Reviews

Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers

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57 Reviews

4.8 out of 5

Kim Hillis

Reviewed June 2025

Cinque Terre Portofino May 31- June 7 2025

Excellent tour. Exceeded my expectations.

Most Inspirational Moment

Challenges it took to climb the mountains. I did it.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Group leader Nico was amazing. Thoughtful knowledgeable and honestly he made the trip for me. I was a solo traveller. Her was always looking out for everyone on the trip. Making sure we were all making the best memories. We included everyone. Some hikers better than others yet everyone felt included.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is not an easy trek. Lots of climbing and downhill. Footing is tough. So my advice is to know your skill level. I hike regularly 15 km a couple times a week and found this very tough. But a loved it it was rewarding and I would do it again. Just know what you can do.

Bee A

Reviewed June 2025

Level 3 with lots of steps all up and down, prepare your knees!

The location of the hotel was great as it was a lot quieter than surrounding villages and right by the beach. There were also many trails nearby (I would have extended my trip a couple more days in Moneglia to do more walks!).
Do expect a lot of steps, steep climbs and descents with rewarding views! The food in Liguria was amazing, great for seafood lovers!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Nico was an excellent leader! He was funny, organized, and passionate about his country. He's inspired me to come back for a 4th trip in Southern Italy.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Read the trip notes carefully and prepare well for this trip. It's a level 3, Moderate (this does not mean it's easy walking). See the fitness guides and train beforehand. Hiking shoes are fine, ankle support is better though. I used walking poles every day and enjoyed the trip a lot more. I would definitely recommend extending your trip as well in Pisa and taking the train for an afternoon/day in Lucca. Florence is also an easy train away.

John Kaminer

Reviewed May 2025

Cinque Terre on the beautiful Ligurian Coast

Staying in Moneglia is a good choice as the 5 towns themselves are quite busy with tourists. Our guide Michele was great getting train tickets for short trips to different hikes. Our group was so cohesive that we all shared optional meals together.

Most Inspirational Moment

The views from high up the coast are spectacular and we enjoyed the beautiful scenes from several locations.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Michele does a great job handling all the details for transportation, lunches and dinners, and spending time with each of us to make sure we were doing well. Since I flew from the US and was not in the Exodus arranged transport, I was very glad that Michele texted me beforehand to communicate the time and place to meet. That was much appreciated.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Make sure you are fit and prepared for a lot of steps up and down the hill on our walks.

Karen Schober

Reviewed October 2024

Cinque Terre

My walking review is slightly truncated because of an Achilles injury ( this was our third week of walking). Our guide Michelle was wonderful. He did a great job of shifting the schedule due to rainy weather. He provided lots of historical and cultural information along the way. He did a great job of handling the folks that were not experienced hikers. Please pay attention to the hike ratings on this trip. A 3 rating is not easy! If you are not comfortable on rocky terrain or slight exposure this is not your trip. Moneglia is a delightful base village. Very low key and not overrun with tour groups. However, even in October the 5 villages got packed, but fortunately we spent one day there. Even though I spent a couple days with my foot on ice it was an enjoyable trip.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Michelle is great. Enthusiastic and informative. He truly loves sharing his country with others.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a trip for strong hikers. The trails are straight up and straight down. Lots of stairs in places and some exposure with rocky sections.

Andrew Peck

Reviewed June 2024

The Group and Locations merit a 5* but the rating was let down by the Hotel Piccolo and the Guide

The walks were stunning, challenging in part , and gave a good flavour of Liguria and its dramatic coastline. We had a brilliant Group whom all got on well and enjoyed each others company and support whilst sharing the experience of the walks and the restaurants we used in the evenings, the optional trip to Lucca was outstanding as was the coastal ferry from Porto Venere which should become a fixture on the Exodus itinerary

Most Inspirational Moment

Looking down on the villages of the Cinque Terre from on high and sharing those experiences with the excellent Group

Thoughts on Group Leader

The Guide was out of his depth, somewhat disorganised and relied heavily on Google maps and could have communicated in a more expansive way, he didn't tell the story of the walks, the views, the historic buildings unless questioned and then was not able to convey any detail, in his favour he did find some decent restaurants for our evening meals

Advice for Potential Travellers

Single travellers paying a supplement are not valued by Hotel Piccolo and are consigned to cell like dark airless cupboard rooms, when challenged via Exodus HQ a room change to suitable accommodation was provided (for which the efforts of Simone and Munashe are much appreciated), but in general Exodus customers were treated like second class citizens in the hotel and far from valued - try to secure an upgraded room or you will be very disappointed and your holiday experience tainted

Mandy Alepin

Reviewed May 2024

Incredible Trip!

Had an amazing time in Italy!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Michele

Diana Mackay

Reviewed May 2024

Brilliant adventure

This was my third Italian walking trip with Exodus, and certainly matched the previous walks in the excellence of our guide (Michela), hotel accommodation and experience of this fascinating part of Italy. We had two bad days of torrential rain, which forced a re-think on how we would spend our free day. On the second day, the scheduled walk would have been dangerous so a different option was chosen. The walks we were able to do in the good weather were challenging, but definately worth the effort for the glorious views down to the cinque terra towns. There were options for those that found the going a bit tough, and preferred a more relaxing pace but most chose to follow our guide.

Most Inspirational Moment

The view of Portofino from the hills above - this was a particularly lovely walk with stunning views. Also, absolutely loved the wine tasting evening.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent - she was considerate and totally involved in making sure we stayed safe and happy. She organised evening options for those that wanted to participate, educated us on the sights and features of Liguria, and encouraged everyone learned a little bit of basic Italian! Could not recommend her more highly.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a great trip but just be aware that the Cinque Terra towns are very small and can be very crowded. The restaurants are very accommodating but also very busy. Also take walking poles for the steeper walks, unless you are super fit. They are particularly useful if you have even slightly dodgy knees.

Joe C

Reviewed October 2023

Nice trip, but more challenging than most Lv 3

Overall, this is a good trip with a good guide. It is well organized and has plenty of opportunities for people who are less fit to skip a section or entire day. That said, it became very apparently some people did have to skip a day. While the trip notes mentioned steep and loose descents, I would say about 6 out of 15 people on my trip were not prepared for what was ahead of them. More emphasis should be put on the difficulty of the terrain on the main tour page to make it a little more obvious. Maybe also a picture or two of the steps in the trip notes. Having completed several Exodus trips, this felt more like a level 4 trip, not level 3. I think this may be why the wrong audience was attracted, which took away from my personal experience. An example of this was seeing a 70+ year old member of the group refusing to use two hiking poles and ending up falling down a cliff. Luckily this person was okay, but this is a situation we should not have been in.

Most Inspirational Moment

The dinner at Assirto. While this was a recommended, not included dinner, it was a great suggestion. It was a very memorable experience with great food.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Michele was good guide and very knowledgeable of the area and culture. He did have a big challenging of leading a group with an extreme difference in abilities. We also had a group which was largely fractured in regards to going to dinners together. Given all those challenges, he still did a good job. I would be happy to do another tour with him again, and probably will.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be aware you will have to scramble and have steep declined. The trip may also much much more challenging than you expect due to the temperature and humidity in Italy. The trip will cost more than you expect as the trip notes are grossly out of date in regards to expenses. Everything cost roughly 40% more than expected, which I think caused some of the travelers in my group to not have a great experience.

Kevin Scott

Reviewed October 2023

Long walks and fabulous views

At the end of September we were a bit surprised that the villages were still quite crowded, but really pretty, especially when viewed from the hills above. The walks were quite long, and steep in places, but everyone managed them; there are options to cut some of the walks short by taking the train back, but nobody wanted to miss out on the whole experience. The trip notes warn that some of the long downhill sections are not ideal for vulnerable knees, and I would suggest taking this advice seriously. Our guide, Michele, was efficient and great company. The Picollo hotel in Moneglia is a very good choice; family run, friendly, with good food, a pool, sun deck and close to the beach. The trains we used were excellent.

Most Inspirational Moment

Portofino; an easier walk and a lovely little town, although prone to crowding when cruise liners are in! Spending time with such a lovely group.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Great fun, good organiser and communicator, and careful to support walkers of varying abilities / paces along the way.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If we went again we would try later in the year in the hope that it is less busy. The walks are rated moderate, but there are a couple of steep scrambles; most of our group were fit hikers - a few "training" walks would benefit travelers less used to long hilly walks.

Jan Ashton

Reviewed September 2023

Cinque Terre and Portofino

I loved this trip, the scenery was stunning and definitely worth the hike up to get the best views. The Piccolo Hotel was situated about 50 yards from the Beach which was great for when we got back and could pop in for a quick swim and to ease to achy legs. Not forgetting the daily Gelato. My only criticism was I felt my room was very basic, it was also dark, the air conditioning only worked when the windows and shutters were closed. Unfortunately no natural daylight which was a shame as there were some lovely rooms. I had paid £400 for the single room supplement, I wouldn’t have been happy having to share with someone. On the upside the breakfasts were amazing, plenty of choice.

Most Inspirational Moment

Next to the last day when we covered the last two Cinque Terre. We had a scramble up hill to get to the top to have the most amazing views. It was definitely challenging and I am pleased to say that all our group managed to complete it. Sense of achievement at the top was amazing.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Miki was amazing, what else can I say, she gave us options every day and explained everything in great detail, she has amazing knowledge. Miki also said that this group was the only one ever when everybody completed the hard scramble.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Ensure you are fit enough, make sure you have all correct clothing especially walking boots and poles, someone on our group went out to buy new trainers as didn’t have walking boots. Most of all enjoy yourself have fun, go and jump in the sea. It was very hot when we were there 29/30 degrees. On our rest day quite a number of us opted to spend on sun loungers on the beach, it was brilliant.

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