Three Rivers Tour

6-Day / 5-Night Bike Tours

Inns

• Breakfast on the Connecticut, Lyme, NH
• Norwich Inn, Norwich
• The Woodstocker Inn, Woodstock

Rates and Dates

• $1195 - Jun 20-25
• $1295 - Jul 18-23, Jul 25-30, Aug 15-20, Sep 5-10, Sep 12-17
• $1395 - Oct 3-8

Itinerary / Distances

• Sunday: Arrival Day
• Monday: 24 or 30 mi (39 or 48 km) Easier to Intermediate
• Tuesday: 33 or 38 mi (53 or 61 km) Easier to Intermediate
• Wednesday: 26 or 29 mi (42 or 47 km) Easier to Intermediate
• Thursday: 21, 26 or 35 mi (34, 42 or 56 km) Easier to intermediate
• Friday: 20 mi (32 km) Easier

Deposit

$300 per person. Final payment due 60 days prior to your tour (personal check, Visa or MasterCard).

Bike Rental

$100

Single Travelers

Supplement for guaranteed private room (when available): $170

Supplement for single travelers willing to share a room: $85*

*This fee will be fully refunded if we find someone to share your room. See "Single Travelers" at The Details for more information

What's Included

5 nights lodging (double occupancy), 5 breakfasts, an experienced and engaging tour leader, 3 dinners, carefully designed daily routes complemented by precise directions and maps, and full daily van support. Two nights you are on your own for dinner. The inns are located within easy reach of a number of excellent dining options, and your leader will provide you with sample menus and guidance so you can select from a wide variety of offerings....and prices.

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel...
(a) at least 61 days prior to your tour, we will return 100% of your tour payments;
(b) 31-60 days from the date of your tour, we will return all of your tour payments except your deposit;
(c) 0-30 days from the date of your tour, there will be no refund of any tour payment.

Should Bike Vermont have to cancel your tour we will refund all your tour payments immediately as full settlement.

We strongly recommend you purchase Trip Cancellation Insurance as soon as possible. A detailed comparison of trip cancellation insurance policies and prices is available online and links for these sites are available at the end of the reservation page. We recommend CSA Travel Protection based on their rating by Consumer Reports. We will also send you an application form with your Confirmation.

Terrain

Easier to Intermediate

• Average Daily Mileage: 25 mi (41 km)
• Average Daily Mileage with Options: 30 mi (49 km)

 

6-Day / 5-Night Bike Tours Three Rivers Tour

This new tour combines the best of rural cycling along the Ottauquechee, White, and Connecticut Rivers. We meander through beautiful valley farmland, stay in three superb inns, and build in leisure time to explore Hanover, the beautiful home of Dartmouth College, as well as Woodstock, often described as one of the prettiest villages in the country. Our route takes us around Lake Morey, includes a picnic beside Silver Lake, and provides for a beautiful optional hike along the paths leading through the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. We also visit a number of smaller historic villages such as Orford, Fairlee, Norwich, Quechee, and Barnard.

We are offering this tour for what we believe is by far the best price available anywhere for a 6-Day/5-Night tour. We have worked out a creative partnership with our new inns and will provide full van support and assistance with one leader. Also, we are including the first and last dinners and, for the other three, you are within easy walking distance of several restaurants and taverns that offer a wide variety of dining options (from pizza to gourmet).

DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY

SUNDAY

This is arrival day. We start our tour at the Breakfast on the Connecticut Inn in Lyme, New Hampshire. This handsome inn sits on a beautiful knoll just a few hundred yards from the shore of the Connecticut River. Many will come early to relax on the front porch with views into Vermont, or to take one of the inn's canoes for a pleasant paddle on the river.

Dinner is at 7 pm and is followed by an introductory meeting with your leader.

MONDAY'S RIDE

We begin by biking north along the Connecticut River, and crossing an antique covered bridge before arriving in Orford. This is farming country (indeed, you will pass Tullando Farm where a cow, Royal Tullando Maxima, set a world record for milk production). As you enter Orford you will pass through Orford's historic district which includes the so-called Ridge Houses. This impressive row of houses, all built by local businessmen between 1773 and 1839, has been called "the finest group of Federal-style houses in the United States." One owner of note was Samuel Morey who ran a steamboat (called "Aunt Sally") on the river eighteen years before Robert Fulton took credit for the invention. Morey went on to patent the first internal combustion engine in 1826.

From Orford we cross into Fairlee, Vermont on the Samuel Morey steel arch bridge. Fairlee is a small village dominated by huge palisade cliffs....on a clear day keen-eyed folks can see peregrine falcon in the upper reaches. We next loop around beautiful Lake Morey, a sparkling 600 acre spring-fed lake dotted with summer camps. Biking southerly, we visit Thetford Center and cross the Union Village covered bridge before paralleling the Connecticut River into Norwich. Norwich is considered one of the prettiest villages in Vermont and is an architectural showcase for fine brick and frame federal homes.

Your home for the next two nights is the Norwich Inn. The Norwich Inn has been serving travelers since 1797 and the dining opportunities here include the locally famous Jasper Murdock Alehouse where you will be enticed to sample their delicious handcrafted English ales while enjoying a pleasant dinner. The inn is in the center of the village and you will want to visit the friendly Norwich Bookstore and Dan and Whit's, a quintessential country store that is right next door. We are also close the headquarters of King Arthur Flour where we can arrange an optional evening baking class held in one of their world renowned kitchens.

TUESDAY'S RIDE

Today is a day of easy riding and exploration. We first cross the Connecticut River into Hanover, home of picturesque Dartmouth College. Dartmouth was chartered in 1767 and has long been a prestigious member of the Ivy League, and its handsome buildings frame three sides of the large Hanover green. The cycling includes a pretty loop ride through Etna and Hanover Center and to Lyme with its beautiful green, splendid Congregational church, and country store. The ride back to Hanover and Norwich follows the Connecticut River by way of the spectacularly scenic River Road. We return in time to explore Hanover (or do some optional riding if you are not so inclined). This active community center has a great array of fine shops, great eateries (grab a Ben and Jerry's if it is hot) and craft galleries. On the way back to Norwich you can treat yourself to a stop at the Montshire Museum of Science, a nationally recognized science education center with superb exhibits as well as trails that wend there way through 100 acres bordering the Connecticut River. Also, a short side trip takes you to the headquarters of King Arthur Flour where they have a great store featuring all sorts of baking tools, books, and an in-store bakery. Note: If there is sufficient interest, we can arrange an optional baking class for the group this evening...you could learn to create your own gourmet wood fired pizza and then enjoy it as your dinner.

WEDNESDAY'S RIDE

Today we ride south, passing Kildeer Farm Stand (a good place to pick up a quart of great maple syrup) and then along the White River. We cross from West Hartford into the Ottauquechee Valley and the village of Quechee. Here we can shop for crafts and pottery, watch the glass blowing at Simon Pearce's glassworks, and have a great picnic along the shores of the Ottauquechee River. A short side trip also takes us to spectacular 165-foot-deep Quechee Gorge which is known as "Vermont's Little Grand Canyon." Nearby is also the Quechee Gorge Village that features over 300 dealers in antiques, crafts and arts as well as a wine store and a Cabot's Cheese store.

From Quechee we ride right along the Ottauquechee River, pass the historic Taftsville Covered Bridge and bike into Woodstock. Here we spend our last two nights as guests at The Woodstocker Inn...and you are in for an exceptional stay. David and Dora Foschi were recently named Vermont Innkeepers of the Year, and Bed and Breakfast.com just selected the Woodstocker Inn as one of the top ten B&Bs in the world! The rooms are brightly colored and beautifully and imaginatively furnished, and the breakfasts are superb. And the inn is located only a short stroll from all that Woodstock has to offer.

THURSDAY'S RIDE

Thursday we ride through the rolling hills of Pomfret and savor a lovely picnic on the grassy shores of Silver Lake in Barnard. Optional riding includes spectacular scenery along the famous North Road as we loop around through Bethel. The day is designed to leave you plenty of time to explore other options. Woodstock is renowned as an architectural showcase for early Federal-style buildings, as well as for its lovely village green, tasteful shops, antique stores and galleries, and the fascinating Billings Farm and Museum. The inn is just a brief walk from all this and also from the labyrinth of trails that lead through the Billings National Park. We will provide those interested with a great walk that takes you into a hidden valley which is known as the "Pogue" and to a spectacular lookout that provides breathtaking views over Woodstock and the Ottauquechee.

FRIDAY'S RIDE

Friday we take you along River Road back along the Ottauquechee River for an easy ride that ends at the gazebo in Quechee Village. From here we will transport you back to the Breakfast on the Connecticut where you can shower before leaving.

Included: 5 nights lodging (double occupancy); 5 breakfasts; an experienced and engaging tour leader; dinner on the first and last night; carefully designed daily routes complemented by precise directions and maps, and full daily van support. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights you are on your own for dinner. The inns are located within easy reach of a number of excellent dining options, and your leader will provide you will sample menus and guidance so you can select from a wide variety of offerings...and price.