"Shrink your carbon footprint!" Do you love your bicycle and the freedom it gives you to just pedal off for miles of adventures? Come to France and spin your wheels around our countryside, taking in our fabulous heritage. Green tracks, hidden lanes, vineyards, walnut tree orchards, cheese makers, canal towpaths, disused railway tracks… France has so many routes where any cyclist can go. Here is our list of the TOP 5 routes – including a few tips before you start.
1. The Atlantic−Mediterranean two-seas canal
Entre-deux-Mers by bike, a remarkable and well-known 500-mile route between the beaches of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean: a green route on which you never pass a motorised vehicle, punctuated by canal locks and shaded by plane trees. Explore it one section at a time if you want to be leisurely, or do it all in one trip for the stronger among us. Wend your way along the Gironde estuary, the Garonne Canal and the Canal du Midi, a registered UNESCO World Heritage site.
2. Vélodyssée – the Cyclist’s Odyssey
As you follow the
Vélodyssée you have the Atlantic Ocean always at your side, the wind, the spindrift, the cliffs, the beaches, the forests of pine trees to awaken the senses. Some 750 miles long, and 80% of it without a car, the route connects Roscoff to the Basque coastline via the shores of Brittany. This is the longest cycle route in France, marked from end to end.
3. The Loire Valley by bike
The
Loire à vélo: don’t miss this cycling opportunity! Cycle the
UNESCO world heritage Loire Valley: 500 miles of cycle ways and peaceful little roads running alongside the river. The Loire is justly famed for its châteaux and its nature, but it is also celebrated for its fine dining: plates of cheeses (Crottin de Chavignol, Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine), prestige wines* (Sancerre, Chinon, Muscadet and more), mouth-watering fruit desserts (don’t say no to a tarte Tatin - a Sologne speciality - or a plum pâté from Angers).
4. Véloscénie – scenery to cycle by
From Notre Dame in Paris, to Mont-Saint-Michel, via Normandy, the 275 miles of
Véloscénie will take you through some of the most important places in French history, heritage sites (including five
UNESCO world heritage sites) and the green countryside of Normandy. This cycle route takes in green pathways, marked lanes and forest tracks.
5. Lake Annecy
This is a great classic –
a circuit of Lake Annecy by bicycle, about 25 miles long. You’ll see the clear waters of Lac d’Annecy amid Alpine heights and mountains. You decide which way to go around – and there’s a 300-metre altitude difference! Whichever direction you go, you can take the opportunity of a break on one of the lake’s beaches. In our humble opinion the old town of Annecy makes a particularly special starting and finishing point!
Choose your route and come and enjoy the freedom of the roads of France. Oh, and bon voyage!
