Italy self guided cycling and culinary tour

Planet

We've been organising cycling for over 40 years and encouraging this environmentally-friendly activity is at the absolute core of our business.

Our destination managers in Emilia Romagna 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, or 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.

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.

We are always looking to minimise the amount of driving that is required of our Destination Managers. We do this by providing detailed manifests and training our team to plan the most efficient routes for each task. We have seen a considerable decrease in the amount of driving our team are required to do over the last two years and are working to keep things moving in this direction for the future.

People

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 Emilia Romagna, visit small wine producers and eat in local restaurants such as visiting the covered market in Modena which has been selling local products since the middle ages. 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 sites, for example the spectacular castle of Torrechiara. 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.