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’!

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14233 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Sally James

Reviewed November 2023

Fantastic Adventure

Thank you to our leader, Chandra, guides Prasan, Sagar and Mingma and helpful group of porters for an amazing trek. Our group was also amazing, great company and full of interesting travel stories!

Most Inspirational Moment

No one moment stands out as overall the whole trek was fantastic, apart from perhaps the gruelling pass day, but that came with a great sense of achievement. I had never been to Nepal before and the scenery surpassed my expectations. Everyday the scenery changed and was stunning, from deep gorges, sunrises over the mountains to high plateaus and remote villages. The trek really does take you off the beaten track. The teahouses are therefore quite spartan, however the remoteness and spectacular walking more than makes up for some cold showers. Often a bucket of hot water to wash in was a much safer option! I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of food on offer and it was amazing how the teahouses produced 16 hot meals all at once on very limited cooking facilities.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Fabulous, always smiling and helpful.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Make sure you are suitably fit so that you can really enjoy the walking without too much effort. Especially lower down we frequently walked for 2-3 hours without an official break. However the pace is relaxed and there are so many photo opportunities that you don't really notice the distance. As one of our group advised, cut up a snickers bar into bite sized pieces so you can actually eat it at the top of the pass. Hydration tablets meant my water bottle was still drinkable at the top, even if more like a slush puppy! If just water most bottles had frozen over by the top of the pass. It is worth bringing quite a lot of snacks with you. Everyone says it, but really pack light. The down jacket I hired was really good quantity and kept me cosy in the teahouses at night and over the pass. If you suffer from poor circulation like me, I recommend hand warners inside "down" mitts with liner gloves. It was amazing to have warm hands all the way over the pass! I bought "down" mitts cheaply in Thamel before the trek.

Chris H

Reviewed November 2023

Nile Cruise & Aswan - Premium Adventure

We had a fabulous holiday with a great informative guide who organised everything very efficiently and the group all gelled together.

Most Inspirational Moment

The AbelSimbel trip plus fallucca sail.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The trip was excellent. Our guide Sayeed changed the day of the Abel Simbel trip which worked much better. He was just excellent.

Sue B

Reviewed November 2023

Nile Cruise & Aswan - Premium Adventure

Very well organised, the description of the trip beforehand was very good, the guide was excellent, and support from ground agents was really good.

Most Inspirational Moment

The Nile cruise, valley of the kings and Abu Simbel. To be fair the all the sites were marvellous and we enjoyed most days.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Probably the best guide we have had on any holiday! Friendly, helpful, caring, do I need to go on.

Nicholas S

Reviewed November 2023

Mexico: Mayans, Aztecs & Conquistadores Day of the Dead Festival

As usual the trip was fantastic

Most Inspirational Moment

The Day of the Dead festival I Oaxaca. The hotels were just amazing and the colonial architecture was beautiful along with the cathedrals. Everything was so peaceful. The coffee and food was fantastic.

John Haley

Reviewed November 2023

The good and the bad

Although the trip notes said hiking on clearly defined trails, I found this not to be the case – much of the time there was no visible trail and we were bush whacking through leech infested mud. At one point, stopping for a short pee break I became separated from the group and became lost. Despite shouting loudly and blowing my whistle it was a few nerve racking minutes before I was able to find the group. Once again the lack of any clearly defined path made the situation worse. We experienced heavy rain every day while trekking through the Western Ghats, which made the leech situation horrendous, everyone suffered multiple bits on their torso. The provided leech socks were effective around lower legs and ankles, but were bulky and made hiking shoes far too tight – black toe nails etc. Given the condition of the walking conditions, which were treacherous and slippery, I feel we should have been accompanied by a second guide to deal with any emergency situations and perhaps to prevent trekkers from becoming separated and lost. Our leader, Santosh Kumar, was excellent in trying to address our concerns and varied the last scheduled day of trekking to avoid any further leech encounters or injuries. He also ensured that given the weather conditions we made camp in the higher ground rather than the planned site which was waterlogged. The food whilst camping was exceptional – probably the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten. All the other aspects of the trip were very good and enjoyable.

Most Inspirational Moment

I've always wanted to visit the Kerala Backwaters and our short time there met and exceeded my expectations of this part of the trip.

Thoughts on Group Leader

I've already mentioned Santosh - he was informative, caring, had great organisational skills and was all-round first class.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Make sure to avoid the earliest trips in the season, take good wet weather gear and roomy hiking boots.

Lucy Smith

Reviewed November 2023

Amazing trip, highly recommended

This was our first exodus trip and exceeded our expectations in every way. From the first contact I had with Exodus over the phone, I was impressed by how efficient and helpful the travel advisor Robyn was, she answered all of my queries and was accommodating when we needed to change our travel dates after paying the deposit. The subsequent contacts with Exodus were helpful and informative and the trip notes answered all questions we had when preparing for our trip. Sara Bull our guide was amazing, she is so enthusiastic about the area and managed to perfectly balance being supportive of everyone’s abilities and confidence levels, while still challenging the group. Our group gelled well and walks and meals together were enjoyable and fun. Sara never pressured any member of the group to walk faster than they were comfortable with, and paced the walks perfectly to keep energy levels up. The walking was hard at times, but was definitely worth it for some amazing views at the top. We loved having the company of Sara’s dog Elvis, and the dogs and cats around Braccicorti added to the family style feel of the accommodation. We feel so lucky to have had a fantastic guide, and such an enjoyable first trip with Exodus. Our only concern is that our future trip expectations are now very high!

Most Inspirational Moment

Being at the top of Monte Prado! The highest mountain I've ever climbed.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Fab, Sara is a very inspirational leader and has an infectious energy and zest, even if she does seem superhuman at times. I found Sara really warm and open about her life, family and experiences which made the trip more personal. She had a real confidence in leading the walks, which you are constantly aware of in the background, this enables you to fully relax into the pace and not have any worries about how fast you should be walking, distance travelled, getting lost, unpredictable conditions etc. I would have been intimidated to try mountain trails without a guide prior to this trip, but I now feel confident that I could follow the walking routes and am capable of the activity level.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Book this trip! There is a reason that it has been running for 20 years!

Trevor Acreman

Reviewed November 2023

Really enjoyed it but the walks the least good bit!

We visited lovely towns and stayed in nice hotels and ate good food! Having been to this area before it was as expected and lovely to see again. I’d never been on a walking holidays and last time in Puglia I toured by bike. Whilst some of the walks were lovely, past aged olive trees etc, others were pretty ordinary. The guide was great and passionate about his local area. The group was ok and as usual you just avoid the naysayers. Being a cycle tourist an evening walk is usually a nice change. It only struck me on the holiday that on a walking holiday you walk during the day and then in the evening………….go for a walk!! Certainly recommend Puglia but not sure about the walking?

Amanda Haley

Reviewed November 2023

Trekking needs an urgent revamp

It’s difficult to give an average rating for this trip as most of it was excellent, especially the food and the enthusiasm of the tour leader, Santos. However, I have serious concerns about the trekking/camping element. 1. We were on the 29 October departure, which I think is too early in the season for trekking in this area. We had heavy rain most days. Leeches were a big problem (everyone got bites) and the provided leech socks were too bulky to fit comfortably inside footwear. We ended up with very sore feet and will definitely lose a few toenails. Having the team leader take out leech pincers with a penknife was not a highlight! 2. The trekking guide’s English was not good. Only one guide was provided (the tour leader did not join us on the trekking) and at one point my husband got left behind and his absence was not noticed. Contrary to the trip notes, the walk on Day 3 was not on paths – the guide simply tried to find a route through the forest. This was not safe and everyone had a fall. It was lucky that no-one was seriously injured.

Most Inspirational Moment

Cruising on the backwaters.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent - he was happy to share his knowledge of India.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do not go in early November.

Reply from Exodus

We’d like to thank you for your review, Amanda, and we are heartened to receive your comments about your tour leader, Santos, which have been passed on. On the other hand, we take our customers’ welfare extremely seriously, so we were particularly concerned to learn about the times during your trip that you felt this was compromised. We generally find that departures at this time of year run smoothly, but we are aware that your trip was impacted by unforeseen heavy rainfall, which created problems with leeches. Whilst this is of course outside our control, we would have hoped that the clothing provided by our local team would be effective in repelling such parasites, so we were regretful to read that this was not the case. We are wary that a lengthier monsoon season could become commonplace so, going forward, we will not be offering departures in October and will instead add further trips in the spring. We were also concerned to discover that your day 3 walk did not take place on the designated path, but on an alternative route through the forest. We expect our leaders to generally stick to the standard route, but we trust their topographic and geographic knowledge to make changes to a walk if there is a valid reason to do so. We are assured that the deviation you took was a known part of the trail and was deemed safer than the regular path as it had better grip underfoot after heavy rain, although we acknowledge that several members of your group suffered falls on this day, which must have been worrying. We will use your helpful feedback during future reviews of this tour, and we do hope that the issues you faced in India do not discourage you from travelling with Exodus in the future.

– Sarah Puttnam, Product Manager

Susan Somner

Reviewed November 2023

Spectacular walking and scenery

Excellent trip. We saw so much of the island.

Most Inspirational Moment

Reaching the top of the highest mountain in Madeira above the clouds and swimming in the natural pools at Porto Moniz.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader was excellent - very enthusiastic about his homeland and very knowledgeable. Very considerate of all members of the group and various abilities. He did tend to repeat himself a little though.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be mindful that there are quite a few very high paths - albeit mostly with handrails - definitely think twice about this trip if you are not great with heights! Some of the walks were quite challenging.

Diana Jones

Reviewed November 2023

A tour of South India

This was a very varied trip with cities and temples, mountains with tea plantations and wildlife walks, a very relaxing time on the Kerela Backwaters and the beach.

Most Inspirational Moment

The peace and tranquillity of the Kerela Backwaters and the whole houseboat experience.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Biju was amazing, he was very informative and conscientious, always there and nothing was too much trouble. He virtually ran 2 tours, when one member couldn't cope with the planned programme, but the experience of the main group didn't suffer at all.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Try to be realistic in assessing your ability to cope with itinerary. (The notes were clear enough but, as stated above not everyone was capable of doing everything.)

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