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.

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232 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Lesley Rawson

Reviewed February 2015

Discover Sri Lanka (AIL)

I want to tell other people what a fantastic trip this is. I could not fault the holiday from start to finish – it provides a real insight into Sri Lanka, its amazing scenery, wildlife and people, and there are so many activities that there is never a dull moment! The itinerary has been extremely well thought out and the standard of hotels and food is excellent.

Most Inspirational Moment

There were so many, but climbing Adams Peak has to be the highlight for me. It's a tough climb, but SO worth it. I would strongly recommend anyone on this holiday to do it if they possibly can - your efforts will be rewarded with an amazing experience! Other highlights included the ascent of Lion Rock at dawn, seeing a fantastic array of wildlife in Yala National Park, the walk to World's End at Horton Plains and the river rafting.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Roshan was amazing - he has helped to shape the itinerary of this trip over the years and cares passionately about his home country. He told us so much about Sri Lanka and its people, always in an interesting way and with plenty of humour!

Advice for Potential Travellers

I would recommend taking a gel saddle cover for the biking day, and a hiking pole would be useful for Lion Rock and Adams Peak (especially for coming down, when your legs are tired).

Kevin Walsh

Reviewed January 2015

Sri Lanka Experience

We have just returned from an excellent trip to Sri Lanka, which provided a very enjoyable insight into the culture, scenery and wildlife of this fabulous country.

Most Inspirational Moment

Two particular highlights - seeing a pod of around 20 Blue Whales and a couple of leopards (not at the same time!). The whale watching was awesome, seeing these enormous creatures at no more then a couple of cricket pitch lengths away. The leopards were also fantastic, appearing just as we were finishing four hours of being bounced around on a jeep in Yala national park. The aches and pains were forgotten as we initially sped along to find the animals and then slowly drove along behind one which was just calmly walking up the road!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sujee was one of the most engaging and organised tour leaders we have come across. He gave very detailed explanations of all that we were going to see and all the necessary timings (and then summed everything up in our journey to the final hotel just in case we had forgotten anything!). He was always smiling and approachable and really added to the tour experience for us.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just go. If you haven't been then it is a lovely country - slightly Indian, slightly Thai and Vietnamese, but always and uniquely Sri Lankan! The only cautionary word (which is entirely personal) is that the trip to the turtle hatchery is not recommended. Far better to miss this out and spend more time in Galle.

Peter Silsby

Reviewed January 2015

Discover Sri Lanka

This holiday did exactly what the title suggested. We discovered ancient Sri Lanka, its flora and fauna, its magnificent scenery and its friendly people. We cycled, walked, and did white-water rafting and tried our skill playing the local games. The coach was comfortable and driven well. The guide, driver and co-driver were excellent. The hotels were good and the food excellent. We travelled over Christmas and New Year and the weather was unseasonably wet but this adversity seemed to bring the best out of the group. I would recommend this trip but you may need to catch up on your sleep afterwards.

Most Inspirational Moment

The summit of Lions Rock, Sigiriya

Thoughts on Group Leader

Despite the heavy rain for 2/3rds of our holiday our leader used his local knowledge to ensure that we saw every thing as advertised (except the railway trip, because the line was destroyed by floods). He also made sure we had ample opportunities to meet local villagers and get a little insight into their way of life, away from the usual tourist haunts. His humour and knowledge educated and entertained us on our coach journeys.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take clothes that dry quickly and do not crease easily. There was only one hotel where we could dry our clothes and shoes.

Joyce Skelton

Reviewed January 2015

Great holiday

This is a trip that packs a lot in so be prepared for moving around and staying (in most cases) only 1 night in each hotel. You get to see most of the main sights of the island, I would now like to go back and spend more time over there.Weather was mixed as we had over a week of incessant torrential rain which did impact on some of the activities.

Most Inspirational Moment

For me the cave temples at Dambulla, also really enjoyed the Yala safari (we saw a leopard!). On one of the walks in the centre of the island, a local showed off his house and gave us bananas when he really didn't have a lot - awe inspiring

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sujan - best leader I have experienced on an Exodus holiday

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared for a lot of travelling. Take sweets, pens/pencils to give to the local children.

Reviewed November 2014

Cheryl McBroom

The trip to Sri Lanka was a fun and full on trip, every day was different and enjoyable.

Most Inspirational Moment

The safari was excellent to see the elephant gathering was spectacular.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Roshan Ferninand was an excellent group leader he made us laugh and even taught us Sri Lankan songs.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The trip notes covered everything that was required to take on the trip.

Lorna Hunter

Reviewed September 2014

Totally Awesome

Fantastic trip to discover Sri Lanka. Great mix of activities, cultural, active, wildlife, relaxation.

Most Inspirational Moment

It's hard to choose but seeing nearly 300 wild elephants emerge from the jungle for a drink in a lake takes some beating! Also climbing Sigiriya Rock and cycling through villages seeing real local life.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The leader was fab. Very knowledgeable and passionate, great fun and made the trip very enjoyable.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do it! Add on some relaxation time at the end.

Victoria Edwards

Reviewed September 2014

Discover Sri Lanka

An absolutely amazing trip – the perfect mix of culture and activities.

Most Inspirational Moment

seeing the elephants - the fact that we were able to get so close was amazing. Also the bike ride was just lovely, stopping to chat to locals was great. Immersing ourselves in the culture of the temples was also a highlight.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sam was brilliant. He added on some additional activities for us that we all really enjoyed. His knowledge was never ending and he was a great story teller. We couldn't have asked for a better guide.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just enjoy!

Jim Wold

Reviewed April 2014

Discover Sri Lanka

A great trip, my 4th or 5th Exodus trip. All have been very good.

Most Inspirational Moment

The whole trip was inspirational. We had a great group.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Roshan Fernando was excellent. I think leading a group like this is very hard, but he has done it many times. He gave us just enough historical and cultural information. He has a good sense of humor and connected with everybody.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Change a bunch of money at the airport, you will be set. We decided to do a tip kitty, it worked well. I generally avoided using charge cards but did pay most hotel bills (food & bar) by CC, it made my supply of rupees go farther. The Pinnawela trip was very enjoyable. Bicycle seats extremely uncomfortable, narrow and hard. Train ride was beautiful. Tea plantations were beautiful. The buffet meals were great.

Reviewed February 2014

DISCOVER SRI LANKA

Well, we had really high expectations of this, our second Exodus trip. It exceeded them in every way! We knew from other reviews that it would be good, but it was truly amazing. It was certainly busy and action packed with never a dull moment. And it really was fun all the way. Incredibly well organised, a great group of people of all ages ranging from 23 to 75 and an incredible leader. Oh, and what a beautiful country and people.

Most Inspirational Moment

All of it. So hard to choose favourite moments - inspirational, I suppose would be the Exodus Tsunami House/lunch. But then seeing 4 leopards in Yala was pretty inspirational too. Oh yeh, and the blue whale (even though I had to be woken up by lovely group members as I was feeling a bit more than queasy on the boat ride - worth it though :-).But wonderful too, was the bike ride in Giritale, climbing Lions Rock, white water rafting, and each of the Temples were far more interesting than we expected.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Absolutely the best. Sujan (ably aided by driver Soudat and 'conductor' Inidiga) was fantastic. Knowledgable, brilliantly organised, full of good tips with lots of humour and good grace. He was truly amazing, ensuring we were at the Temple of the Tooth at absolutely the right time to get 'front row' seats for the ceremony; at the boat in time to ensure that we had upper deck, 'front row' views for when the dolphins, whale and turtles made their appearance; he made hotel check-ins smooth and pleasant and his running commentary throughout was full of really good information presented in the most interesting way.

Advice for Potential Travellers

As others in past reviews have said, DO EVERYTHING. There is nothing on this trip that we would have wanted to miss. Yes, it means lots of early starts and some long days, but hey you're on holiday in the most amazing, beautiful country. You may not get the chance again. The hotels are varied in standard but each has something special to offer - style, location, comfort, etc etc. In fact, our favourite was the Kithigula Guest House for it's stunning location, even though it was one of the most basic. And don't worry about the few with basic rooms, you only sleep there and you'll sleep well after all the activity anyway. Food: yes, there's a lot of hotel buffets, but they are very good buffets. There is little 'evening eating out' culture in SL and you won't find better food locally anyway.

Reviewed February 2014

DISCOVER SRI LANKA

This is a fabulous trip. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with spectacular and varied scenery. The people are friendly and you will have a great time.

Most Inspirational Moment

I particularly liked cycling through the villages and seeing local village life. The trip to Lion Rock and view from the top was great, the train ride was great fun, the day playing traditional games was great too. To be honest nearly every day had an experience to remember.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Rhosan is a great leader, who is enthusiastic, knowledgeable and funny. He also has a very calm manner and makes sure everything runs like clockwork so there was no stress at all on the trip. We were lucky enough to be on his 200th trip so had the benefit of a surprise party to celebrate.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Ladies - take a mixture of t-shirts/blouses and vests especially for the first week when you are visiting temples. If you need to charge anything while you are away invest in a cheap Indian/Sri Lankan adaptor which I got from Amazon. I found the information available beforehand confusing and when we got there some hotel rooms had 3 different types of socket in the same room. A cheap adaptor is worth its weight in gold.

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