I cycled this route for about 3.5 weeks in October. This was the first time I had toured -alone, -overseas, -for more than a night or two, so I picked my country and route based on where had good bike touring and general tourism infrastructure. My route was fully along eurovelo routes in France, which were ridiculously well-marked and serviced. I can’t think of any sections that felt unsafe due to traffic either.
I averaged about 40 mi a day and did a mix of warmshower, camping, hostels, hotels and airbnbs for accomodation. Unfortunately, most campgrounds along the route were already closed for the season, but the upside to this was that hotel and airbnb prices were much cheaper than high season.
Highlights:
I dithered over whether to pay for a warmshowers signup, but it proved to be really worth it. I stayed with 4 warmshowers hosts who were all ridiculously nice and great to get to know. Special shoutout to my hosts in Paris that picked up/dropped me off from the airport and stored my bike bag for me while I toured!
The Loire valley was gorgeous and there were lots of castles to visit. I was also blessed with good weather during this section of the trip and got a lot of sunny days.
I reached out to several rowing clubs along my route and got to row with them! This included a coastal rowing club in La Rochelle. It was great to see the old port from the water.
I spent the last couple days in Biarritz and happened to be there when the French national surfing championships were on. It was a great (and free!) activity to go watch it from the beach in downtown.
by Purple_Cryptographer
1 Comment
Nice pics, was that sand you had to ride through?