1.   You will travel as an independent group and will never be combined with other groups or students. This guarantees a more personal, flexible and educationally appropriate experience for your group.

2.   As it is your own tour, we will custom design all of our tour itineraries. We encourage group leaders to revise a standard outline until we have an itinerary that is designed to suit the specific needs of the group in question.

3.   We provide a Casterbridge Guide with each group on a 24-hour basis. This allows us to accomplish our goal of providing the maximum cultural and educational impact and the best use of time throughout your tour. The local knowledge and personal touches of our guides are particularly beneficial in the evenings and their permanent presence is invaluable to our group leaders.

4.   We always quote a comprehensive package with all excursions and admission costs included. This allows us to purchase group rates in advance for the best savings for our groups and ensures that the whole group has the cultural benefit of all the admissions, with no individuals being disadvantaged.

5.   We will provide nonstop flights, if available, or book the best flight routing possible for your group on the dates you select and we only use the major, scheduled international airlines. We never use charter flights. This ensures you arrive at your destination as fresh as possible and travel at a time convenient for your school, not just when it is convenient for other tour operators to place you on discounted unsold seats or circuitous flight routings.

6.   We strive, at all times, to demonstrate the highest standards of honesty, integrity, personal service and attention to detail in both the planning and operation of every tour. We guarantee your tour dates and departure at time of booking, and there are no hidden extras such as registration fees, optional excursions, airport taxes, capital city transport or adult supplements.

7.   We aim to provide an authentic cultural experience in all our destinations. This means using smaller, family owned hotels, whenever possible, rather than impersonal chains, eating at ethnic restaurants and encouraging direct interaction with the local culture and people.

8.   We facilitate learning by providing chronological content, coherent themes and by covering basic knowledge of terminology and concepts.

9.   Our daily itineraries are carefully planned so that you travel less and see more and to provide a variety of activities each day. We have a minimum of one night hotel stays and provide time for in-depth visits to attractions.

10.  Our aim is to bring the sights alive and to provide an enjoyable, educational and cultural experience for all concerned. We provide a balance of educational visits, cultural experiences and recreational activities. Our guides aim to inject humour and raise curiosity so that learning is fun!

If these standards portray the type of tour operator you would like as a travel partner, please put us to the test. Register now or call 1-800-522-2398 and one of our friendly and knowledgeable Tour Coordinators will be delighted to send you further information or discuss your travel plans with you.