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CYCLING Biking in New York, Cape Cod & Vermont 15 nights TOUR OVERVIEW Open your tour with three nights in New York City and experience the vibrancy of The Big Apple. Visit iconic sites on foot and by bike - Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park and many more. We will also have time to catch a Broadway show if you wish. Moving on to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, you will cycle easy paths past scenic lighthouses, gingerbread cottages and dramatic sea vistas. Discover what makes Martha’s Vineyard such a favourite with artists, writers and American Presidents. Following some spectacular coastal riding, we move on to the glorious fall colours of Vermont. Every day will feature leisurely lakeside cycling and awe inspiring views of Lake Champlain. Our rides will be on the Burlington bike path and quiet back roads, through charming New England towns all the while staying in cosy inns and boutique hotels. TOUR HIGHLIGHTS • Three nights in New York City • Visit tranquil islands – made for cycling, with exhilarating oceanside rides, dramatic vistas, ferry crossings and scenic lighthouses • See what makes Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard a favourite of writers, artists and US Presidents • Experience the beautiful fall colours, lakeside splendour and rich his- tory of Vermont • Enjoy the small town hospitality and culture of the Northeastern USA • Enjoy magnificent lake, farmland and ocean panoramas – the best way possible, on a bike • Enjoy boutique accommodation in local inns TOUR INCLUSIONS TOUR EXCLUSIONS • The services of an experienced New Zealand based • Airline taxes Calder & Lawson tour manager • Personal expenses • Economy class airfares • Travel insurance • 13 nights accommodation in historic inns, resorts and • Beverages during included meals, unless 4 star hotels specified • Meals as specified in the itinerary • Other meals not specified in the itinerary • Bike and helmet • Hotel porterage • Local guides • American eSTA visa (electronic travel • All group transfers authorisation) • Admissions as detailed in the itinerary • If you wish to pay by credit card, a surcharge of 2.5% will be charged • All tips for local guides and drivers • Pre-tour material TOUR PRICE Ex Auckland Share twin per person NZD $14,399 (2020 price subject to update) Single supplement NZD $ 2,900 (2020 price subject to update) Please contact Calder & Lawson Tours if you are interested in a single occupancy place; they are very limited. GROUP SIZE Minimum 10, maximum 18 VARIATIONS IN TRAVEL We can make arrangements for any travel you would like to do before or after this tour, or book business class seats for the flights. Please contact us. IS THIS TOUR FOR ME? The cycling on this tour offers a range of easy terrain mixed with moderate rolling hills and optional ride extensions. It is ideal for both beginners who can choose shorter rides and experienced cyclists who can choose longer rides. The focus of the tour is to experience beautiful scenery, fall colours, delightful small towns, scenic lighthouses and breath-taking ocean views. A support van is available in Vermont and Cape Cod. E-bikes are available at extra cost, and these really do take the strain. Before using an e-bike on the tour be sure to borrow or hire one in New Zealand to try it out. E-bikes require some different skills from conventional bikes, and it's best not to try and learn these while in a tour group. DAILY ITINERARY Day 1 Depart Auckland to New York, arriving in the late evening of the same day. Auckland – New York Transfer to your hotel for the next three nights. The Edison New York is in the Meals: In flight heart of New York’s theatre district and just steps away from Times Square. Flight: 12 hours and 5 hours 30 minutes Overnight: New York A leisurely start this morning and then we will stretch our legs with a guided Day 2 bike tour of the most famous city park in the world, Central Park. Focusing on New York the art, architecture and history of Central Park, we will follow the entire Meals: B/D length of the park which is a 10 km loop. Highlights of this ride include: Overnight: New York Columbus Circle; Central Park Mall; Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir; Bethesda Fountain; The Great Lawn; Strawberry Fields and Belvedere Castle. After lunch, we will take a walk to the High Line, a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. Saved from demolition by neighbourhood residents and the City of New York, the High Line opened in 2009 as a hybrid public space where visitors experience nature, art, and design. End the afternoon at the extraordinary new neighbourhood of Hudson Yards, complete with the landmark “Vessel” – part spiral staircase to be climbed, part work of art. Around dusk we will visit “The Top of The Rock”, the viewing platform at the top of the Rockefeller Centre. Incredible views await including the opportunity to see two of the other iconic New York skyscrapers, the imposing Empire State building, and the stylised Chrysler Building. Finish the evening with your group welcome dinner. Another city bike ride awaits you today. The Brooklyn Bridge ride takes you Day 3 over one of the most iconic landmarks in New York City and rewards you with New York stunning panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline. This ride focuses on the Meals: B art, architecture and history of the engineering marvel that is the Brooklyn Overnight: New York Bridge, plus we get to enjoy the waterfront and Brooklyn Bridge Park. We ride a path that goes through the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge, so you are elevated above the car traffic below. The bird’s eye views of Manhattan, East River, Statue of Liberty and downtown Brooklyn will be an experience you will not forget! This afternoon, explore iconic sites and hidden gems of downtown New York on a walking tour with a local New Yorker. We will visit Greenwich Village, Soho, Little Italy, Chinatown, Wall Street and The World Trade Centre site. Tonight we will have free time for a relaxed dinner, to explore Times Square, local neighbourhoods or even take in a Broadway Show. This morning, we’ll check out of our hotel and take a private transfer to Cape Day 4 Cod. It is a picturesque drive up the Northeast seaboard to Falmouth in New York - Cape Cod Cape Cod where we will be welcomed by the innkeepers to a delightful Meals: B/D Victorian property situated in the tree lined historic district - only a 4-minute Coach: 4 hours walk from the shops, galleries and restaurants of Falmouth. In the evening Overnight: Cape Cod we’ll take a short stroll to one of the area’s finest restaurants followed by a get together back at the Inn to get to know our bike guides. Today’s ride is spectacular. Part of the day we follow the famous Shining Sea bikeway as we weave our way past salt marshes, cranberry bogs, bird Day 5 sanctuaries, beaches and harbours. Follow some quiet roads to the shores of Cape Cod Vineyard Sound in Falmouth, and then follow Surf Drive and Beach Road past Meals: B/L/D Little Pond and Inner Harbour where hundreds of yachts and sailboats are Cycling: 38 or 55 km anchored. We skirt past Oyster Pond, pausing here to breathe in the sea air, Overnight: Cape Cod watch osprey and heron, or take a brief side trip to Spohr Gardens where you will be treated to an array of over 100,000 daffodils, lilies, magnolias and azaleas. Rejoining the bike path, cruise along the Sound before cycling into the historic seaside village of Woods Hole. This was once a wealthy whaling town as shown by the many 19th century estates and the still-bustling commercial harbour. Continue to bike north to our lunch under the umbrellas at Dana’s Café. Our return ride takes us north along Buzzards Bay where we are treated to more awe-inspiring views as we ride through Great Sippewissett Marsh on an elevated causeway and pass through tidal flats bustling with egrets, geese and ducks. Day 6 After breakfast, we’ll ride back into Woods Hole to take the ferry to Martha’s Cape Cod - Martha’s Vineyard Vineyard. This is a delightful transition from mainland to island and you’ll have Meals: B/D views of the harbour and Vineyard Sound. We arrive 45 minutes later in Cycling: 48 or 64 km Vineyard Haven and ride from there along a route that includes a sea side Overnight: Martha’s Vineyard bike path to the easterly end of the island. Streets lined with 18th Century houses surrounded by white picket fences and topped with widow walks announce that you have arrived in Edgartown, a world-renowned seaport that still reflects the wealth and good taste of the phenomenally successful whaler captains of the early 1800’s. Our home for the next three nights is a hotel located near the Chappaquiddick ferry landing and just a few minute’s walk from boutique shops and waterfront galleries for which Edgartown is so renowned. Day 7 Today’s ride takes us to Katama a beautiful three-mile barrier beach, then Martha’s Vineyard follow bike paths to West Tisbury, home to a number of Vineyard artists, and Meals: B galleries, and to Alley’s, a quintessential general store. We then weave our Cycling: 36 or 60 km way past Lambert’s Cove and take back roads into Vineyard Haven where Overnight: Martha’s Vineyard we visit the West Chop Lighthouse with its great view over Vineyard Sound.