Featured Special

Provence Classic 7 Nights: 8% reduction for travel in April! One of our most popular tours throughout the year because it includes so much! Normally priced at 1149 euros; book this trip for travel in April or October and save 92 euros, per person! That will buy a few bottles of wine!

This Provence bike tour starts in Villeneuve-les-Avignon and visits the culturally rich countryside as far as the Mediterranean and back to Avignon - "Cite des Papes" ("City of the Popes"). This tour will find you traveling on small roads away from traffic. In Avignon and Arles you will find small streets and a maze of shops in the old town. This is also where many summer festivals take place. The tour has a number of wonderful attractions rooted in the region's Roman origins and Provencal culture, up through the Papal dominance in the Middle Ages. It is easily accessible by train from throughout France, and as well by air. This is one of our most successful tours as it combines the best of all that Provence has to offer and the riding is moderate and available to most riders. Full tour details at this link.

In the Spotlight

Catalonia, Spain! Costa Brava, Girona, Barcelona…sunshine, sea, beaches, good food, fun living! They all go together in the picture of this region don’t they?! One of the greatest selling points of this region for cycling tours is the fact that the season isn’t limited by weather! It is possible to take one of our self-guided cycling tours there just about any month of the year. In the Girona area we offer several tours, here are the quick distinguishing features among them:

B&B/Farmhouse lodging: rustic and friendly lodging, hosted by the people who live there. Very authentic. Comfortable, not deluxe. Great price at 975 euros.

Gastronomic: Upscale country inns, more formal ambiance but yet still mostly a family run operation. Dining is gastronomic, white table cloths, professional presentation and service, refined foods. A great value for a more upscale trip at 1175 euros.

“Star” Tour: Stay in one location and do loop rides. Great for families with various abilities. Lodging is deluxe 4 star property 7km from the beach and 2 swimming pools on site. A very nice value at 895 euros for 4 nights.

Challenge: Long rides, mountain riding in the Pyrenees; these are the training rides of pro cyclists in the off-season. Very good lodging at 3 and 4 star. Road bikes for rent. Priced at 1305 euros.

What's New

The convergence of Pure Adventures and Discover France! Subsribers to this newsletter should know that Pure Adventures evolved out of the long history of our brand Discover France. Well, after 3 years of slow transition, Pure Adventures is now the home of all cycling and hiking tours. Discover France will continue to list the tours we sell in France, but all can be found on the Pure Adventures website.

Speaking of our website, it has undergone some significant upgrades! While it looks mostly the same, the programming has completely changed and is much better. You will find it easier to navigate and quickly get to the regions of interest or activity of interest. We are still updating certain sections such as our resource library, but it is coming along. One area that is greatly enhanced is the virtual tours for each tour. We have a virtual photo tour of each tour as well as each hotel in a tour. This will soon include movies and more media formats including podcasts.

Past customers are being asked to submit their movies, stories, and podcasts for display which should also enhance the experience for browsers and others considering our tours. If you are a past client and reading this, refer to your print newsletter that recently landed in your mailbox for details! (If you are a past client and didn’t receive it – contact us!)

Finally, as part of the ‘convergence’ at Pure Adventures; we will also be listing links to our very challenging Cycling Classics brand tours and bike rentals. So, for cyclists who like to ride really hard, long, and steep – we’ve got a section in the site for you too!

PURE News

We at Pure Adventures are Carbon Neutral in 2007! In 2006 we made what we considered to be considerable charitable donations to excellent 4 star organizations, but in 2007 we are pledging $9000 in carbon offsets to make our tours totally carbon neutral. This is an important movement underway in the travel industry currently, especially the adventure travel segment. We are very proud to be among leading organizations doing something to raise awareness and actually help counter carbon pollution. We have joined Sustainable Travel International (www.sustainabletravelinternational.org) to have them manage our offsets. Read a recent press release on this subject at our media page.

Go Local!

In the little town of Clifden in far western Connemara, County Galway, Ireland there sits just at the edge of town a very charming little guesthouse called the Buttermilk Lodge. We use this lodge on our cycling tours through Clifden, and though there is a castle upgrade option nearby, this place exemplifies the local experience. First of all, in this part of Ireland, the sheep WAY outnumber the people. Clifden is a ‘metropolis’ for the most part, with 1350 population, it offers shopping and more than one pub. On a visit here I found the locals to be extremely charming, but don’t count on always understanding what they say down at the pub! Gaelic and some combination of local dialect with English seems to be pub speak. That or the Guiness I was drinking did funny things to head. Note that things don’t go too late in the evening, so plan your nights out early and don’t be afraid to speak up. Everyone will know you are a stranger, so don’t even try to ‘blend in’. To see more details about the Buttermilk lodge visit http://www.buttermilklodge.com and for more information about Clifden see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifden

Self Guided Travel Tips

We’ll start at the beginning here! If you don’t already know, self-guided is not “self-contained”. At Pure Adventures, we define self-contained as a tour where you pack your own bags, carry them, plan your own routes, make your own lodging, negotiate everything for yourself. That is NOT self guided!

Self guided travel as defined by us includes: lodging, most meals, bag transfer, orientations, routes, maps, emergency support, and more but can vary on the more from one trip to another. Dates are wide open for you to choose, there are no minimum group sizes (one solo traveler is often accommodated), and we never cancel self guided trips.

The advantages: way lower price than guided trips; flexibility to choose dates; flexibility to travel daily as you wish (on your time); and freedom to travel with only those people you choose to travel with. There are others of course, but these are the main points.

Next month we’ll discuss who is right for self-guided, and if it is necessary to know the local language. (Hint: no language skill required.)

Events

Barcelona: Carnival - currently in progress through February 25; website in Catalan: www.bcn.cat/carnaval Note; carnival events and celebrations are taking place in small towns all over Catalonia through Feb 25.

Barcelona Marathon - March 4, 2007. www.maratobarcelona.es

Girona Flower Power - May 12 -20; Monuments, spaces and gardens are decorated with flowers, ornamentations and artistic installations. Public and private courtyards and gardens are opened to all, and exhibitions and concerts are held. http://en.costabrava.org/main/home.aspx

Girona International Religious Music Festival - Late June to Mid July; 2007 website to be posted in March; here is the 2006 version: http://www.ajuntament.gi/musiquesreligioses/eng/index_cat.htm

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