Loire Valley Bike Tour: Cycling in France

Make your way to Tours, a historic old town where you’ll meet your guide in the hotel lobby for a guided tour of the city. On the Plumereau square, we will see 16th-century Renaissance-style houses with mansard roofs and winding half-timbered houses. We’ll also see the impressive Gothic cathedral with its 70-meter-high towers and the richly decorated rose in the southern nave, which is still the seat of the archbishop today. After the city tour, we’ll take you to a selected restaurant in the old town of Tours for dinner. Get some rest for tomorrow, as that’s when the cycling begins!

Meals: Dinner
Accommodation: Château Belmont in Tours

We will explore the artistically designed gardens of the Renaissance Castle of Villandry, set on three levels. We’ll guide you through the original gardens with their perfect chessboard-like shapes, ornamental boxwood beds, and rose bushes, which are constantly tended. Our first cycling stage is ideal for getting to know the area. It runs parallel to the river, is flat, and is almost exclusively reserved for cyclists.

We’ll ride our e-bikes to Ussé Castle for a photo stop. The writer Charles Perrault was inspired by this romantic castle for his work, the French version of Sleeping Beauty. After the visit, we’ll enjoy a tasty picnic with French specialties prepared by our tour guides. In the afternoon, we will transfer to Saumur for our first overnight stay in the old town.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Cycling: 49 km / 30.5 miles
Accommodation: Hôtel Saint-Pierre in Saumur

Sparkling wine and equestrian sports are the passions of this town, which offers one of the most beautiful views of the Loire Valley! After visiting the castle, we cycle along the Loire around Saumur. During a visit to a sparkling wine cellar in the afternoon, we will learn all kinds of interesting facts about the sparkling pleasure. We will have dinner in the old town and then retreat to our hotel.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Cycling: 35 km / 22 miles
Accommodation: Hôtel Saint-Pierre in Saumur

We cycle along tranquil paths past lush meadows and bright fields to Fontevraud Abbey, the largest monastic site in Europe, where Eleanor of Aquitaine and her son Richard the Lionheart are buried. We’ll take a guided tour to learn about the building’s significance and royal management. In St. Martin, we visit the place where St. Martin died and then enjoy a tasty lunch break before reaching Chinon, the hometown of the famous humanist and poet Francois Rabelais and a royal seat in the time of Joan of Arc.

We’ll do a tour of Chinon, which sits on a mountain spur above the Vienne River. The town is crowned by the remains of the castle chosen by Henry of Plantagenet as his preferred residence in the 12th century. The ruins consist of three different parts, and narrow alleyways and numerous houses remind us of the lively court life. We get to know the pretty town on an evening stroll, followed by dinner and an overnight stay in Chinon.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Cycling: 40 km / 25 miles
Accommodation: Hotel de France in Chinon

At the gates of Chinon, we set off on our bikes. The first stage takes us through the vineyards of Touraine, known for their aromatic grapes. The wines produced here, especially the famous red wines made from Cabernet-Franc, are among the best in France. These wines are stored in limestone caves, which provide ideal storage conditions. The extracted limestone was used to build the mighty castles in the region. In the morning, we reach Château Le Rivau, dating back to the 13th century, with 12 themed gardens hidden behind high walls.

In the afternoon, we tackle a hilly section with a transfer to the village of Azay-le-Rideau. The castle of the infamous knight Ridel d’Azay, built in the 16th century, is located in an English park and is a masterpiece of grace and purity. Outside, it is dominated by small towers, while inside it features one of the first straight interior staircases and a richly decorated interior. After the tour, it is only a short distance to our hotel, located in the heart of the old town. We’ll spend the night at the Hotel Le Grand Monarque.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Cycling: 37 km / 23 miles
Accommodation: Hotel Le Grand Monarque in Azay-le-Rideau

From the hotel, we cycle out of the town and along the floodplains of the Indre. The cycle path does not always run directly parallel to the river, diverging at times through the green, hilly landscape. We pass through pretty French villages along the route.

In the afternoon, we reach the moated Castle of Chenonceau, unique for being built on a multi-arched bridge over the River Cher. In the 16th century, Catherine de Medici added a three-story gallery with a banqueting hall on top. The castle’s interior houses valuable paintings by Rubens and Tintoretto, which we can admire during our visit. After the visit, it is only a few kilometers to our romantic hotel, the Château de Chissay. We will enjoy an overnight stay and dinner at the Château de Chissay hotel.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Cycling: 60 km / 37.3 miles
Accommodation: Château de Chissay in Chissay-en-Touraine

In the morning, a short transfer takes us to Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci was the most famous Italian guest. We can admire a collection of his technical designs at his residence, Clos Lucé. We continue through gardens and vineyards, soon arriving at the fairytale Castle of Chaumont, perched above the banks of the Loire.

One of the most beautiful sections of the Loire takes us past Blois to Chambord, the most imposing of all Loire castles. The sight of its multi-towered silhouette in the middle of parkland is unforgettable. In the evening, a transfer takes us to the hotel in Tours, where we end the day with an exclusive dinner. We stay overnight at the Château Belmont in Tours.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Cycling: km / miles
Accommodation: Château Belmont in Tours

The tour officially ends after our final breakfast. If you’d like to keep on exploring the area, just ask us for recommendations! If you’re going back home and need help figuring out your transport options, feel free to let us know in advance, we’ll gladly help you.

Meals: Breakfast