Reviews

Jordan

Our tour guide Sami was the best. The Olive Branch Hotel in Jerash was terrible. Cold shower,no hot water til way too late when one of us requested it be turned on and it had to heat through. Hotel looked abandoned, broken doors and windows. Breakfast was white bread and processed cheese, nothing fresh.

We had a Pharoah time!

A superb holiday that packs in the highlights of Egypt in a week, with four nights on a Nile riverboat. It starts with the Pyramids and takes in the Cairo Museum and other sights before a short flight to the riverboat at Luxor. For those who haven’t sailes down the Nile, this is an adventure in itself. There are stops to visit the valley of the Kings to see the amazing hyieroglyphics in the pharaonic tombs and Tutankhamun’s resting place, plus the famous temples at Karnak, Edfu and Kom Ombo, and an optional trip to Abu Simbel. It ends at the amazing Aswan Dam and includes a fun felucca ride. The food and company were great and Andrew the guide was amazing. Highly recommended!

Adventures in Jordan

This was my first adventure with Exodus Travels (though I have traveled multiple times with a similar small group adventure travel company) and overall I was quite happy with everything. I chose this tour over other tours of Jordan offered by other companies for a few key reasons. Firstly, the premium accommodations used, secondly, that it had two days in Petra, and lastly, that it visited Aqaba. I have some feedback related to these points. Though I was quite satisfied with most of the hotels, I and most of the group were quite disappointed with the rooms at Old Village Petra and felt we’d been duped. The picture of the room shown on the website in no way reflects the actual rooms we stayed in which were much more basic. And a little research found that there is only one such room at the resort so a group of 16 would never be able to all have such a room. Please change the picture advertised to reflect the true accommodation provided. As for Aqaba, I was disappointed to hear from our leader that there would be nothing to see if we snorkelled off the beach at our hotel. That was the one thing I wanted to do in Aqaba, snorkel in the Red Sea. Muayad told us about a beach south of Aqaba we could go to independently that had excellent snorkelling just off the beach. Those of us that chose to go were so happy he told us about it and wished we could have gone back the next day. I also found I would have loved to have had more time in Aqaba to walk around the city and enjoy the hotel. I think this could be facilitated by going from Petra to Wadi Rum to Aqaba rather than Petra to Aqaba to Wadi Rum then back via Aqaba to reach the Dead Sea. It would result in more time in Wadi Rum, more time in Aqaba and more time in Dead Sea. That might be my one real criticism of the tour is that it felt rushed and besides Petra, just not enough time in each destination.

Amazing country but...

This was my third cycling trip with Exodus (April 2022). As always, it is a great way to experience a country. The sight, the smells, the noises. You can’t beat it. Jordan is a must see. The cycling itself is not challenging. The rides are quite short and a couple of steep hills but that is it. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend the tour because of the guide. Who has ever heard of a tour leader not cycling!?!?! His rules for cycling (everyone must be single file – always, you can’t stop for photos, you must cycle at the same pace and with minimal distance between each cyclist) was frustrating and at times dangerous. People have their own pace and to cycle out of this especially up and down hills can be downright dangerous. It was a shame because the group were fun and the itinerary was interesting.

Most Inspirational Moment

Petra.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader must be a cyclist. It is just insanity not to have someone who understands cycling leading the tour.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Find out who the tour leader is first on this one! Normally, the group leaders are amazing...

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Michelle for her review and are glad that she found Jordan to be a worthwhile visit, though we are sorry that her experience with our tour leader was not as positive as she has come to expect with Exodus. On this trip, our groups are accompanied by a two-man cycling team, led by an expert cycling guide, as well as a tour leader, who provides expertise in the culture and history of Jordan, and we find that this setup generally gets great feedback and allows our customers to get the most out of their holiday. We are so sorry, though, that Yolanda’s leader on this occasion, back in April, was somewhat inflexible in allowing group members to cycling at their own pace. Yolanda’s leader no longer accompanies our cycling trips, and we would mention that we haven’t had similar feedback to Yolanda’s since this trip, which makes us confident that our leaders and cycling guides are providing a really enjoyable experience for each Exodus group.

Thomas Manchester, Product Manager

A Good Trip although you must be a keen walker

6 days of walking. After the first 3 valleys they start to look the same (how many pigeon holes do you need to see?) but the group was great, and the guide was enthusiastic and patient, managing the fast walkers at the front, and the ones at the back who took lots of photos. He was very good at finding different places to eat, and it was great that food was all included so you just paid for extra drinks. Water was always available on the minibus so plastic waste much reduced. If you are vegetarian expect a lot of vegetable stew and eggplant! There are some lovely churches to visit in the rocks (as in small places of worship with the remains of old frescoes dating back several hundred years, not churches as tend to be build here)

Most Inspirational Moment

The churches I visited in the Ilhara valley, and the cathedral we visited on the final day (not one building, again a collection of beautifully decorated rock spaces with Christian wall paintings)

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader was patient, with a good sense of humour. He occasionally cam across as a little impatient and on one walk I rarely saw him as I was at the back taking photos and he stayed at the front. Every time I was nearing to catch up he set off again. He was probably on a time schedule and was frustrated. He was very good at sorting out everyone's requirements - ATM visits, people wanting to stop at pharmacies, tracking down the lost luggage of one of the group, and keeping us all informed (often having to repeat the same information 3 or 4 times) and answering all our questions.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be sure you want to walk for 6 days (or you can always miss a day and relax by the pool at the hotel!). Be prepared to get dusty. Do the balloon flight!

Reply from Exodus

We are grateful that Yolanda has taken the time to leave a review and are glad she had a good holiday, although we’re sorry that the star rating she has given does not reflect the usual positive experience our customers have on this trip. We’re confident that the information we give in the trip notes makes it clear that this is a dedicated walking trip, and believe that the stunning and unique scenery of Cappadocia, which we hope we show off in the ‘Gallery’ page for this trip, is one of the main draws of hiking here. However, there are plenty of opportunities for sightseeing and to engage with local Turkish culture; and as Yolanda says, our clients are welcome to take a day off to relax by the pool if they’d like.

Vivien Urban, Product Manager

Terribly let down by Exodus

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing Machu Picchu for the first time. But there were many amazing moments.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Holgar (Olie) was an excellent tour leader with great knowledge of his country and with very good command of English. He has a kind and friendly personality and went out of his way to help us and to make the trip a memorable one for us. His organisation skills were outstanding and he made sure that everything flowed smoothly. As I suffered from altitude sickness his kindness and help was invaluable to me.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Ask Exodus all the details such as the air line you will be booked on (if you are booking with flights) etc before you book the trip. Do not trust Exodus to make the right decisions for you. From what I gathered from some members of the group, Exodus offers better prices and a better service if tours are booked through third parties such as Trailfinders. It might be better not to book directly with Exodus and better still, book with another tour operator.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Jinny for her review, although we are incredibly sorry that her trip was soured by the service she received on her flights with Air Europa. We understand that, as Jinny made her booking later than other clients on this trip, flights with KLM would have incurred a large supplement, and so our Sales team looked to book her onto flights with alternative airlines which offered her a better price. We would mention that Air Europa are an established, full-service airline who we have used for many years on different routes to Spain and South America without issue; they are not considered a ‘budget’ carrier, and are a member of the SkyTeam alliance alongside KLM. Consequently, our team were confident they would provide a similar level of service, but we are shocked to hear of the experience Jinny had on her journey to and from Peru, and are so sorry to hear that she became ill following her flight home. Our Aviation team has been made aware of Jinny’s experience and will closely monitor feedback we get from clients who fly with this airline in the future; should this prove not to be a one-off, we will strongly consider removing Air Europa from our list of preferred carriers.

We are also sorry that Jinny feels that Exodus offer better prices should our trips be booked through third parties, which we can assure her is not the case. In this instance, the members of her group who booked through Trailfinders did so far in advance, and so avoided any supplementary charges, which are reflective of the costs Exodus incurs in making a later booking. However, we are heartened to read that Jinny found Peru to be a beautiful and worthwhile destination, and are particularly pleased that she singled out our tour leader, Holger, for praise.

Troy Glennon, Product Manager

Live at the Apollo

According to the group, the trip exceeded all expectations. The terrain was more difficult than expected, but this was due to the age of the heritage sights. Take walking poles just in case. The tour leader was excellent at reminding us to watch our step. Accommodation was better than expected, including a sea view in beautiful Pylos. We all wish we could’ve stayed in Pylos for an extra night. Personal highlight: Incredible experience being able to run on the track at Olympia and to stand next to the temple of Zeus.

What a real adventure!

My wife and I were booked to go on this trip 3 years ago but had to cancel at the last moment so we were thrilled to be able to manage to go on the trip this November and we were not disappointed! The trip was a perfect balance between some challenging cycling and necessary bus transfers to enable the transit of 3 countries in 14 days. Travelling through stunning open scenery and rainforests seeing how the population lived in reality and the abundant wildlife was a great experience and an education.

Cycling Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama

An excellent trip with a good range of people on it and something in there for everyone. It was interesting, had sufficient cycling, good food, a good team and we all enjoyed it and had fun.

Outstanding trip

Outstanding trip, well and enthusiastically guided, great variety of wildlife.