DuVine’s Long Weekend to the Smoky Mountains

Biking Smoky Mountains with DuVineDuVine, the Massachusetts-based biking tour operator who brought Lisa and I on a fantastic trip to Puglia, Italy, introduced shorter 4-day trips around America last year, including itineraries to Santa Barbara and Tucson. But it’s hard to top their newly revealed trip to Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, where you can bike to your heart’s content on the rolling backcountry roads and then dine and lodge each night at one of the most decorated restaurants in the country, the Relais & Chateaux property, Blackberry Farm. You’ll squeeze in 4 day of riding, averaging 25 to 30 miles per day, before rewarding yourself with a feast of southern specialties like barbecued ribs and catfish, washed down with local microbrews and Tennessee whiskey. First trip out is May 24-27, 2021. Please let ActiveTravels know which itinerary looks the best and we’ll check availability. Also be on the lookout for the next The World Is Your Oyster segment, where we interview DuVine founder, Andy Levine, and discuss his new partnership with Lindblad.

Similar Posts

|

Great Freedom Adventures Offers New Biking Trip to Martha’s Vineyard and Block Island

Ever since I wrote my first book, Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England, I’ve admired local outfitters who specialize in one sport and one region of the world. After all, who knows his neck of the woods better than the guy who lives there? These outfitters can’t afford a big splashy catalogue or a PR firm in New York or London to represent them, so you have to dig a little deeper to find companies like Great Freedom Adventures out of New England. What you’ll get in return are itineraries that direct you to the top locales in the area. Take, for example, Great Freedom Adventures’ new 6-day bike trip called the Islands and Seacoast Biking Tour. It seems intuitive to combine New England’s most majestic islands, Martha’s Vineyard and Rhode Island’s Block Island together in one summer bike trip, but I’ve never seen that done before. They also have guests staying one night in Newport and one night in Little Compton, Rhode Island, a real gem where I often bike on a day trip to Boston. The $2695 price includes all lodging, transportation, most meals, bike rentals, and guides.

 

Ciclismo Classico Offers Boston-Based Day Rides This Summer

Biking the Finger LakesAs owner of this Arlington-based biking outfitter, Lauren Hefferon has been featured in a number of my stories, including this article for The Boston Globe on how to get fit before a bike trip. Ciclismo Classico’s specialty is biking in Italy, including fantastic trips to Sardinia, Sicily, and Tuscany. But due to the nature of current events, Lauren is focusing on North American options this summer, with scheduled group trips to the Finger Lakes, North Carolina, and Colonial Williamsburg, among others.

New this summer is her 29-mile day trip from Arlington called the Battle Road Bike Tour that she’ll be offering on select dates throughout June, July, and August. You’ll pedal along the path of battle taken on April 19, 1775 in Lexington, Bedford and Concord. In addition to this Battle Road Ride, Lauren will also be developing several local 3-4 hour bicycle tours for small groups (10-15) with expert local bicycle guides that will immerse people of all ages and abilities in the rich cultural offerings of our own backyard. Each will follow a robust historic and culinary theme and a behind the scenes view of the cultural significance of places like:

The Ports and Harbors of the North Shore
The Mill Towns and Hamlets of Middlesex County
The Grand Tour of Boston By Bike

Additionally, she will be offering cycling instruction and ensure that every cyclist is COVID safe as well as improving their cycling skills to be safe and confident cyclists.

If interested in any of Ciclismo Classico’s trips, please contact ActiveTravels and we’ll help arrange.

Bike and Barge on the Moselle River with Discovery Bicycle Tours

Two people riding bicyclesLisa and I spent time at the Boston Travel Show talking to Scott and Thistle Cone, owners of Discovery Bicycle Tours. My brother, Jim, and I biked with them in central Vermont when the outfitter was known as Bike Vermont. Still based in Woodstock, Vermont, but under new ownership, the company has expanded to Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia at a price point less than Backroads, more comparable with VBT. Groups are small, on average between 8 to 15 guests. We like their 8-day bike and barge tour on the Moselle River in July, where you bike 16 to 35 miles a day on relatively easy terrain, then return to your river cruise to relax and dine. Best part is that you don’t have to pack and unpack every day. Cost is $3695 per person, all-inclusive.

|

Biking Niagara-on-the-Lake with Butterfield and Robinson

Only a half-hour drive from the thunderous roar of Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake is the antithesis of its commercialized neighbor. This charming Victorian town rests in the heart of Ontario wine country, where close to 100 vineyards produce the sweet icewine, Riesling, and Pinot Noir. Like Napa, the best way to tour the vineyards is on backcountry roads via a bike. At night, rest your weary legs while watching a play at the renowned Shaw Festival, specializing in the works of Bernard Shaw. I’m fortunate to be reporting live from Niagara-on-the-Lake this week while biking with the highly reputable outfitter, Butterfield and Robinson. 

 
Other biking outfitters can try to emulate Butterfield & Robinson, but none can approach George Butterfield’s innate sense of style. His Loire Valley trips are legendary—nights spent at 14th century castles, seven-course feasts at private French vineyards, a van always by your side when you tire of biking. He’ll tailor-design trips to your particular desires, with private tours for multi-generational families and corporate groups now a huge part of his business. They offer biking and walking vacations to all corners of the globe, so it seems almost ironic that they’re finally setting their sights on their own backyard. Toronto-based, B&R is entering the Ontario market with vacations this summer and fall to Niagara-on-the-Lake. I’m privileged to be a part of their inaugural jaunt. 
 
|

Arizona Week—Biking Tucson

Once a kayaking guide on Lake Powell, Jimmy Bultman exchanged paddles for pedals and followed his sweetheart to the southern part of Arizona to open Tucson Bike Tours. The compact size and level terrain of the city lends itself well to biking and Jimmy, a history buff, is the ideal guide to give you an overview on a 2-hour ride. We cruised past the restaurants and bars on 4th Avenue to the University of Arizona campus, where Jimmy pointed out the new memorial dedicated to the men who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Arizona. We biked across Rattlesnake Bridge, a bridge that looks like a rattler, and then made our way to Hotel Congress, the hotel where bank robber, John Dillinger, was captured in 1934. There was a jazz festival going on so after the ride, we strolled back to the hotel’s excellent restaurant, Cup Café, to grab lunch and listen to live music. Jimmy next led us to the colorful houses of the historic neighborhood of the Presidio, past Tucson Museum of Art and near the last standing wall of an 18th-century fort built by the Spanish. Outside the home of Lalo Guerrero, the Chicano music legend, Jimmy used a small speaker to play Lalo’s well-known song about the old neighborhood, “Barrio Viejo.” He’s a guide who goes the extra mile to share his passion about the city. 

 
|

VBT To Feature Culinary-Based Biking Trips in 2012

Call me nostalgic, but I’ve always been partial to VBT. In 1995, while researching my book, Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England, VBT took me on my first organized bike trip along the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont. They have since expanded to all four corners of the Globe. Just ask my mother-in-law, who’s traveled with VBT to South Africa, Germany, and the Netherlands and raves about all those trips. This year, VBT will feature four culinary tours that sound very tasty. In April, they’ll travel to Puglia to bike along Italy’s Adriatic Coast and explore olive groves, sample local wines, and dive into dinners of fresh seafood and locally grown vegetables. In September and October, VBT will visit Provence to bike backcountry roads through the French countryside, enjoy a home-cooked meal, and stop at fromageries and wine bars. Last but certainly not least is their trip to Vietnam in November to bike past the verdant rice terraces and sample the indigenous fare at markets, family-run food shops, and your own Vietnamese cooking class. Also take a peek at their new destinations in 2012 like a sweet ride along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. 

 

Leave a Reply