Know what you want to do but flexible on where you want to go? Or maybe you have a burning desire to visit a certain country but need recommendations on how to spend your time there? Whether you’ve decided your travel preferences or not, we can help.
1) Walking or cycling the Austrian Lakes – From the base of a cosy lakeside property or a 4-star hotel in the town of Strobl, you’ll spend each day exploring the idyllic waters of Austria. Your activities will be flexible, with a choice of cycling and walking. Along the way, you’ll be able to visit the Mozart museum, take a cable car up the Zwölferhorn mountain and explore Salzburg’s fairy-tale Baroque palaces and Renaissance gardens.
2) Cycle Indochina & Angkor – After the ultimate biking holiday? The Indochina & Angkor cycling activity holiday takes you through three fascinating countries: Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. By bike, we’ll see the eucalyptus and tapioca fields of rural Thailand and, of course, the jungle-surrounded wonder of Angkor Wat and its network of ancient temples and moats. You’ll also cycle across the Vietnamese border and through the “rice bowl” of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta.
3) Canoeing on the Dordogne – Canoeing is a simultaneously active and relaxing way to see one of the most interesting waterways in France. After we’ve given you all the essential know-how for canoe-handling, you’ll be on your way, admiring golden-pink limestone cliffs, medieval chateaux and medieval villages. All your hotels are in lovely spots with their own swimming pools for you to unwind in.
4) Arctic Circle Aurora Adventure – This amazing winter adventure takes you to Sápmi (also known as Lapland). Picturesque, icy and remote, you’ll enjoy this region while hosted by two Sámi residents, learning about their way of life and looking out for the Northern Lights each night. Your holiday will be packed with winter activities such as dogsledding, snowshoeing and skiing in the forest.
5) Namibian Family Adventure – This family activity holiday (for age 9+) will take you to a landscape of rolling desert scenery and star-studded night skies untouched by city lights. We’ll watch the sun rise from one of the tallest sand dunes in the world and see desert elephants roam around Namibia’s highest mountain. We’ll get to many of our destinations by car, but there will be plenty of chances to walk amongst the scenery and try other activities, like sandboarding and quad biking across the sand dunes. You’ll never forget sights of classic African wildlife such as zebra, wildebeest, giraffes and lions!
FAQs about our activity holidays
What types of activity holidays are there?
There are all sorts of activity holidays you can go on abroad with Exodus. Whether your thing is trekking, canoeing, skiing or cycling, you can find trips with the activity focus you want. A lot of our holidays roll several activities into one so that you get a great, all-round experience. Will you zip-line through a jungle, trek a mountain range, or try out some snorkelling?
We also have a great selection of mixed-activity family-friendly holidays with opportunities to explore at an appropriate ability level (see each individual package to get an idea of the minimum age appropriate for the trip).
How are the activities graded?
You’ll notice we’ve given each of our activity trips a “leisurely”, “moderate” or “challenging” rating. This is to give you a good idea of what to expect from your holidays so that you don’t turn up and find it’s too much or too little for your taste. As a guideline, all trips require a certain level of good health and enjoyment of the outdoors. You can read more to find out how our grading system works in full detail.
We’ve also put together some handy guides to help you prepare for your activity holidays and make sure your fitness is up to scratch before you go. These complement our activity grading system and we recommend you take a look.
What age groups are suitable for your activity holidays?
This depends on which holiday you’re looking at. If you’re bringing the whole family, including children, you may want to look at our family activity holidays specifically.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have challenging hikes for experienced walkers aged 16 and above, such as our Everest Base Camp treks. Most of our cycling holidays are also 16+.
If in doubt, simply consult the age recommended at the top of the page of the holiday you’ve got your eye on!
What do I need to wear for an activity holiday?
This has a lot to do with the activities you expect to participate in and the climate. As a rule, sturdy walking shoes that you’ve broken in are an essential. If you’re going on a winter holiday or something that involves boating, you should consult the overview tab to see if any additional equipment is provided by us, or if you need to bring it yourself.
Please be aware that even if you’re going on an activity holiday abroad to a region that generally has a warm climate, your adventure may take you to higher altitudes where the temperature can drop or where colder nights might be common. Wherever you go, it’s always wise to bring layers!
Are flights and accommodation included?
Please see the individual trip pages and Trip Notes for details of what is included in specific trips. We have 1000s of flight options at our fingertips so if you would like to book your flights with us as well please discuss your plans with our Sales team, or if booking online, let us know what you’d like and we’ll come back to you with some options. For more details on the flights we offer and the benefits of booking your flights through us, please see our flight information page https://www.exodus.co.uk/your-flights-your-choice.
Are the trips guided?
We offer a mix of guided and self-guided trips. Some people love to travel in groups and others prefer to go at their own pace, so we’ve taken this into account and designed amazing activity holidays for every type of traveller.
If you’re eying up a specific holiday, it should indicate whether the trip is guided or self-guided in the “Ways to Travel” field at the top of the page. Some holidays also offer the option to travel in a private group with people you know only.
What are the groups like?
If you choose to travel as part of one of our guided groups, you’ll probably find it’s a mix of solo travellers, couples and friends. This can be a really enriching experience; in fact, it sometimes results in travellers making new life-long friends who they plan future trips with!
This trip is certainly an insight into real India, we definitely felt we were in at the deep-end! We’ve previously cycled in Vietnam and Sri Lanka with Exodus and this trip was very different. Our previous holidays included a lot of information about the abundant flora, fauna and history of the countries, this trip not so much. However, it is very interesting to cycle through the villages and towns to see how the people are living and the people were very friendly towards us.
Don’t under-estimate he climb up Ooty Hill, it’s an unrelenting slog, but well worth the pain for the sense of pride at the top and the lovely stop at the Highland Cafe.
Some people in the group had asked for electric bikes and 2 of them were small-wheeled and, in my opinion, looked quite poor and not up to the job. However, our non-electric bikes were absolutely fine.
The roads are very busy and we had some sections cycling on the highway so I would say that this isn’t cycling for the faint-hearted. However, our guide was excellent at keeping the group together through the ‘dodgy’ bits! The cycling for the first few days does include a fair few hills so don’t expect it to be flat! Also, some of the road surfaces can be a bit rough, or even non-existent in some places, so don’t forget your padded cycling shorts!
Eating out is very cheap in the south and we had some delicious food. Also as far as I’m aware no-one in our group suffered with any tummy upsets.
In the main, the hotels were good. We had a couple which were a bit basic, but our guide explained that this was because there wasn’t anything else in the area, but other hotels were excellent so it’s swings and roundabouts.
All in all, a very good trip and we definitely feel like we’ve seen real, incredible, India.
My husband and I usually go on self guided bicycling vacations. Choose this one because its the route I wanted without any planning hassles. It was a great choice. It was fantastic that we had a group leader, named Son, and his team Lee, Tee and Saow, who planed every detail. They got us out of the crazy busy cities by their bus/van. Routes were well planned and it was impossible to get lost. We had faster riders in the front and Lee in the back. Then Tee drove ahead and stood at every intersection to make sure we were all heading in the right direction. There were snack, water, and bathroom breaks. All breakfasts and lunches were included. Most dinners/not all were on our own . However Son always had great recommendations for restaurants . Couldn’t have asked for a better staff leader. Son was always organized and as he said 100 times. Enjoy yourself and safety first. He and his crew handled everything. Literally, no stress. Eat ,ride, eat ride, look at the wonderful scenery, and wave to all of the kids and people who say hello and wave at us as we ride by. The Vietnamese people were so welcoming.
I first rate end-to-end experience. The route, the variations in landscape and the demands made upon the cyclist were all thoughtfully considered. The accommodation used was all very good, very clean and occasionally excellent. Our lunch stops were all interesting as we dined in local restaurants run by families. We were blessed with good weather, a fine trio of guides and a lovely group. Our support vehicle loitered around us when we were on the move and miraculously would appear under the shade of a tree with a table full of goodies and drinks. The early stages are green and lush, but as the Andes are climbed and Argentina entered, the route turns north and the landscape becomes less Alpine and more ‘high plains drifter’ and finally near desert with glacial topped volcanoes and lava fields. The Monkey Puzzel forests ate the end a cool green and beautiful treat. Both countries are calm gentle places, the driving generally very calm and where the people are kind and courteous. The Mantupechu villages and tribal lands were fascinating.
