Recommendations for tour operators - London to Paris

[livpoksoc]

Back in 2011 I went on Ldn2Par with Discover Adventure. It was really well run, with a morning and afternoon water/jelly baby stop run by the swannies, and lunch laid on by caterers in a van at midway each day. The ride had a dedicated mechanic team, with plenty of spares on hand.

The logistics were impressive but also made sure the 100 or so participants all got to be social and make friends, before riding on again.

I just took a look at their website and it appears they have scrapped a lot of the support - stating that they stop at 'locally selected cafes'. A real shame, but am sure there are myriad reasons for scaling back.

Do any CCers have any recommendations for tour operators covering LDN2PAR for 2023?

Thanks

 

[Sallar55]

I think that nice cafes are better that a having a van doing the food. Why not just go alone , could use the old 2011 route you done. Bumped into a Marmot tour once, eating/backup out of a van put me off most of the organized tours.

 

[livpoksoc]

I think that nice cafes are better that a having a van doing the food. Why not just go alone , could use the old 2011 route you done. Bumped into a Marmot tour once, eating/backup out of a van put me off most of the organized tours.

I've probably made it sound dingy - these guys prepped all the lunch at the hotel kitchen the night before, and it was excellent - massive selections of salads and super foods, a cake and plenty of fresh fruit etc.

 

[T4tomo]

I think that nice cafes are better that a having a van doing the food. Why not just go alone , could use the old 2011 route you done. Bumped into a Marmot tour once, eating/backup out of a van put me off most of the organized tours.

Because not everyone enjoys organising everything or carrying their own luggage, don't assume everyone thinks the same as you.

@livpoksoc saddle skedaddle are good for that sort of stuff, but don't do a L2P from what I can see, but loads of other options UK & Europe and further afield.

If you want a bigger ride - british legion do a L2P every year, although that wil either involve fundraising or paying a small premium over the "cost"

 

[livpoksoc]

Because not everyone enjoys organising everything or carrying their own luggage, don't assume everyone thinks the same as you.

@livpoksoc saddle skedaddle are good for that sort of stuff, but don't do a L2P from what I can see, but loads of other options UK & Europe and further afield.

If you want a bigger ride - british legion do a L2P every year, although that wil either involve fundraising or paying a small premium over the "cost"

Thanks - I went with a charity ride last time and not against doing it again. The one I did had various different charities represented.

 

[Dogtrousers]

A friend of mine did L-P with Discover Adventure earlier this year, and from what she said it sounded a lot like your description. But maybe the change in policy you refer to hadn't taken effect. Drop them a line and see maybe?

Edit: Here's a pic of the plans for the first day taken when we went to see her off (Jul this year) You can see that the stopping points are village halls.

 

[livpoksoc]

A friend of mine did L-P with Discover Adventure earlier this year, and from what she said it sounded a lot like your description. But maybe the change in policy you refer to hadn't taken effect. Drop them a line and see maybe?

Edit: Here's a pic of the plans for the first day taken when we went to see her off (Jul this year) You can see that the stopping points are village halls.
View attachment 665719

Interesting, thank you. I'll give them a shout.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

My son and I did L2P a few years ago with More Adventure. (https://www.moreadventure.co.uk/).

The support vehicle (a van) also carried one overnight bags between stops and went a bit ahead at times to grab photos of the group as we passed. Lunch was buffet style, under a pop-up gazebo, consisting of a good selection of local foods picked up en-route by the van driver. The choice of food on the second day was based on what went down well on the first.

It was well organised and I’d use them again.