Epic Journeys

We all need to escape the ordinary every now and then, and everyone has a few good adventures in them. For this blog post, we’ve picked a few cycling and walking holidays that are a bit more like quests than tours. From the epic mountain vistas of the Andes to the stark beauty of Yorkshire and Wales and the rich landscapes of the Thames valley, adventure awaits – if you know where to look.

The Crossing of The Andes

At the border of Argentina and Chile a winding pass and ancient trade route carves through the tallest mountain range in the Americas, linking a series of natural lakes. The enchanting Andes are the stuff that myths are made of. Many of the snowcapped peaks are active and extinct volcanoes (like the massive Tronador, who stands a full kilometre higher than any other nearby mountain), and the mineral-rich soil has spawned lush green valleys and clear blue lakes.

The mountain pass is named for the Italian cardinal, Antonio Samoré, who negotiated peace between Argentina and Chile in the 1980s, and is a symbol of how much more unites these South American countries than divides them. Argentina and Chile share more than just the Spanish tongue both designated the rugged landscapes on either side of the border as national parks, and both parks take their names from the language of the Mapuche, who lived in this area before European colonists arrived.

Setting out from the Argentine mountain resort of Bariloche, you have two nights to explore the southern shore of Nahuel Huapi lake before catching a boat with bike aboard to the little port town of Puerto Blest. After two nights here, where you can walk around the wooded Los Cántaros lagoon to see a 1,500-year-old larch tree, you sail across another dramatic lake to cross the border into Chile. In the Chilean lakes, you spend one night at the foot of another mighty volcano, Orsono, which (according to Mapuche legend) imprisons a powerful evil spirit. Cycle down the volcano’s slopes to reach the bustling city of Puerto Varas on the shores of Lake Llanquihue where you spend your final two nights of this cycling trip, before flying on to Santiago and home.

Coast to Coast

The landscape of northern England is on a slightly different scale to the Andes but is no less wild and majestic. Our Coast to Coast walking tour, inspired by one of Alfred Wainwright’s famous routes, takes you from the beautiful village of Cartmel on the northern edge of sleepy Morecambe Bay east across the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and the spooky North York Moors to Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea.

This three-week walk has you visit plenty of iconic locations. One of our favourite spots in the Lake District is the little village of Grasmere, nestled between a verdant lakeshore and austere crags high above. As well as being the resting place of romantic poet William Wordsworth, it has fantastic local gingerbread. Heading west over the wild North Pennines we reach the Yorkshire Dales, a unique landscape of soft green valleys, sheep, and little rivers that featured heavily in All Creatures Great and Small. The Yorkshire countryside hasn’t changed very much in the last century, and you can certainly imagine James Herriot on the road as you hike between the towns of Reeth and Richmond.

As you head east from Reeth towards the coast, you enter the misty North York Moors, where bronze-age barrows and ancient stone crosses stand lonely in the landscape. This adventure ends at the little town of Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea. The settlement has been associated with Robin Hood since the 17th century, when a story first emerges of the altruistic outlaw helping the local villagers by taking on French pirates, and distributing half their booty to the poor. It’s not known whether Robin Hood really existed, let alone if he visited the area, but it’s a good story.

Panoramic Pembrokeshire

The coast of this quiet corner of Britain is one enormous national park, with nearly 200 miles of navigable footpaths. Beginning in the north at the sweeping dunes of Poppit Sands, our walking tour sees you trek south on clifftop paths around the coves and isthmuses of west Wales, past the ancient city of St David’s, and east onto the pretty village of Amroth.

The landscape is rich in drama, with water crashing against the rocks below and the calls of seabirds echoing around the bays. It’s no wonder then that the crew of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows chose this region to film the tragic death and burial of Dobby the elf. The National Trust for Wales, the charitable organisation who own Freshwater West, the beach where these scenes were filmed, kept Dobby’s grave after filming completed, but they ask that fans do not pay their respects by leaving offerings of socks and pebbles.
There are plenty of other exciting spots along the way. Not far from Dobby’s resting place at Freshwater West is the port town of Pembroke, whose castle hides a secret harbour replete with the remains of Stone Age humans. At journeys end, on the long stretch of beach at Amroth, a low spring tide reveals a fossilised forest, preserved by the sand for seven thousand years. In Wales, it is impossible to escape the sense that the world is a more ancient and mysterious place than we would normally imagine.

England's Great West Way

Starting at the trendy port city of Bristol, this 13-day cycling tour takes you from the West Country, along the course of the Thames, and onto London, showing you some of southern England’s most famous sights.

It is only a 90-minute ride from Bristol to Bath, the Georgian city that was once home to Jane Austen. There is a romance to Bath, best captured by the effortless beauty and glamour of No.1 Royal Crescent (you can see why the producers of Netflix’s blockbuster Bridgerton filmed there). Only a stone’s throw across Salisbury Plain lies the ancient monolith of Stonehenge – dragged all the way from Pembrokeshire by ancient Britons. The stones themselves – some of them weighing 25 tons – are impressive, but when you realise that the landscape is made up of hundreds of burial mounds, you might feel very small indeed.

You join the Thames on the seventh day. The river slowly swells as it meanders through southern England, and as the river grows so does the splendour of the towns and villages along its banks. Cycling through Eton and Windsor, you sense the wealth that the bounty of the river conferred in medieval England. This only intensifies as you ride towards the capital – on the final leg of your journey you take in Hampton Court, Kew Gardens, and the Houses of Parliament all in one day!

Adventure Awaits!

So there you have it, four Carter Company tours that sweep you off on a jolly good quest. But unlike most adventure stories, on these tours you sleep in charming inns or seriously luxury hotels, and exchange camp fire rations for fine dining, with the best of support – even the mighty Andes are no match for an E-bike! Take off on an epic journey, and leave the ordinary behind.