Following a strong response from travellers and agents to the launch of its new collection of Europe tours in December 2020, G Adventures is expanding its offering of closer to home adventures for UK and Irish travellers, with the addition of eight new active and sailing trips for 2021. Designed to show a different side of popular destinations, beyond the ‘mass market’ offerings, the trips will focus on hiking and reconnecting with the great outdoors in new regions and destinations for G Adventures, including Cyprus, Madeira, eastern Iceland, northern Greece and Slovenia.
Bringing the European collection to a total of 16 tours, with first departures in March 2021, the new tours will challenge stereotypes around much-loved destinations, while shining a light on more remote, local experiences and culinary offerings. Highlights include wooded valley trails in Slovenia’s Julian Alps, farm to table meals at a homestay in east Iceland, hikes to castles and historic ruins in Cyprus and traversing two of Mount Olympus’ highest peaks in northern Greece. With a focus on local options, the tours will include just one or two accommodations, minimising the times travellers need to unpack throughout the trip.
“The response from agents to the first set of tours has been incredibly positive, with destinations such as Crete and the Canary Islands selling particularly well. The addition of these eight new tours will further enhance our offering in Europe, allowing us to cover a more diverse range of destinations, which are much-loved by British and Irish travellers. Many agents know these destinations inside out and it’s refreshing for them to have a product that provides something a little different to what their customers expect,” says Stu Darnley, national sales manager at G Adventures.
“The current UK lockdown is only enhancing pent up demand, but means travellers are now looking past February for their next trip. With hiking weather being favourable in these pre-season months in certain destinations, we’re expecting to see a pick up in our early departures from those who are keen to travel as soon as they can,” Darnley says.
