Testimonials
Here's a selection of what our clients have to say about Green Jersey British and Continental Cycling Tours:
It was a great experience, the other riders were good fun and company, I think we all got on well and I am very grateful to you and Simon for all the support and encouragement, nothing was ever too much trouble even when you were both exhausted. Chapeau to you both.
June 2019
Hello Charlie
The holiday was excellent, its the first time I have been on a group cycling holiday and I was very impressed with the organisation and in particular Simon as a tour leader. He was always helpful cheerful and a very good representative for your company. The hotels, food and route were superb and I cannot think of anything that was wrong other than me falling off!!!! but that was my fault ... no excuses there.
I certainly will think about booking another holiday next year.
Again thank you for a truly amazing holiday. Please pass on my thanks etc to Simon.
September 2019
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Thank you for an amazing trip down through France. It was great and I particularly impressed by the route. You managed to find genuinely quiet roads for virtually the whole trip. Other similar cycling tours use roads that can sometimes be very busy with both cars and heavy lorries. Your route keeps away from these and I was pleasantly surprised by the good quality of the road surfaces and the almost complete absence of other traffic. On top of all that, the route also goes through some lovely villages, past impressive chateaux and through some wonderful rolling countryside. It made it all very special.
Thanks also for the brilliant support throughout the trip. It was good to know that the support vehicle was only half an hour away at most and that you would be lurking at most of the awkward junctions and turnings. It gave us all confidence just to concentrate on enjoying the riding! I look forward to seeing what you have on the agenda for next year!
September 2017
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Thanks for organising a great trip. As John said his in his email, your background knowledge is amazing, and brought to life the reality of the events of WW1 in a way reading about them in a book simply cannot do. Thanks for all your hard work, and we look forward to seeing you on another trip soon.
September 2017
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I had a great time and will definitely recommend Green Jersey to my cycling friends.
August 2017
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Hard to improve! An outstanding holiday - the best of it's kind I have been on!
September 2017
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Thanks very much for a thoroughly enjoyable trip. We were all amazed by your knowledge of the area and of the battlefield detail which substantially added to the journey.
September 2017
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Very well done on the organisation of the Alsace trip I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of it. Great hotels, great food, great company, great back-up - nothing better!
June 2017
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A belated but nevertheless heartfelt thank you for the Alsace trip a week or so ago. We all had a great time and enjoyed the it immensely. We hope to be back with you next year on another excursion.
June 2017
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Just wanted to say thanks for a great week. It was superbly planned and organised. Amelia and I enjoyed it very much indeed and can’t wait to do another Green Jersey tour. I will definitely recommend you to anyone who expresses an interest in doing something similar.
Good luck with the other tours this summer and hope to see you again for another French tour at some point.
May 2016
Dear Charlie and Ariane,
I cannot thank both of you enough for creating for all of the most fabulous, moving, poignant and adventurous trip. I cannot remember a time when 7 days have been so action packed, with so many focuses. Seeing the cemeteries was an extraordinary experience, and i had no idea just how many there would be, every few miles, yet another one, beautifully tended and manicured. As i have said in my email to Richard, i got a very strong sense of how honoured those soldiers are, even 100 years on.
And importantly, in Green Jersey Cycle Tours, you both provide something very special and exceptional, not only do you cover every single detail with such precision, but it is all done in such a beautifully relaxed and encouraging way. From all the pre trip information, equipment lists (which for me was hugely valuable as i walked into the bike shop with your list and walked out with armfuls of kit..), to the route, mileage, elevation charts, then moving to the registration, it was all so smoothly done, and again everything thought through so carefully. And in France, the same level of care just continued, seemingly effortlessly, but i now all too well, from organising events at home, just how much goes into it all. Your provision of lunch was fabulous, always there just when we need refuelling most, so appetising, and even in the pouring rain, gazebos were set up. The list goes on, but not a single need was unmet, and i thank you both most sincerely for your care of us, your thoughtfulness and your delightful company at all times.
Have a good rest of the summer, and i very much hope to see you in two years time, hopefully with some members of my family who have been griped by my tales of last week…
With love and so many thanks
Sarah
Have filled in your survey but it was such a stunning holiday, I wanted to cover it in a bit more depth.
I'd really been looking forward to the trip from the description on the website, and even more so when you sent the tracks out but even so you far surpassed my expectations. I've been on many cycling holidays over the years, both self-designed and commercial and this one stands out as being the one that combined the most pleasure with the least unpleasantness as well as providing a real sense of achievement. I think an important factor is that you found us climbs that gave us height, and therefore vistas and changes of scenery, and also a bit of a challenge but which didn’t take up a large chunk of the day, whether ascending or descending like the high mountains. It probably helps as well that we clearly share the same philosophy when it comes to bike routes but I'm really impressed with the way you managed to find so many beautiful but quiet roads. I'm the one that does all the route planning for our little group so I'm well aware of the challenges and I can't imagine how long it must have taken you to refine the details, especially when most of it is so far away.
Thanks again for a brilliant trip.
June 2015
Charlie, we had a fantastic time on our WW I battlefield tour thanks to you and Shane. The itinerary and hotels were absolutely superb and we met some lovely people on the tour. You also provided some great weather!
We also liked the input by Andy Robertshaw ( WW I historian) and it was great to have him along for three days. The cycles you provided were spot on, so much so we have gone out today and replaced our own cycles with Trek bikes. We cannot praise your company and the tour enough and I would recommend it to anyone.
May 2015
Our experience of Green Jersey French Cycling Tours could not have been better. Charlie's knowledge of both the geography and the history of the Somme is vast, detailed, and passionate. The 5-day tour is wonderfully balanced so that every day includes a few major and minor sights as well as a good stretch of cycling, every evening is spent in a regionally important town (Ypres, Arras, Albert etc.) that has its own fascinating history of conflict and reconstruction. The CWGC cemeteries and monuments are now peaceful, shaded, haunting places with astonishing histories.
We came away from the trip with a bunch of friends of all ages from all across the UK and North America. It takes a special kind of traveller to opt for a cycling tour with a historical focus, and the group that signed up for the 5-day Battlefields of the Somme tour was a delight.
It's really hard to imagine a better summer trip than cycling through idyllic, rural France with lovely, interesting people, learning about history where it happened, eating amazing food at every meal and watching out for the Green Jersey van for moral support, water, and cake.
As two Canadians coming from across the Atlantic, we were a bit nervous about placing our trust in an outfit halfway around the world, sight unseen. From our first contact with Charlie, though, all of his communications were so detailed, clear, professional, and friendly that we knew we were in good hands. We rented bikes from Green Jersey and they were so good we wanted to keep them at the end of the tour. We truly could not have imagined that our trip would be so beautiful, so exhilarating, so interesting, so moving, and so fun.'
Dear Charlie
We both want to thank you for an exceptional time at Ypres last weekend. It really has gone down as one of the best things we have ever done and our enthusiasm will be filling your diary as we tell our friends, many of whom would love to do the same. We most appreciated the extraordinary amount of sensitive and time consuming planning which must have created such an experience, from the carefully chosen routes which gave us time to be "part of the place" where all this happened, to the interesting other stop offs and museums, and the great hotel from which to launch (however we managed to sabotage that moment with bike prangs) each day. But overall all, the careful scope of revealing to us what had occurred and allowing us to take that in, with information, but not too much, while knowing there was all we wanted to know and find if we asked, was highly pertinent throughout. It allowed a personal engagement with all you showed us. It was most moving,to see that God was very much there at that dark time - Talbot House was one highlight. As to cycling and our skills - it fitted perfectly - and alongside all the historical engagement, you have succeeded in converting us to cycling without having to go lycra mad. First observation - saddle FAR too low on my bike at home! Never mind - I would enjoy a better one, hopefully for my birthday this summer. Cycling in the very fields where all this took place is something we shall never forget and would be so much would be missed without doing so. As a guide you were the best company and added much to our group! I am sure we will all want to return for another adventure with you. It's sad not to be there any longer - and I have had to stop eating chips and banana splits which I can no longer justify! Sent with our very best wishes for your business and to your family. THANK YOU!
Just a short note to thank you for an excellent tour of the WW1 Battlefields.
Your organisation of the trip was impeccable and choice of daily routes inspirational, to include all the relevant important locations.
The choice of accommodation and restaurants was spot on.
I am only sorry that my poor health during the trip left me less than my normal self but it did not detract from it being a most enjoyable experience.
I will have no difficulty recommending you and your company to others, and I am considering another trip myself.
'Wow! Mike and I have had such a fab week with our wonderful friends... Deborah and Pete, Neil and Chris in the Loire Valley with Charlie from Green Jersey. Brilliant organisation from arriving back after a long days cycling to find your bags already in your room, homemade cakes and snacks from the van at various point en route, a 'nothing too much trouble' attitude from Charlie. I could go on but I suggest you get yourself booked on one of these cycling holidays and find out for yourselves. Thank you so much Charlie. Xx'
Recommendation from WE member L.S.: We have just returned from a great week cycling in Alsace and the Vosges with cycling holiday company, Green Jersey French Cycling. We really enjoyed it and thought the organisation, routes, hotels and support were first class, definitely the best company we have used, so we would certainly recommend them to anyone wanting a trip in France. Their web site is www.greenjerseycycling.co.uk and one of the things they do is battlefield tours, which may be of particular interest next year.
Many thanks for helping us have a perfect holiday. Hope we ride with you again'
'We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and felt well supported and well looked after'
'We had an amazing time and your hospitality was just great you made our trip so very memorable, thank you, all I want to do now is go back. Thank you once again and don't forget our offer if ever you find yourself in "Gods own" New Zealand we have a bed for you.'
'You went the extra mile'
'A first rate service. Nothing was too much for you'
'We would certainly travel again with Charlie'
'That road by the Loire was amazing. We cycled three abreast for three quarters of an hour before we saw a car'
'Thank you both very much for a fantastic holiday. We both had a great time. You both looked after us really well and the cycling routes were fantastic. I am sure we will meet you again on another tour in the future. Keep up the cycling.
'The cycling was very enjoyable with a good variety of terrain. Hotels and restaurants all very good. We were a happy group of travellers!!'
'Thank you Charlie for a great time'
'With regard to the challenge from North to South of France, I would like to say I had a fantastic time, mixed with pain, laughter, good food and wine, good company and the comfort factor that the 'Kebab Van' was only a phone call away.'
'We're not used to being looked after so well'
'Just a note to thank you for our recent trip, we both enjoyed it greatly'
'The whole trip went very smoothly and your help and support, particularly with French menus, was invaluable'
'I wish you all the best with the business in the future and hope we can take advantage of your service again'
'I've enjoyed every minute'
'Which of your trips would you recommend for next year?'
'Green Jersey really know their stuff. Veterans of Paris-Brest-Paris and every mile of every tour and many more, I felt that here were guides to take you to the very best of France, on or off the beaten track.
