European Bike Tour Companies Offer Budget Bicycling at its Best

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ --

American travelers can take advantage of a stronger dollar and low tour prices by booking with European bicycle tour companies. One-week tours can cost less than $1,000 per week including hotels, luggage transfers, bike rentals, maps and many meals

It's budget bicycle touring at its best, as a stronger dollar and already low prices translate to excellent values for Americans booking trips with European bicycle tour operators with many one-week programs less than $1,000. Europe-based companies have long offered tours priced as much as 60 to 70 percent lower than those of companies based in North America, according to Jim Johnson, president of Tennessee-based BikeToursDirect, which represents more than 40 Europe-based bike tour companies.

"Most European companies have lower overhead and a larger client base than their American counterparts, which keeps tour costs low," Johnson explains. "Since they price their tours in euros, American clients now get the added benefit of an improved exchange rate."

For example, a one-week program along Austria's Danube Bicycle Path now costs less than $850 per person including lodging in three-star hotels, luggage transfers, bicycle rentals, detailed route information, and a service hotline. A weeklong tour in Provence costs about $900 and a tour around Tuscany about $980. "Wine and Bike in Hungary's Balaton Uplands" includes seven nights' lodging, two ride-along guides, support van, all meals and unlimited wine consumption at dinner and is perhaps one of the season's best values at less than $1,300.

For further information, visit www.biketoursdirect.com or contact (877) 462-2423 or [email protected].

About BikeToursDirect

BikeToursDirect LLC, founded in 2003, represents more than 40 European bike tour companies with more than 200 tours in 32 countries and offers their tours through a central web site, www.biketoursdirect.com. Clients book online, and the company handles the booking and payment process. In 2009, the company sent more than 1,200 clients to Europe.

SOURCE BikeToursDirect