ST MALO TO NICE TOUR
If you've already cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats, this would be a similar "end to end" - about the same distance but just a tad more exotic. The roads are quiet and the scenery is simply spectacular. The route was inspired by the book France en Velo, and could almost be sold as a wine tour, since we cycle through one famous wine producing region after another, and of course, we just have to sample the local wine each night with our dinner!
£3,500, 14 NIGHTS (including dinners & drinks)
We offer this tour in two options. This page describes the more relaxed 13-DAY TOUR (14 nights). If you’re looking for something more exciting, it’s also available as a 10-DAY CHALLENGE (11 nights), which you can see here.
1600KM, 13 FULL DAYS OF RIDING, CLIMBING AROUND 19,000 METRES
We originally organised this tour as a 10-day ride, but it quickly became obvious that while some people want to ride this as a challenge, others want more time to enjoy the scenery, stop for coffee and take photos. So here's the same tour, but re-arranged to make a 13-day ride. We've tried to make the days as even as possible, but as we cross the Massif Central, towns - and in particular, hotels - become fewer and further between, so we have no option but to increase the length of some days. But we try to balance the days out, i.e. if there’s more climbing, there’s a shorter distance, so it's still manageable for most average riders.
The route described in the book “France en Velo” takes you around Mont Ventoux, with the option to take an extra day and cycle the 26km each way from Sault to the peak and back if you want to. To us it seemed a shame to go so close to such an amazing and iconic place without actually giving riders the option to make the climb, so we've tweaked things slightly. The Bédoin side is considered the middle route in terms of difficulty, but it’s the only logical way to incorporate the climb into the official route with as little disruption as possible. So we stay in Bédoin, and then the following morning we make the climb on up to Chalet Reynard and continue on to the summit, before descending back to Chalet Reynard and down to Sault, where we're back on the official route. Clients have the option to either cycle right to the top; to cycle as far as Chalet Reynard, 7km from the top; or if they really don't want to make the climb, to ride in the minibus. People usually stop to pay their respects to Tommy Simpson at his memorial on the way back down.
NON-RIDING PARTNERS
We offer a reduced rate for a non-riding partner on this tour, so if your other half wants to come along, they are welcome to do that. The rate is £2,500, for half board accommodation, sharing a room with you. This rate does not include any of our costs for support staff or transport, jerseys, energy bars, etc. Usually the partner would pick up a hire car from the airport when they arrive, or even bring their own car on the ferry, and follow us to the first hotel. They would then “do their own thing” during the day when we are riding, and meet up with us at the hotel in the evening. Quite often we end up with a group of “Other Halves” and they spend the days together (sightseeing, walking, shopping, using the spas at some of our hotels, etc.) before meeting us at the hotel every evening for dinner. In the mornings the cyclists have breakfast together and then we leave, and the “Other Halves” are then free to do whatever they wish during the day. Other Halves are usually wives and girlfriends, but there’s no reason they can’t be husbands or boyfriends. In this way, everyone can share an experience, with the cyclist doing the ride and the partner sightseeing, and then everyone has something to talk about at dinner. If you want to do that, email us and we’ll send you the relevant booking form.
ARRIVAL DAY
We can pick up from Nantes, Rennes and Dinard airports or the ferry terminal or train station in St Malo. For transatlantic clients coming into Paris CDG, there's a direct Air France flight to Rennes, as well as good railway links to St Malo. We'll then take you to the hotel in St Malo, where there will be tools and equipment available so you can put your bike together. Later we'll go off to dinner, where we'll spend the evening getting to know each other while we brief you on the ride.
DAY 1 - ST MALO TO VITRE - 129 KM, CLIMBING 1,100 METRES
After a hearty breakfast we head for the seafront to take the official departure photo with the ocean as a backdrop, before we mount up and head off out of St Malo along the coast. You can admire the bright colours of the sand yachts at Saint-Benoît-des-Ondes and the view of Mont Saint Michel as we follow the coast road. The landscape is a little undulating at first, but then flattens out for a while as we turn inland and ride past fields full of cabbages, onions and, of course, garlic! Then it changes again to rolling hills and lots of pretty villages and towns, including Fougères, which is frequently included in the Tour de France, but also features in the 4-yearly Paris-Brest-Paris cycling event. The terrain starts to become a little more hilly as we arrive at the medieval town of Vitré, with its castle and timbered medieval houses. This is where we stay the night and we'll wander into the old town and enjoy our dinner in one of our favourite restaurants on the trip.
DAY 2 - VITRE TO JUIGNE-SUR-LOIRE - 135KM, CLIMBING 1,000 METRES
This is certainly a day of contrasts. We begin by cycling through open countryside, along quiet lanes, past fields and hedges, through many small villages. You'll be amazed at the beautiful gardens that surround the houses and decorate the towns. After about 70km, we pass through the town of Segré and everything changes. We're now cycling along dead straight Roman roads through forested areas, where you can see little except a church spire on a hill in the distance. When you finally reach the little town on top of the hill, you descend the other side and again you can see the next hill, with the next church spire. The only real difference is that the churches all have different shaped spires - as if there had been a medieval competition see which town could build the church with the most interesting steeple.
Just when you think you can't take another straight road, we arrive at St-Georges-sur-Loire and the terrain changes once more. We cross a bridge over the Loire that spans several small islands to get to the other bank, and for the rest of the day we cycle through one pretty village after another as we criss-cross the Loire via an assortment of bridges, marvelling at the beautiful old châteaux and churches. We end our ride in Juigné-sur-Loire in lovely hotel where you can enjoy spa facilities. This is a big area for hot-air ballooning, and if we're lucky, we may get to see some.
DAY 3 - JUIGNE-SUR-LOIRE TO PARTHENAY - 130KM, CLIMBING 1,000 METRES
We follow the Loire for about 30km, riding through the beautiful historic city of Saumur, the site of a WWII battle where the cadets at the local cavalry school held off the German invaders for two days before the powers that be forced them to withdraw, allowing the enemies to overrun the town. We have a short, very steep climb out of the town, and turn away from the Loire, passing through Fontevraud with its famous Abbey, the final resting place of the Plantagenets including King Henry II and his son, Richard the Lionheart. Then it's on to Loudun, the site of the 17th Century Loudun Possessions, when Cardinal Richelieu rid himself of a rebellious and disobedient parish priest by conspiring to have him accused of witchcraft, leading to his execution by being burned at the stake. On a less grisly note, it was also the finish of a Tour de France stage in 2000. The route takes us past the mushroom farms that are a major industry in this area - there's even a mushroom museum near Saumur - and through wide open fields of corn and barley. For the rest of the day the landscape alternates between beautiful rolling green fields and hedges, wide open farmland and small towns and villages as we start to make a wide arc around the outskirts of Poitiers, ending in the medieval town of Parthenay, where we're staying.
DAY 4 - PARTHENAY TO CONFOLENS - 130KM, CLIMBING 950 METRES
We continue our route around Poitiers, riding through a number of small towns, such as the ancient Roman town of Sanxay, Rouillé (the site of a WWII internment camp) and Vivonne, which was a major transport hub during the war, since the main A10 crossed the Paris-Bordeaux railway line here, and so it was subjected to many bombing raids by both the Allies and the Germans. We then head south east, approaching the river Vienne, passing under the magnificent 19th century viaduct at L'Ile-Jourdain. From here we ride south, passing the Isle de Saint-Germain in the centre of the river, and on to the medieval town of Confolens, a major trading post where inhabitants came from far and wide to buy and sell. We're staying in the centre of the town.
DAY 5 - CONFOLENS TO THIVIERS - 119KM, CLIMBING 1,400 METRES
Out of Confolens and we continue to flirt with the river Vienne for the next 20km, winding through many small medieval villages on quiet roads, crossing the river at Chabanais, via a bridge that was rebuilt after the French Resistance destroyed the original during WWII, in a vain attempt to stop the Nazis. At Rochechouart you'll see many places (hotels, bars, campsites, garages) that are named after the meteorite that landed 4km to the west of the town around 200 million years ago. From here we follow the D675 into the Massif des Feuillardières with its chestnut trees and small rivers, before riding through the picturesque town of Brantôme, sometimes called the Venice of the Dordogne, which is built on the river Dronne. A good time to stop for a coffee here, as we take in the charming ambiance of this town, before we turn left and head towards Thiviers, childhood home town of Jean-Paul Sartre, where we are staying the night.
DAY 6 - THIVIERS TO SOUILLAC - 144KM, CLIMBING 1,800 METRES
We're now entering the south west of France, with its profusion of châteaux and caves. We travel winding roads through rolling hills and unbelievably pretty scenery, past buildings constructed from golden stone with terracotta tiled roofs. This area is famous for producing walnuts, and you’ll see places where the nuts are crushed and the oil extracted. There's a short climb to Hautefort, which is famous for having the first ever hospice, founded in the 17th century, and now a museum of medicine. We pass through beautiful Condat-sur-Vezere on the river, before coming to a big open valley with a magnificent castle, the Château Fleunie. A short, steep climb, and then you're looking down on the valley with the château and the river. Before long we arrive in Montignac, famous for the Lascaux caves, now closed to the public for fear of damaging the fragile structure of the prehistoric cave paintings. At St-Léon-sur-Vézere you will see the amazing limestone cliffs with their cave dwellings, the Cité Troglodytique de la Roque St-Christophe, which was inhabited for 55,000 years until only 300 years ago. We cross the river Verzère and continue through the bustling, busy town of Sarlat-la-Canéda, before turning sharply north-east and riding along a gorge to Souillac.
DAY 7 - SOUILLAC TO ENTRAYGUES-SUR-TRUYERE - 141KM, CLIMBING 1,900 METRES
We ride out of Souillac on the Route des Noix towards the Massif Central, through hilly terrain, as the walnuts finally give way to sheep. We pass the ancient fortified mill at Cougnaguet and climb back out of the valley. From here we can see Rocamadour, the small town built into the side of the cliffs and a destination for pilgrims for centuries. Many small towns in France have an amazing claim to fame, and we stop for coffee in Figeac, whose famous son, Jean-Francois Champollion, deciphered the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone in Egypt, and put his home town on the map. Continuing along the river Lot, we head into the department of Cantal - as usual, following a river of that name. This area is known for a fairly hard cheese that is about as close as you'll get to English Cheddar in France. We continue through the wine-producing area of Entraygues, and on to our hotel, by the bridge on the river.
DAY 8 - ENTRAYGUES-SUR-TRUYERE TO MENDE - 120KM, CLIMBING 1,800 METRES
We travel east out of Entraygues, following the winding river Lot, through several small towns and villages, including Espalion, where deep sea diving equipment was invented by two very enterprising local men - one a mining engineer and the other a naval officer. We continue on to Ste-Eulalie d'Olt, still on the river Lot, and one of the most beautiful villages in France. We follow the river along a flat valley surrounded by farmland, passing through an area that used to be known as Gévaudan. Here in the 18th Century, a wolf known as "La Bête de Gévaudan", attacked and killed more than 100 people, many of them children working in the fields, until it was finally killed. At Moriès we turn away from the Lot and follow the river Colagne through Chirac and as far as the fortified town of Marvejols, which used to be the capital of this region. Now the terrain is more demanding, and we make the short climb up to the Col de Goudard (1052m) where we find we're at an altitude of over 1,000 metres for the first time on our journey. We pause to enjoy the absolutely stunning view before we descend into the small town of Mende, where we stay in a really beautiful hotel.
DAY 9 - MENDE TO VALLON-PONT-D’ARC - 115KM, CLIMBING 1,300 METRES
This area was featured in the Tour de France in 2010, so you're now definitely in cycling country. There are a couple of undulating climbs - the first up to the Col de la Tourette (839m), followed by the Col des Tribes (1,131m). At the top of the latter you'll also find a sign for the "Ligne de partage des eaux" that marks the point where the water shed divides between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. From here we can see the wooded slopes of Mont Lozère, the highest point in the Massif Central, before we make the twisting 25km descent to Lac de Villefort, following the river L'Altier. We climb again from Villefort to the Col du Mas de l'Ayre (846m), and as we descend into Les Vans, it's noticeably warmer and you know you're finally in the South. As we climb out of Les Vans, there's an immediate change in the landscape. From lush and green it has suddenly become rocky and arid with goats, sheep, fruit orchards, olive groves, sunflowers and endless vineyards; not to mention the most amazing rock formations. We finally descend again and follow the river Ardèche for about 15 flat kilometres, until we get to the 10th century town of Ruoms, where we turn towards Vallon-Pont-D’Arc, where we are staying. This is the gateway to the Gorges de l’Ardèche. The village is named after the huge arch that has been carved over millions of years by the sheer force of the water.
DAY 10 - VALLON-PONT-D’ARC TO BEDOIN - 117KM, CLIMBING 1,350 METRES
Out of Vallon-Pont d’Arc and we continue to follow the Ardèche for 30km, marvelling at its many beaches and enormous limestone cliffs, as we make the short climb up to the Col du Serre de Tourre (322m), from where we can look down on the Gorge.
We stay at this level, cycling through arid, rocky terrain, stopping now and again at the viewpoints to take in the amazing panorama, until we exit the Gorge at St-Martin-d'Ardèche and the pretty town of Aiguèze. Here we cross the river via a very narrow suspension bridge, with huge, imposing towers. Now we follow the river Rhône, criss-crossing it as we go, riding through numerous vineyards. We're soon in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, one of the most famous wine producing areas in the world. We usually stop here for a celebratory glass of the local wine. Before long Mont Ventoux appears through the distant haze - a timely reminder of tomorrow's ride. We ride past endless fields of lavender - the smell is amazing, but the most surprising thing is the incredible sound of the bees buzzing. Finally we cycle through Carpentras and head towards Bédoin, at the foot of Mont Ventoux.
DAY 11 - BEDOIN TO FORCALQUIER - 106KM, CLIMBING 2,000 METRES
We couldn't go past Mont Ventoux without offering riders the opportunity to make the climb to one of the most spectacular and iconic cols in the cycling world. Of the three sides, this is considered the middle one in terms of difficulty, but it's also the shortest, and it's the only logical way to insert it into the official route without travelling miles out of our way. From the hotel you have a few kilometres to warm up before you start the climb, then it's about 14km up to Chalet Reynard, and then a further 7km up to the col, passing the monument to Tommy Simpson who died at that spot in 1967 in the Tour de France. When you reach the top, the landscape is absolutely amazing and totally unlike anything else you are likely to have seen - like an enormous sand dune - very barren, but stunningly beautiful, and so silent! There’s no vegetation at that altitude, so there’s no wildlife to make any sound. We stop briefly to take in the atmosphere and enjoy the sense of achievement before we retrace our steps to Chalet Reynard, where everyone regroups, pausing to pay homage to Tommy on the way down. If you're worried about making the final climb, you can stay at Chalet Reynard where there’s a café/souvenir shop, and you can wait for the others.
From here we continue on our journey, riding through fields of lavender, chestnut plantations and lots of little towns. As we leave Banon, we say goodbye to the lavender at last and follow a wooded valley to a reservoir, Lac Laye, where we turn east and ride through Forcalquier. Our hotel here is probably our favourite of the entire tour, st in its own grounds on the outskirts of the town.
DAY 12 - FORCALQUIER TO CASTELLANE - 126KM, CLIMBING 2,300 METRES
We descend from Forcalquier, crossing the stony river Durance at La Brillanne, as we ride into Oraison. From here we're cycling through lush, green farmland until we reach Moustiers-Ste-Marie, famous for its pottery. Out of Moustiers on the Corniche Sublime, with dramatic views over the surrounding countryside, and then we descend to cycle around the enormous and imposing Lac de Ste-Croix with its inviting turquoise waters. Before long we can see the Gorges du Verdon, as we cross over the bridge, to make the climb to Aiguines. Passing the château with its mosaic-tiled roof, we ride up to the Col d'Illoire (967m), from where we can stop to look down over the gorge. It's not the top, there's a further 3.5km to go until we reach the Col de Vaumale, which you’ll probably pass without even noticing - there’s no marker. One minute you’re climbing, then suddenly you’re descending.
For the next 25km we're either riding up or down as we travel through the Tunnels de Fayet, descending to cross the river at the Pont de l'Artuby, and climbing along the Balcons de la Mescla, until we come to a sharp left-hand turn, and we descend into the tiny village of Trigance. Thankfully the last 20km are more-or-less flat and we arrive in the pretty town of Castellane, with its Chapelle Notre-Dame du Roc, perched high on a cliff above the town.
DAY 13 - CASTELLANE TO NICE - 95 KM, CLIMBING 1,000 METRES
We leave Castellane and cross the river again, climbing to the Col de Luens (1,054m), followed by a short descent and then a modest climb to a final, unnamed col. This is the last significant climb on the trip. We cycle along a wide, fertile valley, until we come to a canyon called the Clue de Gréolières. Through the town and down the Gorges du Loup, with its waterfall, the Cascades du Saut du Loup; on through a tunnel and over a bridge where we can see both ways down the gorge. Another tunnel and another waterfall, the Cascade de Courmes. From here it's all downhill to Cagnes-sur-Mer, where we get a glimpse of the Mediterranean for the first time. The roads are noticeably busier as we approach Nice, but there's a cycle path that begins by the airport to make it less nerve-wracking. Finally we're on the Promenade des Anglais, and we ride triumphantly into the old city of Nice. Time for a well-earned beer, I think! We stay in a lovely old hotel by the old port, so we pack up the bikes and head out for a slap-up dinner by the water.
DEPARTURE DAY
We can drop you off at Nice airport, which is well-connected to major international cities, such as London, Dublin, New York and Toronto; or the railway station, which connects with many European cities. We'll also be passing Béziers on the road home, which gives you another option, especially if you've come from the north of the UK.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Airport transfers • Accommodation in 3 & 4* hotels, in shared ensuite rooms (single rooms are available and a supplement of £600 applies) • Buffet-style breakfasts every morning • 3-course evening meals every night, with water, wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee • Snacks to keep you going during the day, such as bananas, crisps, nuts, cakes, fruit and chocolate, plus quality energy gels and bars • Bottled water, as well as High5 Zero electrolyte tablets • Maps of the route for you to refer to as you ride • GPS files for you to upload to your device and follow during the day • High quality Gobik St Malo to Nice souvenir jersey
