"Alps" Package

July 19th to July 24th

This trip will cover the important final mountain stages of the 2008 Tour de France and offer an opportunity to view  4 stages of the Tour including the Alps, Alpe d'Huez, and riding the stage to St Etienne!

Please read below for a daily itinerary.

Registrations:
We are now accepting registrations for our 2008 Trips. All places are on a first come first serve basis. A 25% deposit per person is required to reserve a spot. If places are still available when we receive your application along with deposit, you will receive notification of your registration. If the trip is sold out, you will be given the option to be placed on a waiting list or choice of another trip. Waitlist order is on a first come first serve basis as well. Please email us to receive a registration form our complete reservation procedure: info@customgetaways.com

- July 19th -

Hotel location: Valberg, Alps

We will be picking-up in Nice airport around 1:30PM. From Nice, we will head into the Alps.

Our first hotel is located in the heart of the Southern Alps in Valberg. It is one of our favorite hotels in the region. Quite typical of the area, with great owners. It will be "home" for the first 3 nights of the trip.

Upon arriving, we will check in and those riding will assemble bikes, our mechanic will be on hand to assist those who need a bit of help. Time allowing, we will take a short ride to make sure everything is in proper working condition.

It will then be time to get together over a welcome toast, do proper introductions and go over the next few day's fun and action... of course a nice dinner will follow!

- July 20th -

Tour Stage 15  /   Digne les Bains  - Prato Nevoso  /  216km (134 miles)

Our first day visiting the Tour de France and first stage through the Alps, takes the peloton from France to Italy.

Our hotel is in a great location to link with the race on one of the climbs; the col de Larche. Leaving from the hotel we will first go over the col de la Cayolle, though.

Once the peloton has come by, we will coast back down to catch the arrival of the stage on TV with the local crowd; a great way to experience the Tour!

Col de Larche

Col de Cayolle

The Tour takes a day off today but no us. We figured that since we are still in the Southern Alps, we would take the opportunity ride to the French Riviera and spend the day there. Our ride will take us to near Monaco.

We will leave fairly early by bikes so that there is time to enjoy the Riviera in the afternoon.

The ride will take us over some beautiful climbs and through the Parc du Mercantour. Some of these climbs are likely to be featured in the 2009 Tour de France!

We've not included dinner either so we will be able to spend a good amount of time before returning to our hotel for the evening.

Col de Turini

Col de Castillon

Col de la Bonette

Given the excellent location of our hotel, those who wish to ride the most, will be able to leave the hotel on bike and catch up with today's stage itinerary. The total ride distance would be approximately 105km and include the highest climb of this year's Tour; the col de la Bonnette!

Our viewing options will be partially based on weather conditions. Of course, if it is "on the cooler side" at high altitude, we may not want to wait for the race to come by and would ride to the arrival. Conversely, if it is warm, the cooler weather on the mountain top might be quite welcome!

Once the stage is over, we will transfer to our second hotel in the heart of the French Alps where the Chef, Gilbert Delas, will prepare a great dinner for us.

- July 23rd -

Today's stage will finish with the climb to Alpe d'Huez, which is most likely, the world's most famous cycling climb. A win on Alpe d'Huez is every cyclist's dream. in addition this is the final "high mountain" stage of the 2008 Tour and two other monuments of cycling - col du Galibier and col de la Croix de Fer - are also featured today. Of course we'll be in Alpe d'Huez to witness history in the making.

This is an exciting day and we have planned exciting things... starting with an early morning ride. Leaving from our hotel we will be able to ride over the gentle col d'Ornon, before making the downhill to Bourg d'Oisans and from there.... Alpe d'Huez of course! The shorter ride distance will bypass the col d'Ornon to focus on the climb to Alpe d'Huez "only".

 Our viewing location on the climb is as good as it gets as we will be seeing the stage from  Chalet located on switchback #2 (second to last switchback). The views from this location are second to none, anywhere on the climb to Alpe d'Huez. We will be able to see from the Village of Huez up to our location.  We will also have lunch at the Chalet.

Schleck & Cunego on AdH - 2006

(view from our Chalet)

Beloki, Armstrong, Mayo, Hamilton (2003)

Alpe d'Huez profile

View from the chalet over switchback #2.... not in the summer!

- July 24th -

Tour Stage 18  /   Bourg d'Oisans - Saint Etienne  /  197km (122 miles)

Ever dreamed of riding a Tour de France stage along roads filled with spectators and raise your arms to the sky as you cross the finish-line? Today is the day it comes true!

Those who wish to ride on this trip will be able to ride the entire stage. Of course this means we'll need to get an early start, but it is so worth it!

Of course, we will be dropping off a bit further down the way those who wish to keep the ride distance lower. Custom Getaways vehicle(s) with on-course accreditation will be accompanying you and providing an extra lift if necessary, and an official Tour de France vehicle will escort us over the final few kms of the course and you will cross the finish line on closed roads.

You will then climb the official Tour podium to have your picture taken.

Those not riding will be driven over the final kms, will enjoy the excitement of the climb, climb the podium, etc.

For the peloton's arrival, we will be directly overlooking the finish line to see how the pros stack up as we will have special access to the "Bulle Mangeas". Daniel Mangeas is the French commentator for the Tour de France ("La voix du Tour").

The trip ends once the stage is over and we will transfer you to Saint Etienne train station.

There is frequent train service from Saint Etienne to Lyon as well as Paris.

If you need assistance planning after the evening of the 24th we can help there as well.

- Cycling Jersey

- Daily information with maps, cue sheets, other Tour information

- Detailed tour itinerary

- Pre-departure information detailing the trip, hotels, contact information, what to bring, and other essential info.