Cycling Holidays in France

We’ve all seen them when we’ve been to France – those packs of Lycra-clad cyclists who power past your holiday café just as you reach for that second mille feuille or croissant… But you don’t have to be a superfit bike fanatic to make the most of the landscape here – cycling is a national past-time in France so you can be sure you’ll be catered for with well-marked paths if you plan a two-wheeled trip with family members, young and old.

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The Velodyssey cycle route covers 746 miles from Brittany down the Atlantic coast to the border with Spain and is conveniently split into 14 sections so you can stop off at various campsites along the way. You’re never very far from the sea along the whole route – or from one of our holiday villages.
 
You can hire a bike at our La Réserve holiday park in Aquitaine, then follow the cycle route past the beautiful on-site lake before heading through the surrounding villages all the way to Biscarrosse, where you can join the Velodyssey. In fact, you can join the route from any of our holiday camps along the coast. That’s if you can tear yourself away from the pools and entertainment on the campsite!

 
And there are 16 miles of cycle trails just 220 yards from our two campsites in Vendée, Le Bois Masson and Le Bois Dormant. The trails pass through forests, by the ocean and alongside marshes and you can cycle to the centre of the nearby town Challans.

Another famous route in this cycle-friendly country is the Via Rhôna, which runs all the way from Lake Geneva in Switzerland to the Mediterranean. It passes close by our holiday village Les Rives de Condrieu in the Rhone Alps region of France. The spectacular scenery around the town of Condrieu – just 875 yards from the campsite – includes forest, caves and mountains as well as the protected natural parks of Vercors and Pilat, so there’s plenty to see as you’re rolling by.
 
The Via Rhôna even has family-friendly sections, noting distances and accessibility, so that even the youngest athletes have a chance of keeping up with the pack. And the best thing about an active day cycling? You work up an appetite for the delicious food and drink that the area is famed for before you retire to your comfy mobile home for a well-earned sleep.

Many of our other campsites are close to cycle paths or have dedicated cycle lanes and trails. For example, a 15-minute bike ride away from our Domaine de Dugny holiday park, there’s the Loire Valley circuit with 500 miles of cycle trails. It joins the ‘châteaux à vélos’ route  –  a 5 to 20 mile cycle trail that takes you past 18 of the most famous Loire châteaux.