amy

The reason I'm asking (as the seconds count down until site maintenance)is that even the searches don't show a lot of questions about hikes, biking, etc. Is it true, as one rather anonymous poster suggested, that posters here are not interested in physical activity? It seems most of you walk quite a bit on vacation.

Santa Chiara

Amy, I am curious. What bike trip are you taking? I took one with DuVine last year in Burgandy, and I absolutely loved it. I am late making my plans this year, but I want to do either a hiking or biking trip.

amy

This year it's Backroads biking Brittany/Normandy. Have taken two US trips with Backroads--San Juan Islands and Glacier Nat'l Park--and one French trip--Loire Valley. Took Europeds to Dordogne and also one to Bernese Oberland. We don't, however, always do this type of trip. Tend to do "museum" trips in fall, winter or spring; leave active trips for summer.<BR><BR>Have not heard of DuVine. Am interested in hearing about other type of tours.

lisa

I've taken a Backroads trip, although in the US, not Europe. Thoroughly enjoyed it. They are pricey, but worth it. Everything is covered -- maps, a van to take luggage that "sweeps" behind riders in case they're tired, great food, great guides. I found that they were informative and interesting. We also met some great people -- a real mix -- who were also into an "active" vacation.

lisa

Oh yeah, and the accommodations were great. For our trip, they tried to get nice B&B's or something unusual and we ended at a 4* hotel. My trip was Santa Fe/Taos and we had a great pueblo style B&B near Chimayo and the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe (along with another, less memorable, B&B in Taos).

beth

I am taking my third backroads cycling trip this summer in Tuscanny as part of my honeymoon. Have also done backroads trips to Provence and Sardinia and Corsica. They were all great; wonderful accomadations; great cycling and very well run.

andi

Lisa, I did that Backroads trip as well - loved Inn of the Anasazi! As a very active divorced woman, I find small group hiking trips such a godsend! In addition to the Backroads trip, I did a very reasonably-priced hiking trip in Provence through a Canadian outfit called Active Journeys - everyone else on the trip was British. and great fun (email me if interested in learning more). Did a "walking trip" (not as active as BR) with Classic Journeys to Morocco, and it was wonderful. I was scheduled to go to Tuscany with Wilderness Travel last October, cancelled due to anxiety, rescheduled for next October. I liked Backroads but found their European trips a bit pricey. Wilderness trips seem to be a few hundred dollars less than comparable Backroads trips for more days, and they are still pretty upscale, in fact stay in some of the same hotels. I think with Backroads you pay for a bit more luxury in terms of hotels and dining (and with Butterfield and Robinson, a LOT more). I've met the most wonderful people on these trips, laughed a lot. Maybe it's just the kind of people who take hiking vacations...I'd love to know if anyone has gone with Wilderness Travel and what their experience was. Anyway, good luck.

Amy

So, there are people on this forum who take active vacations! <BR><BR>My husband and I experienced our first one with MountainFit, a neat organization running out of Montana. We'd still be hiking with them (they have this trip to Scotland I'd love to take) but we have committed ourselves to taking the kids along now.<BR><BR>Am interested in hearing about B&R, other company active trips, too.<BR><BR>As in the posts above, our experiences with Backroads, while pricey, have been good with nice accommodations. <BR><BR>When we had one trip with them that was not so well run--it was disjointed...bad timing, wierd room allotments, etc.--the company did their best to make amends. On another trip, though, we felt complaints the company received during and after were completely inaccurate. The accomodations may have been poor, but the area only had that type of lodging. A company can't create a luxurious, cozy B&B out of thin air.

cheri

Europeds went out of business after 9/11 unfortunately. We had a great trip with them last summer to Provence

amy

Cheri: What did happen to Europeds? We had a superb trip with them in the Summer of 1998 and a disastrous trip with them in 1999, so we didn't go back with them in 2000. I had heard it had switched ownership, and then I saw the website had disappeared. <BR><BR>Who was running your Provence trip?

D

Attn bikers: for those of you who have taken bike vacations with Backroads or others, how serious of a biker are you? I'm interested in a guided tour, but my husband and I are serious cyclists and some of the photos you see make the tours look like they cater to beginners. <BR>Has anyone taken a Velo vacations tour which follows some of the Tour de France routes? <BR>Thanks

amy

D: You've hit upon one of the best reasons to take any kind of active vacation group tour: most are designed to take care of the different abilities in your family. When we were hiking with MountainFit, they had three guides: one to stay ahead of the fastest person, one to stay in the middle, and one to stay with the slowest. On any given day, the slow person might be in the middle and a middle person might be "slow". My husband was always in the lead; I often hung in the back at the beginning, moved up to middle by lunch, and was with the lead group by the end. My husband was happy that he got to do his own pace; I was thrilled I got to do mine.<BR><BR>I have not done Velo. However, I can tell you Backroads accomodates a wide range of biking abilities. I'm content as I near middle age with two miles and a coffee, two miles and a beer, two miles and lunch, etc...my husband and oldest daughter want to see how many hills they can tackle before sunset. Therefore, I can get in around 30 miles (not km) and call it a day; they will take the harder routes and extended day so that they feel good.<BR><BR>Different trips are harder than others. Loire Valley trips tend to be easy; Dordogne trips have great possibilities for "hard"--you can easily do part of the Tour de France route there. Just ask each company for their hardest trip and their hardest routes.<BR><BR><BR>

Lexma90

Just jumping in to answer the question about active vacations, though I haven't taken any of those tours you mentioned (or any tour).<BR><BR>You don't hear a lot about more strenuous exertion on this board, probably, partly because the most-discussed destinations (Paris, France, Italy, London) are primarily visited for their cultural, gastronomic or artistic appeal. That being said, you can hike the villages of the Cinque Terre, many trails in the Dolomites & many (most?) parts of Switzerland & Austria (the Tourist Information office in almost every town has trail maps), as well as many other places, I'm sure. While I bike (road bike, not mountain bike) at home, the narrowness of the roads in many places in Europe scares me off, especially as we're the type to travel alone, and not with a tour; that's probably the case with a lot of people. (Though I have rented bikes in the Loire Valley). There are probably quite a few mountain climber types who visit Europe; maybe they frequent mountain climber boards! Same for the skiiers.<BR><BR>We live in the mountains in the U.S., so get plenty of physical activity (hiking, biking, skiing, etc.), and take our vacation in places that are unlike our home turf!

kim

Amy,<BR><BR>How old are your kids and when did you start taking them on these trips? I have wanted to take a Backroads trip for a while now but was nervous about the expense w/kids and whether it was worth it. they don't seem to give much of a price break for really little kids.

robin-k

Love to hear more about action/adventure tours. My vacations were mostly urban and interested in branching out to explore countryside with a small group. I likely would be characterized as a beginner, so which company & location(s) are good for a novice?

amy

Lexma90: Thanks for the response to the orginal question. I think I can respond to your remark and sort of answer Kim's concerns, too. I'll try to give Robin's question a shot, too.<BR><BR>Our "active" vacations with our kids used to be limited to the US where we felt very comfortable planning our hiking/biking routes. When they were old enough to go to Europe (our youngest was around 7-8 years old and our oldest was around 12),we did the culture/museum stuff in London and Paris, but we longed to do some coutryside, too. We decided to explore Switzerland. Since I'm the trip planner,I sat down with my 22 guidebooks and started. I became overwhelmed by the logistics of which hiking trails connected to which cog railways,etc. <BR><BR>At the time, I saw an ad for Europeds (now out of business, apparently). Their price break, Kim, was unbelievable: my two girls, who shared a room and a bath of their own, were half price. The fact that I wouldn't have to worry about the itinerary, the accomodations, the schlepping of luggage was a huge relief. Signing up was the best vacation decision I ever made. Because the kids had other kids to play with on the trip we never heard "I'm tired." Our guide had lived in Murren for seven years and knew all the alternative routes to anything closed by avalanche. He believed all kids--no matter how old--deserved playground stops and a pool, if possible. I was sold, and the kids are huge advocates of this type of travel.<BR><BR>We have done three Backroads trips--one of which was Loire Valley Family Multi-Sport--and will do our fourth this summer. Their price break varies between 10% and 20%, although I think some tight room sharing can get you a better deal. It's not much of a discount on such pricey trips, but the structure allows the parent a true vacation from all the planning he would normally do, and that has to count for something.<BR><BR>Our experience on the Backroads trips as far as family trips has varied according to the guides, the location and the number of kids along. The Glacier National Park Family Multi-Sport was designed very well for kids, the guides really took on their supervision (which is not what they promise and is not what we expect!), and also gave parents a lot of time to do extra hiking. Those on the trip who had traveled with them before raved about the Yellowstone/Tetons trip, too. <BR><BR>Having been to the Bernese Oberland, I like the design of Backroads' Swiss Family Multi-Sport trip. It's the one I would suggest to any family "first-timer" for an active vacation in Europe.<BR>You could ask that company what to recommend.<BR><BR>And Robin-k, almost all the tour companies rate their routes on a scale of hard to easy. On every trip we have done, at least one person has taken a day off from the group to do shopping, relax, etc. We've been on active vacations where there was a 70 year old with a cane and a marathon runner on the same trip. There are tons of companies out there and I feel it's worth a few emails or phone calls to find one that's a "fit" with your fitness level and budget.

didier

Some Europeans know their land very well and can provide quality services at reasonable prices.<BR><BR>Give them a chance<BR><BR>www.bikeiberia.com<BR>Experience the best of Portugal and Spain by bike! &lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&l t;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;<BR>

Lisa

We have done 2 B&R trips. One to the Dordogne and one to Alsace. <BR><BR>We had a wonderful time on each one. The accomodations are usually at Relais & Chateaux locations and the dinners are wonderful. Our guides were extremely knowledgeable and interesting, as were the other members of the trip. The guides were always on the look-out to provide information to people according to their individual interests (history, wine of the region, culture, etc.)<BR><BR>In addition, nearly every day had a "harder" and "easier" route to take. That allowed everyone to cycle at their own abilities. People were very excited (though tired!) at the end of each day to share what they had seen. <BR><BR>On both of our trips we encountered honeymooners, families, singles, and "older folks". <BR><BR>Lastly, the B&R travel people were extremely helpful in suggesting things to do before and/or after. <BR><BR>I don't see that anyone else has posted information about B&R, so I hope this helps. These are very special trips. <BR><BR>Lisa

StCirq

I've never been on a B&R trip, but I sure encounter a lot of people who are on them in the Dordogne, and I've had guests come by for dinner there who are participating in them (they sure ate a lot - I imagine the Dordogne experience is fairly strenuous!). All reports are excellent.<BR><BR>I was told by someone, can't remember whom, that Europeds was out of business.

up4others

ttt<BR><BR>