New (or continued) in 2010
Our Airfare Guarantee
Not strictly “new” (we first did this in 2008), but now we're really getting good at it.... Interested in a trip, but afraid that the best high-season airfare you’ll be able to find will be stratospheric? Sign up for our air fare guarantee, which will cap the price you pay at an affordable maximum.
Details are here.
Our Brittany Trip
Last year’s parent / children extravaganza was a big success (see photo, right, of happy Pickett kids in front of the Mont St.-Michel — yes, that's as much of a smile as we could get out of Jill). Much to our own surprise, we fell in love with this unique and hospitable part of France. For 2010, it is organized and scheduled as a regular trip. Two departures are programmed, July 4th and August 22nd.
The route details are here.
New “Family-Friendly” Trips
Austria Alps (June 27-July 3) & Loire Valley (July 24 - 30)
In 2010, we will offer not one, but two “family-friendly” trips. The first is in the Austrian Alps, and the second in the Loire Valley.
We have the necessary gear and equipment available, as well as children of our own, and know the challenges implicit in vacationing with them. We modify our usual trips (fewer hotel changes, more loop rides, more focus on the non-biking options...). The goal is for everyone to have a good time, regardless of age or cycling ability — right? And French amusement parks have bars....
We also offer Family Pricing: discounts for children, so long as you don't need to give
them the river-view room (they can come and look at the river from your room).
Schedule Your Own Departure!
Guest-Initiated Trips
Pick Your Route, Pick Your Date
Not really new, but this was a terrific hit in 2008, when it was new (and it has already produced five ’10 departures, including one to enchanting Umbria - pictured, left): get some friends to go the same week you do, and schedule your own departure, on any of our routes! A minimum of six people can schedule a Blue Marble trip for whatever week they choose, while supplies (of coordinators, hotels, trains...) last. The trip will then be added to our schedule for the benefit of the rest of the cycling world, adding an element of anticipation and excitement to what would otherwise be too much of a known quantity (if we don’t book all the spots, we give the left-overs to the homeless).... We already know you like adventure travel.
And, if you schedule your trip before October 31st of the prior year, you need only find three like-minded souls (4 total) to get it onto the program.
For details, follow the this link to our Guest-Initiated Trips page.
Training Partners
“Why bike the route when I can make the same trip without the sweat and effort?” If that sounds like someone you know, they may be interested in travelling with us as a “Training Partner.”
Our Training Partners (the “train” part refers to the eponymous vehicle, not to any actual athletic preparation) lodge, dine and see the same sights, but rather than riding a bike, they travel by train (or bus, or ferry, or whatever mode of motorized transportation gets them to where we are all going). All set up and explained by us, and with the travel tickets included in the package. Even the luggage transfer services are available, allowing Training Partners to get off and wander unencumbered through the villages and towns they pass through on the way. No need to like bicycles to do our trips anymore — come eat, drink and sightsee with the rest of us without getting sore! :-)
Our Decadent/Decadal Mystery Trip, August 14 - 21
Click for more “info” – or, you can simply sign up, since we’re not going to tell you anything useful, anyway.... |
|
|
Services