands.
Because of the mountainous nature of the region it is hard to gauge the weather more than a couple of hours out and rain can start and stop fairly quickly on a cloudy day. I note from a previous review that they thought the horse cart ride should have been cancelled because it was a rainy day, but in our case it was raining up to when we got to the carts and then it stopped raining. When we finished the ride, the rain started again! The cart ride was a highlight for me and I would have enjoyed it even if it continued raining. I would also say bring more than two pairs of shoes as it does take a couple of days to dry a pair after a rainy day. And yes bring cash to cover the extras (bear hide was 210 lei and wifi access about 25 lei).
When I told people I was going to three of the ‘Stans’, their question was always why ?
To be honest, I wasn’t sure myself until I’d been, but they are very different countries, not subject to mass tourism, with different cultures, lovely people and a joy to explore.
My personal highlights were, the mausoleums at Shakhi Zinda, talking to the students learning English in Registan square and Bukhara - all in Uzbebikistan. However, being allowed to hold the eagle hunter's Golden Eagle in Kyrgyzstan was an honour.
We had two group leaders In Uzbekistan, Dilshod was confident and highly knowledgeable and he would tell us interesting stories of his personal life growing up in Uzbekistan under Soviet rule. He provided advice daily and was always checking everything was OK. In Kazakhstan and Kyrgzystan, Ermek was equally engaging but with a quieter manner. He enjoyed imparting knowledge of his home country, Kyrgzystan, and keen to learn and join in with our English sense of humour. Alexi, our driver in Kazakhstan and Kyrgzystan, was amazing, fixing the coach when we broke down.
Make sure your dollars are clean, any marked or slight tears and the money exchange will not accept them. There are ATM's available (for top ups) for example at the Hotel Asia in Bukkhara and the Kass Hotel in Almaty. (Tip: If you do happen to stay in the Kass Hotel, get your picnic lunch from the deli which is 2 minutes walk, turn right at the main road) As a rough guide, I spent $85 in Uzbekistan, $60 Kazakstan (drinks at hotel were a bit more expensive), $100 in Kyrgzystan plus dollars for tips for the guides and drivers For the yurt stay - if you drink, make sure you buy alcohol to take with you as they don't sell it! Also, we were a group of 14 and they were able to mostly put the couples together (rather than the gender separation mentioned in the notes). We went in early June and it rained and was a bit cold in the evening, so pack a waterproof and a fleece (just in case) At the home stay meal in Karakol - buy your wine at the house (cheaper than the Green Yard Hotel prices) - but breakfast at the Green Yard is amazing! The food was better than I had anticipated, I ate lots of salads, kebabs and pasta. Meals are not expensive and the vodka and beer are cheap. Shopping is best in Bukhara with some free time for exploring. Would recommend The Old Bukhara and Minzifa restaurants in Bukhara Ladies, make sure you take a scarf for your head/shoulders, but respectable shorts and t shirts were fine for the most part, with only a few places where knees needed to be covered as well.
Wow, what can I say? This holiday exceeded my expectations in every way – the walks were varied and interesting, the weather was amazing and our hosts Sarah and Rich at Chalet Chamonix were brilliant, providing us with gourmet international cuisine every evening and gorgeous cakes in the afternoons after our walks. The scenery and views were stunning – I was in awe of the scale of everything compared to our English Lake District mountains. The days weren’t as long as I was expecting – we had plenty of stops for refreshments and time to go into the lovely town of Chamonix.
The jaw dropping views on all the walks, but especially from the top of the Aiguille du Midi, being so high up and close to Mont Blanc and looking down over the Chamonix valley.
Mark was an excellent leader - organised, informative, knowledgeable and good company. He catered for the needs of all abilities in the group and entertained us with his 'true stories'.
As a regular fell walker I found the walks easier than I'd expected and the short stretches of via ferrata completely manageable (none of the days contained anything worse than I'd encountered in the Lake District). I'd had concerns before the trip as I'm ok with heights but not exposure - happily I managed everything I came across without worry. However, the walks shouldn't be underestimated if you're unfit or unused to regular walking - they are tough ascents and descents, often on rough and loose ground.
The trip was excellent.
Brilliant changing scenery.
Our guide on the July trip was very knowledgeable, fun and paid attention to detail. With our Driver making a great pair.
A memorable time had by all.
Find it hard to pick one particular moment but our guided trip round Venice rates very high
Excellent and so was the driver. They made a very good pair. A pleasure to be with.
I have said it all.
This was a trek that was harder than I expected for the walking, but there are no altitude issues at all. It was professionally led by John Briggs and coked for by a lovely Lithuanian lady we all called Ads. Most days we walked up to a col with fantastic views and then back down to the next camp site or other hut style accommodation.
There was a fair bit of walking on snow and ice, but the presence of the snow really added to the scenery and I was not uneasy about it at any time.
I lost 7lbs which was slightly disappointing (I lost 21 lb on last year’s 3 week trek in Pakistan) but the food was irresistible, and wine and beer were available at modest prices.
Our first view of the Matterhorn was amazing. Utterly majestic.
Very professional says it all. A good leader in control of the group at all times and offering help and advice when needed.
Do some training. Not just in the gym. I visited the Brecon Beacons for four two day stints in the weeks before I went. It really paid dividends, not only being able to take the walking in my stride, but being able to enjoy the trip rather than suffering from tiredness. Be prepared for steep ascents and descents over several hours.