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Select your destination by country, landscape and architectureThere is a huge variety and rich cultural heritage in Europe . We focus mostly on destinations in western and central Europe. Scenery, architecture, language, food and traditions can change markedly across a relatively small distance. It all depends where you go and which distinctive regional heritage and enchantingly varied landscape you want to dip into. The regions of France and Germany are a case in point. Grouping destinations and itineraries according to typical features such as landscape and architecture gives a picture of what is special, what will amaze, interest and surprise you when you are on tour.
North Germany (Baltic Coast) and Denmark: White sand and pebble beaches, gentle blue-green seas and wide horizons , easy and rolling countryside. Step-gabled red brick-gothic town halls and stately buildings. Moated renaissance or baroque-era palaces. Pastel-coloured houses, thatch-roofed cottages, brick-and-half-timber long houses, quaint parish churches and very handsome, well-preserved old harbour towns. Tour examples: Vikings and Mermaid Denmark Cycle Tour(cancelled 2020 due to Corona), Vikings and Hansa Germany Cycle Tour (proposed). Central Germany (Mosel, Weser, Thuringia): A pretty patchwork of hills, forest, meadows, woods and steep, vineyard-clad slopes. Exquisitely preserved medieval, renaissance and neo-classical town centres with impressive market square ensembles, winding alleys, stately town halls and carved and painted half-timbers. Romantic medieval hilltop castles and majestic romanesque or gothic cathedrals. Tour examples: Vines and Fairytales Germany Cycle Tour (2018), Thinkers and Tinkerers Germany Cycle Tour (planned). Southern Germany ( Bavaria, Swabia), Switzerland and Austria: A bucolic idyll and grand alpine vistas. Onion dome churches and elaborate baroque palaces with amazing painted facades and incredibly ornate interiors. Well-preserved old town cores, romantic castles and houses with overhanging roofs and flower-filled balconies. Tour examples: Thinkers and Tinkerers Germany Cycle Tour (planned), Essential Switzerland (planned). North West France (Normandy and Brittany): Craggy coasts, pretty fishing villages with whitewashed cottages, fortified city ports, medieval abbey-topped promontories (Le Mont St Michel) and long tidal flats. Inland is a bocage patchwork landscape of lush meadows, hedgerows, woods and sunken lanes. Cider orchards and specialist cheese producers. Granite-stone houses, bridges and over-awing gothic churches add to the soft light of the impressionists and the picturesque half-timbered medieval town centres with narrow, meandering streets, and intact medieval defensive walls. Tour Examples: Loire Chateaux and Breton Mystique France Cycle Tour (2019), Tapestries and Towpaths France Cycle Tour (planned 2022). Central France (Loire Valley); A gentle landscape of meadows, forests, lush gardens, sparkling- wine vineyards and underground wine caves. Many lavish country estates and stupendous royal renaissance chateaux grace the countryside and hilltop medieval town centres overlooking the placid river banks. White tuffa-stone buildings in classical and renaissance styles line winding alleys. Surprising troglodyte homes and occupied caves are a delight to discover in this region. Tour Examples: Loire Chateaux and Breton Mystique France Cycle Tour (2019), Tapestries and Towpaths France Cycle Tour (planned 2022). |
SOME RECENT TOURS
Vines and Fairytales Cycle Tour, Germany 2018
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Loire Chateaux and Breton Mystique Cycle Tour, France 2019
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Alpe Adria Trail Hike: Austria, Slovenia, Italy. 2022 (planned)
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