Your European Adventure Just Got Cheaper

The euro is trading near to 1.26 today! That is a 22% drop since last summer at least, and a recent forecast sent out by our forex broker has some analysts prediction the Euro will hit 1.15 this year!

Well, the economy may be in the dumps, but for those who still plan to travel, this levels the playing field with other destinations. Of course I'm happy to report that with all of our tours the price just keeps going down when you convert to $US, $CAD, and many other currencies.

If you look at other tour operators selling trips in your local currency - are they reducing the price of their tours correspondingly? Unlikely.

So, our Tuscany 4 night cycling tour priced at 910 euros in B&B's went from costing $1365US a few months ago to costing $1145US per person. So, for a couple that is $440 saved.

Spring is showing some excellent airfares too! Chicago-Paris roundtrip in April is under $700!

Hmmm, the last minute spring traveler has some good options now I think!

L

New & Improved Vienna to Budapest

I just wanted to blog about our 'new and improved' Vienna to Budapest trip. We have been on this route which mostly follows the Danube for a few years, but this year we are turning it around and starting from Vienna. We changed some ground suppliers over the winter and it made better sense to do this. The route is mostly the same, but the overall 'value' of the trip has much improved! We have higher quality bikes for starters and the trip in this version actually starts with services in Vienna and finishes in Budapest. Before we finished in Sopron, in Hungary, and had to train to Vienna. Also, nice on this new trip is the stop in Bratislava in Slovakia. Then it is into Hungary. We had to leave off a few of the last stops in the old tour, but we keep Gyor, Tata, and Esztergom before Budapest.

The picture above is the 'cathedral' of Esztergom. This is a massive structure!! It is impossible to tell from the pictures, but the columns in front are bigger than redwoods. It also has a fascinating crypt and fantastic interior frescos and ornamentation. Wikipedia does a brilliant detail of the village: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esztergom This is just one of the highlights of this trip!

Here is the link to the Tour: http://www.pure-adventures.com/tours/cycling-hungary.php

About Budapest and Hungary:

Budapest: Not only is Budapest the worthy holder of the title `Queen of the Danube`, but in fact there is no other capital city in the world with almost 100 thermal springs and 12 medicinal baths within its boundaries, where 19 million gallons of thermal water rise to the surface each day. Despite spectacular development, Budapest has preserved its old charm and magic. It is a city where the pleasing harmony of different architectural styles and superb structures, the cafés, baths, the food and culture, combined with legendary hospitality blend into an unforgettable experience for visitors. For lovers of culture, the only problem is choice. 237 monuments, 223 museums and galleries, 35 theatres, 90 cinemas, 2 opera houses, 12 concert halls and nearly 200 places of amusement offer a wide variety of things to do.

Geography/Terrain: Hungary is a mostly flat country, dominated by the Great Hungarian Plain east of the Danube. The land rises into hills and some low mountains in the north along the Slovakian border. The highest point is Mt Kekes at 3,330 ft. (1,015m) The Danube is the major river, as it divides the country almost in half. The Drava and Drava are two of it tributaries. The largest lake is Balaton.