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

Sonia Newman

Reviewed February 2018

Snowshoeing in the Catalan Pyrenees

This was a wonderful trip to the Catalan Pyrenees. The snow conditions were excellent – too much if anything, making some of the snowshoeing hard work. The food and drink at the hotels was great, allowing us to try local Catalan food. Our guide Miguel went out of his way to provide an interesting experience and impart his knowledge of the local area.

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking up through trees on day three in the cold, snow everywhere, with the sun shining and with glimpses of high peaks was magical.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The leader was excellent - an experienced mountain guide. He was very friendly and had a good knowledge of the history of the local area, taking us to interesting sites as well as the snowshoeing. He also arranged samplings of local produce and organised a night at a tapas bar on the rest day, which was fun.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Yes, the walking is up and down mountains and they will enjoy it more if they are fit and have experience of hillwalking.

Andy LEWIS

Reviewed February 2018

Fantastic first snowshoeing trip - snow, scenery, and guide all top notch. Loved it.

This was my first snowshoeing trip and I enjoyed it immensely. The huge amount of fresh snow and mountainous terrain made it hard work at times but it was exactly what I was looking for. In fact, it exceeded my expectations. Gorgeous scenery, great hotels and food, an excellent and engaging guide, and sociable and entertaining fellow snowshoers all made for a great trip. The walking routes and attractions visited (e.g. cheese maker in a mountain village, the civil war destroyed village of Tirvia) were well-chosen for variety and to show some of the history and current way of life in this part of Catalunya. Miguel our guide was a mine of information, clearly passionate about the region, and an excellent tour leader.

Beware: Before deciding to book this type of trip you need to be sure that you’re fit enough. It’s far from a walk in the Surrey Hills in summertime. The Pyrenees are high, steep, cold, and (thankfully when I was there) deep in snow, and the hikes quite long. One or two in the group didn’t seem to be aware of this and our guide had to make the difficult decision to arrange some less demanding walks for them.

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking in thigh-deep snow and seeing the sun come out and the clouds part and the high mountains of the Pyrenees come into view. Magic!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Miguel our guide was a mine of information on the history and socio-economic aspects of the area, clearly passionate about the region, engaging and sociable, extremely well-organized, and generally an excellent tour leader. Beware: Before deciding to book this type of trip you need to be sure that you're fit enough. It's far from a walk in the Surrey Hills in summertime. The Pyrenees are high, steep, cold, and (thankfully when I was there) deep in snow, and the hikes quite long. One or two in the group didn't seem to be aware of this and were not sufficiently fit, so our guide had to make the difficult decision to arrange some less demanding walks for them. This caused some friction in the group, but I, and others in the group, fully supported him in this.

Advice for Potential Travellers

See above about fitness level required.

hanna woskoboinik

Reviewed February 2018

Ethiopia

the trip was well organize and the tour leader was very good. I understand that u contract a local tour operator and I wished u would have checked the hotel before. I understand it is not a luxury trip and this is my 4 trip with Exodus but i must say theta i was very disappointed with the some of the accommodation. Lake Tana is beautiful but the hotel is the worst I ever stay and I travel the world. the hotel had mold wholes in the walls could not wait to get out of the place. you should check the hotels before u accept a tour operator. even in Ethiopia there are better hotels. some of the hotel did not have hot water like in Gondar and when i complain the Luke warm water was for them hot water after a day of travelling one wants a shower not a cold one.
I wish u would have given the option to fly to lailibela as it was a waist of a day in horrible conditions.

i will have to think hard if i will take another trip with Exodus.

Most Inspirational Moment

the churches

Thoughts on Group Leader

excellent

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Hanna for her feedback, however we regret that she was disappointed with the accommodation in Ethiopia. We do mention in the trip notes that Ethiopia is a developing country and that there may occasionally be no hot water. While we endeavour to manage expectations that the accommodation may be basic in places on this tour, at the beginning of each season we use client and staff feedback to review each property with our local manager; if any concerns are raised by clients throughout the year these will be addressed and dealt with accordingly. We have discussed Hanna’s concerns with our local manager and will keep an eye on feedback.

John Penge – Product Manager for Ethiopia

Alan Key

Reviewed February 2018

Cost Rica for the third time.

There was a lot of hours travelling, however that is acceptable as the country’s road system to the places we were going to do not allow shorter journey times, and some of the scenery was superb. Our drivers throughout were excellent as was our guide Glenda who worked hard to ensure we all had an enjoyable tour.
We were slightly disappointed with Tortequero as the boat safaris could have been longer and we did not really go as far into the jungle as we expected, a lot of time was lost queuing up for entrance tickets and the last morning it would have been possible to do an additional safari and depart the lodge a bit later to return to the jetty. We actually saw more on the 2 1/2 hour boat safari in Cano Negro than we did in the whole time in Tortequero. The Monte Verde part was good but again more time could have been spent in the actual jungle than having nearly an hour to have coffee and shop at the information centre.

Most Inspirational Moment

The time spent on the Rio Frio in Cano Negro where we saw lots of birds and all three species of monkey to be found here with a great showing of white faced capuchin very close to the boat feeding. In Monte Verde actually finding a male Resplendent Quetzal a very rare bird was enjoyed by all, the bird life at the accommodation was also well appreciated (note we are not specifically birders).

Thoughts on Group Leader

Glenda was escorting her very first trip and worked hard to ensure we all got the best out of the trip, She was very knowledgeable about the country, fauna and flora and the country's wildlife and birds and if anything was asked and she did not know she endeavoured to find the answers. Although she was lacking in experience which will come obviously, she made up for it with enthusiasm and in time will be a very good escort.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Costa Rica is a great place to visit and not just for the wildlife. It was our third visit having done the national parks on both coastlines on our previous visits and now the interior. If it is on your list of places to go then go, its worth it.

curtis wierenga

Reviewed February 2018

loved cycling in rajasthan

This trip was great! The cycling wasn’t overly difficult. The trip offers a wide range of sites to please everyone. Our guides and crew were excellent, the bikes were great as was the support vehicle. We always had drinking water and snacks while we cycled. They took great care of us.

Most Inspirational Moment

Cycling through some of the small villages on our last day of cycling. There is no better way to be immersed in the Indian culture.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Manu was fantastic, very professional but also alot of fun at the same time. Great sense of humour! We have travelled many years in many countries with many guides and Manu ranks right at the top!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Enjoy! Don't be afraid of the food or drinking water or the sheer number of people. It is fantastic

Beryl Bronner

Reviewed February 2018

Snowshoeing: Catalan Pyrenees

This was a good snow shoeing holiday in the Catalan pyrenees.We had a huge amount of snow but Miguel followed the itinerary as close as he could with the limitations imposed on us by the weather and depth of snow. We also learnt through some visits about the culture and history of the area which was interesting.

Most Inspirational Moment

Good achieving our goal to a col one day .

Thoughts on Group Leader

Miguel is a good leader and provided us with information regarding the area and culture of which he was knowledgeable and passionate. He was very organized and helpful when anyone had a query which he resolved effectively. Also the cheese and wine evening which he provided was a thoughtful touch.

Anne Ambrose

Reviewed February 2018

Not one for beginners

The walks are challenging and not for beginners.

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking through virgin snow

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader has designed challenging walks and he wants to complete the itinerary as published.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is not a trip for those new to snowshoeing.

Helen Homewood

Reviewed February 2018

Discovering Costa Rica (with a Bird watching guide)

As my personal interests are more history/culture/architecture I knew that by choosing a basically wildlife/scenery holiday I was slightly pushing myself out of my comfort zone but I had heard so much about Costa Rica I decided to give it.a go. As I was travelling with two chums one of whom is quite a keen bird watcher we picked a date where there would be a bird watching guide but when I booked and from the brochure it looked as if the tour would be as normal. I found this far from the case and this was as very much a bird watching trip. I must be honest and say there were moments I was bored to death! However, when I look back on the whole trip I did enjoy it and with the exception of one day it was well paced and very varied. The day in question (Monteverde – Manuel Antonio) where the journey time was shown as 4.5hours but due to frequent stops for bird watching it actually took over 8 hours and we effectively missed half a day at Manuel Antonio, a stop I had been particularly looking forward to.

Most Inspirational Moment

The two days at Esquina Lodge deep in the Equatorial Forest with the deafening noise of the cicadas. Zip lining at Monteverde

Thoughts on Group Leader

Johnny Villalobos was a delightful leader and very efficient and pleasant. He is extremely knowledgable and enthusiastic about the birds of Costa Rica and was, understandably very keen that we should all see as much as possible. We had two very enthusiastic birders in the trip and possibly because they were so keen they seemed at times to rather dictate the pace for the rest of the group. After the extended day's travel to Manuel Antonio I think Johnny realised that he had perhaps misjudged things and in the second week he placed more emphasis on some of the non birding options available and from that point I enjoyed things a lot more. To be fair, I think he misjudged one day out of fourteen and that's not a bad average. He was approachable, friendly and fun. I would also like to make mention of Carlos our driver who was exceptional. On road conditions that were far from easy he did his very best to make it a smooth, safe ride and he was also good at spotting birds. He and Johnny clearly often work together.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Yes, while you do not need any previous birding knowledge or experience if you pick one of the special bird watching dates you need to be aware that the emphasis will be on birding and that will impact on other activities on the holiday. If you are not really interested in spending considerable periods of time peering through binoculars, pick another date. If you do fancy a go at bird watching buy or borrow the best binoculars you can afford.

Elle Irvine

Reviewed February 2018

School trip

I booked this trip on the choosen dates as it was for solo travellers – hoping that it would present opportunities for meeting other individuals who would be keen to do their own thing in the evenings and on free days as opposed to being herded around in a huge group.
This group consisted of approx 7 couples. Not quite the solo group I was expecting, more so as they were of retirement age and older, and being younger I struggled with the overall ‘ school trip ‘ feel of the holiday.
Petty squabbles over who sat where on the bus and evening dinners arranged en- masse either at hotels with buffets or touristy restaurants just added to the disappointment.
This was my first trip to India and what I saw of the region I loved – albeit I had to tune out the rest of the group and go off to do my own thing on many occasions.

Most Inspirational Moment

Loved the tea plantation walk - although the majority of the group clearly didn't pay heed to the trip notes about it being steep in places ( this led to more moaning ) , the houseboat was better than expected and the food - when finding local small restaurants - was outstanding.

Thoughts on Group Leader

He had a difficult job on his hands I feel, managing such a large group of elderly people but did his best I suppose. He didn't make an appearance on the first evening and as such everyone pretty much left on their own til the next morning. Also we didn't get the opportunity to do the early morning village tour around Madurai as we would have had ' to get up really early ' . Really? ?! Every morning was either a 9 or 9.30 am start - rather late I felt.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Check the demographics of the group before you pay your final balance. I guess the trip being graded as -1- leisurely, should have been an indicator of the age group it would attract. Be adventurous, use the time in the evening to source lovely restaurants on line, jump in a Tuk-Tuk and have the real Indian dining experience. Bring headphones for the long journeys.

Barbara Binns

Reviewed February 2018

Fantastic skiing on good snow in the sunshine - with excellent leaders

When I first cross country skied in Norway 15 years ago, my leader said ‘go to Dobbiaco’. And now that I have, I understand why she recommended it. The skiing was excellent and varied, with just the right amount of challenge without being scary. The snow conditions were great and we had good weather. The sceenrybwas stunning. The hotel was very welcoming, and a good wellness centre with sauna, swimming and steam – a perfect way to relax after a day skiing.

Most Inspirational Moment

Many inspirational moments - skiing through beautiful landscapes.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The two leaders, Ingrid and Alex, were both excellent. Athough we were all experienced skiers, they took time to check out our skills on the first couple of days and helped everyone ski better. They assessed our ability well and took us to places with just the right amount of challenge. They were both good fun, competent, knowledgeable and all round good leaders who made me feel safe and confident.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Go and enjoy yourself! But do check you are booking the right grade holiday.

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