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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323 Reviews

4.8 out of 5

Julie and Owain Lister

Reviewed January 2019

Cycling Vietnam trip.

We went on the trip as everyone we had met who had done the trip highly recommended it. Overall it was not as ‘wow’ as we thought it would be – but i think that the wet weather (which we were continually told was unusual) may have put a bit of a dampner on things. Vietnam as a country is also developing very fast!

The cycling was great, lovely scenery, especially the highlands and the long downhills.

A great group of like minded people who enjoyed their cycling.

Most Inspirational Moment

The children in the villages who were so excited to see us - and all wanted to speak to us and waved madly. The people were so friendly and kind. Everyone was so helpful to me when Owain was in Hospital and went above and beyond. The scenery was beautiful - but wet

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sun was very good. The bikes were fantastic. The support and snacks were excellent. He did have some issues in 'restraining' some members of the group, who refused to cycle with the group and rushed off ahead putting Sun in a difficult position. The mechanic was really good at staying with me at the back on the long 30 Km downhill trip. When Owain fell ill in Hanoi, he came with us to the Hospital and helped us. He stayed in touch with us through out our extended stay and liaised with the other Exodus staff, to help with re arranging flights, and visas etc

Advice for Potential Travellers

Look at the transfers. They are long some days with a lot of time spent on the bus. This means that you arrive late at your destination and do not always have time to see some places (Dalat for example) We were often sitting in a bus soaking wet and tired. The air conditioning also meant that we ended up cold too. Take a towel and a change of warm clothing.

Tim Keay

Reviewed January 2019

Cycling Vietnam

Brilliant trip – constantly on the go, cycling through this beautiful and fascinating country. Hotels were of a very high standard, eating out was always a pleasure and our guide and his team were extremely helpful and attentive.

Most Inspirational Moment

Very hard to choose one as there were so many enjoyable moments. All the rides were great, the highlight was possibly the ride over the Hai Van pass. Very nice to relax and unwind on Whale Island for a couple of days, swimming and snorkelling.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Lam was excellent from start to finish. Everything was clearly and fully explained. He arranged great places to eat and sites to see. He and his team looked after us incredibly well while we were cycling. Even though we passed through some very remote parts, we were all able to ride at our own pace and everyone felt safe.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just do it! A brilliant way to see a wonderful part of the world.

Fiona Dickson

Reviewed December 2018

Vietnam

Excellent cycling trip to Vietnam November 2018 – would highly recommend

Most Inspirational Moment

Overall the cycling - seeing and experiencing the country close up

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Go and enjoy

Gillian Stott

Reviewed December 2018

A road trip with a difference

An easily manageable cycling holiday for most moderately fit people full of variety. Through careful, informative and expert guiding we cycled away from main roads through rural Vietnam and into cities. There was time to admire the view and quietly pedal along, past traditional Vietnamese ways of life of rice paddies, children waving, people conveying ambitiously towering loads of produce and shorelines of fishing practices.
In contrast the cities were hectic, bustling with motorbikes negotiating around each other, of clothing stalls and fishmarkets, ancient ruins of rich colour and splendour and of people hard at work in an attempt to make a living away from the land.
Halong Bay was the northernmost attraction which was spectacular though possiblly too over developed with torusim for my liking.
Our group of 15 seemed like minded and we worked well as a team with much supporting of each other.

Most Inspirational Moment

Cycling through rural villages of tradtional housing with children excitedly waving and calling hello - it felt like we were on a Vietnamese sysle Tour de France. This felt humbling, our lives being full of consumerism and clutter. My inspirational moment lasted a long time!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Any review of Linh would find it hard to do him justice. He worked incredibly hard every minute of the time in order to make sure that we enjoyed the trip. I felt pampered by the bikes being maintained to a high standard and snacks laid out after a sensible stretches. Instructions and itineraries for the day were carefully metered out to us - otherwise we forgot! In the evenings Linh found us fabulous places to eat and I think we all loved the food. I felt educated on many aspects of Vietnamese history and life which Linh would entertain us with on some of the longer bus sections. I am new to trips like these so asked others who weren't if they had met any guide who bettered Linh's very high standard but they found it difficult to think of anyone. So I feel incredibly lucky to have booked the week that Linh was on duty. Linh is a cyclist at heart, like us and this made a difference too. His management of his support team was impressive. A guy worth his weight in gold - I hope you reward him well!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Carry a lightweight rainjacket for cycling in rain. Keep a diary of where you took what photos as a minimium, it is amazing how rapidly you forget as all the cycling days begin to merge into one. There is quite a bit of time spent on the bus in order to travel through the country so make sure you have enough to occupy yourself with during these times if you are not happy to gaze out of the window.

Michael Appleyard

Reviewed December 2018

A Vietnam Experience cycling included

A Brilliant trip showing all aspects of Vietnams culture, more than a cycling trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

To cycle up and over the Hai Van Pass.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Linh was a brilliant team leader who's knowledge of all aspects of the tour was brilliant. He was very entertaining and looked after all aspects of the tour. The support team were also brilliant and dealt with cycle repairs snacks at stops, and transport.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a brilliant trip, the cycling is not too difficult apart from the Hai Van Pass, however 14 out of 15 team members managed the climb. Be prepared for long Coach transfers.

Michael Appleyard

Reviewed December 2018

A Vietnam Experience cycling included

A Brilliant trip showing all aspects of Vietnams culture, more than a cycling trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

To cycle up and over the Hai Van Pass.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a brilliant trip, the cycling is not too difficult apart from the Hai Van Pass, however 14 out of 15 team members managed the climb. Be prepared for long Coach transfers.

Marion Tuck

Reviewed December 2018

Vietnam Cycling

Fantastic trip: great support, excellent bikes, food, hotels and most importantly a fascinating and beautiful country. The Vietnamese are an amazingly calm and friendly people.
Highly recommend.

Most Inspirational Moment

That's an odd question, but if anything the calm and generous nature of the people gives much food for thought. In our society everyone is rushing about their business trying to get from A to B with no consideration for others, getting wound up in traffic jams, road rage etc. In Vietnam the traffic flow is something to behold! Unnerving at first, but the mopeds merge and move like a flock of birds or shoal of fish and it all works - no one gets cross and there seem to be few accidents. (And its fantastic cycling through it all -other than in Saigon and Ha Noi which are much busier.)

Thoughts on Group Leader

Chi was a great group leader, kept us informed (amusingly so at times, due to his accented English!). Dealt with issues arising such as disruption to schedule caused by adverse weather and the odd mishap along the way calmly and professionally. Friendly and very good humoured, very much part of the group.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I would suggest arriving a day or so before official start date as little time to explore Saigon and likewise a couple of days at the end as no time to explore Ha Noi. Be aware that the days can be fairly long, necessitated by the distance to be covered. Worth it though!

Diane Owen

Reviewed December 2018

A fabulous experience

This was my first holiday to a far away place and a completely different culture. I came back feeling totally relaxed and felt I had had a real experience that was priceless. The organisation of the trip was first class and even though I found the pace a little faster than was comfortable , I think I came away with a vast number of experiences, all of which were valuable .

Most Inspirational Moment

The sight of Halong Bay. Although it was more commercialised than I had anticipated, I can understand that this is how it must be if tourism is a vital part of the Vietnamese economy. It was stunning, and the fact that we had a golden sunset on arrival made it all the more special.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, Chi , along with his support staff, were superb from beginning to end. He was working very hard behind the scenes, especially when a typhoon washed away part of the railway line and we could not take our overnight train to Hanoi. An alternative approach with an extra night in a hotel and an internal flight was implemented seemlessly -credit to Exodus as well for this. Always smiling and even showing himself to be a good dancer on the boat, he seemed to share the English sense of humour with our VERY lively group. As a non fish eater he always managed to get an alternative meal sorted out for me before we had arrived at any restaurant. Very impressive.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Check the flight itinerary. You might want to consider whether direct flights would suit you better, and a few days to acclimatise before the cycling begins might also be a good idea. Ignore the advice that you don't need to take many clothes- you are wet every day either through sweat or a downpour. It was around a week before we were in one place long enough to get laundry done. If you are happy washing clothes in your room you might just get away with it, otherwise its nice to have clean clothes for the evenings. We found items marked for sale in US dollar amounts on numerous occasions. Everytime a conversion occurs someone is taking a cut so have a supply of both. The traffic "rules" may unnerve you at first....watch your leader and calmly go with the flow and you will be fine. Train on a mountain bike

Sally Middleton

Reviewed November 2018

Exceeded expectations

This was our first ever cycling holiday. My husband and I are fairly fit but not cyclists. I worried I would not cope but just having some base fitness from three to four gym sessions a week was enough to get me through.
From start it finish this trip surpassed my expectations. From the brilliant support crew and leader, Son, the seemless organisation, high standard of hotels, great food using often local family restaurants, beautiful countryside, Friendly people, and a wonderful group of travelleres to share the experience with.

Most Inspirational Moment

Son, our leader was the most inspirational person of the trip. A small thing easily missed. On a long rainy day we sheltered on the porch of a local lady. Son went to tip her for the intrusion but she didn’t want anything. I think she enjoyed the novelty. As we left he quietly left some money under a stone on the porch.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Son was simply brilliant. Friendly from the start and always smiling, he kept us safe, informed, on track, organised and motivated. This is a man proud of his country and wanting to share it with us all. He had great knowledge on Vietnam’s history and it’s people. He was passionate about being a responsible traveller by encouraging us to not use plastic bags, straws etc, to use local people where ever possible. Son effortlessly handled the few problems as they arose, us the ‘guests’, his wonderful support crew, and the local people we encountered. He has a special place in our hearts and certainly contributed to the positive trip we experienced.

Advice for Potential Travellers

For a ‘moderate’ rated cycle trip use the provided bikes. You are there to enjoy the views and we were kept together as a pack so having a better bike than everyone else seemed pretty pointless. The bikes are fit for the purpose and cope perfectly well for the type of terrain. The only problems that occurred on our trip were from the bikes that some people chose to bring with them. Skinny tyres on rough roads. Four punctures in a day kept the support crew busy. It just seemed like an unnecessary ball ache. Trust in Exodus to provide suitable bikes. Take a thin snood. When hot wet with ice cold water from the support vehicle, wear on head under helmet, protecting your neck from the sun. Long sleeved shirts to protect against the sun...you don’t need cycling tops just sports gear is fine. Padded shorts essential!

Stephen Lewandowski

Reviewed November 2018

Best trip I've been on...

This is the best guided trip I have been on, the guide, Long Le was fantastic.
If you want a diverse experience with some good cycling and good weather included this may be the one for you. The guide took care of everything to keep us safe, informed, entertained and motivated for the next day. Great country to cycle in, great people meet, fantastic history and good food. YOLO

Most Inspirational Moment

The history and culture is fascinating and diverse, dig earlier than French occupation and you see a lot more influences in their history. Recent history , last 100 years shows the resilience of the Vietnamese people.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Long Le, is a brilliant guide and cyclist, very kind and considerate and a real Mr Motivator. When he is not Mr Motivator he is very knowledgeable about the history, culture and politics. He was the perfect guide and friend to us all, I still miss him now! I think everyone of us invited him home with us.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Get used to cycling before you go, i.e a bit of training.

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