France Covid-19 situation & Ukraine: booking your bike tour with confidence.

Covid-19: As with many countries, the number of Omicron cases and hospitalisation rates, in France, has massively dropped off. And there is now a real feeling of "life back to normal" now in France. This has been achieved in part with a high vaccination rate of 94%, high booster levels, the health pass and a good adherence to wearing masks.

Given the improvements we've had, masks will now only be required on public transport, and the health pass will no longer be required when entering a public building.

International borders were opened to vaccinated visitors around the middle of Summer 2021, and as such we were able to run our tours, with American, Canadian & European guests, with positive experiences all round. Proof of vaccination is still currently required to gain entry to France.

We understand though that even if you are fully vaccinated, some guests may still have some reluctance to organise overseas travel, for fear of the Covid situation deteriorating and due to the tragic situation in Ukraine. So, in order to give you peace of mind when booking your future tour with us, we have put in place our 3-point Covid/Ukraine Guarantee policy.

1. Full Credits – Should your local Gov’t not let you travel to France, or the French Gov’t not let you enter France (within 21 days of your tour start dates), then we will provide you with a Full Credit for any payments made.
   
   
2. Full Flexibility – Any credits made by us, will be on an open-ended basis, allowing you to use them for any future tour date of your choosing and convenience. There is no short “use by date”.
   
   
3. Full Transferability – If you want to pass your full credit onto a friend or family member, that would be fine, and there is no admin fee either.

We hope you find the above conditions reasonable; it must be said not many other tours are offering such good terms!

So, after an enjoyable restart to our tours in the Summer of 2021 - we are now looking forward to our 2022 dates, and we hope to see you then…
Please note though that with the back log of people wanting to travel, availabilities are moving very fast…

Here’s a link to our 2022 tour dates https://www.provence-cycling-holidays.com/availabilities-2022.html
and to our 2023 tour dates https://www.provence-cycling-holidays.com/availabilities-2023.html.

Happy biking - Neil & Nat (Owners).

French Travel Requirements for Covid-19.

FRENCH COVID HEALTH PASS / VACCINE PASS: The health pass came into effect on the 31st May 21, and was required to gain access to any public building (restaurants/cafés/museums etc). The pass will no longer be required from 14th March 22.

ENTRY TO FRANCE WITH PROOF OF VACCINATION: Currently, to gain initial entry to France, you just need to show proof of full vaccination, either a digital or paper based document from your own national Government. You may also need to show a negative Covid-19 test – please check prior to travel.

PROVIDE A “SWORN UNDERTAKING” TO ENTER FRANCE: You will also need to print off and sign a "Sworn Undertaking" statement (it's very simple) that states you have no symptoms of Covid-19 infection, and that to your knowledge you have not been in contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 in the 14 days prior to your journey. Please see the link below for the official French Government form to print off prior to travel.

https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Certificate-of-international-travel

YOUR LOCAL GOV’T (NON FRENCH) REQUIREMENTS: So, we have detailed above the current local (French) conditions for entering France - it is essential, however, to check the conditions with your own local national bodies regarding travel to and from France. Below we have listed links to several official Foreign national bodies regarding their own travel requirements to France.

USA: https://fr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/
Canada: https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/travel-health-notices/221
UK: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france/entry-requirements
EU + Schengen area: https://reopen.europa.eu/en/

END OF STAY COVID TESTING: Also, at the end of your stay, should you need a Covid-19 test to return home, we will be happy to book this is in for you.
It's all very easy, as we have 3 locations right in our village that we have been using without any problems.

The booking process is easy, everything is well organised, it's a quick test and the results are usually emailed to you within 30 minutes for natural flow/antigen tests and up to 12 hrs for PCR tests.
PCR tests are currently charged at a price of 49€ and natural flow/antigen at 29€.

The need for testing is dropping off, please check both the French and your own country's requirements before travelling.

If you have any questions, please contact us.
Neil & Nat Cowell.

Our Covid-19 bike tour measures.

Vaccination requirements.

We are comfortable receiving our biker guests, as any international traveller entering France has to show evidence of their double vaccination.

Furthermore, and for your peace of mind (and ours), we’re happy to say that our entire family has been vaccinated, so again we’re covered, and ready for more tours in 2022.

Covid measures and our tours.

We are of course implementing all necessary Covid-19 measures to keep everybody as safe as possible. Something that is relatively easy given that we have lots of space at our properties and that we run relatively small group numbers, with no more than 8 guests at any one time at the B&B - and no more than 6 guests at the villa. These are not mass tours.

Measures at the B&B -

• Hydroalcoholic gels and tissues in each room and at strategic points around the property, along with enhanced end of stay cleaning.
• The shared bathroom for the rooms "Menerbes" and "Gordes" is sanitized on a daily basis, and has antibacterial spray and gel, and wipes always available.
• Additional daily cleaning measures at the property.

Measures at the Villa -

• Hydroalcoholic gels and tissues in each room and at strategic points around the properties, along with enhanced end of stay cleaning.
• All bike equipment sanitised at the beginning and end of your tour.

Also something to remember is that our guests spend the majority of their time out biking in their own small groups, made up of family and friends. The biking is also in a low density, rural setting, with the majority of the time being spent in open countryside and the small villages that we visit along the way. Areas, that to date, have been less impacted by Covid-19 than urban areas.

Our B&B based tours are on the edge of the small village of Coustellet, whereas our Villa based tours are in the small village of Taillades.

Another advantage that we have is that you can minimise risks by using the quieter, smaller, yet convenient transport hubs to get to our locations. Marignane/Marseille airport is a medium sized, relatively quiet airport (yet it has good links) and we have the Avignon high speed train station (TGV) - which are both just a 50 min car journey away.

If you have any questions regarding an existing booking or a future booking, please contact us.

Hope to see you in 2022 for some great cycling in Provence – Neil & Nat Cowell - (Owners).