Testimonials

"Dear Andrew, I just thought I would drop you a line to say that we had a great time in the Czech Republic. Alice and I both thought that Sunday’s racing was the most interesting afternoon’s racing we have ever been to, and we have been to quite a few big meetings in the UK. Please extend our thanks to Robin and Nick. We are thinking about Merano next year. Thanks," Dominic and Alice Elsworth - Velka Pardubicka 2011.

"I would just like to say how much my husband and I enjoyed our weekend in Paris. Everything was all very well organised and we would have no hesitation in booking another trip with Course & Distance or recommending your tours to anyone. Karine and Valerie were very helpful and informative, while Willie and Kate were most entertaining. Diane Murray - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe 2011.

"Dear Andrew, Hilda and I would just like to put in writing our very grateful thanks for all the hard work you put into organising the trip to Merano. We enjoyed the whole weekend as in addition to the wonderful picturesque racecourse our time in Garda and the opportunity to explore Merano and the surroundings was wonderful. We have brought back lots of photos and many memories. We should also be grateful if you would pass on to Davide Claps our thanks for his help and introduction to the Italian racing scene. Thanks again and best wishes," Stewart and Hilda Nash - Gran Premio di Merano 2011.

"Dear Andrew, thank you very much for organizing such a lovely trip for us all. We had a great time in Garda and Merano. The scenery was amazing as was the food and hospitality. We really enjoyed some time to ourselves, meeting new people and time with them also. Great fun, all round a lovely few days. Would definitely recommend it to anyone. Speak soon, best wishes," Jo and Rory Davies - Gran Premio di Merano 2011.

"Dear Andrew, thank you for organising a really enjoyable weekend. I had forgotten how lovely Merano is and what a fantastic setting it is for the racecourse, I went with our ITBA breeders, but it was so long ago. Kind regards," Anthea Smyth - Gran Premio di Merano 2011.

"Dear Andrew, a big thank you to you for organising everything for us to visit Merano which was a very enjoyable and worthwhile holiday and a delightful racecourse and how well we were looked after. You organised very comfortable hotels for us throughout. Very many thanks," Richard and Jennifer Landale - Gran Premio di Merano 2011

Breakfast with Jamie Osborne

Mon, Weds, Fri and Saturdays
Full details

YOUR CONTRACT WITH US

Your contract is with Course & Distance Limited. References to 'we', 'us' and 'our' are to Course & Distance Limited, including where appropriate our employees.

Please read the following conditions carefully as bookings with Course & Distance Limited are accepted only with the terms and conditions set out below.

How to book
A reservation can be made by telephone or online via the Booking Form at which time we will confirm availability on a specific tour.  Please note that there may be a difference in the price quoted on the web site and the price we have to charge for any specific tour due entirely to rises in air fares for any particular destination.  The booking can then be confirmed by card payment via the PayPal link on our website or will be held open for one week pending receipt of your deposit by post.

We require £150 deposit per person for all tours. Upon receipt of your booking form, payment via PayPal or telephone booking complete with the requisite deposit, we will issue you with our confirmation.

The balance of the payment will be made to us eight weeks (56 days) before the departure date. If a booking is made within this period, then full payment must be made at the time of booking. We are unable to accept cheques for payment within one week of the departure date.

Please note that our credit card/debit card payment provider charges a 4% commission on every card transaction.  We have no option but to pass this charge on when payment is made by this method.

It is possible to pay by electronic bank transfer into our bank account and this will not incur any charges, please contact our office for details.

Surcharges
Prices in this brochure are believed to be accurate at the time of publication (January 2012). We reserve the right to change prices from time to time. Accordingly, it is possible that when you book your holiday the actual price may have gone up or down. If the price of your holiday has changed, the correct price will be confirmed at the time of booking. We reserve the right to correct errors at any time prior to the price being confirmed at the time of booking.

Once you have made a booking and paid either a deposit or the full payment and the price of your chosen holiday has been confirmed on your Confirmation Invoice, we reserve the right to vary the price of your holiday only in the following circumstances; changes in transportation costs, including the costs of fuel, scheduled airfare and any other airline surcharges, including airline insurance and security levy. Government imposed taxes such as increases in VAT any other Government imposed increases, or where our costs increase due to adverse changes in the exchange rate used to calculate your holiday.

Even in these cases we will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the total holiday price (excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges). Only amounts in excess of this 2% will be added to your holiday cost.

If we impose a surcharge, which means you paying more than 10% of your holiday price, you are entitled to cancel your holiday and receive a full refund of all money paid to us, except for any premium paid for holiday insurance and amendment charges. Should you wish to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 7 days from the issue date on the surcharge invoice.

For all holidays in this brochure the exchange rate is based on: 1.19 EURO to £1 GBP, with the exception of those to the Czech Republic where the exchange rate is based on 30 Czech Koruna to £1 GBP. These figures were taken on 12/01/12.  Exchange rates based on figures published on the FT.com website on that date.

Insurance
It is a condition of booking that all travellers be covered by comprehensive travel insurance. We require proof of cover at the time of booking. If you wish to arrange personal travel insurance, you may do so through Smart and Cook, www.smartandcook.co.uk or by telephoning 01522 504198.

Cancellation charges
Cancellation of a confirmed booking will result in the loss of the deposit and any insurance premium paid. In addition to this, for holidays that are cancelled within six weeks (42 days) of the departure date, then the following scale of charges will apply;

Up to 42 days prior to departure: Deposit

41 – 29 days prior to departure: 35% of holiday cost

28 – 8 days prior to departure: 75% of holiday cost

Less than 7 days prior to departure: 100% of holiday cost

All cancellations must be made in writing to us and will be effective only from the date on which the notification reaches our office.

If we change your booking
It is very unlikely that we will change any aspect of your holiday with us. However, if we do have to alter your itinerary, travel or holiday arrangements, any change will be either minor or major. Where a change is of a minor nature, we will, if practicable advise you before departure, but we are not obliged to do so, or to pay you compensation. A minor change is any change apart from a major change as defined here. When a change is a major change (change in departure time advised in advance by the airline or carrier, change in the hotel or the standard of room in the hotel booked, or any major alteration to the itinerary contained in your confirmation receipt), we will contact you immediately and offer you the following alternatives; accepting the change (we may be in a position to add a rider to the contract, with the changes to your holiday in place and the effect on the price, which will be discussed at the time), or withdrawing from the contract and accepting a full refund of all monies paid.

We will cancel your holiday within six weeks of departure, if we fail to receive the full balance payable for the holiday, or as a result of force majeure – that is unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which neither we nor our suppliers could avoid, examples of which are war or threat of war, terrorist activity, civil strife, riots, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions or similar events beyond the control of Course & Distance Limited.

We reserve the right to cancel any holiday if we do not receive sufficient bookings to make the holiday economically viable.  We will endeavour to inform you as soon as we decide that a particular holiday is not going ahead for this reason.  This will normally be not less than four weeks before the departure date for the holiday.  In the event of cancellation for this reason, all monies paid will be returned in full.

If the horseracing component of the tour is cancelled after you have departed on the holiday, we will make every effort to reimburse you with the racecourse element of your package price, although this will be dependent on the co-operation of the local racecourse authority. Course and Distance Limited cannot be held responsible for, or liable to compensate you for the cancellation of such events. Nor can we accept liability for errors and omissions by the event organisers that are outside the control of Course and Distance Limited. Notwithstanding that our representatives will always try and remedy any such disputes at the time.

If you change your booking
If after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, we will endeavour to make the changes, but it may not always be possible. Any change is subject to availability and also to payment of an administration fee of £30 per person and any associated costs of the change imposed by our suppliers. You should note that airlines in particular might treat a change to a booking as a cancellation and a new booking and therefore charge a 100% cancellation fee.

Conditions of carriage
The contractual terms of companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements will apply to this contract. Conditions of Carriage of the Airlines apply, and some of these limit or exclude liability. Copies of these conditions are available on request.

Travel documentation
It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in possession of valid travel documentation for your journey. This will include a valid passport and (where required) a visa. At the time of writing, full UK passport holders do not require visas for any of the destinations advertised in this brochure.

The UK Government has introduced legislation that requires airlines to submit Advance Passenger Information on all flights to and from the UK. What information is required? 1. Full given names and surname (your passport and booking must match). 2. Nationality. 3. Travel document type (i.e. passport or identity card). 4. Travel document number (i.e. passport number). 5. Document expiry date. 6. Document issuing country. 7. Gender. 8. Date of birth. It is your responsibility to ensure this information is correct on your confirmation invoice, provided by us.

Complaints
Should any aspect of your holiday give you cause for complaint, you should raise the issue immediately with our on site representative. In the unlikely event that we cannot resolve the problem on site then you must write to us detailing your complaint within 30 days of returning to the United Kingdom.

Brochure accuracy
Although we take every care in the preparation of our brochure and the details contained therein, please remember that we prepare the brochure up to 12 months in advance and there may be occasions when certain information shown is no longer accurate, therefore we reserve the right to change any of the prices, services or other particulars contained in this brochure at any time before we enter into a contract with you. If there are any such changes, we will notify you at the time of booking.

Personal appearances
If circumstances beyond our control prevent the appearance of a guest speaker as advertised on one of our holidays, we will endeavour to find a suitable replacement. Under these circumstances there will be no reduction or refund in the price of the holiday, even in the event of us being unable to find a suitable replacement due to time limitations etc...

Flights
The majority of our holidays utilise flights with scheduled airlines British Airways, Czech Airlines and Alitalia. The brochure contains details of flight times, flight numbers and aircraft type that will be used on the routes. In the event that the airline changes the aircraft type on a particular route, we will endeavour to inform you of those changes.

Customers requiring assistance at the airport check-in should advise us in advance so that the necessary arrangements can be made with the airlines concerned.

Disability policy
Although our holidays are not particularly strenuous, they do require a certain degree of physical fitness. Please advise us before booking a holiday, if you suffer from a serious medical condition or a physical disability. If in our reasonable opinion, your chosen holiday is not suitable for your medical problem or disability or you are not travelling with someone who can provide all assistance you may reasonably require, we have the right to refuse the booking. Regrettably, most of our holidays are not suitable for disabled travellers, however, we will be happy to discuss your choice of holiday and its suitability dependent on the nature of the disability and any able-bodied travelling companions.

Delays
We cannot be held responsible for delays in your departure or any costs incurred by you for such delays. Course & Distance Limited does not have any liability to you for any delay that may arise. Where such delays do arise, we will endeavour to keep you updated about the length and nature of the delay, but ultimately this responsibility will rest with the airline.

Health formalities
You should seek in good time before the departure date of your holiday with us, the advice of your own doctor with regard to up to date information about inoculations that are required for travel to destinations contained in this brochure.

Protection against insolvency
The air holidays and flights in this brochure are ATOL protected, since we hold an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence granted by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is 6805. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.

Privacy policy
We take your privacy very seriously and the details that you send to us will never be disclosed to any third party, with the exception of details that may be required by the airlines, hotels and public bodies such as Customs and Immigration agencies if required by law as part of your holiday arrangements.

Details supplied when paying by credit card will not be stored by us in any format and will destoyed on successful completion of the purchase.