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.

Simply use the selector below to search our trip reviews and start reading real feedback from real Exodus travellers who have ‘been there and done that’!

Lots of our clients also like to post handy tips and advice about their travels. It’s great to know what to expect on an Exodus adventure before you go, so make the most of their experience and you’ll make the most of yours!

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Once you return from your Exodus adventure holiday, you will be emailed a link to add your review. Any feedback collected is posted onto our website, totally unedited.

Alternatively you can navigate to the relevant trip page and add your review via the Reviews tab.

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14517 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Erica Tucker

Reviewed December 2015

Magical

This trip was one of my favourites ever… breathtaking scenery, yummy food, lovely Oulanka Base Camp staff, and great activities. I would really recommend this trip as there is a different activity each day which makes it so memorable and rewarding especially if like me you haven’t done any of these activities before.

Most Inspirational Moment

We were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights on our second night which will always be a wonderful memory. What does inspire me is the friendliness and positivity of the Finnish people living in such cold conditions with few hours of daylight.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our tour guide Martti was fantastic throughout. He was very organised, helpful and interesting. What really made it for me was his extreme passion for nature and the preservation of his environment.

Advice for Potential Travellers

One thing that isn't on the pre-trip details is that you have to be careful what you put on your face and lips (i.e. no make up or other water based products) as in such cold conditions certain products can freeze on your face. I would recommend taking VASELINE for the lips (and even your skin if really dry) as you can use this safely in such conditions.

Rafik Taibjee

Reviewed December 2015

wonderful trip

Great mix of history, culture , politics, beautiful sights , relaxation and activity

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking on wadi farasi trial in petra with a new temple or ruin around every corner, there to be discovered

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very passionate about archaeology which was infectious and keen to show us his country

Advice for Potential Travellers

In winter bring an extra jumper , as it can get colder than you'd expect in the mountains and north of the country

Jarrod King

Reviewed December 2015

Fantastic trip

We had a great trip on our trip around Vietnam. Seeing and experiencing what felt like a very authentic Vietnamese experience. This trip put you right into the Vietnamese culture and not just the ‘touristy’ parts either. You got to see a lot of the path less travelled. Excercise wise, it was great, nothing to hard and the group worked at a nice leisurely pace. Biggest day by far is the trek around the northern Vietnamese mountains but again, plenty of rest stops etc.
If there was only one thing that could be improved, because the trip is so action packed you do get pretty tired, there is a few hours here and there to just sit down and relax but no substantial ‘free time’ so go in expecting to be busy a fair bit.

Most Inspirational Moment

Definitely the War Museum as well as the Cu Chi tunnels. Both places really opened your eyes up to the atrocities of the war and its effects on the Vietnamese people.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Viet was an absolute legend. Obviously extremely passionate about his country and culture he was always trying to enrich your experience with extra information or little experiences a long the way to get you more in sync with the local way of life. Extremely organised and a very good communicator, he made sure the group got the best out our trip. Which is not always easy when you have 14 people of different nationalities and goals. The whole trip honestly ran like clockwork.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Make sure you pack a sleeping bag liner for the train trip.

Fiona Powley

Reviewed December 2015

Cycle Kerala

I’d heard so much about Kerala but have to say this tour left me somewhat underwhelmed. I’ve done other trips with Exodus which have been brilliant. I’m a keen cyclist. I found this trip go be lacking in experiences, sights and very restrictive. Whilst the cycling had its pluses, I actually felt it was very restrictive and meant we had little time to really get to know anywhere. Once the cycle day was over there was little guidance, time or opportunity to really explore, instead sheparded to hotel or tourist restaurants.
I wouldn’t recommend this trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

The best bits were great, Cochin and our rest day, cycling up to Ooty, Guruvayanor, the houseboat, the final day. The food was fabulous throughout, although more opportunity to eat outside of hotel and tourist restaurants would have been welcomed.

Thoughts on Group Leader

As a cycle guide Safi was great. But that's about it. Limited information about the plan each day, often delivered without enough time to be able to do anything different. Very little information about the places we went through and stopped at, and what we might optionally like to do there. If you didn't ask, very little was forthcoming.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are very happy to hear the accents if your fellow group members more than hear india, this is the trip for you. Take your own guidebook if you want to get out and about at all.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Fiona for her review, although we are sorry for her disappointments. Our local operator is currently working to ensure that our tour leaders are providing regular and comprehensive briefings to our clients, and whilst the bikes we allocate to our clients are in good condition and usually well-received, we have taken Fiona’s comments into consideration. We understand that the tour leader assisted Fiona after her accident and we do hope she felt well supported.

Exodus Trip Manager, Megan Devenish

Alison Jones

Reviewed December 2015

cycling in Vietnam

An excellent holiday with a good blend of cycling, relaxing and covering much of the length of Vietnam. The leader, Thenth went above and beyond his duties and should certainly be considered for the leadership awards. very efficient, friendly, caring, knowledgeable, kept his own team together well and introduced us to some great local places to eat. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys cycling and is comfortable pedalling for 50 miles. Lovely group of people we had too, mixed ages, who mixed well.

Most Inspirational Moment

Hard one to answer - maybe seeing a very strange creature when snorkelling - yet to be identified. also the children, as we cycled through villages, jumping up and down, shouting Hello, sin chao....so friendly walking into a hotel, in smelly cycling clothes, where a wedding reception was going on and we had to pass beside the greeting party, ....not what they had planned, I'm sure. a cooking class in Hoi Ann very early morning, standing alone on the deck of the boat on Halong Bay....and the food on the boat

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent - see above Also to be commended are the mechanic, Su, for his skills, his patience and support as back rider and his maintenance of the bikes. Also for their friendliness the bus driver and the van driver, who stood patiently at intersections to make sure that no-one got lost.......and provided great, regular drinks and snacks.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Bring a proper water bottle to fit bike bottle holders - they aren't easy to source over there. when it rains....the rain is warm, so you don't really need to put a waterproof on. the hired bikes were great - don't bother taking your own when crossing the roads....its 1.2..3 and walk. Don't stop - they really don't want to kill you. Its just a different code of behaviour. a bottle of sloe gin went down very well on the overnight train! - shared, of course

Carolyn Thompson

Reviewed December 2015

Caz T

The trip was a fantastic introduction to South Africa. The scenery and wildlife was excellent. The trip was very well organised and ticked all the boxes for me.

Most Inspirational Moment

The variety of wildlife and the opportunity to view it up close. The varied scenery.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Justin, the tour leader was excellent. He was friendly and accomodating. He was knowledgeable and had a very good knowledge of wildlife. Fiona consistently magicked up lovely food, wherever we were.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Prepare for variable weather.

Nicola Handcock

Reviewed December 2015

Discover Sri Lanka

This was a very varied trip, with lots of travelling and lots of activities. We stayed in mainly good hotels and we had a good range of culture and nature, with a bit of beach and exercise thrown in. We cycled, walked, climbed to the top of huge rock palaces, marvelled at temples and ancient sites, white water rafted, went on safari, rode the local trains, visited a gem factory and a tea factory, walked round botanical gardens, braved the crazy traffic in tuk tuks, went whale watching and drank cocktails in old colonial hotels. It seemed the only thing not on the agenda was relaxing!

Most Inspirational Moment

The two safaris, where we saw elephants but not leopards, but particularly the moment when a family of elephants complete with young babies, came right up to our open jeep, passing so close that we could have reached out and touched them. It's hard to say whether we or the elephants were more awed.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, Sujan, was very good at organisation and logistics, clearly loved his country, and always did his best for us to get the most out of every day. Very precise on time management, he didn't appreciate people being late!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Always expect rain, even if it's warm! Don't expect your food to come quickly in restaurants, or even to arrive in the right order!

Matthew Haikin

Reviewed December 2015

Great team, great location, shame the single supplement is a scam...

The local team (Joseph, Rintu and Shibu) were great – helpful, friendly, knowledgeable. Kerala is beautiful and the earlier parts of the trip in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were really interesting. Great food too. And equal parts exciting and tranquil cycling on high quality Specialized bikes (if – like some of the reviewers on here – you can’t handle cycling with traffic and potholes. why on earth are you going to India!). My only criticism is about Exodus not the local team – they charged me £450 for a single supplement, which is over double what it should have been – I’ve checked the rack-prices of everywhere we stayed, and they have been stubborn and unhelpful about dealing with this. A real shame as it marred the end of the trip and made me feel like I was being ripped off.

Most Inspirational Moment

Cycling is fun... it isn't inspirational! Weird question! ;-)

Thoughts on Group Leader

Joseph was really helpful - even intervening when I had trouble convincing one of the hotel staff that they might have double sheets I could use!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Read up on India. The south is much less hectic than the North but still if you're expecting European standards and British type courtesy... You're in for a shock! Go with the flow.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Matthew for his review; we are pleased that he had a great trip overall, but we are sorry that he found our single supplement to be rather expensive. Unfortunately the rates advertised online and at properties are often not the prices Exodus is charged as tax (which regularly amounts to over 25% in India) is frequently not included in the rates and we have to book accommodation months in advance so are held to prices even if properties lower their rates to encourage bookings. We have been in touch with Matthew on an individual basis about his concerns.

Megan Devenish – Product Manager for cycling trips in India

David T

Reviewed December 2015

Laos cycling

A well organised trip exploring the outer reaches of Laos. Rather too many long bus transfers.

Most Inspirational Moment

Drifting along the Mekong River in a traditional boat which we had all to ourselves.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Rit & 'Mr La' were always enthusiastic but rather rigid in their asherence to the set programme.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do not go to the 'Complimentary' meal/ evening in Chiang Mai. It is the crystallisation of why Exodus cutomers do not go with other tour Companies - awful food, a 'theme park' style of entertainment all in the environment where there are hundreds of other long suffering tourists. Do not assume that because it is South Asia it will always be warm.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank David for his review and we have taken his feedback on board; as of January 2016 some of the trip has been re-routed to help reduce transfer times and this is detailed in the trip notes. Although previous feedback regarding the meal in Chiang Mai had been positive, we have decided to use a smaller, local restaurant going forward which we hope our clients will enjoy.

Megan Devenish – Trip Manager for Thailand and Laos

Peter Jones

Reviewed December 2015

Cycling in Rajasthan

A fantastic experience that lets you get up close to the real India with all its sights, smells and sounds. A great way to have an active holiday whilst a packed itinerary allows you to see many of the iconic sights of India.

Most Inspirational Moment

Riding through the villages where all the children would come out to line the streets and wave. Wherever we stopped a crowd would gather round to inspect both us and the bikes. I guess strangers, and especially European strangers are a very rare sight in some of these places. Whilst it does take a bit of getting used to, everyone was always really friendly.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Everything worked like clockwork, which given my previous experience of India was probably a minor miracle and a testament to the efficiency of our group leaders. Nice guys, always accommodating, flexible and willing to help.

Advice for Potential Travellers

It can be smoggy in Delhi (they appear to have a real problem with this these days) and it can be dusty in places on the road so do ensure you have something to cover your mouth. A buff kept round my neck worked well for me. Cycling in the cities is not for the fainthearted. Whilst there is a notional drive on the left rule, Indian traffic, people and animals come at you from all directions, and it can be very busy, although generally slow moving. Some element of confidence on a bike will help greatly.

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