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!

Haven’t posted your review yet? Here’s how to do it…

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.

Select a trip specific review:

Select

2 Reviews

5 out of 5

Rachael Davey

Reviewed October 2024

A challenge but certainly worthwhile

The majority of the walking days followed the same pattern:
Walk for approx 1.5-2 hours then stop for a coffee
Walk for approx 2 hours then stop for lunch
On the longer days we stopped for a coffee/break in the afternoon too.

The trip notes are reasonably accurate with their description of the route and the activity times – this is the time walking, the days are linger when you factor in stops. On warmer days we took longer, on the rainy/cooler days we tended to be a little quicker. Day 6 of walking (day 7 of the trip) the walk is a bit longer than expected. It is about 30 minutes to the harbour but once you get off the boat it was about another 4km to the hotel via Padron.

Pay attention to the packing list – on the early days of the walk when we were in Portugal the route was flatter and you could probably get away with trainers but from day 3 of walking (day 4 of the trip) walking boots are an advantage due to the terrain. A good waterproof coat is definitely needed as we got rained on alot. I used a single walking pole for support on the downhill sections from day 3 of walking onwards.

You will stay in a mix of hotels – some were very good, others were definitely more on the cheaper side. We also really struggled to get food at a decent time in two of the Spanish hotels as the restaurants weren’t open for hot food until 9pm and there was nothing else open nearby any earlier – after a long day of walking we all wanted an earlier meal and an early night.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Alfonso was great, he organised the transfers well and on days when we walked quicker than expected always tried to bring forward transfers if he could. On most days he managed to get lunch time and evening meals booked when he could so we didnt have to wait for a table big enough for the group.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you have allergies/dietary requirements take some food with you. Some of the lunch stops weren't very good for me (gluten free), on the first day of walking we stopped for lunch at a pizzeria that served me a salad with croutons despite asking for them to be left out. The supermarkets in the bigger towns had a good variety of food and drink available so I carried wraps I had made after that to make sure I got enough food. Most places will take card payments but we did come across a few smaller coffee shops while walking that only took cash. Having cash also makes settling up group meals alot easier (we stopped for lunch in one place that didn't let us split the bill). All of the hotels except one (the Casa Rural) had lifts, there were sometimes waits to use them as they were small but you can definitely take a suitcase as you aren't walking far with your bags. Having a sim card that will work for Portugal and Spain was definitely an advantage. After day 1 the group tended to split up while walking as we all walked at different speeds. We set up a whatsapp group so we could share photos but it was also useful for the guide to post links to where were stopping for food/coffee and regroup and on the odd occassion the route split into two he could let us know which path to take. The camino route is very well marked so even when we split up it was easy to know which way to walk. Take something to keep your camino passport in to keep it safe from the rain (available to buy from Porto Cathedral - our guide took us there after we got to the hotel). There is little time to explore Porto unless you have an early flight on the day you arrive, if you want to see the city arrive a day or two earlier or go back there at the end of the trip. We stayed in Porto for a couple of days - that was all you really needed to see the city. You will arrive in Santiago on Saturday afternoon - we had enough time to check in, shower and change and be back at the cathedral for pilgrim mass. Get there early if you want a seat, we got into the cathedral 45 minutes before mass started and only just got seats. There will be a large queue to get in. Also worth noting that you cannot enter the cathedral with a backpack. The 7.30pm mass was a full service which lasted approx an hour. The fumiares is brought out right at the end of the service so make sure you stay til the end if you want to see it (it is not used for every service so you are lucky if you see it). They also close the doors once the service starts to stop people coming in and you cannot walk around the cathedral whilst the mass is happening.

Rosemary Mitchell

Reviewed June 2024

My Portuguese Camino

As a senior I found the two longer mileage days a bit of a challenge but overall it was a great walking holiday. The hotels and the food were excellent. I especially enjoyed the boat trip, as well as walking the final three days to Santiago, like real pilgrims. The medieval border town of Tui was fascinating. I loved the stone and water route on Day 6. Sadly we had to walk the last 5 miles to Santiago in the rain, which was disappointing. The scenery was varied along the way although I found some sections alongside the road tedious.

Most Inspirational Moment

Getting to the top of the hill in the forest before descending to the monastery at Armenteira! Enjoying my picnic at the top of the hill that day and our drinks at the cafe by the Monastery at the end of the walk.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Al was a very friendly guide who mainly kept to Spanish times which meant that there could be up to 3 hours between breaks and lunch was mid afternoon.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Go for this holiday as you will feel a sense of achievement when you finish, despite possible sore feet. I found my poles invaluable.