Reviews

An amazing holiday

This is a fast paced holiday, with lots of places to be and even more things to see. Every day brings new wonders. Our whole, lovely group, said that they had taken far more photos than they had expected to. The scenery, especially in Kyrgyzstan, is awesome. The buildings, and statues, are built on an epic scale. Countryside, cityscape, desert landscape, lakes this holiday has it all. One of our group summed it up “Before I came people asked me “Where? Why on earth would you go there?” Now I would reply “why on earth wouldn’t you”. There are long drive (with plenty of stops) and early starts but that’s what allows you to see so much. The train rides in Uzbekistan added to the feel of adventure. I’m in my sixties, and I like my sleep, I certainly never expected to actually enjoy being woken in the middle of the night to travel to the station, catch a sleeper train and back to sleep for three hours! When I woke I was in the middle of a desert, with a glorious red sunrise shining across the land and it was stunning. If you’re thinking about this holiday then book it asap. Oh and the food in all three countries was fantastic.

Lovely Experience but three “issues”

So the views were beautiful, the walks invigorating, the company a joy. But I have to comment on three things. 1) Eduardo did us wrong arranging our trip out of Bomerano. We had originally booked a private transfer to the airport but changed plans after the trip began. I sent a request to Exodus to change it but never heard back. I called and was told someone would call me back. Never happened. I asked our tour leader and he said Eduardo was in charge of that at the local level. I met with Eduardo in person and he agreed verbally to take three of us to the ferry dock. When the day came he refused on the basis of the fact that one other person who needed to go to the airport had joined our private transfer. Then Eduardo added another guy not from the tour who needed to buy or pick up something in another town along the way. When I complained that here we had all paid extra for this private transfer and we got driven through this other town in all kinds of traffic and waited while this guy did his errand, Eduardo still refused to take us to the ferry dock even though he had verbally agreed to do so. Very unimpressive. 2) I understand why the itinerary had to be updated several times due to weather BUT we could never be sure what was what because it was hard to keep in mind the details of the sometimes confusing verbal instructions we were told each night. A simple email or WhatsApp set of detailed instructions about the next day sent each evening would have solved this issue. 3) both the room by the pool where we met each evening to get our information for the next day and the dining room have the most horrendous acoustics, making it hard to hear the verbal instructions, unpleasant to dine there, and less able to enjoy our fellow traveler’s company or even the meal. Some carpeting or acoustic panels on the ceilings or meeting in a different room would have solved this.

Magnificent views, perfect host

The Sierra de Aitana trek more than lived up to expectations. The scenery was magnificent and the walking was challenging enough to feel like an achievement each day, but manageable enough to be great fun.

So many adventures and a perfect introduction to India!

This was a busy itinerary with some early starts and long transfers, but it meant we saw so many amazing places every day. Our memory of the first week in the north, was of the noisy mayhem that is India, with quite a lot of sightseeing to monuments. In contrast the week in Kerala was more relaxed either by the sea or in the mountains. Being a ‘Premium Adventure’ meant we were in good standard hotels, and about half the dinners and some lunches were included in the price, which was appreciated. Also, our leader saw to all the tipping for the whole trip, so we didn’t have to have a kitty (a bit of a bugbear on previous Exodus trips).

The Guide made the difference

Excellent trip, beautiful scenery, and an absolutely fabulous guide, Fabrizio!! His enthusiasm, in-depth knowledge and overall care for our group made the experience exceptional. Ask for him by name!

Sierra de Aitana - March 2025

An excellent week of hiking, led by José. About 1,000m of ascent on most days, so you need to be reasonably fit – but the views are most definitely worth the climb. The hotel is simple but perfectly ok – and the food prepared by Raquel was tasty. It’s a small hotel, so the exodus party takes over the whole hotel which is helpful when doing evening briefings.The weather in March was cool (c15C max most days) which was ideal for hiking.

two weeks in India

Trip completed in Jan-Feb 2025. This was my first time in India. The cycling was excellent (one day with 900m elevation riding to Kumbhalgarh but otherwise actually easier in terms of elevation/distance than on other grade 3 trips I’ve been on). Cycling in the cities is somewhat of an adrenaline sport which was great fun! The Taj Majal, Udaipur and Jodhpur Fort were all excellent. The food is exceptionally good. The bus was the most comfortable exodus trip bus I’ve ever been on and made the longer journeys a pleasure. I enjoyed the experience of the overnight train journey.

The Shree Ram hotel, Kumbhalgarh Forest Retreat and Sariska Safari Lodge I found to be very good and enjoyed staying there. The room in Ashok Country Resort was somewhat damp/musty. With the swimming pool closed there isn’t much to do there and, other than the airport, there’s nothing nearby. Food there was good. Bathrooms in the vesta mayura palace and udai villas were dirty. A night club next to the vesta mayua pumps out window shaking music until around midnight. This holiday is really cheap for two weeks – I know I can’t expect too much of a three star hotel in India but I’d rather have paid a bit more and had a nicer cleaner hotel at every stop.

Excellent week with beautiful views on the Portugese coast

My second exodus trip in portugal and once again the food (especially the picnics) was exceptional. Not quite enough cycling to burn off all the calories from the pasteis de natas and other delicious pastries/cakes! The scenery on this trip was the best I have experienced on an exodus trip – on other trips I’ve found some great scenery interspersed with longer stretches on roads with nondescript views, on the porto to lisbon trip it was multiple stunning beach/cliff views with forest, boardwalk, bays and quaint villages. Hotels were generally of very good quality (worth the superior comfort level advertised). The start hotel was changed to the Hotel Vila Gale which was OK but could do with a refurb of the rooms (doesn’t look as good as the planned hotel neya).

Best Vacation Ever

This was the best vacation we’ve ever had. There were four things that made this vacation absolutely outstanding:
First: the location- between the Northern lights and the snowy forest and river landscapes, this place is heaven on earth.
Second: the guides- Janne and Lars made this a really special trip. It’s clear that they love their jobs and their location. Lars makes all of the bread fresh daily and his kitchen staff is so talented. All of the food was delicious. Janne is such a great outdoorsman (Janne was our main guide for the trip)- it was so neat hearing of all of the training experiences he’s had. They were both so knowledgable about all of the wildlife in the area.
Third: the activities. The activities were so great! The snowshoeing and cross-country skiing was challenging and fun. I loved them both, and I even had time to improve my new skiing skills over the trip (my husband wants to continue in our winters at home!). Then the dog-sledding, reindeer-sleighing and learning about the Sami culture and visiting with a Sami reindeer herder were once-in-a-lifetime experiences. They were amazing, and I will never forget them.
Finally, the fourth thing that made this trip fabulous was: the group. I wonder if Exodus just calls to people who you really want to spend time with. We loved the entire group, and they made this vacation amazing. They were supportive in all of our falling-down efforts, no one felt they had to outdo anyone else, and our evenings of downtime while we chased the Northern lights were all so much fun! We’ll definitely book with Exodus again!

Captivating Kerala

Surprisingly beautiful, challenging and hospitable.