ABOUT PUENTE

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Bridge on Barge canal: Kayak, walk or bike!
Think About Bridges. Bridges span rivers, streams, chasms. Other bridges span cultural or ideological differences. Bridges are a symbol of understanding between people as well as the best way of getting to the other side of a river.
 
Bridges are essential for travellers. Crossing bridges built by people who have gone before us, building new bridges for people who will come in the future, travellers, more than almost anyone else, know the importance of bridges.
 
PUENTE (“bridge” in Spanish) is named in honor of all those bridges. PUENTE’s logo, a simple stone bridge, is symbolic of old bridges in countless Spanish towns.
 
PUENTE specializes in active travel in Spain. But not your typical active travel. We do things a little bit differently.
Why are PUENTE trips different? PUENTE trips are based on more than twenty years of travelling all over Spain by bike and on foot. We live here so we have access to lots of special information and time to explore places that temporary residents don’t always find. Fluent Spanish and complete cultural integration gives Puente an advantage when it comes to talking to locals to get the inside scoop on a trail, a church, a legend or the best place to buy cheese, wine and cookies.  After all that research (it’s been fun!) we picked some of our favorite places and created PUENTE active travel routes. Now you can can benefit from all our experience!

GROUP TRAVEL, ME? After selecting the best destinations came some serious thinking about the kind of travelling we like to do, and what people want from organized trips. Of course not everybody feels the same about group travel, but we think there are more people out there like us: people who seriously weigh the advantages of not doing all the detail work for a trip and the disadvantages of following an agenda that might not always be your own, even with the different options most groups offer. There’s a definite trade-off there.

THE TRADE OFF. For that trade-off between advantages and disadvantages to come out on the side of group travel, most of us have to feel that we’re getting as least as much out of the deal as we’re putting in, right?  Everybody has different priorities, but here at PUENTE we think that getting what we value most in a few basic things that make the trade-off deal a whole lot sweeter. And the decision to go with a group a lot easier to make.

So what are those basic things? Well, we think these are the most important:
NEW DESTINATIONS:  We think an organized trip should go someplace different, someplace that isn’t in all the guidebooks. Someplace that you might not find without some help. And in Spain, there are a lot of fantastic, overlooked and off-track places that have great scenery or interesting sights that are even better because there are fewer tourists. So if some of the places in our routes don’t ring a bell, please remember we’re doing it on purpose because we think that part of our responsibility is helping you discover someplace new. Someplace that doesn’t sound familiar. That’s what adventures are all about! "Devil's Bridge" : Great walking in the Eastern Pyrenees
SUSTAINABILITY:  We use locally-owned hotels and transportation companies as much as possible. This keeps the economic benefits of Puente trips in the areas we visit, contributing to smaller family businesses that would otherwise have a hard time surviving in underpopulated areas - rural de-population is a problem in Spain and even our small groups can make a big difference. That's another reason we usually don't include lunches on our trips: buying in the local stores helps spread the wealth to commerce that also serves residents instead of leaving it all at the hotel. We also hope you will visit the local cafés during our village stays - see a bit of local life as well as leaving a few euros for coffee or wine. 

CULTURAL CONTACT: At Puente, we think that group trips can sometimes have a bubble effect that isolates the travellers from their surroundings. As our part of the deal, we make a special effort to avoid that, getting our travellers into easy and natural contact with Spain. We suggest small groups (usually a maximum 20 travellers smaller in many cases), and we take you places where you won’t be the twentieth group of Americans that season. After that, we have plenty of cultural information and suggestions to enrich your experience, whether you prefer to stick with the group or do some exploring on your own.

HOTELS: We think a five-star trip is more important than five-star hotels. PUENTE really does go off the usual tourist routes so we can’t  promise luxury hotels, English TV or gourmet food every day because those things just don’t exist in some of the places we want to show you. So instead of luxury hotels, we use mid-range hotels and smaller family-run inns, with a top hotel every now and then, if one happens to be on our route. The food is good and plentiful, with an emphasis on local specialities and home cooking.   We think you’ll be more than comfortable with these arrangement. After all, if we do a five-star trip, you won’t want to spend a whole lot of time in a luxury hotel, you’ll be out exploring new and different things!

"Viaduct" in Madrid, near the Royal Palace and the Cathedral BUS TRANSFERS: We think that a good trip has a minimum of bus transfers. Except for the almost unavoidable first and last day transfers, we try to design trips that minimize time wasted sitting on a bus. That’s our responsibility and that gives you more time for having fun, which is why you’re here, right? This philosophy may mean that we cover less territory but that’s OK with us. We think it’s better to see a small area in depth than to see a large area superficially.

WHAT ELSE? Besides those special things that make the the trade-off easier, we take care of everything you expect from an organized trip: doing the detail work so you can enjoy yourself, recommending food, wine, restaurants, sights or the best places to take that special picture. And since we live here, we can usually add a bit of history or local color, a legend or something unusual to make your trip even better.
**Are you a PUENTE traveller?
  • Curious: You’re eager to learn all you can, and hope to replace any preconceived ideas with your own personal experiences.
  • Independent: You’ll be happy to have some free time for exploring on your own and won’t always stay with the group if there are several options.
  • Flexible: You know that active travel cannot always be regimented into a strict timetable, especially not in a country like Spain. Too many interesting things can get in the way.
  • Moderately active: You’re not totally sedentary. Our routes are not designed for super-athletes but you’ll have more fun if you don’t have sore muscles the first three days.
  • Outdoorsy: You can live a week or longer without CNN, first-run movies, screeching traffic and computers.
  • Traveller: You have probably travelled some before, maybe in a more conventional style, and are relatively comfortable being on the move.

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Who or what is PUENTE?

PUENTE owner and trip leader Anne Pinder was born and raised in Grinnell, Iowa.  She graduated from Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) with a Spanish major, including junior year in Madrid.   As a resident in Madrid for more than twenty years, Anne has seen most of Spain’s fascinating transition from a country just emerging from a long dictatorship to its present position, a vibrant modern country, member of the European Union and light years from the Spain of her junior year program.

Anne has travelled all over Spain and parts of Portugal,  usually by bicycle or on foot. She has been organizing trips for Spanish friends for nearly twenty years, showing them their own country with her unique bi-cultural outlook, enthusiasm and insatiable curiosity about nearly everything. She has worked semi-professionally (helping local company with their activities) and professionally in this field for about ten years.

To complement her wide travels and cultural experience, she has solid skills in a variety of sports (hiking, biking, kayaking, cross-country skiing), environmental studies, technical training  in mountaineering and Red Cross certificates in First Aid and Lifesaving.

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