“Family-Friendly” Trips 

When
Every year, Blue Marble operates one or more week-long “Family-Friendly” trips, designed to let you travel with your youngsters — young or not so young.  The approximate age range is illustrated in these photos, taken on the same trip (Brittany in 2009).  At right, Elise, Jack and Mathilde (with an anonymous mom).  Below left:  Jill, Alex, and Kait, harder to tell from “their” oldsters. 

In 2010, the following are scheduled.
Austria’s Sound of Music Country, June 27
France’s Loire Valley, July 24


Where
France always hosts one of the two trips:  the Loire Valley in even years, and Brittany in odd years, generally scheduled in the last week of June / first week of July (2010’s in an exception).

In addition, we offer a guest-initiated trip (any two “Founding Families” can create it), in France or not.  Past trips have run to Alsace, Provence...  and this year’s will be in the Sound of Music land of Austria. 

Finally, we offer a “Family-Friendly” Day Trip to the Loire Valley all season long, which can be expanded to take in a second or third day if desired.


Why
We have children of our own, and know the challenges implicit in taking cycle vacations with them.  But kids of all ages love biking, under their own power or not.  They love being outdoors, they love being with their parents in a new environment (and seeing their parents in a new light), and they have the energy the parents sometimes lack.... 

And travellers can come whether or not they wish to bike.  A minimum fitness level is still required, since alternate transportation is by train and bus, and you still have to move to and from the stations on foot.  But if Grandma is a fit 65, and would enjoy coming along, why not bring her?  “Family-Friendly” means just that:  open to the whole family (except the goldfish).  See our “Training Partner” program for details.


What We Do
We slightly modify our usual trips, and offer several special services / considerations:

• Getting kids to pack is not always easy, so we try to limit the hotel changes.  Typically, we use no more than three hotels on a Family-Friendly trip.
• For the cyclists, we offer more variable-distance loop rides, so that strapping teens can cover kilometers, while little legs can limit the effort.  Non-cyclists will find the night stops of intrinsic interest, but will also have access to day trips into the local city, or to neighboring towns, if reading a book by the river is not appealing.
• We review our cycling itineraries with a specific eye to safety, and reduce to a minimum, or eliminate entirely, any high-traffic zones.  Where one is unavoidable, geography oblige, we offer a non-biking option to get around it (by taking a short train ride, for instance).
• We offer our “Daily” Baggage Transfer service at a reduced price, stuffed animals transported at no extra charge.
• Attention span is not always a strong suit, so we try to place more focus on the non-biking options available to distract the troops.
• In the same vein, it is nice to have a place where the adults can enjoy a leisurely (and gastronomic) dinner while antsy children drift off, without worrying about their safety.  So we try to privilige hotels with their own, in-house restaurants.  Depending on the age of the participants, we may offer an escorted “kids night out,” to a restaurant more in tune with the age group than the one we select for the parents....
  

The goal is for everyone to have a good time, regardless of age or cycling ability — right?  Well, French amusement parks have bars....

Family Pricing
Our Family Pricing offers discounts for children partipating in week-long “Family-Friendly” trips (special pricing for children is also available on the Loire Day Trip), so long as they don't need the river-view room.  They can come and look at the river from your room. 
Children 12 and up are also welcome on our other regularly-scheduled departures.  However, the Family Pricing plan only applies if at least two “full fare” family members are also on the trip.