Am planning on a bike trip (5-7 days) somewhere in France, late May-early June. Prefer self-guided, but would consider guided if not outrageously priced. Not looking for Tour de Frances type hills; prefer fairly flat with gentle hills, 25-30 miles/day. Any suggestions? Right now am considering somewhere in Dordogne, Burgundy, Languedoc (canal du midi) -- hard to choose! Am on a tight budget, so can't afford the crazy prices of the well-known tours.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Based on personal experience, Burgundy is a great place to ride. Alas personal experience does not extend to riding in SW France, so no comparison possible. I think that Burgundy is probably the least hilly of the three, depending on your route, but gears are definitely needed. Burgundy is also, of the three, the most convenient to Paris. Are you bringing your bike or will you be renting? I know of two reliable renters, one in Beaune and the other near Auxerre. Both offer a menu of (optional) services, such as porting your bags or picking up or delivering the bikes so you can ride "open jaw." Add enough services and you've got a guided tour. We just rented the bikes, but got lots of help planning our itinerary. I hope others here can fill in the blanks on the other places. Wherever you go, Lonely Planet's book of bicycling in France is a good resource.
Posted by
Boulder, CO, USA
719 posts
I agree with Adam, Burgundy is the "fairly flat with gentle hills" place to go. I've biked in both the Dordogne and Burgundy, and while both were spectacular, the Dordogne is much hillier. Never biked in the Languedoc, so I can't help there. We used a shop in Beaune (Bourgogne Randonnees) for bikes, maps, and advice, then left from there. Florent was very helpful. Very affordable, and a great trip.
Posted by
Greeley, co, usa
2591 posts
I biked the Loire twice. It is flat with only a few hills. Excellent. No matter where you choose, get a Michelin 1:200,000 map of the area and stick to the white and yellow roads. On most white roads, it is almost like being on a bike path on your own. There are also separate bike routes in places. Check out the trip reports at www.crazyguyonabike.com for ideas.
Posted by
Granite Bay, CA
111 posts
Shelly - Not sure what your budget is, but my wife and I have used Discover France twice (Loire Valley and Provence) on self-guided rides of between 4 and 7 days. Neither was hilly (try Italy if you want hills!) and the daily rides were from 20 to 30 miles. The advantage we found using Discover France instead of doing it ourselves was the transport of our luggage each day, a nice hotel room waiting for us with some fantastic meals at the end of the day's ride, first class bikes, and easy to understand maps and directions. Larry
www.discoverfrance.com
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Actually, for maps I would recommend the IGN topo series, for cyclists, not Michelin. They show a good deal more including (obviously) terrain and are useful for planning as well as navigation.