And the cycling holiday award goes to.....

Awards are jolly nice things to have.  We have been lucky to have been given a few and it certainly swells the heart with pride to put that certificate on the wall.  Blowing ones' own trumpet is de riguer when presented with an award and the hotels we use for our tours are not slow to do so.  Recently we have been sent several emails informing us of gongs most gratefully received.  As they are for hotels and areas we have picked out as being the best for our cycling holidays, it affirms what we already knew.

For example Cotswold House in Chipping Campden has just been awarded Spa of the Year by Laterooms.  We include this hotel on many of our luxury Cotswolds tours including "Cotswolds and Stonhenge".  Lucknam Park near Chippenham was given the Travellers Choice award in the Spa section by Trip Advisor  and is a favourite with our clients looking for the 5 star treatment on our Simply The Best tour.  The Cotswolds Inns group won small hotel group of the year from the AA and own several stunning hotels in this highly popular and frequently booked area.  London topped the Conde Nast vote for Best City and Devon claimed silver in the Best Holiday County category in the British Travel Awards. Neither of these came as much of a surprise but both offer fabulous cycling and accommodation and so are perfect for our clients.

As the year draws to a close there will be more plaudits to come for sure.  Hopefully we will need to make some room in the trophy cabinet. 

Choice Inns

We're so pleased that a number of the inns we highlight on our tours are  in the list of the latest prize winning inns of England.

One to mention especially at this time of year as autumn seems to be fast changing into winter, is The Turf Tavern in Oxford.  Awarded Best Town pub of the year, the inn features .on all our tours in and from Oxford.  Tucked away behind high walls in the heart of this historic city, you can sit outside in the three attractive walled-in flagstoned or gravelled courtyards (one has its own bar) with coal braziers so you can roast chestnuts or toast marshmallows.  Canopies, lights and heaters.add to the general cosiness and warmth of this charaterful pub.  But beware late arrivals for lunch: you may well be disappointed.
Congratulations to The Turf Tavern and thanks for your warm welcome to our walkers and cyclists there.

Summertime

After a cloudy and sometimes wet Bank Holiday weekend, summer seems to have arrived with temperatures in their twenties today which are predicted to continue into the weekend. . Two of our hosts reported their first soundings of the cuckoo within the last 10 days and The Chelsea Flower Show bloomed last week. The grass courts at Wimbledon opened a fortnight ago - we recommend a visit to the award winning Museum there, where you can also take a a tour of the grounds and enjoy a cream tea with strawberries.. Thames river boats are now in full flow which means our gastronomic tour of some of England's finest Michelin starred establishments is yours for the eating. The canal bank outside our office windows is brimming with cow parsley and the dragon flies are darting and swooping about. England at its unbeatable best!
Image taken on our White Horse Downs and Thames Meadows cycling and walking tour