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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70 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Robyn Sim

Reviewed August 2014

Mt Blanc Circuit

A fascinating, varied walk that is very doable if you are reasonably fit. The description of the walk on the web site is good & fits in with what you get.

Most Inspirational Moment

When the clouds cleared (at last) & the top of Mt Blanc came into full view (St Antoine to Les Houches). Arriving at Refuge Bovine to shelter from the rain & the most delicious baked apple. The great feeling of achievement on finishing the whole circuit,

Thoughts on Group Leader

Frank was ery well organised with excellent briefings about the walk each day. He was a calm, very capable leader who didn’t over fuss, quickly summed up our individual abilities & gave us a lot of freedom to walk at our own pace but then quietly brought us back together when it was necessary. Made you feel you could do the big days. Accent hard to understand (& hard of hearing) but he warned us & was only too happy to repeat things many times.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just do it but read the notes carefully.

Youngil Kim

Reviewed August 2014

Mont Blanc Hotel Trek

The weather was generally fair except for the first, the eighth, and ninth day. Our group consisting of six couples and two singles, were all very nice and cheerful. We enjoyed walking, talking, eating, and drinking. The flowers were less in number than my expectation and lacked in variety. Maybe it was a bit early and they were not in full bloom. I think having free days in between is quite a good policy.

Most Inspirational Moment

It was when we reached Grand Col Ferret and saw the majestic Grandes Jorasses.

Thoughts on Group Leader

He had a keen sense of humour and did his best to answer our questions.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Due to frequent rain, some routes are quite muddy and slippery.

Anonymous

Reviewed July 2014

A great trek - whatever the weather

The TMB is a classic trek that justly deserves this status. The scenery is varied but always interesting, often spectacular. We walked in hot sun, rain, sleet and snow, the variety of which added to the overall experience. Our group bonded well and our excellent leader helped create a good trekking ambience.

The quality of the hotels and auberges varied but they were, on the whole, good; the owners were friendly and welcoming. The food was generally very good, even for vegetarians (with lots of cheese), and plentiful; if we had expected to lose weight on this trip, we didn’t do so! Overall it was a very good trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

Several: Seeing the view into Italy from the Grand Col Ferret after the climb up. Arriving at the refuge at the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme having walked through the mist and snow. Seeing Mont Blanc across the valley in brilliant sunshine on the last walking day.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, Frank, was excellent. He is extremely knowledgeable about the TMB and its environs and experienced in walking the circuit and he shared this information freely, highlighting points of interest as we walked. He was very well organised during the trip and provided good briefings each evening for the day ahead. He was also calm, quietly confident, approachable and friendly and contributed a lot to our overall enjoyment of the holiday.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take warm and cool/wet weather gear - you may need both (possibly on the same day). The trek is graded Moderate/ Challenging but overall we thought it was Moderate in grade, since the walking days are paced quite moderately, are not too long, and are punctuated by reasonable length stops at refuges for coffee and/ or lunch on most days.

Reviewed September 2013

MONT BLANC HOTEL TREK

Three hours into the walk on day 1 and all is perfect, too good to be true as it happens. The company of the group members is good, the weather excellent, the flowers prolific and the view stunning but then I fell from the path. Are exodus good when things go wrong? YES!

Most Inspirational Moment

Finding out that the Alps is great when you return in your 60s to match up with your memories from years pre children when you were in your 20s. Inspirational is not quite the word, more amazing as the rescue helicopter arrives after only a short while to sort out a broken wrist and winch me off the slopes where I had rolled to transfer me to hospital.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Calm, efficient and totally in control to summon help in what could have been a very serious situation.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Make sure you have an in date EHIC card (I didn't realise they expired.) your national insurance number is the bit of information you then need to know. Check helicopter rescue higher than 2000metres is included. Mine did have and repatriation to UK was easy with a family member being flown out to escort me home.

Reviewed September 2013

MONT BLANC HOTEL TREK

As experienced walkers with a few long distance treks behind us, the TMB exceeded our expectations. Great scenery, well led and wonderful company. We were fortunate that our waterproofs were worn for only 20 minutes in the whole fortnight!

Most Inspirational Moment

Every minute of every day was inspirational. Just being in the natural environment of the mountains, enjoying the fresh air and exercise with a fun-loving group of people. Particular highlights were soaking up the wonderful scenery from the alpine passes and the close view of the ibex on the final day.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, Frank, was excellent in all respects. He was knowledgable about the geography, history and culture of the area and provided us with plenty of extra information. His daily briefings were concise and accurate so that we knew what to expect each day. Frank understood the needs, strengths and weaknesses of each person in the group and acted upon this information so that everyone could enjoy their holiday to the fullest extent. A great sense of humour!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Are you capable of completing this trek? Exodus grade the TMB as moderate/challenging; I would grade it as moderate for the following reasons: Although the average walking day length is about 8 hours we found that 2-3 hours per day was rest time. Morning and afternoon coffee stops are usually scheduled at mountain refuges and the lunch stop can be about one hour. (If you are on the slow side then these times may be reduced for you).There was no difficult walking terrain. All of the walking is on paths so no technical skills required beyond being careful in where to place your feet. The short chained and laddered sections of the paths present little difficulty for the typical walker.There is only one "long" day (Les Contamines to Les Houches) - about ten hours in total.In our mid fifties we found this walk to be quite easy and feel we have a few more treks ahead of us!If in doubt, go for it!

Reviewed September 2013

MONT BLANC HOTEL TREK

Scenery and walks fantastic.Food some good and some not so good.

Most Inspirational Moment

Border crossing at the col from Switzerland into Italy

Thoughts on Group Leader

Good as a team coach getting the best from us.Not so good at realiisng we wanted to enjot it, not go for records.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Get fit,

Reviewed September 2013

MONT BLANC HOTEL TREK

Pain is temporary; pride is forever! This phrase sums up my experience of the Mont Blanc Trek. The challenge was immense but the satisfaction that I completed th trek will stay with me for the rest of my life!

Most Inspirational Moment

Every day had its inspirational moments. The views were stunning and the company fabulous. The group I traveled with were diverse and we all got on extremely well. I enjoyed the idea of moving from one place to another and exploring The Alps on this Trek. I was lucky enough to see the start of The Ultra Trail; the electric atmosphere will stay with me forever!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was excellent. He was knowledgable and led the group with care and consideation for the whole group. He did not make anyone feel that they were not up to the walking; infact we all worked at our own pace which made a very challenging holiday a relaxing one!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Make sure that you are in good physical health before you embark on this trip. It is a very challenging trek but an immensly rewarding one. Invest in some walking poles and learn how to use them before you do the Trek; they proved to be an extremely useful tool. If you are interetste in Alpine Flora; invest in an identification book; I really wished I had one with me to identify the beautiful flowers in bloom!

Reviewed July 2013

MONT BLANC HOTEL TREK

This was a great holiday for getting away from it all. However, the effort required in traversing several mountain passes requires a high level of stamina and physical effort; certainly not a trip for the unfit.

Most Inspirational Moment

Our leader inspired us to be enthusiastic about the events of each day. The opportunites for exellent photgraphy was something that cannot be understated.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Nick obviously loved his job and was always positive, no matter what challenges we faced. Nick struck an excellent balance between keeping us safe and giving us enough freedom to please ourselves when it was appropriate.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This trip is very tough. Be prepared to make a big effort, even on those days when the views may not be rewarding due to the cloud cover.

Reviewed July 2013

MONT BLANC HOTEL TREK

We were looking for an active two week holiday that left on a specific date, was within budget and didn’t involve a long haul flight. We found the Tour de Mont Blanc trip on the Exodus website, loved the itinerary, saw there was availability and were booked on it within 24 hours of holiday searching! I would highly recommend this trip, despite some weather challenges we had the most wonderful time (summer hadn’t quite arrived yet so there was rain, hail and lots of snow to deal with). There were eight of us in the group and we were looked after by Nick, our excellent Group Leader. The scenery, when we saw it, was stunning. Fortunately we’ve signed up for similar holidays before so knew to come prepared for all extremes and we were so pleased we did. We were also really pleased to have booked to have a hotel room at the end of each day – this meant our clothes and day pack could dry out, plus we could have a lovely hot shower and sleep in a bed. All of the hotels were welcoming, comfortable and had all the facilities you needed after a long day of walking. The food was quite bread, cheese and chip based so we were missing fresh vegetables and fruit by the end of the two weeks.

Most Inspirational Moment

Appreciating the distance we covered, the stunning views, visiting three countries, the fun people in our group, the places we stayed in, making it through all of the Cols despite the snow, the tram in St Gervais, the cable car in Chamonix, the flowers, the cow bells (now a ringtone), red wine, chocolate and the blue sky when it arrived! Sorry had to list more than one J

Thoughts on Group Leader

We were very impressed with Group Leader Nick. He took the time to answer all of our questions or find out the answer if he didn’t know. Nick made sure we had enough lunch each day and that he bought what we would like to eat. Nick made us feel confident in situations we were unused to such as walking in the snow and dealing with steep slopes. Words to describe Nick would be; good fun, very experienced, confident, relaxed and considerate about the group.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The trip notes do explain that this is a moderate to challenging walk – the days can be quite long and you do ascend and descend some quite steep slopes. We personally found a walking pole very useful especially when dealing with the snow on the side of a mountain. Worth getting fit beforehand as a reasonable level of fitness is required. For those that like gadgets that need charging up – Switzerland has a different adapter to France and Italy!

Reviewed June 2013

MONT BLANC HOTEL TREK

This was a great walking holiday – beautiful scenery, very experienced competent and chirpy guide who managd the group well, and good sometmes fairly strenuous walking. The only issue was the unusually large amount of remaining snow from the winter/spring (1st tour of this season) meaning we couldn’t walk over the higher passes due to snow and related safety concerns – for which Exodua and our guide tried hard and did well to adapt the route and itinerary.

Most Inspirational Moment

Being in the mountains around Mt Blanc where the views and scenery were spectacular and varied. Beautiful spring flowers and meadows, glaciers, dramatic peaks, and valleys.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very experinced and knowledgeable leader (been doing this for many seasons), managed the difficult snow conditions well, made all in the group feel comfortable, included and cared for without being intrusive or fussy. Took everything in his stride and excllent at judging everyone's capabilities and pace and accomodated needs in a relaxed and positive way. He was also very attentive on food preferences/allergies/restrictions.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Walking is fairly strenuous, but if you are actively fit or an experienced walker it should not be too difficult, but there's quite a bit of up and down and some longish days. Well worth getting fit for maximum enjoyment and also to ensure that the group can move along and complete all the route without compromises (luckily our group was all very capable and similar abilities which made it very enjoyable and fun). Very glad we were on the hotel tour on the colder and wetter days.

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