All England's 17 World Heritage Sites

Prompted by a recent article on the most expensive luxury travel holiday ever - a 2 year tour of all Unesco's 962 World Heritage Sites costing a cool $1.5 million, we decided to tot up the sites in England you can visit on our tours and the associated luxury holiday price tag.

Currently. by bike or on foot we take you to 9 of the sites - 
The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Maritime Greenwich, The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Canterbury Cathedral, Stonehenge and Avebury, Bath, Blenheim Palace and  the Jurassic Coast of Dorset.


Adding visits to the 8 others - Durham cathedral, Fountains Abbey, Hadrian's Wall, Derwent Valley Mills, Saltaire, Ironbridge, the Cornwall and Devon mining landscape and Liverpool would take 19 days in all. With a  price tag of just less than £3,500 with our hand picked luxury hotels and our very special tailor made service, this all feels like a wonderful and incredible luxury holiday - and is, dare we say it, a bargain!. It's unique too - we only offer one of these holidays per year.   Book it ! 
.

At Last - an Invisible Inflatable Cycle Helmet

Brilliant!
2 industrial designers from Sweden have finally come up wtih a sensible solution to the cycle helmet problem. Many of us don't wear a helmet as it doesnt do much for the cycling experience. Their design is a bit like the air bag in cars - it inflates on the way to impact. Read all about it on their website. They don't have an outlet in the UK yet but you can buy it online or view it at the Spin London Urban Cycle Show in May.

Fly Over - Tunnel Under the Thames. A Great Day Out

These are two unique ways of crossing the River Thames in London by bike. They make for a great day out. The  Emirates Flyer is the 1.1 km cable car crossing  that links the Greenwich peninsula on the south side of the river with The Royal Docks on the north and gives a unique view of London. Flip the seat to load your bike and 'enjoy  your flight' as the commentary requests. Its quick- some say too quick, painless and fun.  Pedal past the O2 to Greenwich village, or for a bit of added fun board the Thames Clipper at the North Greenwich Pier and be propelled there. Stop for a refreshment at The Trafalgar with its atmospheric riverside  views, or busy yourself with a visit to the Cutty Sark or Maritime Museum before heading for the lift down to the Greenwich foot tunnel that takes you 50ft below the Thames. Opened over a hundred years earlier than the Flyer, in 1902 and free, (the Flyer is £3.20 on the Oyster) it was built to enable shipyard and dock workers to reach their jobs on the north bank Isle of Dogs. You will have to walk your bike along the tunnel and from the lift you emerge up in Island Gardens. Follow Sustrans Route 1 north through the Isle of Dogs where you'll get some great surprise views of the docks, the Thames and the London skyline. Almost at Limehouse - where you can detour via several canals to the Olympic Park, the Greenway and Broadway Market to mention but a few options, you turn east and pedal along the Cycle Super Highway. Here Dutch style cyclist traffic lights, alleys, bridges and bike paths thread you through east London.  Leave the Highway near the East Inda Docks and then its not far to reach the Royal Docks where you started. This last section is poorly signposted and I admit we took a few wrong turns. You will need a map or local knowledge or one of our guides here.

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. 

London Hotel Of The Year

Congratulations to The Royal Horseguards Hotel which has won the AA London Hotel of The Year Award for 2010-2011.
We feature this wonderful 5 star riverside hotel in all our Luxury holidays that visit London. Designed 120 years ago by the architect Alfred Waterhouse who also designed The Natural History Museum, the building began as the headquarters of The National Liberal Club providing its members with a haven of quiet from bustling Westminster just around the corner.
Now it offers charming elegance and superb views of the Thames and the London Eye from its restaurant and bedrooms. I love the cosy verdant garden where you can enjoy a laid back breakfast. It also has one of the best views ever of the New Year's Eve London Fireworks extravaganza.

Borough Market

London brims with markets in all shapes and sizes. We love Borough Market located just off the Thames Path under the arches of London Bridge and behind Southwark Cathedral.  Apparently there have been traders here for hundreds of years and a market since the mid 18th Century selling fruit, vegetables,bread and meat.  Now, there's a huge variety of produce on offer and much is reared, grown or made by the stall holders which is why the place is so vibrant and full of passion. The community of 130 traders from all over England, Europe and further afield are a draw for chefs, restauranteurs and all who care deeply about food.   So visit when its open on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays. If you like less busy then make it Thursday. Their website also offers some interesting recipes.
Take in the market on our walking and cycling tours