What's included?
Ensuite accommodation every night with breakfast. For all tours, we only book rooms with ensuite bathrooms. On our Luxury trips we use AA/RAC awarded 4 and 5 star (the occasional 3 star) hotels, manor houses, old inns and boutique hotels chosen for their quality, character and location with upgraded rooms. Links to all these hotels appear on each luxury itinerary. On our Classic trips, we have carefully chosen small hotels and inns picked for their quality, character and location. In the UK all breakfasts are cooked. In Europe, breakfasts are continental
The services of our friendly local Hosts to welcome and brief you and share their local knowledge - on self-guided trips of 3 or more nights
Luggage transfers between hotels
Touring bikes and accessories if a cycling tour - see Our Equipment
24/7 phone contact number
Adventure Handbook with our local tips packed full with information, history and photos of the area your tour covers, as well as The Carter Company's insider tips on how to discover the local secrets and hidden gems most tourists never see!
GPS Routes on an App with waterproof phone holder. All UK cycling and walking holidays have GPS navigation using an App that requires no mobile data download. We supply a waterproof phone holder- one per room (that attaches to your handlebars if you are cycling) and a power pack with charger for peace of mind. These are all yours to keep at the end of the tour. Tours in mainland Europe have written route directions or GPS
Guidebook or OS maps yours to keep on all UK trips. Tours in mainland Europe have local guidebooks and maps.
Protection of your funds Read more about how we protect your holiday
Advice, help and guidance planning your trip with all your holiday details before you arrive and during your holiday. We want you to go home feeling you have been thoroughly looked after
Some trips include dinner where specified
Some trips may include a train hop on cycling days. The cost is included on our longer trips only. Trips lasting 3 days or less do not include the train fare
Boat tickets are only included where specified
Not included: Airfares, travel to and from the trip start and finish points unless specified, entrances to attractions unless specified, boat fares unless specified, lunches and dinners unless specified, alcoholic beverages, mini bars and meals pre and post the trip
Our equipment
We offer comfortable touring bikes on all our cycling holidays, adjusted for you. E bikes are available on almost all trips whilst road bikes are available for some tours - please ask us.
Each bicycle comes with a pannier, pump, lock, toolkit, spare inner tube, handle-bar mounted waterproof phone holder and helmet (unless otherwise stated)
For walking holidays, we provide a waterproof phone holder
Activity levels
Gentle: Walking trips have walks of less than 10 -12 miles (16 - 19 km) per day unless the walks are steep. They are graded within the context of gentle walking. Cycling trips are based on 20 miles (32 km) per day. They are graded within the context of gentle cycling. Even for levels 4 and 5 you do not need to be a dedicated rider with major fitness
Level 1: dead flat and 2 - 4 hours cycling per day. No fitness to speak of
Level 2: occasional slopes and 2 - 4 hours cycling per day. No fitness to speak of
Level 3: a slope most days and/or 1 or more days of 3 - 5 hours cycling. Recreational rider
Level 4: a slope most days and/or most days with 3 -5 hours cycling. Fairly fit rider
Level 5: a few slopes most days and most days with 3 -5 hours cycling. Fairly fit rider
Not so gentle: Walking trips have walking days of 12-15 miles (19-24 km) per day. None are extreme. Cycling trips are based on 30 miles (48 km) per day or more. None are extreme
Electric bike hire
We are offering high quality pedal assist electric bikes for you to hire if you wish to cycle with less effort on all our UK cycling trips and most of our other cycling holidays too. They are easy to use and lightweight.
The hire cost of these bikes varies from trip to trip so please just drop us an email for a specific price for the holiday you are interested in
Self-guided
Almost all our tours are self guided so you are free to explore on your own. They are priced without a guide but if you would like a guide for part or all of your trip, we are happy to provide a knowledgeable, local guide on request.