most scenic route across France?

cycle toured 3 times in France now, and decided that we love it.
done Brittany, and the west coat to spanish border, now fancy somewhere else for a change.

gonna use the bike bus down the alps route, get off and cycle across to get the atlantic route back.

most scenic cross france route? please

This year we cycled down the Rhone from Dijon to Montpellier – cycling through Provence was glorious but really, really hot (+40°c every day) the smell of the lavender fields was something else. Campsites were a little sparce though – had to think a bit more about routes and where to stay – they were also a bit more expensive.

Last year we cycled the Loire from Nantes to Dijon on Euro velo 6. That was almost the prefect tour. Campsite every 5 / 6km so pretty much decided the days distance as we went along and stopped where looked nice. Very well set up for cycling with regular towns / cafés and ability to restock on food & wine.

Cycle touring in France from our experience is bliss. Glass of wine with lunch, nice campsites and eating really good food. Love it!

when Mrs S and I rode across Spain & France a few years back, the most enjoyable section was from Castlenaudry, via the Montagne Noire, Mazamet Saissac, through Millau and on to Nasbinals.

Some variation on the Raid Pyrenean would have to be a good contender.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/5475902

Will need to pack your climbing legs though.

found a pic of the route in an old folder.
The section to the west of Carcassonne and heading NE then NW.

Stoner – might be interested in some of that route, I managed to persuade my wife that tandeming to the south of France will be way more fun than doing lejog

I still have my marked up Michelin maps somewhere

Cycled EuroVelo 6 from Basel to the Atlantic two years ago. Almost completely flat which makes for easy touring but the drawback is the landscape gets a bit repetitive at times, especially the canal sections. However the food, drink, towns and cities are lovely. The best bit of countryside was the Doubs valley and Mrs. ton will like the Chateaux of the Loire.

donald, that looks perfect.

cheers all.

this summer I did this

https://www.mtb-mag.com/forum/index.php?posts/8204551

almost all was on dedicated bike paths

nice and easy if you are with wife

the canal is a bit repetitive, you may want to pedal SE to take advantage of the wind coming from the ocean (I pedalled NW and it costed me at least one full day).

If anyone has any good advice or links to routes from any french port between St Malo and Dieppe to Tanus (about 170km north west of Montpellier) it would be appreciated 🙂

*Bookmarks*

Have you tried using the website cycle travel ? I’ve used it a bit for route finding then tweeking accordingly to visit bits that look interesting.

It tends to route out the interesting cycle routes / public access gravel routes through vinyards / the quieter roads.

Stoner – Member
found a pic of the route in an old folder.
The section to the west of Carcassonne and heading NE then NW.

I think you missed a right turn just past Girona, mate.

(Looks like an awesome trip)

Looking at Stoner’s route there are a lot of busy roads with no alternative especially in Spain. The part you liked most was where you were on quieter roads Stoner. I’m sure that if you’d sought out minor roads more you’d have found other sections just as good.

We buy detailed maps as we go or follow véloroutes which are either dedicated cycle paths or quiet roads – though some can be busy peak season especially on the west coast in Les Charantes. They offer easy riding if you are loaded.

https://www.francevelotourisme.com/base-1/itineraires

We travel very light: no stove, 1.8kg tent, just rear panniers. Mountains are still are chore though. If you want to cross the Alps or Pyrenees then stopping in hotels, gîtes etc. means a bar-bag or seat-post bag is big enough.

Thanks Edukator that link looks interesting – quiet roads is def our thing

edukator – not sure how you can see which roads we rode at that scale.
We mainly used white roads (Michelin) and particularly “Parcours pittoresque”

Agree w travelling light.

Our trip we were away for nearly 3 months, with just 18L saddle bags and bar bags each.

3 months 😯 we’ve only got 10days to get to Fozieres & that includes 1 day to get to UK port 🙁

Im afraid most of the photo links have died as this is years old now
http://pompinos.blogspot.co.uk/

10 weeks kit

That’s impressive – think I might have to work on Mrs DB, starting point being we only need 20% of what you took as we are only away for two weeks 😉 (we’re getting train back to Paris)

I’ve ridden or walked most of your route, Stoner, and in Spain there often isn’t a network of secondary roads. I walked your worst stretch BTW, we felt sorry for the cyclists, it was quite a relief after the utter monotony of the section east of leon. :

The Camino route from Astorga to Leon is prety much dead straight with a fraction of a gradient down from west to east right next to a main road. There is an alternative motorway next to this but beacause it is a toll road post of the traffic stay on the main road making this the worst stretch of teh route. It runs for over 50km which is ok on the bike, a couple of hours, but for walkers ehading west, it would mean something like 2 days of trudge into a prevailing wind. Nasty.

There are new sections of veloroute being created all the time so check tourist offices as you ride, Ton, and ask for free maps. I accompanied a Brit looking lost along the section through my home town – it’s excellent but there are no signposts.

yes the section east of Leon was horrible, but massively moreso for the peregrines. At least for us it was over by lunchtime (and the next few days were some of the nicest in Spain too)