Reviews

Challenging but rewarding!

This was a demanding but thoroughly enjoyable trip for a pair of novice walkers. It was our first ever walking holiday and as the trip loomed we were worried that we may have been a bit ambitious selecting a Moderate/Challenging trek despite doing a good amount of preparatory walking to get fit. The walking was tough with around 800-1000 metres of accent on each walk coupled to quite long days. A couple of our fellow travellers who had been on other ‘challenging’ grade trips mentioned that they thought this trek was more demanding. This is probably down to the fact that the terrain is very rocky and uneven in places and considerable sections of the walks were on rough trails which was quite hard on the feet. The ascents were generally not a problem and although hard work they were conducted at a civilised pace with everyone finding their own speed.

There is an excellent balance to the days which were very satisfying with the hard work being rewarded by some fantastic views over the surrounding area, which is totally unspoilt and a world away from the costal resorts of Alicante and Benidorm. More importantly (I think) there was a heavy emphasis on refreshments in the evenings with plenty of food, wine and beer which I don’t think anyone felt the least bit guilty about indulging in after a day’s toil in the hills.

The accommodation was very good. The first hotel was clean and basic with a good breakfast and dinner in the evenings. The second hotel, which I was expecting to be more remote and rustic, was Casa Roc in the lovely little village of Sella. This was a charming spot with clean and comfortable rooms and communal kitchen areas and terraces. The honesty bar with its seemingly inexhaustible supply of beer and wine was particularly popular. We didn’t find sharing facilities too much of an issue, we shared a bathroom with two other people and were quite happy to trade the earlier slot in the shower for an extra half hour in bed! The hosts Steve and Liz were very friendly and clearly work hard to keep their guests happy. Liz did a fantastic job producing delicious authentic Mediterranean meals for us in the evenings, no mean feat considering how many people she was catering for. Steve did an equally good job keeping the jugs of wine and the bread baskets topped up.

There were 14 people in our group and without exception everyone was friendly and sociable and for us this really made the holiday that extra bit special. There were people who were obviously more experienced and fitter than us but they were very supportive and encouraging, especially when we expressed doubts about joining the group on the last day for the climb to the 1408 metre summit.

Cycling Cuba

The holiday was well thought through and carefully run by the guide you provided. Each evening and lunchtime the food arrived as planned, whether we’d ordered and paid or had it or provided by you, or whether we’d arranged to go out to a restaurant you suggested. Great to see a foreign culture, nothing like I had experienced before. We experienced a great variety, including the atlantic coast, the carribean coast, the jungle, the mountains and a wide veriety of accomodation (all good).

Unpredictable fun in the land of incredible landscapes

This trip was a fantastic and fun adventure from start to finish. I had no idea what to expect from the trip and was not used to cold weather climates but the unpredictable changes in the weather just added to the excitement. The itinerary was packed full of amazing sights including beautiful waterfalls, thermal geysirs, an iceberg lagoon, black sandy beaches, a swim in the blue lagoon and so much more. We also got looked after well each and every day, and where the planned schedule had to be adapted due to severe weather conditions, I still had an amazing time.

The Tropical South

A very enjoyable holiday with a great variety of scenery. The trip is well planned with everyday bringing new discoveries and different experiences from small villages to large towns, remote hills, fertile plains and busy seaside locations. The local people are very friendly. I would happily repeat the whole journey.

Discover Sri Lanka (not premium version)

Excellent trip. Good mix of culture and temples, cities and rural, walking and beach time.
(Please note I did not go on the ‘premium’ version, but I couldn’t the correct trip on the list!)

Kvitåvatn 2015

Have X-C skied in many parts of world, but after over 35 years still keep returning to Kvitåvatn because of the variety and excellence of the terrain and possible tours. Ski trails much improved for skaters this year, while snow conditions were wonderful in the mountains. New management and rebuild of part of original lodge both settling nicely. Ski hire and the ski preparation areas excellent as always. Food very good this year (copious smoked salmon every day!). Had to replace some ageing ski boots; the shop in nearby Rjukan -easily visited using free bus service – helpful and very well stocked.

Cycling in Rajahstan

Excellent trip with the benefit of a great leader. A full on trip with lots of variations.
Only draw back was the lack of “down time”. Also needed more shopping time.

Sri Lanka - sparkly people and some lovely scenery

Well we covered a lot of ground! There were some early starts and some of the places we visited were rather busier than expected. The main sites get a lot of tour groups and you can see that tourism is a major growth industry. The best bits, as ever on these types of holiday, were when we went a bit more off the beaten track.

Dobbiaco 21/02/2015 x/c ski

Superb conditions and leadership by Anne, Alex, and Lorraine at what I think is your best southern European x/c ski base.

Exodus is the only UK Company which does properly-led daylong x/c ski – unlike your competitors such as Ramblers, which treat x/c as downhill skiing (which it definitely isn’t!)
It’s a great shame, therefore, that Exodus does not offer more southern European venues for x/c ski, having drastically reduced these following acquisition of Waymark
I hear this complaint again and again from fellow Exodus x/c skiers. And we all fear that exodus will allow this activity to wither on the vine if it is not careful.

X/c ski is superb outdoor activity which should be promoted as the ideal winter fitness activity – it also has some Royal patronage – Pippa Middleton did an x/c ski race last year!

One other thing – you specify that grade 1 and 2 are suitable for people with little or no experience. But you should make it clear that a level of fitness similar to regular hill walking or cycling is necessary. I have seen so many people have a ruined experience of x/c ski simply because they don’t do sufficient regular exercise, and that causes such difficulties for the Leaders, and, indeed, the other suitably fit participants who have to hang back or stop all the time so that these people can catch up!

Discover Sri Lanka

This was an excellent trip with a fantastic and varied itinerary, but still enough optional excursions/free time to relax if you want to. It has taught me a lot about Sri Lanka and I would definitely go back again. Everyone is really friendly and it’s great to see a mixture of different cultures. There is something for everyone on this tour – wildlife, history, culture, walks, bike ride, optional rafting and the food is fantastic. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone.