Walking, biking, hiking can be very luxurious when you use the right people to plan your trip.

I haven’t used the tour operators listed below, but they all are highly recommended by personal friends. For biking, walking, hiking and multi-sport trips, check out these:

- Butterfield & Robinson
- Country Walkers
- Backroads

Some of their trips are very easy. Think…strolling down paths through the Loire Chateau country, 5***** hotels…drinking wine…eating gourmet dinners….double yummy! Or a cooking class…or sitting at a cafe sketching pictures. And if you pick a walking/biking/multi-sport trip, there is usually a “sag wagon” if you poop out or don’t want to do anything that day.

And, among the many other operators are:

- Tauck Travel
- Abercrombie & Kent

Any of these Tour Operators will be happy to arrange private trips if you’d rather not travel with a group (or form your own group).
I also read Conde Nast Traveler, Travel and Leisure – even if you can’t afford the trips these tour operators offer (and magazines suggest), it’s still makes for a fun and interesting read….and gives me ideas.

Then I go to “Lonely Planet “, and research some lower budget operators, but this article is for you luxury people. (Must admit…we have taken some luxury trips in the past.) I’m sure you all have travel agents and have had experiences with these tour companies, but it never hurts to suggest different possibilities. I even get Private Jet mailings! How that happened, I’ll never know…but if I could afford it…I’d do it.

How about renting a Villa or Chateau in Europe?

Barging down a river in France? We did this trip w…a….y… back, when rates were reasonable (for us). Ex-Marine had just stopped smoking and gained 10 pounds in one week. How? By eating all the Baquettes of French Bread brought on board every day. You float about 10 miles a day – down the river canals (through locks), biking or walking (if you choose) along the towpaths, meandering through small towns, visiting Chateaux, sampling French Wine in local Caves and eating sumptuous meals. Does it get any better than that…?

floating along on a barge through France 

visiting Chateaux in FranceThe Galapagos Islands? There are a many ways to see the Galapagos….larger cruise ships, smaller cruise ships, intimate sailing boats, and even, charter one for your family.

The blue-footed Boobie Birds are a stitch! View image

Have you ever seen blue feetlike this? Galapagos

And there’s nothing like going eyeball-to-eyeball with a seal.

 

 

India? Don’t let stories about hygiene, beggers, tales about stepping over “people dying in the streets” scare you off. India is one of the Worlds best-kept secrets. Exotic, interesting and safe! We’ve taken over six trips ourselves: Kashmir (before it became unsafe); Darjeeling; South India; Ladakh; Tribal Areas and Tiger Sanctuaries of Chattisgarh; and Rajasthan, with its extremely luxurious Palace hotels that formerly belonged to Maharajahs. Detail of our room decor….View image…

one of the Palace hotels in Bikaner, India 

How about Antarctica? It is supposed to be a trip of a lifetime. Friends, of ours, definitely agree! They opted for a supremely expensive cruise which included guest speakers like Reinhold Messner, the first person to climb all 14,800 meter mountains.

Just a few thoughts….enjoy….and keep traveling…..