Are you looking for a late summer deal?

We don't usually go in for blatant plugs but this one is too good to miss. Summer is making a late appearance from next week and to celebrate we have a great deal on offer. The Real Steal : Dorset Delights is a no frills version of our usual yours. This idyllic 4 night getaway takes in the sandy beaches of the Isle of Purbeck with back lanes, fords and forests linking the pretty historical towns of Wareham and Dorchester. Enjoy 3 days of gentle cycling with one day saddle free at the bargain price of £349.00 per person. Hand picked accomodation, luggage transfers and our usual excellent route directions and maps are all included.
Call us on 01296 631671 for availability and further details.

Top 5 Hotels with Tennis Courts on our tours.

A recent pre-occupation with food on my last few blogs has led me to think it must be time for a little light activity.  We are lucky to have a great selection of hotels on our lists, many with tennis courts on which to stretch the legs after a hard day in the saddle. So where can you show off you best serves?  Here's our pick:

1. Lygon Arms, Broadway. The epitome of tradition but with a floodlight court.
2. Wallets Court Hotel, Dover.A well hidden ace in white cliffs country.
3. Christchurch Harbour Hotel, Mudeford. Oh I do like to serve beside the seaside.
4. The Pig, Brockenhurst. A small hotel for big hitters.
5. Buckland Manor, Cotswolds. Volley in the valleys.

5 Great Places to Eat in Plymouth

Treat yourself and enjoy these wonderful eateries as a finale to our cycling holiday  Devon Coast to Coast Tour

• Tanner Brothers, Prysten House, Finewell St, Plymouth, PL1 2AE  01752 252001. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Located in a grade 1 listed building, and owned by brothers Chris and James, they major on locally sourced produce with a variety of menus from set to gastronomic tasting.
• River Cottage Canteen, Royal William Yard, Plymouth . PL1 3QQ. 01752 252702. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's latest creation is housed in a waterside ex Royal Navy victualling depot with a theatre kitchen and a wooden fired oven. Ethically sourced food.
• Arthouse, 38 Looe Street  Plymouth, PL4 0EB 01752 206114. Closed Mondays and Sunday lunch. The veteran Arts Centre includes this revamped restaurant which uses meat from it's own farm shop. Until 8pm you can take advantage of a £12 cinema/meal deal and add the movie of the day afterwards?
• Morgans,  19 Princess Street, Plymouth.PL1 2EU. 01752 255579. This modern restaurant situated in  the heart of Plymouth offers the best of Italian Mediterranean cuisine
• Bistro One, 68 Ebrington Street  Plymouth, PL4 9AQ 01753 313315. Closed Sundays and Mondays. This jolly little off-centre restaurant is one of Plymouth's finest, thanks to its wine-loving owner, Stephen Barrett. It's big on fresh seafood, Yealm river oysters, hand-made breads and vegetarian dishes

A Deli to Die For

Last night we attended a networking event organised by Tourism Southeast.  Over 30 people were there including representatives from hotels, tourist attractions, and tourist boards.  It was a great opportunity to meet other people working in the same industry in this area.  The added bonus was the location.  No 2 Pound Street in Wendover is a deli with a difference.  It stocks a huge selection of wines, cheeses and meats which can be taken away or enjoyed on the premises.  They recently won Best New Retailer at the British Cheese Awards which is not surprising when you see the interesting selection on offer including Stinking Bishop which should be handled with care.  The deli sits in the pretty Chiltern town of Wendover which is at the end of our new Challenging Chilterns tour.  We recommend leaving some space in your panniers for a few goodies.

Bliss all the way to Padstow

The well pedalled Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow is a family must - flat, traffic free and scenically beautiful as it skirts the Camel estuary along a disused railway line. Bike hire establishments lurk around every corner of  Wadebridge and the lure of a Rick Stein goody at the other end may entice or repel you depending on your pocket size and leanings.
But for me the more enjoyable (and far less busy) section of the Camel Trail is what comes before Wadebridge - the ride down from the NW edge of  Bodmin Moor along the pretty Camel valley.  Close to the the beginning of the traffic free section is the village of Blisland which easily lives up to its name. John Betjamin waxed lyrical about its Norman church with its unexpectedly dramatic interior and others have enjoyed its excellent pub.This is a village with some very fine houses, the Elizabethan Mansion House - and a green, something unique in Cornwall.  From here you can freewheel down to the trail for 17 miles of traffic free flat cycling. Whoever heard of that in hilly Cornwall?  Steep valley sides gradually give way to more open country as the river  threads its way downhill and you spin past platforms named Shooting Range and Grogley Hall.. Paul Jackson's pottery studio and the medieval river bridge both at Helland are highlights.

Tack this ride onto our Devon Coast to Coast Tour and bliss it will be.

Things you never knew about Easter Eggs.

With Easter on the horizon, thoughts turn to chocolate naturally, but why do we give eggs? The custom celebrates new life and like any excuse to indulge, we have taken to it with gusto. But eggs are not just for eating it seems.

Pace Eggs are hard boiled eggs with patterned shells, they are traditional in northern parts of England at Easter, with local variants in the name, such as Paste Eggs. The name is derived from Pesach (Passover). Decorating and colouring eggs for Easter was a common custom in England in the middle ages. Eggs were brightly coloured to mimic the new, fresh colours of spring. The practice of decorating eggs was made even more famous by King Edward I of England who ordered 450 eggs to be gold-leafed and coloured for Easter gifts in 1290.

Egg rolling is very popular in England and is an Easter Monday sport. Hard-boiled eggs are rolled down a hill. Customs differ from place to place. The winner's egg may be the one that rolls the farthest, survives the most rolls, or is rolled between two pegs.

Another activity that takes place on Easter Day is the playing of a game with the eggs known as "jarping", It's a bit like playing conkers, with players tapping their opponents' eggs until one breaks. The winner goes through to the next round, and so on until there is only one egg left unbroken. copyright of projectbritain.com A good hit by a jarper is called a "dunch". The game is popular in County Durham, where it is played on Easter Sunday.

Canterbury and Faversham like many UK towns are holding Easter Egg hunts over the holiday. The perfect excursion from our Gourmet Tour which begins and ends in Canterbury. Chocs away!

Easy Cycling to The Olympic Park

I would recommend the ride I took this week to the Olympic Park.  It's so easy, traffic free and gives a view of the capital most people have never seen. It gives away how startlingly near the Olympic Park is to central London.  Hop on your bike at Tower Bridge and pedal east through St Katharine's Dock and on to St Katharine's Way.  Ahead here, you pick up the waterside route to Shadwell Basin which leads back to the riverside. Don't overshoot the zigzag bike path taking you under the road. Follow the north bank of the river - some say this route is for pedestrians only;  even if it is, its a great walk with a fabulous view - until you reach Limehouse. Take a left here into the mega basin where canal boaters prepare to enter the tidal Thames (yep, I've done that too - choppy and a bit scary). Exit the basin following signs to Bow and ride for 20 minutes or so along the inelegantly named Limehouse Cut. You'll fly over locks and slide under the approach to Blackwall Tunnel before reaching elegant Three Mills (Britain's oldest Tide Mill and biggest film/TV studio) and the massive new locks round the back, designed to aid Olmpic Park construction, but never put to use. Cross the canal here and continue northwards and shortly you will reach The Stratford Greenway and Olympic Park.
From here you can explore all sorts of other fascinating areas of North London without any traffic at your backside. For our self guided circular rides to the Park. email us.
And the conclusion is: Don't/ do not/don't even consider reaching the Park during the Olympics via Stratford station with all the other thousands of people trying to get there by underground.  Pick up a Boris bike - there's got to be a docking station near the Park, although as yet I've not seen one and enjoy a quiet pedal.