Page 19 - The Kettle June 2012

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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
If starting a tour at 10-30am doesn’t suit you consider
booking a trip a
Later Start Option.
Instead of arriving at 10-30am you can meet the tour
guide at 11-45am/noon and start your day out with an
early lunch. This is the best option for groups who don't
want to set out during the rush hour and it is also a good
idea to solve the thorny problem of drivers hours for
many groups. Call and ask for us to explain why.
The Later Start Option
is available across the
board, including our Together Tour itineraries where,
instead of starting with morning coffee as on a standard
timing day, you arrive for an early lunch at midday and
a cup of coffee is still included in the tour fee but is
served after your lunch.
Later Start Days cover all the core itinerary points as
described in the tour description. The order of events
may differ but not the tour content and you don't head
home much later than on a standard tour. Usually it’s a
matter of heading for home about 30 minutes later than
an ordinary start day.
The Cable Car Saga
On 1 June 2012 announced rather quietly that
all 34 gondolas have now been tested and it’s
a thumbs up all round. We’re running a book in
the office that it’ll be operating in time for the
2012 Olympic Games. It’ll be Boris’s white rabbit
pulled from the hat when the world’s media is
focused on London.
All things being equal we expect to be taking
bookings soon for rides on the Cable Car to take
place from October 2012. There will be a choice
of itineraries. Also opening on 21 June is the
walkway across the Millennium Dome or The O
2
as we are meant to call it. It’s based on the idea of
the Sydney Harbour Bridge walkway. I have one
intrepid group of ladies from Hertingfordbury who
want to come and do it. Email Craig at
info@cityandvillagetours if you are interested.
And keep reading
The Kettle
for further updates.
Our Blue Badge Guides
Our guides have the Blue Badge – the highest guiding
qualification in the UK. The Blue Badge course is always
over-subscribed and is very demanding, with a terrifying
range of written and practical examinations.
Not everyone passes, not by a long chalk.
And not everyone who passes has the right blend of
skills to be a guide with City & Village Tours.
Beyond and above the knowledge we also require
kindness, patience, warmth, a sense of humour and the
ability to be heard clearly, especially by older folk.
It’s a critical mix of skills that our regular groups
recognise instantly. And it is an award winning mix –
we have received nine awards for the best guided tours
in the country.
There are over 1500 holders of the Blue Badge in the UK
but there are only 30 guides in the City & Village Tours
team. It’s no lottery when you book a day out with City
& Village Tours.
Later Start Days
For people who don't want to start their day out too early
Up at The O
2