Route ideas for a French Loop?

Sgt Bilco

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As I won't be doing a US trip this year I thought it was about time I re discovered the joys of Europe and in particularly France.

Planning a few long weekends in Ireland and Belgium but I'm looking to do a 8/9 day trips around France in the summer on the RT. Can't do more as my G/F can't get too much time off so will be leaving on a Saturday and coming back the following Sunday.

Ideally I'd like to go out through Calais and come back from Cherbourg as that run home round the M25 is horrendous.

We'd like to go down to the Alps skirting Switzerland, do the Route de Napoleon, cut across the south and back up the west side of France.

It's been a good few years since I've ridden down through France so any ideas on a route with lots of must sees? Longish days aren't an issue but riding good roads and stopping in interesting places are a priority.
 
Ride magazine published a bunch of routes in 2017 on routes around France. That included 9 and 15 day tours I believe
 
As I won't be doing a US trip this year I thought it was about time I re discovered the joys of Europe and in particularly France.

Planning a few long weekends in Ireland and Belgium but I'm looking to do a 8/9 day trips around France in the summer on the RT. Can't do more as my G/F can't get too much time off so will be leaving on a Saturday and coming back the following Sunday.

Ideally I'd like to go out through Calais and come back from Cherbourg as that run home round the M25 is horrendous.

We'd like to go down to the Alps skirting Switzerland, do the Route de Napoleon, cut across the south and back up the west side of France.

It's been a good few years since I've ridden down through France so any ideas on a route with lots of must sees? Longish days aren't an issue but riding good roads and stopping in interesting places are a priority.

Be interesting to see what people come up with as i am also going to France for maybe a couple of weeks.I am riding down from Zeebrugge down to Geneva then Lyon then onto the Dordogne
 
If you ride down Route Napoleon you will miss Route Des Grand Alps which (IMHO) is a far better option.

Ardennes, Luxembourg, Black Forest, Morvan National Park, Gorge du Verdon, Vercors, Mont Ventoux can all potentially be worked in (but probably not all of them - unless you stick to the Alps side of France)

I would probably look at heading out of Calais through the Ardennes and Black Forest (if you want to touch Switzerland) whizz around the Passes near Andermatt and then head down towards Martigny and over the GSB / PSB to pickup RDGA, maybe not bother getting all the way to the Med and pop out and whizz around GDV and then across towards Millau.

Quite a lot to try and squeeze in to 8 days.
 
Fill yer boots:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/458759-More-France-routes-RiDE-magazine-July-2017

Everyman and his dog will have their favourites with France, those in the West Country usually favouring the west side, us in the SE more usually perhaps favouring the east side.

I have done two (maybe three) laps of France, starting and ending in Calais but you could just as easily start in Calais to finish at Caen or Cherbourg. It’s great fun and a great place to ride around, as every day really is different in what is a large country. What’s really striking is (beyond the views) is how the architecture changes.
 
Depends to a great extent on what your g/f expects. We did this sort of route years ago a couple of times. We like some city visits, some smaller towns and a mix of camping and hotels (back then, 100% hotels these days). Our first trip we arrived via Dieppe and did a few easy days: Paris, Chalon sur Soane, Montreux, Grenobles (via Chamonix), Grasse then St Maxime. Spent too long loafing around so had to do Arles, Sarlat, Dieppe. The general consensus was that it was too much riding, not enough relaxing, for a 12 day trip (2200miles). Later trips featured a more comfy bike, a few days in the same place and even more miles - rarely much time for sightseeing en route.

It used to be that French holidays were limited to July and August making June and September ideal for bike touring but, sadly these days, it’s now a very popular time for the retired and their motorhomes making many of the scenic routes a nightmare and I would say that in many parts of France traffic has increased fivefold over the last 5 years. The new reduced speed limit, whilst not widely adhered to, can reduce traffic flow. That said, it’s still possible to plan good routes mainly on D roads, especially if you like early morning rides.
 
Hi Chris

As you know France is too big for an enjoyable complete round trip in 8/9 days. Not sure what you’re looking for but here’s a suggestion.

Blast through northern France on the motorway for 3 hours and come off around Champagne. Then D roads to Langres for your first night in this small, lovely medieval, walled city.
From there it’s a nice ride to the Jura mountains, go through the middle, north to south - lovely scenery and sweeping roads, fairly tourist free compared to the Alps and plenty of nice places to stop for lunch.
You can then head into the Alps proper do a couple of passes and the Route Napoleon will pop you down to the French Riviera or if you prefer as we do the Provençal hills - check out the village of Curcuron.

A and I have done this route a few times north to south and vice vera. It’s a 3 or 4 day route depending how relaxed you are.

My route home would be across the Rhône valley to the Ardeche, then up through the Massive Central, a bit of motorway to Mans then a diagonal on D roads, through the Swiss Normande to Cherbourg. It’s a lot of riding but I know you’re used to that :D
 
The last France based trip I did was done in an anticlockwise direction instead of the usual clockwise, and it somehow made a big difference to how it felt.

Started and finished at the Eurotunnel due to Lorraine being dodgy on boats.
We had a mix of my military interests and her shopping fetish, plus we both like seeing big towns and cities anyway, along with minor roads and small villages.

Bayeaux.
D-Day beaches and sites.
St. Nazaire.
La Rochelle.
Limoges (Oradour sur Glane)
Millau bridge.
Carcassonne.
Grasse (following up the film "Perfume" so Lorraine could visit the perfumeries).
Antibes.
Nice.
Monte Carlo.
Cut across to pick up Route Napoleon.
Lyon.
Dijon.
Troyes.
Reims.
Arras.
Back to Eurotunnel.
 
That’s near enough the way I looped France; anti-clockwise felt right to me, too. The odd thing is that I looped Germany in a clockwise direction, as that felt right. I’ll be fecked when it comes to Italy.
 
That’s near enough the way I looped France; anti-clockwise felt right to me, too. The odd thing is that I looped Germany in a clockwise direction, as that felt right. I’ll be fecked when it comes to Italy.

Clockwise is only called clockwise (and clocks only go the way they do) because that's the way the shadows go on a sundial. If civilisation has developed quicker in the Southern Hemisphere than in Europe, all clocks might be going the other way anyway.
 
If you're not booking accommodation in advance (and outside of August you'd probably have no problem finding anywhere on the day) then you could leave the clockwise/anticlockwise decision until the day you go, depending on weather forecasts. Use Booking.com or the Logis de France app if you want to book ahead on the day.

There are a million and one routes you could take, but I'd head down the Eastern side (Ardennes, Vosges, Jura, Alps - RDGA, Route Napoleon or make it up - then cut across to the West north of the Med taking in three gorges (Verdon, Ardeche, and Tarn) then up through the Massif Central. Or the reverse, of course.
 
Include; Route des grand Alps, St Andre les Alps down side of Lac de Castillon D955, Castellane west on D952 Gorge de Verdon........
 
If you ride down Route Napoleon you will miss Route Des Grand Alps which (IMHO) is a far better option.

Ardennes, Luxembourg, Black Forest, Morvan National Park, Gorge du Verdon, Vercors, Mont Ventoux can all potentially be worked in (but probably not all of them - unless you stick to the Alps side of France)

I would probably look at heading out of Calais through the Ardennes and Black Forest (if you want to touch Switzerland) whizz around the Passes near Andermatt and then head down towards Martigny and over the GSB / PSB to pickup RDGA, maybe not bother getting all the way to the Med and pop out and whizz around GDV and then across towards Millau.

Quite a lot to try and squeeze in to 8 days.

I think Sarge wanted a loop around France, not a loop around Europe !! :blast

RTQ=1/2 FA !!

And the Route Napoleon and the RDGA are totally different so you can't really say one is better than the other.

Personally I would forgo the west coast and head south down the RDGA, then up the RN. Have a couple of nights in Castellane and do a loop out around the Gorge du Verdon and even across to the Gorge du Tarn/Millau then continue north up the RN before breaking left and heading up through Die and over the Col du Rousset to then ride through the Col de La Machine/Combe Laval then north and home.
 
I think Sarge wanted a loop around France, not a loop around Europe !! :blast

RTQ=1/2 FA !!

And the Route Napoleon and the RDGA are totally different so you can't really say one is better than the other.

Personally I would forgo the west coast and head south down the RDGA, then up the RN. Have a couple of nights in Castellane and do a loop out around the Gorge du Verdon and even across to the Gorge du Tarn/Millau then continue north up the RN before breaking left and heading up through Die and over the Col du Rousset to then ride through the Col de La Machine/Combe Laval then north and home.

Did exactly that last year, great roads and a route that packs more in in about 7 / 8 days than most....
 
I think Sarge wanted a loop around France, not a loop around Europe !! :blast

RTQ=1/2 FA !!

And the Route Napoleon and the RDGA are totally different so you can't really say one is better than the other.

Personally I would forgo the west coast and head south down the RDGA, then up the RN. Have a couple of nights in Castellane and do a loop out around the Gorge du Verdon and even across to the Gorge du Tarn/Millau then continue north up the RN before breaking left and heading up through Die and over the Col du Rousset to then ride through the Col de La Machine/Combe Laval then north and home.

I agree with you apart from the GdV bit!
 
I think Sarge wanted a loop around France, not a loop around Europe !! :blast

RTQ=1/2 FA !!

And the Route Napoleon and the RDGA are totally different so you can't really say one is better than the other.

Personally I would forgo the west coast and head south down the RDGA, then up the RN. Have a couple of nights in Castellane and do a loop out around the Gorge du Verdon and even across to the Gorge du Tarn/Millau then continue north up the RN before breaking left and heading up through Die and over the Col du Rousset to then ride through the Col de La Machine/Combe Laval then north and home.

Apologies to Sgt Bilco and the thread hijack but I've pretty much nicked your suggestion could you recommend a route/routes between the Gorge du Verdon and les vignes on the Gorge du tarn? I've got it @ around 7 hours and 230 miles with the final run up the D998 which looks a good road but then they all do!

thanks
 


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