Walks of the Cinque Terre and Portofino

What an amazing time - from the lovely Moneglia (Piccola Hotel) to the amazing walks so expertly guided by Michela Wicks. It was really everything and more than we wished for. Would never have chosen to do it differently. No time was lost or wasted pondering. Our time there was precious.

Really enjoyed my first Exodus trip. The guided walks were well-organised and planned. The practical information provided was also helpful e.g suggestions of where to eat.

Michela Wicks , is a great leader . Encouraging , up beat , Kind and Knowledgeable . Location of Hotel is good .

I have recently returned from this holiday and can honestly say it was one of the best Exodus walking trips I have done. The area itself is unique and stunningly beautiful. Every day was different and incredibly well organised by Michela , our leader who was excellent. The week was busy but never felt too much and was a really comprehensive tour of the Ligurian coast. The hotel was lovely with good rooms and a great breakfast buffet.

Such a beautiful week of walking made special by a great group and a fantastic guide.

Stunning scenery, great guide, very well organised.

Fantastic views. Great guide

Moneglia, a small seaside resort, was a great base for our walking holiday away from the crowds of the more popular villages of Cinque Terre. The Hotel Piccolo was perfectand the staff were very friendly. Our room was spacious and clean with a safe and tea and coffee making facilities. We also had a small balcony where we could sit and have a beer but there was also a sun terrace with a jacuzzi and outside terraces facing the street to sit on and have a drink with our group. It was great to have access to the indoor swimming pool at the end of the day's walk but unfortunately the sauna was never switched on. Breakfast was more than adequate with a limited range of cereals, scrambled eggs and bacon, ham and cheese, bread, fruit, yogurt and cakes. The daily walks all started with a trip to the train station to get us to the start of our walk.

Excellent holiday. Michela was a very good guide, the best I’ve had from Exodus. I learned a lot of Italian! The walks are a suitable length and great scenery. On my free day I walked to Sestri Levante from the hotel in Moneglia, this 10 mile walk was much more remote than the group ones with amazing views. I would recommend the holiday.

Overall, this is a good trip with a good guide. It is well organized and has plenty of opportunities for people who are less fit to skip a section or entire day. That said, it became very apparently some people did have to skip a day. While the trip notes mentioned steep and loose descents, I would say about 6 out of 15 people on my trip were not prepared for what was ahead of them. More emphasis should be put on the difficulty of the terrain on the main tour page to make it a little more obvious. Maybe also a picture or two of the steps in the trip notes. Having completed several Exodus trips, this felt more like a level 4 trip, not level 3. I think this may be why the wrong audience was attracted, which took away from my personal experience. An example of this was seeing a 70+ year old member of the group refusing to use two hiking poles and ending up falling down a cliff. Luckily this person was okay, but this is a situation we should not have been in.