5 Safe and wonderful places to go now

With quarantine arrangements refined and Foreign Office advice now allowing holiday travel to defined countries, we can all gear up and book a holiday with some certainty. And boy are we all looking forward to one after lockdown!

With safety very much at the top of the list, our suppliers checked for cleaning and social distancing measures, we think our self guided walking and cycling holidays are the perfect getaways, full of fresh air and away from the crowds in rural areas. Don’t be daunted by cycling – E bikes, are widely available and we are the home of gentle cycling with short distances and holidays that are relaxed.

Here are our 5 top suggestions for safe and wonderful places to holiday this summer:

Provence, France

Provence offers that magical combination of a sunny clime, rural backdrop and marvellous food and wine. If you don’t fancy flying or arriving by train, then driving is a realistic option and we can arrange parking for the duration of your tour. With a choice of luxury and classic hotels, the walking is stunning yet leisurely with picturesque mountain villages, the scent of cedars and landscapes beloved by Cezanne. If you prefer to pedal, we’ve sorted a gentle route that weaves through the lovely rural landscape and into the wilds of the Camargue. This is a gem of a trip!

Emilia Romanga, Italy

If you want seaside coupled with time for pampering and a very leisurely cycling holiday, then head to Emilia Romanga to find our clutch of family owned, luxury hotels that we link together with fascinating yet flat rural cycling and the historic gems of Ravenna. We have already had clients holiday here since lockdown and customer feedback for this trip is always exemplary.

Connemara, Ireland

This area on the west coast of Ireland is another rural beauty – sometimes referred to as ‘the western wonderland of Europe’ with its stunning Atlantic beaches and rugged mountains. Here we focus on luxury hotels only and a choice of gentle walking or gentle cycling through this far from the madding crowd territory. Inbuilt in the itinerary is plenty of time to relax.

The Cotswolds, England

The gorgeous Cotswolds are a really good option for your summer holiday this year and always a favourite of international visitors for obvious reasons. But this year, tour groups (along with seaside crowds) will be absent. So with endless chocolate box villages set in a rural idyll and hugely characterful small hotels, both luxury and classic, its no surprise we have plenty of walking and cycling holidays here. Most cycling is not hilly as we have carefully designed our routes; but E bikes are available. Our walking trips take in the hills with their amazing views but most have relaxed distances. For 2020, this is a winning area.

The Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland, England

Our final top pick is the north of England for fabulous, ‘blow the cobwebs away ‘ walking. Choose the world class historic gem of Hadrians Wall for a vast and beautiful landscape peppered with Roman remnants and enjoy luxury hotels along the way. Or discover the idyllic rural valleys and villages of the Yorkshire Dales where in a week’s walking you will see barely a modern day development. We can eulogise about this area forever, but you need to go and find out for yourself!