Real apple cider isn’t the sickly-sweet stuff you buy in six-packs. And it’s not the juice sold in jugs at the grocery store in October. Real cider is a revelation: an effervescent, lively and snappy drink that can be sweet or dry. Some artisan varieties taste like champagne, and some are closer to beer, but all are worth exploring. Here are a few of the best cider tours in the U.S., England and France.

The Best U.S. Cider Tours

A one-day Virginia cider tour will take you from Richmond to the rolling hills of Piedmont country. We’ll begin right here in the capital city, where Allianz Global Assistance has its U.S. headquarters. Richmond is home to Blue Bee Cider, an urban cidery in Scott's Addition that makes dry ciders from rare and heirloom Virginia apples. Also located in Scott's Addition, Buskey Cider, which occupies a former train car-loading building in an industrial-chic part of the city. Then head west on I-64 to Castle Hill Cider in Keswick, Virginia, a beautiful estate dating to 1764 that makes sophisticated ciders. Taste the Celestial and the Terrestrial; we can’t pick a favorite. Drive just a bit further to visit Albemarle CiderWorks, a friendly, family-owned orchard and cidery. Stay the night at Albemarle’s guest cottage, or head to nearby Charlottesville.

Another region famed for its apples — and its cider — is upstate New York. Cideries abound in the Finger Lakes and the Hudson Valley regions. When you’re planning your New York cider tour, seek out places that are off the beaten track. As New York Times travel writer Freda Moon notes, “there seems to be something of an inverse correlation between an orchard’s status as a tourist attraction and the quality of its drink.”¹ Standouts include Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider, which uses European techniques and ecological farming, and Aaron Burr Cidery, which specializes in making cider from wild apples. If you’d prefer to stay in the city, you can taste local ciders at more than 60 locations during Cider Week NYC.

Jumping from East Coast to West, Washington’s Olympic Peninsula is another place to find phenomenal cider. Try the Olympic Peninsula Cider Route, a beautiful drive that carries you past stunning views of Discovery Bay. Begin at Alpenfire, the state’s first organic cidery, where you can tour the orchard and take home some cider vinegar, too. Continue to Eaglemount, which also makes wine, and then to Finnriver Cidery, where you might catch a bluegrass or funk concert on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.

The Best British Cider Tours

The Brits have been making cider for more than two millennia, giving them plenty of time to perfect the art.² Cider has enjoyed a revival in Britain in recent years, and you’ll find popular varieties like Strongbow and Blackthorn in many pubs. But cider aficionados should venture to small farms and cideries in order to taste the real stuff: cloudy and uncarbonated in the West Country, lighter and fizzier in East Anglia. While England’s home to hundreds of cideries, here are just a few to consider adding to your British cider tour:

• The Somerset Cider Brandy Company’s picturesque farm has been pressing cider for 150 years. Sample the cider and some 20-year-old brandy, and if you’re not knocked out, climb Burrow Hill for a glimpse of the distant Glastonbury Tor.
• Perry’s Cider invites visitors to enjoy Somerset cider varieties in its tasting room. Then visit the tea room, cider works and the small museum of cider-making equipment.
• Healey’s Cornish Cyder Farm makes cider with a 16th-century press, as well as wine, spirits and its signature cloudy lemonade. Don’t miss the family’s collection of vintage Healey sports cars.

The Best French Cider Tours

If American and British ciders are too tame for your palate, head to France for the famous Normandy cider tour: La Route Du Cidre. The region is known for three types of apple-derived alcohol: cidre, which can be dry (brut) or sweet (demi-sec); Calvados, a super-strong aged apple brandy; and Pommeau, a mixture of Calvados and apple juice.³

The 25-mile cider route through Normandy can be explored at leisure. One favorite stop is Domaine Dupont, a family estate that offers free distillery and cellar visits all year round. Calvados Pierre Huet is a distillery operated by the fifth generation of Huets and operating with modern, sustainable methods. Splurge on a bottle of Calvados Millesime 1972, which is aged 38 years or more. En route, you’ll also see postcard-perfect towns, marvels like the Bayeux and Rouen Cathedrals, and historic D-Day sites.

Already dreaming of embarking on your cider tour? Whether you’re traveling stateside or internationally, it always makes sense to insure your trip with trip insurance from Allianz Global Assistance. There’s a plan for every budget to protect you from all kinds of travel emergencies, from lost luggage to missed ships to injuries abroad. Travel happy!

Richmond-based travel writer Muriel Barrett has a terrible sense of direction, and has spent many happy hours getting lost in Barcelona, Venice and Jerusalem. Her favorite travel memories all involve wildlife: watching sea turtles nest in Costa Rica, kayaking with seals in Vancouver and meeting a pink tarantula in Martinique.

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