I had four days to explore France, flying in and out of Paris, and I wanted a bike trip that actually fit that timeframe. After researching dozens of routes, one kept coming up again and again: the Loire Valley, often described as the most beautiful cycling route in France.
In this video, I cycle the Loire à Vélo over four days, following the Loire River from Orléans to Blois, Chambord, and Amboise. The route is flat, extremely well-marked, and passes through medieval towns, château landscapes, quiet riverside paths, and some of the most historically rich areas in the country.
I begin in Orléans, a city closely tied to Joan of Arc, before settling into the rhythm of the Loire à Vélo. Along the way, I ride through small villages, cross historic bridges, stop for local food, and share short bits of history and practical tips that are useful if you’re planning this route yourself.
Over the course of four days, the ride builds naturally — from calm riverside cycling to iconic landmarks like Château de Chambord, and finally on to Amboise, where the Loire Valley begins to feel both grand and deeply personal at the same time.
The final portion of the video features Paris, placed intentionally at the end as a contrast — showing how easily you can travel from a major capital city to one of the most scenic cycling regions in Europe using regional trains.
Whether you’re planning a Loire Valley bike trip, using this as a long indoor cycling workout, or simply enjoy slow, educational travel videos, I hope this ride gives you a real sense of what makes this route so special — and whether it truly deserves its reputation.
Thanks for watching.
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Usually I get annoyed. I think a common misconception to people that have not moved from their hometown is that if you live abroad, you are traveling. So sometimes I get a little bit annoyed when I get back and people are asking me how do you afford to travel so much blah blah blah. But this time usually the answer is not much money. This time it is my retirement. I had 4 days to explore France, flying in and out of Paris, and I wanted a bike trip that actually fit my schedule. After researching every possible option, one route stood out, the Lir Valley. People call it one of the most beautiful cycling paths in all of France. And the fact that you can reach Olon from Paris almost every hour by train made it perfect. After a few hiccups getting out of the big city on the first day, I arrived in Orlon at sunset on my second day. And that's where the journey begins. >> So, we are going to begin our day in Orlon. And guys, I'm new to this. So, if you could please like, subscribe, follow, that would be wonderful. I think I'm at 460 subscribers today, so you won't be noticed. Ciao. >> Orlon is famous for Jonavar, who helped free the city in 1429. her influences everywhere. Statues, street names, plaques, but I didn't spend too much time exploring. I just grabbed some food, got some rest, and I got ready for my first day of riding. >> Okay, so I've officially left Oolon. I am very happy to say that this is a very well-marked trail. >> Leaving Olon is calm and easy. The Lotto is very well marked, flat, peaceful, and perfect for settling into the ride. This part of the path is also part of the Eurovo 6, a long-d distanceance route that crosses all of Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. I've done a lot of these in Portugal, and this is the first one I've done in France. The Lad River itself is interesting. It's the last major wild river in France. It still moves and floods naturally, which is why the villages along it have these long raised levies. >> Yesterday, the weather was incredibly cold. I was freezing in Paris. I came to Paris with every single piece of clothing I had on because I didn't realize how different the weather in Paris would be from Liboa. A but today has cleared up so I am very happy to enjoy that. Two things that I would like to mention. The first one is completely my own doing. I brought an electric tire pump, not a regular tire pump. So, I needed to pump my tire. I did find places to pump my tire, which was nice. Secondly, this is like something I completely just didn't think of, but um definitely bring cash because it's those little tiny those small bakeries that you really want to try something that won't accept your card. And uh I live in Portugal. My card is from Portugal. I have had a a bit of trouble with a few of the ATMs accepted my card. So, it would have been nice to just already have that sorted out before. So, just remember to bring cash. For instance, today there was a huge line for croissants. I missed on a pound of chocolate. After about an hour, I reached Monsilaw, a small quiet town with a surprising amount of history behind it. Jonavar also freed this town after Olong and the old streets still feel very medieval. >> So I think the best advice I was given online is to not miss the golden hour for food >> and right now is the golden hour. So we will try and find some lunch. >> In France, a lot of smaller restaurants close between lunch and dinner. If you miss lunch, you might not eat well again until the evening while biking. That's a big mistake. So, I stopped here for lunch and I'm really glad I did. I had es cargo and fresh white fish dish. And only later when I looked up some information this video, I found out this town is actually known for freshwater fish. So, without planning it, I end up ordering the signature dish. It's one of those times when you're biking and you just have to stop and be like, "Huh, >> how did me and my bike get to France and start eating esargo?" After lunch, I got back on the bike and rode into Bjon, >> which is only a few kilometers away. >> I was barely there for a minute, but the town is worth mentioning. It has a stone bridge that's almost a thousand years old, and it was beautiful and incredibly medieval and special. For a long time, this bridge made the town strategically important. Even Napoleon fought battles here. Today, the place is tiny and calm. It's the kind of town you'd miss by car but appreciate on a bike. >> The rest of the ride in TBLA is smooth and the scenery stays beautiful, but Bla itself is a very dramatic history. The city used to be a royal seat of France and the chateau DLA was the center of power during some of the most intense moments in French history. >> The biggest one in 1588, King Henry III had the Duke of Geese assassinated inside the chateau. He actually had a list of reasons why. First off, the Duke led the ultra Catholic faction. He was more popular than Cade. Crowds in Paris treated him like the real leader. The king felt pretty much envious. So Henry III had him summoned and royal guards killed him as he walked into the chamber. It shook France and the king himself was assassinated less than a year later for it. Today blah looks peaceful and historic. But knowing this part of its history gives it a completely different energy. >> Day one was definitely not about pushing hard. If you were not filming like me, you probably could have gone much further and probably have done chat dish today as well. Tomorrow, but tomorrow instead I head to one of the most iconic locations in the chat dish. See you in the morning. >> What's up everyone? It is now 7:00 a.m. Sun's not even up. What are you doing at 7:00 a.m.? We're already going. Today we will be visiting um one of the most famous chateau in all of France. As I said, the first day my plans completely changed. So, we're going to go there. And then I think my ending point of my trips will be torque to I don't know how I I don't know how to say it. And I think that's a good ending point for us because there is still a regional train back to Paris, which means no extra fees, no booking ahead, just going. >> The hardest part of a trip is the packing and the unpacking and then the packing and then the unpacking and then the packing and the unpacking. It's It drives me crazy. Um, no. >> Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. What? Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay, >> the fact that I spoke Portuguese to this guy way better than I ever speak Portuguese to Portuguese people. Like, what's wrong with my brain? Okay, it's a beautiful day. Today, we will be going to Shadow mission. And let's see what else. What else? What else? What else? I don't know anything about it. I I saw that there was a nice garden. It's got a good garden. What else? What else? What else? This is Shamboard. And the first thing you notice isn't one detail. It's the scale. doesn't feel like a single building at all. It feels like several ideas layered on top of each other. Shamboard was commissioned in the early 1500 by King Francis I. It's often described as a hunting lodge, which sounds modest, but that label doesn't really match what you're looking at. This was never about practicality. It was about presence. The forest around the chateau was what once a private royal hunting reserve fully enclosed thousands of hectares set aside for the king and his court. So Shamort wasn't meant to function on its own. It was part of a much larger display of control over the land. Architecturally it sits between two worlds. The towers and massing feels medieval, heavy and defensive. But the symmetrical proportions and layout are very renaissance. You can tell this was built during a moment of transition when France was redefining how power looked like. Inside, the most well-known feature is the central staircase. It's a double helix, two spirals that never intersect. People can go up and down at the same time without crossing paths. Leonardo da Vinci was living in France then, working for the king. There's no proof he designed it, but the idea fits the period and the mindset. There are over 400 rooms here, hundreds of fireplaces, and yet it was still uncomfortable to live in. Cold, difficult to heat, and rarely occupied. Francis I spent very little time here. Overall, the rooftop changes how the building feels up there. The chimneys and towers look almost urban, like a skyline rather than a roof. It's carefully designed, but also surprisingly imaginative. This is where the ambition really shows. After France, the first shamboard passed through different hands. It was looted during the French Revolution, used for military purposes, and left empty for long periods. For centuries, it existed more as a simple than a residence. So, I guess Shamboard isn't a place built for daily life. It's a place built to project authority. And walking through it now, what stays with you isn't how it was used, but why it was built in the first place. The chateau was surrounded by a wide moat, but by the time Shamort was built, moes like this weren't really for defense anymore. Artillery had already changed from how warfare worked. Here the moat functions more as a visual boundary that a military one. It separates the building from the landscape and it gives it space to stand on its own. On still days, the water reflects the tower almost perfectly which doubles the sense of scale and makes the chateau feel heavier and more grounded. Everything around the chateau is part of the design. The surrounding forest wasn't left wild. It was enclosed, managed, and controlled. The estate covers over 5,000 hectares and the wall around it stretches more than 30 km. That enclosure mattered. It turned the forest into a private domain used mainly for royal hunts, but also as a statement of ownership over land itself. What's interesting is that Shamard was never meant to be hidden or defended by terrain. It sits in open flat land on purpose. The building was designed to be seen from a distance with clear slight lines across the ground. There are also straight hunting paths cut through the forest in geometric patterns so riders and dogs could move quickly during the hunt. Even the landscape was engineered for the spectacle and control. So before you even step inside, you can already see what Shamboard really was. Not a fortress, not a home, but a carefully designed environmental built around power. So, moes. Very cool. Very cool thing that there's a moat. However, I have no idea how to get in because it's a moat. So somewhere there must be an entrance, but I'm probably on the back side somehow. >> Anyway, honestly, I got close enough. That's all you're going to get today. I'm going to move on. I'm going to go to the next destination. Merry Christmas. Everybody Christmas Before reaching Ambboa, I spent a good stretch of time out on the French countryside. And honestly, it caught me off guard. Wide open fields, quiet villages, and perfect bike path that just kept going. Smooth, well marked, and clearly made for people who actually move through the landscape instead of rushing past it. It was the kind of riding where you stop worrying about distance or time and just let the road carry you forward. Everything felt calm, intentional, and effortlessly beautiful. Then I arrived in Ambboja and the energy shifted in the best possible way. After Shamborg's overwhelming scale, Amboy felt human, balanced. The chateau sits above the Lara, but it doesn't overpower the town. It feels like it belongs there. Down below, life moves slowly. Stone streets, small cafes, people lingering instead of rushing. This was a place where history didn't feel staged. It felt lived in. The best part of my night, I stopped for French onion soup. And it was exactly what it should be. Deep, rich broth, onions cooked down until they were almost sweet. Thick bread soaking everything up, and that heavy layer of melted cheese on top that forces you to slow down and sit with it. Nothing fancy, just done right. The kind of food that grounds you in a place instead of distracting you from it. And then there was the hot air balloons. They were everywhere, quietly drifting over the roar, rising near the chateau, floating past like it was completely normal. No engines, no noise, just colors moving slowly through the sky. It was one of the most amazing moments that you want to stop filming, stop talking, and just watch. Not because it's dramatic, but because it's calm in a way that sticks with you. Ambage wasn't about excess or spectacle. It was about rhythm, good roads, good food, history that breeds, and moments that don't need explaining. Everyone, thanks for watching. If this is a video that you liked, most of my content is actually based around Lisbon and greater Lisbon area where I live, where I'm training for my first Iron Man 70.3, running, biking, and swimming through the city and nearby trips. Hope you'll stick around, and I'll see you in the next one. Thanks for watching. Everybody got a ditch. Everybody Everybody, you know, ADHD might be reckless. However, it is also spontaneous.