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“Family-Friendly” Trips
Topics discussed on this page: When? Where? Why? What We Do to make Family Trips Family Trips? And... pricing.
When
Every year, Blue Marble operates two or more week-long “Family-Friendly” trips, designed to let you travel with the junior members of your clan — young or not so young.
Where
France always hosts one of the two trips: the Loire Valley in even years, and Brittany in odd years, scheduled in the last week of June.
In addition, we offer a guest-initiated trip (any two “Founding Families” can create it), in France or not. Past trips have run in Alsace, Provence, the Jura (the mountains on the French / Swiss border) and the Sound of Music land of Austria.
In 2012, we are offering a Loire Valley trip in the last week in June, and our “Chocolate Box Jura” ride in the first week in August.
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 (or any itinerant) 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 all family members can come along, 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 walk to and from the stations on foot. But if Grandma is a fit 65, and would enjoy the trip, why not bring her? “Family-Friendly” means just that: open to the whole family (except the goldfish). See our “Training Partner” program for details of adult travel without a bike.
What We Do
We 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, without worrying about the safety of their children. So we try to privilege 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 amusem ent 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.
Family Pricing / Child Discounts
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Age of Child |
| Desired Lodging |
Under 2 |
2 - 5
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6 - 11 |
12 - 19 |
| Sharing Parents’ Room** |
Price* =
$265 US / $250 C / 175€ |
Price* =
$610 US / $575 C / 410€ |
40% discount on the trip price, net of cycle cost |
20% discount on the trip price, net of cycle cost |
Not in Parents’ Room
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30% reduction on trip price, net of cycle cost***
(includes use of high quality child monitors)
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20% reduction on trip price, net of cycle cost*** |
| Conditions |
*Prices for children 0 - 5 do not include rental bike equipment. Child seats, trailers, and tagalong bikes are available at additional cost.
** With separate bed (crib or pack-and-play for children 2 and under)
***The trip’s Private Single Room charge will apply if the child occupies a single room.
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- Discount triple rooms (used by three children) may be twin rooms with an extra bed.
- Quad parent-and-child “family” rooms cannot be guaranteed, as not all hotels have them, and certainly not in sufficient quantity for multiple families. When
available, they will typically be rooms with one double bed and two single beds. If you are two parents travelling with two children over 2 years old, you may request such a room when you sign up for the trip. But you must be willing to accept the alternate (and less discounted) solution of two separate-but-proximate rooms. If a quad can be assigned at some stops and not others, the additional discount will be pro-rated. Available quads will be assigned in order of trip sign-up.
- Child discounts are not cumulable with any other commercial discount, such as “student” or “group” discounts, or discounts accorded to the Founders of Guest-Initiated Trips. In all cases, the larger discount will be used.
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Services