About Us

Pure Adventures is an outgrowth of the success we have had with Discover France, now in its 17th year in 2011. We wanted to take our tour format and bring new destinations to our clients and new travelers. The name indicates something unique. It is our mission to provide exceptional self-guided cycling & hiking services that allow our clients to experience their destination in their own unique way.

We offer more of a pure adventure in low risk activities like bicycle tours and multisport tours while servicing experienced travelers. We say it is more pure because our tours offer independence that requires some initiative and cultural interaction. Equally important is the fact that every tour in every destination has been built and is supported by local knowledge and expertise.

Discover France Bicycle ToursIn France, we are the experts and we are able to offer fantastic cycling and hiking tours with our base of knowledge and localized expertise. In the other countries we offer herein, we had to find like minded local services to help us deliver the same product to our customers. We rely on this expertise to help us develop the best tour experience for our clients.

As usual, we provide lodging that is, of course, very comfortable, but more typical and representative of a region/destination because of the family run, charm atmosphere we want our clients to know.

The level of difficulty varies. Most of the tours listed in this site are vacationCycling Classics Bicycle Tours experiences wrapped in culture, heritage, sites, and unique experiences that come with this kind of travel. However, we also offer a line of challenging cycling tours for those seeking the ultimate routes in cycling. Our Cycling Classics brand is our own line of tours for very strong and experienced cyclists.

These facts coupled with our tour format helps keep costs down - leaving you more to do in a vacation! Our self-guided tours offer great amounts of freedom to choose a date, customize the itinerary, modify hotels, and cycle/walk as much as you want. We do offer the guided small group tour as well. Though they are guided, there is still a great deal of independence and flexibility. For example, many of the guided trips can be for as few as 2 persons and some even go any date you choose. Our guides are local professionals, and so they know language, culture, and all the must see sites as well as some not known by others. When we say professionals, we mean they are certified by government authorities, and have completed studies in the discipline.

If you want to know more about the self-guided tour concept click here.

I hope to see you on a tour soon - Loren Siekman, founder.


History

After 10 years of specializing in France (since 1994), in 2003 we advanced our model for active vacations and took it and applied it in many new destinations. We are focused on bicycle tours and now multi sport tours that offer hiking, cycling, and other experiences like canoeing or zip lines, and other fun and accessible adventures without extreme risk of personal injury. Moreover, the concept of self guided travel is our main specialty that we take a fair amount of credit for helping to develop awareness outside of Europe. We have developed a very good knowledge of what our customer is looking for and are able to advise any interested person on what is the best option for them.

In Europe we sell more than 2 million dollars in bicycle and hiking tours annually. That on an average tour cost of less than half the average group guided tour! Our total growth in 2010 has been more than 18% over 2009, and our cycling product has grown more than 30% last year. We have a client base of more than 6000 travelers, many of whom have come back to to explore new regions/countries each year. Pure Adventures sales expect growth to continue unabated as more people discover self guided touring.

In every tour we sell, we offer the expertise of a local guide/support person(s) to help us design the best tour routes around important sites and fun things to do or in spectacular areas. They help us find charming and typical lodging, typical restaurants, and they adhere to our our standards for customer service and support. In France, we are that local service! In our other countries they are experienced locals we require to meet our standards. They are always full time professionals 100% focused on the activity of cycling or hiking. We do not employ student leaders or friends of friends to suggest site seeing! The years of experience varies from a few years to more than 20; but the bottom line is that in every step of the way, your tour is backed up and supported by experienced, professional personnel.

We practice the activities we sell, and so are aware of what it takes from a personal level as well as a professional level. To our clients who have travelled with us over the years and asked for new destinations, this will surely become more widely known!

All repeat travelers are eligible for a small discount, and we often have incentives that we promote, and if you are on our enewsletter list, you will hear about it.

What We Do

Pure Adventures has grown out of the Discover France Adventures reputation as the leader in self-guided cycling vacations in France to become a recognized leader that offers self-guided cycling vacations throughout Europe. We provide an evolving portfolio of self-guided and custom guided tour options for our guests that offer great value for the money, an outstanding work environment for our employees and contracted support services.

See why Pure Adventures is unique!

Self Guided - A complete package of services that always includes: lodging, some meals, luggage transfer, routes, maps, cue sheets, emergency support. We almost always also include arrival orientations, and dinners. Sometimes we also include airport/train station transfers, all meals, and other services. Each trip may be slightly different because of local services (or lack of) in putting on a tour. Bottom line: we arrange just about everything, you only have to show up and enjoy! We let you travel any date you want, and don't require minimum travelers, nor do we make you adhere to a travel pace. You travel on your own, but you are never totally alone. Our local representatives support you throughout: providing orientations, moving luggage, and always available by phone in case of emergency. See a comparison of self guided travel.

Guided Travel - Go to new places with the greatest of ease! Some places just require more support and some people prefer the small group experience. We bring a number of guided programs as well to meet these needs. One thing that always makes a difference is the quality of the guide - and we seek the best! Local professionals always, dedicated to their trade and not students on summer break. We include all the necessities so you can focus on the activity and prepare properly ensuring the best tour experience. Because we use small groups, you will still interact with the local culture, and with the help of your local guide, get a few extras that only locals know about!

Note that some of our guided trips go with as few as 2 persons and so you have almost no chance of cancellation due to lack of participation that you might get elsewhere!

At Pure Adventures, we are full time, year round working on our tours and their perfection for our clients. We have been at this since 1994. Our knowledge, experience, and professional commitment set us apart. We also try to emphasize our accessibility - by email, phone, and web. We will respond, and a real person will help you! We are there to help with detailed questions, and to help with your overall trip plans outside of a tour you are planning with us. In the future, we intend to remain on the cutting edge and develop our accessibility, routes, and services to make them even better for our customers.