VBT Bicycling Vacations

Highlights

• Learn about the personal life of artist Salvador Dalí during a visit to Púbol Castle.
• Pedal a rural landscape past fields of sunflowers, fruit orchards, and rice fields.
• Enjoy lunch at a typical mas—a small Catalonian farmhouse—featuring dishes crafted from our hosts’ organic farm.
• Admire one of the finest amphitheaters outside of Rome on a guided audio tour of the Greek and Roman ruins of Empúries.
• Enjoy a scenic private cruise along the Costa Brava.

Highlights

• Admire the magnificent vistas of France’s most renowned wine regions by river and by bicycle.
• Enjoy the best of both worlds: an all-inclusive river ship cruise and VBT Bicycling Vacation.
• Ride among the lush, fertile vineyards of Burgundy and Provence, pausing at your leisure for wine tastings and tours.
• Learn the history of the magnificent Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct and UNESCO World Heritage site’s museum, and savor a delicious picnic lunch.
• Walk the cobbled and historic streets of Lyon and Avignon as a local guide brings them alive with history and lore.

Highlights

• Experience three countries—Germany, Luxembourg, and France—up close, by bike.
• View quaint villages, lush vineyards and forests, and fairytale castles as you roll along a scenic river.
• Explore the ancient Roman and medieval treasures of Trier.
• Enjoy a private wine tasting.
• Relax on your barge and sip Germany’s finest Rieslings and beers.

Highlights

• Tour two historic treasures of Santiago de Compostela—the Hostal dos Reis Católicos and the splendidly ornate cathedral, the city’s revered pilgrimage site.
• Cycle the scenic Portuguese Coastal Camino de Santiago, perhaps passing pilgrims along the way.
• Taste the most prestigious wines of the region: Spain’s albariño in Rías Baixas and Portugal’s vinho verde.
• Enjoy lunch as honored guests at a Portuguese Count’s elegant manor house.
• Board a traditional fishing boat and pick shellfish with a local “Sea Woman” in the heart of Galicia’s seafood tradition.

Highlights

• Enter the world of Downton Abbey in Bampton, its stand-in on the beloved PBS series.
• Explore the gardens and staterooms of Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Cycle through a classic English countryside of sheep-dotted pastures, woodlands, market towns, tiny hamlets, and thatched-cottage villages.
• Experience the charms of Bourton-on-the-Water, called the “Venice of the Cotswolds” for its graceful arched stone bridges.
• Probe the region’s Roman heritage on a 2,000-year-old cycling route and end at the ancient ruins in Bath.

Highlights

• Cycle past the sprawling beaches, grand “cottages,” and historic ruins of Jekyll Island.
• Navigate your kayak through a salt marsh preserve in search of eagles, otters, and dolphins.
• Visit the scene-stealing St. Augustine Lighthouse and the nearby pristine four-mile beach of Anastasia State Park.
• Embark on a sunset cruise on the Schooner Freedom, a fine testament to Civil War blockade runners.
• Cycle the farmlands of St. John’s County, pedaling past potato and cabbage fields, small farming communities, and the tranquil St. John’s River.

Highlights

• Pass renowned wine villages rolling through the world-famous vineyards of the Côte de Beaune and UNESCO World Heritage Route des Grands Crus.
• Visit the 15th-century Hospices de Beaune, a masterpiece of flamboyant Gothic art and architecture.
• Enjoy a guided tour and tasting at an authentic wine cellar in the heart of Beaune.
• Engage with a local family during a game of pétanque and a picnic lunch at their charming summer home.
• Discover Dijon, with its protected historic city center that has inspired musicians, artists, and writers for centuries, and browse its wealth of fascinating—and free—museums.

Highlights

• Explore the medieval fortress and fascinating fishing museum in the tiny village of Komiža on the island of Vis.
• Cycle into historic cities central to the past and culture of the Dalmatian Islands: Korčula, Hvar, Jelsa, Stari Grad, Postira, Pučišća.
• Learn some Croatian cooking tips during a demonstration with your onboard chef—and savor the results for dinner.
• Visit one of the last remaining stonecutters’ schools, on the island of Brač.
• Taste unique Dalmatian wines in one of the well-known local wineries.