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Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Casterbridge Tours: Over 30 Years of Excellence

asterbridge Tours can justifiably claim to have pioneered the development of educational tours and independent adult and student group travel in Europe and other worldwide destinations. We have been successfully operating educational adult and student group travel programs since 1979, and today we are recognized around the globe as the market leader for educational tours and custom group travel to Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Today, schools, colleges, and adult groups requiring a personalized and independent educational tour experience look to Casterbridge Tours, and each year we operate approximately 300 educational tours and adult and student group travel programs. Historically, the majority of these programs consist of group travel in Europe; however, we are increasingly offering adult and student group travel opportunities throughout Asia, Africa, North, Central and South America. Most importantly, all of our educational tours can be custom-designed to meet your group's particular requirements.
A UNIQUE TOURING STRUCTURE... With Casterbridge, each of our adult and student group travel programs operates as its own private group. On our educational tours, therefore, in addition to having your own custom group tour, you will never be combined with any other adult or school groups or individuals on tour. Similarly, each Casterbridge group travel program has the exclusive use of a Casterbridge Tour Manager/guide 24 hours a day. Each of our adult and student group travel tours is given an educational tour itinerary that has been tailored specifically around the group's desired dates, themes, and destinations. Our reputation for delivering high quality educational tours and group travel to Europe, Asia, and the Americas has been built on providing well-planned itineraries and all-inclusive pricing as we strive to eliminate the frequent contingencies and hidden extra costs that characterize many other educational travel operators. Casterbridge has taken these principles and structures for adult and student group travel and has carefully formulated our Casterbridge Charter and Travel Philosophy, which we believe represents the ideal for a truly educational travel experience. This charter, along with our fundamental philosophies for adult and student group travel, is one of the reasons so many group leaders return to Casterbridge for educational tours and group travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS... With our Operations Team, Head Office and Directors based in Britain, Casterbridge has unparalleled experience and contacts for group travel in Europe, as well as an intimate knowledge of all major sights, accommodations, and educational opportunities for adult and student group travel. Our North American Sales Office, located in historic Virginia, works directly with adult and student group travel leaders to design all of their educational tour programs. Our knowledgeable Tour Coordinators are specialists in group travel throughout Europe and other worldwide destinations, and group leaders benefit from a level of personal service that is unequalled elsewhere in the educational tours industry.
We invite all teachers, professors, and special-interest group leaders to visit our pages dedicated to Educational and Cultural Travel for School and College Groups, as well as those for Adult and Special Interest Group Travel. Our site also features detailed itineraries for group travel in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and all educational opportunities for adult and student group travel. For further details, register online or call 1-800-522-2398 for a copy of our full Educational Travel Tours Catalog shown above.
CONTINUING TO GROW... Due to the success of our educational tours and adult and student group travel programs, we discovered the need to expand by offering performing and musical programs, as well as religious heritage programs. In 1997 these became two separate divisions: Casterbridge Concert Tours, which designs programs for group travel in Europe and around the world for performing groups, and Casterbridge Church Tours, which provides travel opportunities to church groups. These divisions were established with the sole responsibility of providing the specialized attention and expertise needed by performing and religious heritage groups touring abroad.
Casterbridge offers an unrivalled range of performance group travel to Europe, Asia, and the Americas, which combine educational tour experiences with opportunites to perform overseas. We provide performing student group tours as well as adult choral, band, and orchestra programs. Casterbridge employs the same educational travel philosophies, meticulous planning and attention to detail to our performing groups as we do to our regular educational tour groups, which may explain why Casterbridge Concert Tours is increasingly the first choice of discerning choir, band and orchestra directors for performing adult and student group travel.

Our Church Tours division combines educational tour experiences with special worship opportunities on all of its group travel programs to Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Both student group travelers, such as youth groups or J2A groups, and adult groups looking for a spiritual pilgrimage will find that Casterbridge Church Tours can fulfill all of their spiritual and educational tour needs. For further details on our Concert or Church programs, please register online or call 1-800-522-2398 for a copy of our catalogs.
Testimonials... We hope the comments of our adult and student group travel leaders and participants will provide an effective insight into the quality of all of our educational tours. Our group travel programs to Europe, Asia, and the Americas are consistently rated “good” to “excellent,” and we are always complimented on the educational aspects of our tours. If you wish to Register, we can supply hundreds of references from our adult and student group travel leaders throughout North America, who will testify to the highest standards of quality and personal service that can be found on all of our educational tours and adult and student group tour programs.
Independent Group Travel with Casterbridge

t is an unfortunate fact that many tour operators will always combine groups and individual tour participants to ensure they have a full bus load. It is equally unfortunate that these combined groups and individuals will rarely share the same goals, which can often lead to differing aspirations and inevitable conflicts of interest on tour.
THE HEIGHT OF PERSONAL ATTENTION... Casterbridge promotes the very tangible benefits of independent group travel. Casterbridge Tours will always guarantee a personalised itinerary and the exclusive use of a vehicle and guide with as few as 10 paying participants. It is significant that the most repeated positive comment from group leaders refers to the personal service that each group receives as a result of this fundamental touring structure.
DESIGN YOUR OWN TOUR... With Caterbridge, independent travel also means you can always design a tour to suit your own specific requirements, and that the atmosphere on tour will be consistent with your own academic or cultural emphasis. It is only by travelling as an independent group that a school can fully ensure that the appropriate standards of discipline and code of conduct are applied on tour.
There is just no better place to start your planning than at CasterbridgE-Tours. This unique interactive database facility will allow you to custom-design the content for your itinerary and outlines other potential visits that might be of interest to your group in the region that you are visiting. Once completed, your selections can be submitted directly to our offices and a detailed itinerary and response can often be e-mailed back to you within 72 hours!
NO LAST MINUTE SURPRISES... A close examination of many of our competitors' brochures also reveals that they reserve the right to change your tour dates and departure city as late as two to ten days prior to your planned departure. As many tour operators frequently consolidate their tours and combine individual groups, teachers are increasingly coming into conflict with their principals, governors and parents when tour dates are changed just prior to their planned departure! Every tour Casterbridge operates is tailored to each school's specific vacation or study dates and we will unequivocally guarantee your flight dates at the time of booking.
CLEAR ADVANTAGES FROM THE OUTSET... While most tour operators will keep you waiting at the airport for other groups to arrive, Casterbridge will immediately transfer your independent group from the hustle of the airport en route to your first hotel. The vast majority of our tours are either custom designed by group leaders or contain specific features and attractions requested for the group. Furthermore, with the exclusive use of a Casterbridge Tourguide, you have the permanent presence of a travel professional dedicated to ensuring your tour is a total success. It is often these factors that turn a good tour into an outstanding or unique travel experience and which epitomise the personal service for which Casterbridge is renowned.
Well Planned Itineraries with Casterbridge

e take great pride in the amount of time and research that goes into the planning of our tour itineraries. We naturally take you to the most famous and important cities, but we also plan our itineraries to allow time to visit those 'undiscovered' towns and villages which will give you a real flavour of the local way of life and traditions.
LESS TRAVEL PRODUCES A BETTER EXPERIENCE... Spending too much time travelling can be counterproductive. Whenever possible we design itineraries with a minimum of hotel changes to avoid continually packing and unpacking. We cut out unnecessary travelling just to say 'been there, seen that,' and we always make the maximum time available to visit attractions (and we include the admission cost!) rather than just drive past them.
THEMATIC DAYS AND A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES... A day's programme is often devoted to a specific theme, or is arranged in chronological or sequential order to facilitate learning and create a more interesting tour experience. We aim for a careful balance of educational and cultural visits combined with recreational activities, such as coastal walks, river cruises or tower ascents for variety and a rounded cultural experience. Poorly planned tours result in tired, irritable and bored participants. A well-planned tour will keep the individuals interested and enthusiastic about what they are seeing and doing. No tour is better planned than a Casterbridge tour.
WE FIND OUR GROUPS THE BEST POSSIBLE FLIGHTS... The planning and service from our flights department is unequalled in the educational travel market. We always provide scheduled flights on guaranteed dates and will advise the carrier and flight schedule at the time of confirming your initial booking with Casterbridge.
INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF ALL WORLDWIDE DESTINATIONS
... is a strength of both our Tour Planning and Tour Operations departments. The location and choice of hotels, the selection of tourguides and the pre-tour planning are just a few of the many factors that can make or break a tour. With careful planning and the guidance of experienced Tour Coordinators, all of the logistical aspects of your tour are in excellent hands with Casterbridge.
All Inclusive Tours with Casterbridge

ur tours have always been fully inclusive of all air and land services. This includes flights, airport taxes, a comprehensive sightseeing programme, all group transportation, 2 meals a day and the permanent presence of a Casterbridge Tourguide. Please refer to our area dedicated to "What is Included" to review the full listing of our included tour services.
Casterbridge Tours will never induce groups on tour with inexpensive prices only to add on all sorts of extras later. We do not consider this to be fair to either group leaders or tour participants. For this reason, Casterbridge Tours has no registration fees, no adult supplements and no hidden weekend supplements or airport taxes to be added. Quite to the contrary, all excursions and admissions are included, right down to Metro passes in all capital cities!
Why should a teacher face the dilemma of half the group wanting to ascend the Eiffel Tower and half not being able to afford it? On our educational tours for schools and colleges, our all-inclusive policy is an intrinsic part of our touring philosophy. Casterbridge includes everything in advance so that the students do not need to carry around large amounts of cash. Furthermore, this structure allows us to pre-book many visits to major sights and eliminate unnecessary waiting in line while on tour.
What should a teacher do for the many free days when nothing has been planned in the itinerary? Often referred to as 'free days to explore' by other Operators, you will discover that these days are nothing more than opportunities for Tourguides to earn commission by pressuring your group into purchasing high price 'optional' excursions. With Casterbridge, there are no free days when you are expected to pay an additional fee for 'optional' excursions. Indeed, Casterbridge can often organise a range of additional, escorted evening activities at every destination featured in our tours, without cost implications, due to the permanent presence of our guides.
DON'T BE FOOLED... We are amazed when we look at our competitors' brochures, examine the small print and calculate that all the hidden extras usually add up to hundreds of dollars! When you compare the all-inclusive nature of our tours to those of other Tour Operators, you will discover that their low lead-in price begins to add up and up!
As you can see, the Casterbridge philosophy always emphasises education, safety and the smooth operation of each tour that we operate.
The Casterbridge Charter

The Casterbridge Charter & Educational Travel Philosophy
1.   You will travel as an independent group and will never be combined with other groups or students. This guarantees a more personal, flexible and educationally appropriate experience for your group.

2.   As it is your own tour, we will custom design all of our tour itineraries. We encourage group leaders to revise a standard outline until we have an itinerary that is designed to suit the specific needs of the group in question.

3.   We provide a Casterbridge Guide with each group on a 24-hour basis. This allows us to accomplish our goal of providing the maximum cultural and educational impact and the best use of time throughout your tour. The local knowledge and personal touches of our guides are particularly beneficial in the evenings and their permanent presence is invaluable to our group leaders.

4.   We always quote a comprehensive package with all excursions and admission costs included. This allows us to purchase group rates in advance for the best savings for our groups and ensures that the whole group has the cultural benefit of all the admissions, with no individuals being disadvantaged.

5.   We will provide nonstop flights, if available, or book the best flight routing possible for your group on the dates you select and we only use the major, scheduled international airlines. We never use charter flights. This ensures you arrive at your destination as fresh as possible and travel at a time convenient for your school, not just when it is convenient for other tour operators to place you on discounted unsold seats or circuitous flight routings.

6.   We strive, at all times, to demonstrate the highest standards of honesty, integrity, personal service and attention to detail in both the planning and operation of every tour. We guarantee your tour dates and departure at time of booking, and there are no hidden extras such as registration fees, optional excursions, airport taxes, capital city transport or adult supplements.
7.   We aim to provide an authentic cultural experience in all our destinations. This means using smaller, family owned hotels, whenever possible, rather than impersonal chains, eating at ethnic restaurants and encouraging direct interaction with the local culture and people.

8.   We facilitate learning by providing chronological content, coherent themes and by covering basic knowledge of terminology and concepts.

9.   Our daily itineraries are carefully planned so that you travel less and see more and to provide a variety of activities each day. We have a minimum of one night hotel stays and provide time for in-depth visits to attractions.

10.  Our aim is to bring the sights alive and to provide an enjoyable, educational and cultural experience for all concerned. We provide a balance of educational visits, cultural experiences and recreational activities. Our guides aim to inject humour and raise curiosity so that learning is fun!
If these standards portray the type of tour operator you would like as a travel partner, please put us to the test. Register now or call 1-800-522-2398 and one of our friendly and knowledgeable Tour Coordinators will be delighted to send you further information or discuss your travel plans with you.