Hey all,
I usually do my bike trips solo with full gear and camping, but this summer I’m considering doing something a bit different — a self-guided or guided cycling trip in France, ideally with some logistics handled (like lodging, luggage transfer, maybe meals).
I’ve been looking into a few companies, and DiscoverFrance.com
seems to come up a lot. Their routes look solid — especially the Loire Valley and Provence ones — but I’d love to hear from anyone who’s used them (or others). How was the experience? Worth the price? Anything you'd do differently?
Also open to suggestions for DIY routes that are easy to follow with minimal planning.
Thanks in advance!
by James-cycling69
2 Comments
I’m doing a DIY tour soon in France. I took a look at a few tour companies’ sites and based my plan off where they stay for the night and the trip highlights. I did plan my route in detail, however, since I really enjoy trip planning.
If you’re doing the Loire valley or looking for a route, this bike tourism site is pretty good and has a good map feature: https://en.francevelotourisme.com/
There seem to be lots of companies that do self-guided tours as well, but I never feel like spending the extra money since I prefer to do my own planning.
France has a pretty good long distance cycling infrastructure, with a lot of separate cycling roads and a shit ton of canal/river roads you can cycle truly in peace.
I’ve found wild camping also to be pretty easy in France, almost every night you will be able to find a quiet spot somewhere(unless in the city), also loads of fairly basic/cheap campsites available for between 5 and 15 euro a night.
I am based in Europe/France so obviously it’s a lot easier to plan a tour on my own, but even coming from somewhere else it shouldn’t be too difficult if you have the bike and gear available.