Reviews

Ride those coastal roads!

Stunning cycling on rugged coastal roads, spectacular gorges, though balanced by less inspiring cycling alongside wheat fields on long straight undulating roads. Some cycling on main roads with hard shoulders. Overall, cycling is a great way to see the area.
Plenty of wildlife seen, land based: springbok, ostriches, blue cranes, hawks, buzzards, antelope, hamsters, tortoise, and the big 5 wet ones: penguins, seals, dolphins, sharks and whales.
The wine estates were pristine, wine tastings were slick. Also plenty of craft breweries for the ale drinkers. The friendliness and service at all restaurants, cafes and accommodation was excellent, with a real desire to please.

Cycling, wine and Food!

This was a wine and culinary cycling adventure. The landscapes were breathtaking and our guides informative and attentive.

A great holiday/adventure

Our first Exodus trip, and what a wonderful experience. The accommodation, cycling, trip leadership and support were all first class. There are two elements out of their hands – the flight (in our case with BA on superannuated 747s) and the people who pay for the holiday. Our tour party was excellent, a great and disparate group of interesting and enthusiastic people. The less said about BA’s performance the better. If we’d been unlucky enough to have been booked on the Thursday flight back to

A stunning holiday!

If you’re looking for a great mix of exercise, wine-tasting, wildlife spotting and camaraderie, this is the trip for you! As this was our first organised holiday we approached it with some trepidation, but our expectations were surpassed many times over. Every day brought new experiences – different landscapes and vistas, unfamiliar but delicious wines, the highest quality local dishes, friendly hosts and quirky accommodation, and a developing bond between all participants as we slogged up the inclines and sailed down the descents.

Cycling The Cape And Winelands

A wonderful cycle trip and an excellent introduction to the Cape (and South African wine!). Some great cycling (Franschheok Pass, The Whale Coast) mixed with plenty of wine tasting and a day’s recuperation whale watching in Hermanus.

The cycling itself is graded as moderate though a grading of moderate/challenging would be more appropriate, especially if you are not a keen cyclist.

We were left wanting ...

… wanting more of a South African experience! The area around Cape Town is lovely and definitely worth visiting – upon reflection, however, we wish we’d have taken a car tour in South Africa and cycled somewhere else. The reason we take cycling holidays in different parts of the world is to experience a country in an active way and really see, hear and feel the country. We enjoyed the whale watching, Cape Point and Boulders Beach visits but there was definitely scope for more South African experience. We learned about the history and botany of the area but would have liked more of modern South Africa, the relationship between black and white and how they now live side-by-side post-apartheid, etc, as it’s such an intrinsic part of the area. Often with these trips there are extras that are not mentioned on the trip notes which really enrich the holiday and make up for the inevitable slightly dull bits of cycling – there were none of these interesting extras! There were many times when we could have been anywhere slogging our way up yet another hill. If you are a stats person (how far, how fast, how high, etc) who wants some warm cycling when it’s cold in UK (please see note below tho!) you’ll probably have no problems with the trip (although I would recommend Morocco’s Great South for more stunning mountain scenery). Every day you are pushing up a hill, against the wind (it is always windy in this part of the world it seems!) or both!! I would question the grading of this trip – we have taken a few moderate trips and this was definitely harder. By the same token I have taken a moderate/challenging trip and it was easier! At one point my husband said we should have saved ourselves a lot of money and just bought a turbo-trainer – it did sometimes feel a bit like exercise for exercise sake and not a holiday!

Most Inspirational Moment

Whale watching and seeing a megapod (300-500) of common dolphin (which apparently are not so common!) swimming alongside us. A walk up into the hills behind Hermanus on our day off. Staying in in Cape Town for 4 extra nights at the end of the trip.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Warren was very personable and knowledgeable.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Prepare for it to be cold!! It caught us all out when our first two days' weather was like the Scottish Highlands rather than South Africa!!! Evenings are cool too! Take binoculars for whale watching and Bontebok NP. The sea looks beautifully inviting but you probably won't be swimming as it's absolutely freezing!!! The swimming pools are unheated so they are not very appealing either! BOOK EXTRA DAYS IN CAPE TOWN BEFORE OR AFTER!! There is virtually no time in the city within the trip and it is definitely worth seeing!!

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Vicki for her feedback, although we are sorry she felt the trip left her wanting more from her experience in South Africa.  We were pleased to read that Vicki enjoyed the whale watching and visits to Cape Point and Boulders Beach; we regret, however, that she found the trip would have benefitted from a more integrative local experience.  We do endeavour to offer trips that provide a full experience, taking into account the culture, history and geography of the areas we visit, and we endeavour to do this in a positive and responsible way.  We also feel it is worth mentioning that out of 43 reviews on our website, clients have given this tour an average of 4.5 stars out of a possible 5 (on the date of publishing) and we feel this is reassuring and demonstrates that the trip is described accurately in our tour literature.  Based on the feedback from our local team and previous clients, we are confident that the activity level assigned for this trip is appropriate, although we acknowledge this is not Vicki’s view.   We are, nonetheless, genuinely sorry that Vicki’s experience was not so positive.  John Penge – Product Manager

Cycling, wine tasting & penguins!

A great trip overall, good mixture of cycling, wine tasting, wildlife & lovely scenery.

Hugely Enjoyable

First Exodus trip and a great experience. Terrific way to see a good chunk of the Cape with some wonderful cycling.We had plenty of time for wine tasting and sight seeing which suited me because I don’t want to cycle all day.Accomodation and food was of a high standard.Very friendly group.

South Africa Cape and winelands

Excellent trip; great guides who went out of their way to keep whole company happy.
Awesome scenery along the route, good food and wine.

Cycling the Cape and Winelands

A very well planned, organised and led tour of a fantastic country. The cycling was at times hard but always breath taking. A wonderful way to see a country.