The pioneer of self-guided cycling vacations, Pure Adventures (http://pure-adventures.com/), announces three new self-guided bicycle tours of Italy’s Tuscany, France’s Dordogne and Spain’s La Rioja regions.
Food, wine and history extraordinaire are key elements of these tours that offer cyclists the luxury of traveling at their own pace and pausing when and where they wish, but without foregoing road and route trip assistance and lodging and luggage logistics.
Italy has long been a favorite Pure Adventures destination. This new take, spurred on by past rider feedback, Italy - Tuscany Wine & History, is an eight-day/seven-night program that shaves off some of the Tuscan hills and provides the option for car transfers. With shorter rides there is more time to enjoy the upscale hotels in their historic settings. This tour starts in the Renaissance town of Pienza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here guests may opt to partake of the hot springs and spa of Bagno Vignoni. Other villages include Montepulciano, recognized worldwide because of its wine, and Montalcino -- think Brunello. And the tour only gets better with a Tuscan favorite, Siena, the medieval hilltop town of San Gimignano and Volterra, a municipality since Roman times. Then it’s Bon Viaggio as guests transfer to nearby Florence. This tour is from 1215 €/person. A four-night version can also be arranged. See: http://pure-adventures.com/show-tour/22/Italy+Tuscany+Wine+&+History
Moderate distances over modestly rolling country including unpaved country lanes through vineyards distinguish the seven-day/six-night Spain - Rioja Wine Cycling Tour through the wine villages of La Rioja Alavesa. The route encourages the discovery the region’s history and enjoyment of the mosaic of landscapes of the southern Basque region at the foothills of the Pyrenees. Here vineyards form a pattern over the landscape. The route mainly runs along minor and rural paved roads and, occasionally, on dirt roads.
The wines of La Rioja are world famous yet still made in the old world ways by many local growers and producers. Guests may even find the stone basins in the fields where grapes were once stomped by the workers to make the juice for wines. This adventure begins and ends in Logroño. Day 2 is a cycle to the village of Laguardia, a medieval village known as La Rioja Alavesa. The departure from Logroño is by the Way of Saint James, where guests may meet many pilgrims. After a ride through a virtual sea of vineyards, Day 4 brings Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a village linked to the Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago) from its origins back in the 11th Century. Again, guests may expect to meet more pilgrims while cycling to San Millán, cradle of the Spanish language. Rates for this seven-night trip are from 1587 €/person. See: http://pure-adventures.com/show-tour/153/Spain+Rioja+Wine+Cycling+Tour
In France cycling guests may experience the seven-day/six-night France – Best of Dordogne Cycling Tour combining the best of the Dordogne countryside and mixed with vineyards, chateaux and the grottos of prehistory. Guests arrive in Souillac where the hotel restaurant serves traditional specialties from the Quercy-Périgourdin with a modern, innovative twist. Day 2 is a cycle to Sarlat, a town highly representative of 14th century France. Day 3 is a ride to Montignac to visit the pre-history site of Lascaux II enroute to Les Eyzies and followed on Day 4 by La Roque-Gageac on the banks of the Dordogne River against some small cliffs and voted one of the most beautiful villages of France. The drama of Rocamadour comes next, a town built against a cliff and an historic pilgrimage site. The last ride on Day 6 stops at the Grottoes of Padirac for an underground boat ride in the grottos before arriving in Carennac and traveling on to Souillac. The rate is from 1060 €/person. See: http://pure-adventures.com/show-tour/28/France+%E2%80%93+Best+of+Dordogne+Cycling+Tour
The itineraries include lodging at three and four star accommodations, all breakfasts, some dinners (France and Spain only), luggage transfers from hotel to hotel, local emergency support throughout the tour, arrival orientation and bike set up, route maps and route cue sheets with suggestions for visitation and site information, all pre and post travel planning services and a package of pre-travel documents sent electronically to help prepare for each trip. In Spain and France there are local orientations with a local support guide.
In addition to self-guided programs, Pure Adventures offers other ways to organize domestic and international bicycling and hiking vacations: Guided vs Self-Guided vs Supported, Self-Directed, See: http://pure-adventures.com/blog/2014/06/23/how-to-choose-the-perfect-bicycle-vacation/#.VUk4UvlVhHw
For more information on all of Pure Adventures guided, self-guided and supported, self-directed tours, call: 800-960-2221 or 480-905-1235, Email: [email protected], or visit online: http://pure-adventures.com.