FAQs for our American clients
Choose the FAQs you are interested in...
- Who are Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours?
- Who joins the tours?
- Can I join the tours in the destination directly from the States?
- Is it sometimes a good idea to join in London?
- What is the quality of the accommodation?
- Can the accommodation be upgraded?
- Who are the guides?
- What kind of visits and tastings are included?
- How are the tours priced?
- What security & financial protection is offered?
- What is the contract?
- What is the booking procedure?
- How do I get in touch?
Who are Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours?
Arblaster & Clarke are a UK based Wine Tour specialist. Although we are based in a small market town in the South of England, with our experienced multi-lingual team, we operate worldwide. The company was founded in 1986 to operate tours for wine lovers, which we have done, worldwide, ever since.
The tours that you see on our site are ALL our own tours. Despite being a small company, we are, to the best of our knowledge, the largest wine tours specialist in the world. We've also been told that we are the best!
Who joins the tours?
Our clients are wine enthusiasts from all around the world and our American Clients come from all over the States. Many travel on our scheduled tours, some on individual bespoke tours and others in Private Groups.
Can I join the tours in the destination directly from the States?
You can join at the destination, and there is a reduction in the price if you do not take our flights from the UK. If you were to join our Wine Tours to Chile, Australia or New Zealand for instance, it would make sense to fly direct.
If you are on vacation in Paris, it is easy to join one of our many Champagne Weekends, with tutoured comparative tastings, Champagne breakfasts, visits to famous Champagne houses such as Bollinger and Taittinger, and lunches and dinners with the likes of Veuve Clicqot and Louis Roederer. (We can book the hotel in Paris for you, or you can do this direct or via your travel agent).
Is it sometimes a good idea to join in London?
There are several reasons why you might join the European tours in London. The tours are mostly in countryside regions of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal etc. The local airports in wine country rarely have direct connections to the States, and internal flights and transfers in Europe could actually cost more than flights from the UK, plus the timings probably won't fit in.
You might also consider joining in the UK and flying back by another route. For instance, our Spanish tour "Rioja and Northern Spain" starts in Bilbao (easy to fly to from London, but not so easy from Seattle), however it finishes in the capital, Madrid. You could stay on for a few days here, then fly home.
What is the quality of the accommodation?
The accommodation we use on some tours is luxurious 4* / 5* or private chateaux or haciendas.
However on other tours, such as 'tours by coach' travelling from London, we mostly use 3* hotels or occasionally 2*s. These are perfectly decent hotels, usually with character, and are very good for their star rating. However, these tours are more for the British market than for our overseas clients. (Part of the reason why these tours travel by coach is so clients can buy wine in France to take back to the UK).
Can the accommodation be upgraded?
Generally yes. If you would prefer superior or luxury hotels on the tours we can often offer these, (or deluxe rooms), as an upgrade. However it is probably a good idea to consider a more prestigious tour or even a private tour if this is not possible.
Who are the guides?
We have top British Wine Experts as guides. Some of them, such as Steven Spurrier are world famous wine critics and many are "Masters of Wine" or Wine Journalists. They are expert tasters, very knowledgeable and great tour leaders dedicated to making wine fun and interesting.
See our section Guides for more information on who escorts the tours.
What kind of visits and tastings are included?
On the tours you'll have top-level visits to top wine producers, some of these are small domaines, others great châteaux, bodegas and cutting-edge wineries. Some of these are very well known, but others may not be as they could be our own favourites or recent discoveries.
The visits are detailed but we like to get through to the tasting pretty quickly, with time for questions then. You will meet the winemakers and often the owners and you enjoy superb meals to complement the wines.
As well as our scheduled Tours we also arrange Private Tours either for individuals or for groups.
How are the tours priced?
The tours are priced in Pounds Sterling with an approximate price quoted in US Dollars if you hover over the small money icon on the tour page or look on the Dates & Prices page.
Holiday prices out of the UK are lower than out of the States on a like for like basis. As an example, compare our 2004 prices for the Sea Cloud II Wine Cruise with any Sea Cloud cruise offered in the USA. Also many of our tours include flights and in some cases you would not need these, so a further reduction can be offered.
What security & financial protection is offered?
Arblaster and Clarke Wine Tours is a fully licensed and bonded Tour Operator. The financial protection afforded by these bonds does cover our overseas clients. This is often not the case with other British or European companies, but is a requirement for members of AITO. (The Association of Independent Tour Operators).
In the unlikely event of our financial failure, all monies paid to us are recoverable from our Civil Aviation Authority Air Travel Organisers Licence bond (if a flight from the UK is included in the package), or from our AITO Trust bond, if no ex-UK flight is included. See our Consumer Protection section.
What is the contract?
The contract is governed by English Law and complies fully with all the relevant Package Travel legislation which gives considerable rights and guarantees to the consumer. We advise you to read our terms and conditions for more information.
The cancellation clause may be different to US travel cancellation clauses. Unavoidable cancellation and curtailment by the client is covered by most travel insurance policies, accordingly we strongly recommend that travel insurance is taken out from the date of booking, not just on the date of travel.
What is the booking procedure?
This is explained in simple steps The booking procedure
How do I get in touch?
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to email us, or phone us on 0011 44 1730 263111.
(UK time is 5 hours ahead of New York, so please call us in the morning!)
