Loire valley centre based activity holiday, France

Carbon reduction

Your holiday will help support local people and conservation. We must also reduce CO₂. Learn about the CO₂ emissions of this holiday and how to reduce them.

The main components of our holidays are already relatively low emitters of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, but we feel strongly that there is always room for improvement in this area.

One example of how we are striving to minimise our impact is through encouraging our passengers to book cleaner modes of transport, such as train travel, whenever possible. The Loire Valley can be reached by train from London in less than 5 hours, meaning not only is it a better option for our planet, but quicker than flying or driving too.

The property used on this tour has a number of traditional ‘troglodyte’ apartments, built into the hillside. These building have some of the best natural temperature management properties of any, meaning that AC and heating is rarely required. It’s also worth noting that the property is both built and furnished using locally produced materials and goods.
Finally, this tour naturally produces lower emissions due to its single centre model, meaning that luggage transfers are not required and no support vehicles are provided.

Environment

We've been delivering holidays by bicycle for over 30 years, encouraging this environmentally friendly activity is at the absolute core of our business.

Our destination managers in Candes-St-Martin provide all cyclists with a refillable water bottle and share some top tips on how to support the local environment. Ideas such as turning off lights when leaving a room, considering if you need clean towels and bedding regularly and taking no more than one shower daily when possible. We also encourage our clients to stick to marked trails and to take away any waste when stopping off for a picnic or to explore the local area.

At our head office in the UK we recycle paper, card, plastic and metal cans and we always try to use fully recyclable materials for our printed travel documents and marketing communications. We encourage all our staff to cycle when they can and are part of the Cycle to Work scheme. We also like to take part in charity bike rides together each year.

Community

Each year when we purchase new equipment, we will donate our previous bikes and accessories to local businesses and charities in the local area. We also work with World Bicycle Relief to support bike-led charity projects in developing nations.

All our tours encourage cyclists to get off the beaten track and discover the lesser-known parts of the region, visit small wine producers and eat in local restaurants. We also work with local suppliers to organise activities that support the local economy wherever possible and offer advice on bartering to offer a fair price for both the client and the vendor.

Our cycle experts and destination managers will also advise our clients to respect local cultures and traditions when visiting the area and its historic or religious sites, including appropriate dress. They will also discuss other ways you can consider your impact on the community such as asking for permission before taking someone’s photograph and learning a few words in the local language – often hello, goodbye and thanks is a good place to start.