Whilst Uherske Hradiste and Moravia remain our favourite destinations , we also include all other parts of the Czech Republic and Slovakia plus Poland,Lithuania, Hungary, the former Yugoslavia and this year-Italy and France!
If you have a school group, a band, a football team , a hobby group or just a bunch of friends (or even without) we can help you visit these places and meet the people there with the help of the many contacts we've built up over the years.
CZECH REPUBLIC
The Czech lands are where it all started for us and over the past 20 years we have established links in all regions, particularly Uherske Hradiste, Ceske Budejovice and Prague,
In recent years we have taken numerous groups there on various projects including Bridgwater College Media Students visiting the Barrandow Film Studios in Prague and Czech TV, Shropshire youth workers linking up with their Czech equivalents in Prague and UH, a rock tour of Bridgwater bands and the Voice of the People Choir. Prague and Ceske Budejovice have been an annual destination for Plymouth University and their comparative Education residentials and the Bridgwater College History and Sociology courses.
In recent years we have taken numerous groups there on various projects including Bridgwater College Media Students visiting the Barrandow Film Studios in Prague and Czech TV, Shropshire youth workers linking up with their Czech equivalents in Prague and UH, a rock tour of Bridgwater bands and the Voice of the People Choir. Prague and Ceske Budejovice have been an annual destination for Plymouth University and their comparative Education residentials and the Bridgwater College History and Sociology courses.
SLOVAKIA
When Czechoslovakia split in two we were immediatly landed with 2 whole countries to twin with! Our main contacts are in the High Tatra region around Poprad and in recent years we have managed to combine this with trips to nearby Krakow in Poland which is easily accesible from Bristol airport.
Bridgwater College Catering students and Yeovil College Health & Social Care students both included the Tatras in a 2-centre trip, Bridgwater via Krakow with a short coach journey over the mountains and Yeovil with a night train from Prague.
Bridgwater College Catering students and Yeovil College Health & Social Care students both included the Tatras in a 2-centre trip, Bridgwater via Krakow with a short coach journey over the mountains and Yeovil with a night train from Prague.
POLAND
With regular flights from Bristol to Krakow, it's simpler than ever to get across to Poland from the South West of England.
Krakow is Poland's most popular tourist destination , situated very close to the Tatra mountains which the Poles share with the Slovaks.
Apart from atmospheric Kazimierz district and the nearby Salt mines, Krakow is also close to the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz which is an important educational visit.
SLOVENIA
Since the break up of the former Yugoslavia a plethora of new states have emerged in the Balkans. The most accessible is the EU state of Slovenia adjoining Austria and Italy with it's mountainous terrain descending rapidly to it's Adriatic coast thus cramming a wide variety of landscape into a relatively small area.
With flights to either Ljubljana or nearby Trieste, Slovenia is a popular choice for groups in recent years.
Many groups combine Slovenia with a day or more in Venice-which can be easily reached from Bristol.
We have excellent contacts in the Alpine resort of Bled (pictured) and the Istrian coastal region around Koper. Groups from Bridgwater, Yeovil and Richard Huish colleges have all visited Slovenia with us in the past year switching between the 2 centres and sometimes including Italy and Croatia on the same programme.
With flights to either Ljubljana or nearby Trieste, Slovenia is a popular choice for groups in recent years.
Many groups combine Slovenia with a day or more in Venice-which can be easily reached from Bristol.
We have excellent contacts in the Alpine resort of Bled (pictured) and the Istrian coastal region around Koper. Groups from Bridgwater, Yeovil and Richard Huish colleges have all visited Slovenia with us in the past year switching between the 2 centres and sometimes including Italy and Croatia on the same programme.
CROATIA
The popular Adriatic holiday destination of Croatia is a location we've tried on a few occaisions in recent years.
The climate and scenery are both powerful reasons for a visit, particularly the archipelago of islands which pepper the coastal region from the Istrian peninsula in the North to the spectacular medeaval city of Dubrovnik in the South.
Croatia is often combined with Slovenia in the North where the seaport town of Pula is easily accessible being less than an hour from Ljubljana and in the past we managed to combine Dubrovnik with Montenegro in the South.
HUNGARY
Flights to Budapest from several British airports make Hungary and the Danube basin easily reachable from the UK.
In recent years we have taken footballers there and a couple of school groups, however, it's not one of our most contactfull places....
LITHUANIA
One of the first of the accession states to send student groups to Britain with us was Lithuania and we regularly linked up with the Antakalnio gymnazium in the capital Vilnius.
Flights from Stansted or train links from Warsaw have opened up the Baltic states to western travellers and if you;re looking for something a bit closer to the days before the collapse of communism then this former Soviet country is an ideal gateway
BOSNIA
Well, we 'almost' set up a link with Bosnia-Herzegovina via the only coastal outlet they have-the Adriatic town of Neum but it didn't work out - although we can try again.
The interior of the country includes the multi ethnic city of Sarajevo and the famous town of Mostar-however the countries recent turbulent history has often discouraged tour groups.
MONTENEGRO
Europe's newest state, the former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, is just across the border from Dubrovnik airport in Southern Croatia and therefore ideally situated for combining the two.
Having said this, we have in fact only managed one trip there in the past- a football trip in the town of Herceg Novi.
ITALY
For the last couple of years we have been developing links with the town of Priverno just south of Rome. The twin town of our Czech twin town it's a good location nearby the Medeteranean coastal town of Sabaudia and easy reach of Rome itself where there are regular flights from Bristol.
Situated in the Lazio region, Priverno is equidistant from the world war 2 battlefields of Monte Cassino and Anzio and the area contains the Pontine Marshes- drained by Mussolini in the 1920's.
Last year we took a football delegation there and this year Choir.
FRANCE
Bridgwater's first twin town La Ciotat is situated on the Medeteranean coast just 30 minutes from Marseilles.
Twinned first back in 1957 the towns have had regular school exchanges but in recent years interest has declined.
This year we intend to relaunch links with our football tour and maybe in future open up wider opportunities for exchange projects
