Reviews

Delightful trip

Great trip if you’re interested in Greek history. Sites visited cater well for visitors and museums are well set out. Countryside and scenery is lovely. Besides last day driving time each day not too long. Accommodation was clean and comfortable. Nice pace to each day.

Greece is the Word

What a trip! Having previously only visited a couple of Greek islands, this trip truly opened my eyes to the myriad wonders of mainland Greece. A real whistle-stop tour of the country, spanning beautiful coastline and mountains. Maria, our tour guide, was enthusiastic, kind, passionate, knowledgeable and accommodating. Her content and delivery was interesting, and was positively remarked upon by the whole group. There is seemingly nothing she doesn’t know about Ancient Greece! A brilliant, potted history of some of the most iconic and important sites around Greece.

For those who love history, architecture, good food and wine (and nice hot weather!), this trip is definitely for you.

Sun, sea and monuments

This tour was a comprehensive introduction to some of the sites of ancient Greece, but also included Mystras, a Byzantine town and Meteora, a spectacular landscape with monasteries perched on top of huge rocks. I would personally have benefitted more from what I saw if I’d read up some information in advance. Lida, the guide was excellent, and she gave a lot of useful information about the sites and the mythology and history behind the sites and the history and mythology about them. The hotels were generally good quality though the Rex Hotel in Naufplio was a little tired decor wise. The Nidimos hotel in Delphi village had the best views! There was plenty to eat, of variable quality. The restaurant for the evening meal in Pylos was not very good; the booked group table was given to others, service was glacially slow and the food uninspiring.

A thorough and enjoyable tour

Overall we would recommend this trip to anyone fit enough for the walking and ascending and descending involved. Someone who wants a basic tour with plenty of information, but not an academic tour, will enjoy this tour. The hotels were fine, and evening meals in pre-planned restaurants generally okay, though some people opted out from time to time. We felt the tour lived up to expected Exodus standards.

A good leader makes or breaks a great trip

We loved experiencing all the Classical sites on this tour of Greece. As others have mentioned, an extra night in Pylos would have been welcome, plus a visit to Nestor’s palace. We would also have loved to have seen the whole of the Delphi site. What made the whole group experience such a delight was our guide, Stefania. With a background in archaeology and art history, she brought the whole thing to life, as well as handling all the practical details so effectively. The driver was great too. Hotels and restaurants variable, as you would expect across a range of places, but overall good with friendly people. A thoroughly enjoyable trip with many Classical highlights to enjoy.

Eva the best guide to Greek History

I enjoyed the entire trip. Eva, the group leader was knowledgeable, friendly, and a wonderful story teller. The group was a good size. The people in the group where fantastic. I met so many nice people. Many of group had been on other Exodus trips and they shared their experiences and suggested new adventures for me. I would like the tour to have been one day longer to see Mt Olympus and a more leisurely drive back to Athens. Overall the trip was great.

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.

Outstanding

A simply outstanding trip. Our guide Eva was informative, friendly and helpful. A lovely small group of people made the trip very friendly and low key. All the sites we visited were just amazing. Lovely hotels, fabulous sights and sounds and awe inspiring insights into living history. Stunning.

Near disaster

Trip with Naxos extension booked October 2021. Exodus forgot to book (1) initial transfer from airport (2) transfers and ferries between Athens and Naxos. First problem dealt with, but if we had not chased up the Naxos transfers on four separate occasions Exodus would have dumped two pensioners with all their luggage in Athens on a Sunday evening without any accommodation or transport. Lots of anxiety and time-wasting with various telephone agents until Alex Keefe sorted it out. But it cost us a lot of time, worry and money.
Local agents Trails Beyond were very good, dealing with unprecedented bad weather, minibus breakdown and outbreak of COVID.

Most Inspirational Moment

Mycenae

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very good in impossible circumstances

Reply from Exodus

Thank you so much for your review, Jim. We were glad to learn that you were impressed with our local team and especially with our guide, Eva, and hope you had a great holiday in Greece overall. We were so sorry to read, however, about the problems you had with booking transfers from Athens to Naxos for your post-trip extension. We understand that you were in contact with our Customer Operations team, and that they worked diligently to amend the error that had been made and to make additional arrangements that would allow your trip extension to go ahead as smoothly as possible, and that this was fully sorted before your departure and you were not out of pocket. However, we do appreciate that the initial mistake from Exodus made for an uncertain and worrying time prior to your trip to Greece; our Customer Operations team is usually extremely conscientious when processing bookings, and we sincerely regret that our usual high standards were not met on this occasion.

Don't understand question

Lovely trip. Excellent guide. Mixed hotels.