We’re finally doing it! We’re visiting France next month, Bicycling 🚴♂️🚴♀️ Loire Valley & Seeing Sarlat/Perigord without a car (🚕?). Has anyone else done this? We’d love advice to keep it hassle free (lol) and wonderful, on a budget of course! It’s been 30 years since I was in Sarlat with Rick’s 2-22 days in my backpack but I’m not sure I’m up for hitchhiking 👍 anymore.
Details! Stories! Thanks everyone.
PS: Any Bruno Chief of Police fans? Got any tips to follow his beat ? 😉
I've never cycled in either of these areas but I do lots of cycling in Paris and its nearby countryside. I have, however, vacationed in both of these areas and have been living in France for years and know a lot about the cycling resources available to you to research a cycling vacation in these or any other regions in France. I'll give you a few links to start with and as you have more questions feel free to ask and I'll be happy to provide further assistance.
First, the following website is one of the best research resources for a cycling vacation in France:
https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/
For the Loire, the website below is the most comprehensive website to research a cycling vacation in the Loire and I'd be surprised if there was a question you had about cycling in this region to which you couldn't find the answer on this website (including info about bringing your bikes on the local TER trains for free):
https://www.loirebybike.co.uk/homepage/la-loire-a-velo-nature-culture-and-adventure/
Other useful websites for the Loire:
https://en.francevelotourisme.com/cycle-route/la-loire-a-velo-loire-valley-by-bike
You can look at the links below to see maps of the train network in that region:
https://mmt.vsct.fr/sites/default/files/swt/CCVL/2022-03/80x120_CARTE-REGIONALE-V2.2022.pdf
If you want to cycle in the Dordogne then you should know that if you are not cycling along the rivers that this is a very hilly region and you need to be an experienced cyclist used to climbing hills if you want to cycle away from the river valleys and the other rarely found areas with flat topography. Below are just a couple of the many websites you can use as a research resource:
https://www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/activities/sports/cycling
https://www.seedordogne.com/cycling/routes/
https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/where-to-go/sarlat-bike-route.html
Thanks for all the info! We’re beginners and won’t even attempt cycling Dordogne, thus the difficulty there without a car. Will definitely check out the links for Loire Valley! 😊
Do you know of anyway to get luggage forwarded from one B&B to the next without paying for a whole self-tour experience?
See your other thread where I just responded. I didn't realize I was responding to the same poster. :)
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/bike-touring-loire-valley
Sorry, new to the forum, with a dodgy internet connection in Bali. (Yes, we’re 8 months into a round-the-world celebration of retirement). I might have resent the post thinking it glitched. Thanks again Mystique!
When I last cycled in the loire, Inbased in two places ( Onzain and Azay-le-Rideau ) and did day trips. It worked out very well
Thanks, Greeley, 🚴♂️🚴♀️ sounds like what we’re going to do in Amboise & Blois🏰.
Still would love more stories 📓 and suggestions💡, especially in the Dordogne region🥾🥾.
No Bruno fans? 🤔 Huh.
We are planning to cycle both, later this month. We found some self-guided cycling resources and - for better or worse (time may tell) we chose one vendor over another. Self guided, meaning THEY book the hotels and transfer your bags from one to another. You cycle from one to another. We are choosing e-bikes, rather than road bikes.
One initial source I found was "freewheeling france" which appears to be an independent reviewer of various options; the reviewer is based in the UK. https://www.freewheelingfrance.com Like Mystique, I think that this is a great first resource to begin your search.
My query to this forum, last summer (https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/bike-touring-in-france-operator-suggestions), resulted in a positive review for discoverfrance, https://www.discoverfrance.com/european-tours-destinations?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkr6N_Jrh_gIV8xJ9Ch1nvADyEAAYAiAAEgIKNvD_BwE#france
However, we have chosen le velo voyageur instead, in part because it is a small, women owned business with a nice appearing business culture. https://www.levelovoyageur.com/en/ We found le velo voyaguer on freewheeling france. So far, dealing with them over the phone and via email, making adjustments to their offerings to suit our needs (an extra day here at Montignac in the Dordogne, a six-day seven-night "piece" of their 14 day Loire trip, there) has been great, Their "app" (which we were able to download now that we are within 30 days of departure) looks quite good.
Self-guided touring is less than 1/2 the price of other operators' "guided" tour options.
I have also found that it is useful to look up reviews on Trip Advisor once I have narrowed the field of options in order to get a 'feel' for the reviews available there.
FWIW, Our Dordogne loop is Bergerac-LeBugue-Montignac (2 nights)-Sarlat (2 nights)-Belves-Bergerac. Loire is linear: Blois-Amboise (2 nights)-Tours-Azay le Rideau-Chinon-Saumur.
(PS - J'ai vu Bruno, peut-etre un ou deux fois)
Merci beaucoup mon ami! I will definitely look into your advice. Have a wonderful trip!🇫🇷👩🎨🚴♂️
Krista, Five years ago, when I was a cross-biker and my wife's biking days were behind her, I found a guided group bike tour in Croatia. We had never ever been on any tour before.
She was reluctant: Aren't those islands hilly? I replied, they have e-bikes. So she tested e-bikes in Seattle, a somewhat hilly city where we live. Then she bought one. Then I had to buy one because we were biking together and I couldn't keep up with her on the hills. Five years later, she has biked 13,000 miles in and around our fair city. I only have piled up 9,500 miles.
My suggestion, try an ebike this week, if you can. Bike up some hills. Take a 25 mile ride. And then consider the possibilities for your travels.
Thanks that’s a great idea. We’re riding bikes 🚴 here in Bali 👹daily, and plan a 15 mile ride along the Loire 🏰 for our first outing in France, then decide on the e-bikes. How’s your and your wife’s fitness 💪with e-bikes? We’re trying to get in shape 🏋️♀️🏋️♂️on this trip, too!
"Class 1" bikes. Power is adjustable. None, Eco, Tour, Sport, Turbo. Less power, more miles. You have to peddle, unless you are simply coasting. So yes, we get exercise. Bikes are heavier, of course. So biking on the level with no power at all is more exercise than riding a normal bike on the level. But it is a great, if merely partial, equalizer for the hills.
