From: marcs@slc.com (Marc San Soucie)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.rides
Subject: Supported Tours In France
Date: 26 Sep 92 01:43:53 GMT
Article-I.D.: slc.1992Sep26.014353.29124
Organization: Servio Corp, Beaverton Oregon, US

Finally I've managed to type in some of the info I gleaned from a host of
bicycle tour catalogs while planning a trip to France for my wife and I. I
haven't tried to be encyclopedic about this. Almost all of the companies
listed here offer far more than the France trips I've pulled out. Some of
them cover lots of Europe. Some of them cover really different places like
Crete and Norway. We were looking at France, so here's France.

I'm planning to write and post a summary of the trip we chose as soon as I
can snag a little time. For the impatient, it was Breaking Away's "Tour Des
Alpes", a 9-day tour of the famous TdF climbs in the Alps southeast of
Geneva, including many of the really famous ones. It was spectacular,
difficult, and well-run. Highly recommended, more details to come.


If you're thinking of taking a supported tour in France, you need to:

    Decide how much distance you're likely to want to cover in a day
    Decide which part of France you're most interested in visiting
    Decide what kind of people you'd be most comfortable riding with
    Decide how much luxury you'd like to pay for along the way

Without question the most extravagant tours are offered by Butterfield and
Robinson, who have a superb reputation and extraordinary prices. Travent
International is probably nearly as nice but ever so slightly cheaper. I've
heard lots of good things about Backroads Bicycle Tours, and have nothing
but good things to say about Breaking Away, with whom we traveled. I'm
quite intrigued by Gerhard's, as well.

It seems that most of the tours offered by most of the companies are
geared for 30-40 miles of riding a day, with lots of visits, sights, and
comfort. This disappointed us a bit.

We chose Breaking Away because our answers to the above questions were:

    At least 50
    The Alps
    People inclined to hammer a hill every now and then
    Who cares? We're riding bikes!

Your answers and results may well differ.


===============================================================================


Breaking Away Bicycle Tours			Manhattan Beach, CA

    Basic
    For race followers, hammerheads, and the persistent
    25-100 miles

Europeds			1-800-321-9552	Pacific Grove, CA

    Nice
    Dordogne, Gorges, Basque, Provence, Brittany, TdF, Loire, Paris
    30-40 miles, one trip 46 miles, one Tour De France trip
    $1925 for 8 days

Howie Wowie Bicycle Tours	1-800-392-8665	San Diego, CA

    Basic
    Bordeaux/Dordogne, Loire Valley
    30-35 miles
    $1500-1700 for 9 days

Chateaux Bike Tours		1-800-678-2453	Denver, CO

    Gourmet
    Dordogne, Gorges, Basque, Provence, Brittany, TdF, Loire, Paris
    Many short trips
    30-35 miles
    $1300-2400

Le Tour Bicycling Adventures	1-800-542-4210	Berkeley, CA

    Custom tours - bring your own group

Backroads Bicycle Tours		1-800-BIKETRIP	Berkeley, CA

    Oriented toward the cycling
    Loire, Bordeaux, Dordogne
    $1500-$2500

Butterfield & Robinson		1-800-678-1147	Toronto, Ont

    The Top
    Many destinations
    25-35, one trip 50-70
    $1900-3200

Vermont Bicycle Touring		1-802-453-4811	Bristol, VT

    Basic
    Bordeaux
    41 miles
    $1300

Gerhard's Bicycle Odysseys	1-503-223-2402	Portland, OR

    Out of the ordinary
    1 trip to Luxembourg, Germany France, an interesting Norway trip
    37 or 66 miles
    $2600

Classic Bicycle Tours & Treks	1-800-777-8090	Clarkson, NY

    Basic
    Dordogne (also trips to Greece and Crete)
    30-40
    $1900

Travent International		1-800-325-3009	Waterbury Center, VT

    Luxury
    Dordogne, Burgundy & Beaujolais, Provence, Loire
    15-40
    $1500-2600

Euro-Bike Tours			1-815-758-8851	DeKalb, IL

    Comfy
    Bordeaux/Dordogne, Burgindy/Beaujolais, Paris/Brittany
    30-40
    $1700-2300

New England Bicycle Tours	1-802-728-3261	Randolph, VT

    Nice
    Loire, Provence, Dordogne, Bordeaux, Brittany, Burgundy
    20-50 miles
    $1500-2500