The UTracks 2007 brochure cover - where it all began It’s our tenth birthday! My, how quickly a decade can pass. Since the launch of our first standalone brochure in 2007 we’ve introduced an extra 350+ walking & cycling trips – covering every theme, from food to family – which means you now have access to over 400  itineraries in 35 countries across Europe. But, while providing new, creative ways to explore Europe actively has been a hallmark of our success the one thing we’re particularly chuffed about is that we’ve been able to continually back up one of our core mantras – making Europe affordable for our travellers. “When we first launched UTracks in 2007, we set out to provide the most affordable, comprehensive range of European walking and cycling experiences available,” says our General Manager, Ms Kate Baker. Whilst looking back at the UTracks journey (which you can learn more about here), Ms Baker said she discovered just how affordable the itineraries have remained in the past decade. ”For example, our most popular walk, the Mont Blanc Guided Walk, has only increased by 10%. The ground breaking Loire Valley Bike & Barge trip, which virtually sold out when it was featured in the weekend papers back in 2007, has only increased by around 6%.” “Better still, our eight-day Crossing Corsica Walk has not increased by one cent between 2007 and 2017!” In fact, travelling to Europe has never been more affordable. We asked some of our friends in the Australian industry what they noticed and it may just surprise you. For example, Thai International Airways’ airfares to Europe are around 30% cheaper right now, compared to 10 years ago. We checked that with Sue Marr, the Marketing Manager for the Australian market. It’s true. And, while some European rail products have increased in price by less than 10% on average over the last 10 years, many of the point-to-point tickets have actually decreased in price. According to Ingrid Kocijan, Commercial Director of European company, Rail Plus, two standout rail products that continue to grow from strength to strength are the Eurail Passes and Eurostar tickets. “The value and convenience of using these products continues to be recognised each year; and more and more travellers are also taking advantage of large discounts by booking early,” Mrs Kocijan said. So, if you think travelling to Europe is too expensive, perhaps you are looking in the wrong place.