Last bike trip August 2001
Reconnoitered by car August 2002
Bicycle the Loire River Valley, France, and the Châteaux of the Loire:
Organize your own Loire Chateaux bike tour —Four suggested itineraries.
Part II of the Loire cycling information.
Bike Rating: Very Good
This page helps you organize your own independent bike trip among the Loire Châteaux, providing information on accommodations, trains and bike rentals; and suggesting worthwhile loop trips of 3 to 7 days.
For photos and information on the Loire Valley, including its geography, history, main tourist sights, and bicycling options, please refer to <Part I —General Information about the Loire Valley and its sights.
If you are interested in a point-to-point Loire itinerary, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Loire headwaters or the rest of France and Europe, please refer to this page.
Photographs of the best châteaux may be found in Part I of the article. Photographs of towns, countryside, and other châteaux not covered in Part I may be found found on this page or in the Loire à vélo itinerary.
Photo below to the right: Expensive "Château-hotel".
Accommodations: Hotel accommodations and campgrounds are plentiful throughout the
central tourist region from Angers to Blois. Hotels range from moderate
to expensive. See a more complete discussion of possible tour styles and costs here and here.
Bikes on Trains to the Loire:
If you are bringing a bicycle to the Loire valley from Paris, you can now transport your assembled bicycle on TGVs to Tours, Angers, Nantes, Saint-Nazaire or La Baule .From Paris you can reach Tours in 1 hour 15 minutes, Angers in an hour and 40 minutes,Nantes in about 2 hours 15 minutes, and La Baule in 3 hours 10 minutes. You can now reserve your bicycle tickets and train tickets online at the sametime for pickup in France. See my page on Transporting bicycles for details.
Travel within the region: As confirmed by the SNCF (French Railways) telephone ticket office, all Aqualys and TER trains on the timetable of the Centre Region carry assembled bicycles, even though there were not, at this writing, bicycle pictograms. Most Intercities trains carry them as well.Thus there should be no problem taking the train from town to town in the region. To get the current timetable, go to the regional train Internet Site http://www.ter-sncf.com. Click on the "Centre" Region. Select timetable No. 3 Tours-Blois-Orleans- (Paris). Print it out. (The first part of each section shows trains from Monday to Saturday, the last section is for Sundays and holidays.) You can take any "AQLS" or "Interloire" train. There is a large selection. Or you can enter your point of origin and your destination in the site: voyages.sncf.com, and refine your search to include bicycles. This is the easiest method.
To get a timetable beyond Tours, on the regional train site, back up two screens and click on the region "Pays de la Loire". Click on timetable no. 5 Nantes-Tours-Orleans, and print it out. To continue even further, for example to La Baule, select timetable No. 1 Nantes-Saint Nazaire- Le Crosic, and print it out.
Below: Amboise Château from afar.
Bicycle
Rentals in the Loire Valley:
This Internet Page lists bicycle rental companies in the Loire Valley, and the related site has other useful information: http://www.loireavelo.fr/organiser-sejour-loire-velo/location-loire-velo. As of this writing many of the Internet sites for bicycle rental are non existent, non-functional, rent only city or mountain bikes, or require you to take a tour. Check, if interested, with the site listed below, or with the above mentioned site. For longer tours, it is probably best to bring your own bicycle.
One company that bears checking out is : http://www.detoursdeloire.com. They rent a superior level of bicycle at a higher price (Trek hybrid). They appear to have a service of renting at one location on the Loire and returning elsewhere for an additional charge. They also have a luggage service.
Luggage Transportation for Loire Valley Bikers:
Some of the bike rental organizationsmayl assure the transfer of luggage from one stop to another, as will many of the hotels in the region that display the "Aceuil Velo" (Bikers Welcome) sign.
Maps:
To the extent that you are going to follow the Loire River, the maps on the Eurovélo 6 website for the parts of the Loire that you will cycle, will be very helpful. Also, feel free to follow any of the white colored roads on a Michelin map. I suggest that you use the site www.viamichelin.fr. Make the map full screen and enlarge it several times until you see a little face appear on the lower right. Clicking this will bring up a proper Michelin road map in a new window. Print out the portions that you need. The underlined towns have lodgings that are mentioned in the Michelin Red Guide. (Unfortunately, the present Michelin maps for purchasein stores are,, in my opinion, too large and heavy for biking).
A map of biking routes is also available from the Blois tourist office and some others in the same area, called "Les Chateaux à Vélo" (Chateaux by Bike). This covers the Chaumont, Cheverny, Chambord and Blois castles. Some of the bike routes are quite circuitous, or unnecessarily on dirt roads, when low traffic, more direct roads are nearby; look carefully at the little triangles on the routes, and, in my opinion, avoid the tan colored sections. You can download all or parts of this map at this address: http://www.chateauxavelo.com/partager-telecharger/brochures.
Loire Bicycle Itinerary Suggestions:
Many variations are possible. The interests and pace of cyclists vary greatly. Hence, from the following suggestions, you should put together your own day by day plan.
Itinerary Starting and Ending Points, with distances and times: See below for details.
Option A, Short Spoke Tour: From Blois, three nights, 70 kilometers (42 miles).
Option B, Short Circle Tour: From Blois, two or three nights, 60 kilometers (36 miles).
Option C, Short Point to Point Tour: Start at Tours and End at Blois, four nights, 145 kilometers (87 miles).
Option D, Medium Point to Point Tour: Start at Tours, end at Blois, six nights, 190 kilometers (114 miles). Add one or two days by visiting Loche or ending in Tours.
Option E, Long Point to Point Trip (this links to a new page) : Start at La Baule (or at St- Nazaire Nantes or Angers) and end at Tours, Blois, Orleans, or beyond (From La Baule to Orleans, with a suggested loop near La Baule, about 530 kilometers—320 miles). I also provide itinerary information for biking to the source of the Loire River, or across France and Europe on Eurovelo 6..
Please follow this link for an explanation of the author's traffic ratings.
The Itineraries:
Option A, Short Spoke Bicycle Tour of the Loire Chateau: From Blois, three nights, 70 kilometers (42 miles).
Day 1: Arrive at Blois*** by train with your bike. Visit the Château***and enjoy the town on foot.
Day 2: Bike to Cheverny*** using back roads or the main road (14 kilometers by the main road). Visit the château and the grounds. Return to Blois after lunch, by back roads or the main road. Take in the view of Blois from the south side of the Loire. Enjoy your evening in Blois.
Day 3: Bike out to Chambord*** by any of several main or back roads (16 to 20 kilometers). After seeing the Château and having lunch, return to Blois by another route. Depart.
Option
B, Short Circle Bicycle Tour of the Loire Chateau:From Blois, two or three nights,
60 kilometers (36 miles).
Day 1: Arrive at Blois*** by train with your bike. Visit the Château***and enjoy the town on foot.
Day 2: Bike to Cheverny*** using back roads or the main road (14 kilometers by the main road). Visit the château and the grounds. Spend the night in Cour-Cheverny or Bracieux (9 kilometers further). Cour-Cheverny has much fancier hotels, but the author had one of his best meals ever in a lovely setting at the Relais de Bracieu*, now under a new chef. Their are campgrounds in both Cour-Cheverny and Bracieux.
As a alternative, with an early start and a picnic lunch, you could ride from Cheverny directly to Chambord*** in 17 miles, visit the Château in the early afternoon, and return to Blois in time to return your bike and catch a late train for Paris.
Day 3: Ride from Cour-Cheverny or Bracieux to Chambord*** (17 or 8 kilometers). Visit the castle and some of the grounds, return to Blois (16 to 20 kilometers) , return your bicycle (or take it with you) and catch the train for Paris.
Option C, Short Point to Point Bicycle Tour of the Loire Chateau: Start at Tours and End at Blois, four nights, 145 kilometers (87 miles).
Day 1: Arrive Tours**. Visit the various parts of the city, including the old town and the Cathedral. Enjoy the evening in Tours.
Day 2: Bike to Chenonceaux*** (about 30 kilometers) by following small roads. You might ask for advice at the tourist office. The author would try the road passing north of N140 to Greux, cross the Loire south to Véretz, and then follow the little roads south of N76 to Bleré, passing through Athée-sur-Cher and Bono. The author rode the latter part of this route, which had charm and very light traffic, while N76 was full of traffic and bumpy riding. You'll need good map skills, however.
From Bleré it is best to cross the Cher, taking the shortcut to the right just after the river. Then follow the main road to the Château entrance. The guard at the entrance kindly let the author store his bike out of sight near the entrance inside the chateau grounds.
Below: Town of Amboise.
From
Chenonceaux, bike back west one mile on D40, then follow D81 to
Amboise** (very light to light traffic—about 12 kilometers
total). Enjoy the Château of Amboise and the town. There are
numerous choices for hotels and restaurants; there is also camping.
Day 3: Ride to Chaumont** following D751 (author had light traffic to Chaumont) or using the Loire a Vélo signposted route, and visit, possibly, the Chateau. Or continue on to Blois (light plus traffic, some light to moderate traffic near Blois). The view of Blois across the Loire is excellent. Leave your baggage in your hotel, and visit the very impressive Château and the charming town on foot. (Total distance is 36 kilometers).
Day 4 and Day 5: Follow the suggestions under Option A or B above for days 2 and 3.
Alternatively: On Day 3 ride from from Amboise to Chaumont**, and through les Montils and Chitenay to Cheverny***. Spend the night at Cour-Cheverny or Bracieux (39 or 48 kilometers total).
On Day 4, visit Chambord*** and arrive Blois***, enjoying a night on the town.
On Day 5, visit the Château of Blois*** if you did not do so the day before, and depart.
Option
D, Medium Point to Point Bike Tour of the Loire Chateau: Start at Tours, end at Blois, six nights, 190 kilometers
(114 miles). Add, if desired, one or two days by visiting Loche or ending in
Tours.
Day 1: Arrive Tours** by train with the bicycle you brought from Paris, or rentedin Tours or on a stopover in Blois, if possible. Visit the various parts of the city, including the old town and the Cathedral. Enjoy the evening in Tours.
Day 2: Leave Tours heading westward along the south side of the Loire. From Saint Genouph head south to the north bank of the Cher, crossing when possible to Savonnières, and following D7 to the Château** and gardens*** of Villandry (about 18 kilometers). Or, you may wish to use the Loire à Vélo signposted route. Now turn south on back roads, passing through Valleres, to Azay-le-Rideau***, whose Château has great charm (11 - 14 kilometers). You could stay in Azay-le-Rideau, a quaint town with modest hotels and camping; or you could follow the Indre river (D84, on the north side as far as Monts is charming) to Montbazon (22 kilometers), where you may be tempted to stay in luxurious and quite grand château hotels, such as the Château d'Artigny (expensive), or eat in a Michelin starred restaurant.
Day 3: Now head back eastward to Chenonceaux*** and Amboise**. The fastest route to Bleré (near Chenonceaux) is probably to follow D17 through Montbazon (light plus traffic) to Truyes, and then D45. The author, however, turned north on D85 at Esvres. If you do this, be sure to turn right at the Y with the sign for Azay-sur-Cher, and very soon thereafter, to turn right again Saint-Jean-du-Grais, passing through Athée and Bono to Bleré. Do avoid highway N76 that has lots of high speed traffic, and is bumpy. Chenonceaux is 26 -30 kilometers from Montbazon, 48 to 52 kilometers from Azay-le-Rideau.
From Chenonceaux, bike back west one mile on D40, then follow D81 to Amboise** (very light to light traffic—about 12 kilometers total). Enjoy the Château of Amboise and the town. There are numerous choices for hotels and restaurants; there is also camping.
Days 4: Ride to Chaumont** following D751 (author had light traffic to Chaumont), and possibly visit, . the Chateau. Continue to Cheverny*** and visit the chateau. Stay in Cour-Cheverny or Bracieux.
Day 5: Cycle to Chambord***, visit, and continue to Blois** (light plus traffic, some light to moderate traffic near Blois). The view of Blois across the Loire is excellent. Leave your baggage in your hotel, and visit the very impressive Château and the charming town on foot. (Total distance is 36 kilometers).
Want to add another biking day or two? The new towns visited are in italics.The following indicate nights spent:
Extension possibility: Betweem Azau-le-Rideau** and Chenonceaux*** cycle to the interesting chateau and town of Loches**.
<Link to Part I of Article—General Information>
To List of Greatt European Bike Tours