AmazoniaBike | TravelBlog

What better way to explore some of the country’s greatest natural treasures and historic sites than a bicycle tour through the back roads of Florida? And now, you can do it any time of the year! In an effort to help make Florida tourism greener, non-profit organization Bike Florida is bringing back year-round, long-distance bicycle touring for the first time in 25 years.

To inaugurate the new initiative, Herb Hiller and Linda Crider, co-founders of the modern-day Florida bicycling movement, will lead a week-long bicycle tour this October 10-16, starting and ending at Palatka, a rural county seat by the St. Johns River in northeastern Florida.

“For too long there’s been no organized comfortable cycling way to discover backroads Florida,” says Crider.  “These tours are organized for that, but also for fun.”
The 260-mile loop takes cyclists through state parks, as well as the Merritt
Island and Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuges. Also on the
itinerary is a stop at St. Augustine, the oldest city in the country
and recently named one of the top ten best places to live by U.S. News & World Report. 

By
2013, the St. Johns River-to-Sea Loop will become the longest paved,
off-road loop trail in the American southeast. That same year will also
mark the 500th anniversary of Spain’s colonization of “La Florida,”
named in 1513 by Ponce de Leon for its flowered land. Because
wildflowers are abundant on the tour’s route, Florida Wildflower Foundation,
a chief sponsor of the touring program, will use the loop to help
launch the state’s wildflower tourism in celebration of its
quincentennial year.

The new effort may be just what Florida
tourism needs to draw more people to the nature, culture, and heritage
of the state (instead of the standard big hotels and beach resorts) and the trademark of these tours will be their local access. Not only will
cyclists experience Florida’s beautiful landscapes, but they will get to do so with local naturalists, writers, and
historians all working to turn Florida tourism green.

Hiller,
a leading advocate of sustainable tourism, understands the economic
value in Florida’s “heads in beds” tourist industry, but also
recognizes its drawbacks. “Tourism doesn’t champion environment or
heritage,” he says. “Yet, apart from making visitors comfortable, what
counts as much as using their presence among us to help accomplish our
aims? I mean, aims that include protecting our natural resources,
helping make our downtowns more livable and advancing diversity.”

Included
in the tours are luggage-carrying support vehicles, on-road guides,
maps and cue sheets, overnights in B&B’s, homestays and motels as
well as all breakfasts and sit-down dinners.

For additional tours and prices, visit bikeflorida.org. For more information on Florida’s greenways and trails,
visit
www.floridagreenwaysandtrails.com.

Photo courtesy of John Moran 

Holiday parks have been UK family favourites for many years, many of the most popular and well known resorts have been going since the 1930s and have hosted millions of families vacations ever since.  With the dawning of the commercial flight industry many Britons were now able to afford to fly to other countries such as Spain and Greece as well as much further distances like America and Africa, but now it looks like the traditional British holiday park is enjoying a comeback.

For many people the current financial crisis has meant many families cannot afford the steep costs of flying and with all sorts of extra hidden charges on even the budget airlines it’s not hard to see why people are more interested in holidaying in the UK.

The UK family holiday parks tend to be built around having the entire holiday package in one place and that everything is included in the price you pay.  This means that not only are you paying for your accommodation and all your meals but all the entertainment and activities are included also.

With them being family holidays it doesn’t mean that all the activities and fun is for the kids, there is plenty of adult themed entertainment with musical acts and comedy nights as well as spas and high rope courses.  Of course there’s plenty for children to do exclusively with a wide range of sports and fun activities like bowling and laser quest.

The accommodation options are almost as diverse as the activities with many options available to people going on holiday such as luxury hotels, many with amazing seafront views.  Other options include self catered apartments or rustic log cabins, camping and caravanning are also possibilities as the options available vary between the different resorts and companies.

With all your meals arranged for you then there’s extra savings to be had as well as the assurance that you can spend all day enjoying yourself and not have to worry about sorting your dinner in the evening.  Those who wish to go self-catered are able to cook their own meals should they wish so in some self-catered accommodation too.

It’s no surprise from reading this how popular UK holiday parks have been and with many people booking summer holidays to these destinations rather than abroad this year.

This article was written by Lee Lazarus. Lee is a leading online journalist and here writes for Butlins Family Holidays. Butlins have holidays parks in the UK – two of their most popular parks are Minehead and Skegness.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/all-inclusive-holiday-parks-the-new-family-favourite-966715.html