Alpilles cycling vacation in Provence

Planet

We've been organising cycling for over 30 years, encouraging this environmentally friendly activity is at the absolute core of our business.

Our destination managers in Provence 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.

The main components of our vacations 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. Provence can be reached by train from London in less than 6 hours, meaning not only is it a better option for our planet, but quicker than flying or driving too.

We are also 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 Provence, visit small wine producers and eat in local restaurants. For example we use an excellent local restaurant in St-Remy-de-Provence called l'Aile ou la Cuisse, which has been run by a local family for more than 20 years and is adored by locals and tourists alike. 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, for example the spectacular church in St-Remy-de-Provence, 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.