Luxury Loire Cycling

Tour Style:

Self Guided | Go at your own pace on an independent tour.

Activity:

Inn to Inn Biking, E-Biking | A classic point to point biking tour, staying in a different location each night, E-Bikes with electronic motors to assist available to hire on this tour (subject to availability), to make things easier

Activity Level & Terrain

This trip is graded easy and is at the perfect level for a first cycling holiday or for recreational riders looking to soak up the best of the areas culture and history. Daily distances are between 35-45 km over largely flat terrain.  You will cycle principally on quiet country lanes and some busier roads when approaching towns. Please always be mindful of other road users.

Navigation

The route notes that accompany each itinerary give a step by step, turn by turn account of your route for continual points of reference, these are provided on our Macs Adventure smartphone navigation app along with maps and GPX tracks. Most of the time you will be cycling on quiet back roads and dedicated cyclepaths. However, in order to connect the various routes, you will cycle for short distances on busier urban roads. Please do be mindful of all road users at all times.

• 5 Nights in 4* and 5* châteaux hotels
• 5 Breakfasts
• 5 Dinners
• Baggage transfer
• Information pack
• Access to route notes, detailed maps, and GPS tracks in the Macs Adventure smartphone navigation app
• 24/7 Emergency telephone support from our office

• Travel to Amboise / from Chinon
• Bike hire (standard hybrid or upgrade to an e-bike)
• Lunches, drinks & snacks
• Entrance fees for chateaux (payable locally)
• Personal equipment
• Travel insurance (required)

• Additional nights along the route
• Bike hire (standard hybrid)
• Upgrade to e-bike hire

When To Go

This trip is available to start on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, May to October. If you would like to depart on a Monday, Tuesday, Friday or Sunday please contact the office as some of the château restaurants close on these days meaning the inclusion of dinner may not be possible. If this is the case your accommodation can assist with taxis into the villages for dinner and we will provide a refund for the cost of dinners that would normally have been included in the cost of your trip. 

Getting to the Start

Air: Paris Orly and Paris Charles De Gaulle airports connect to all major European and worldwide cities. From Paris it is possible to connect with Amboise via train (approximately 1.5 hrs-2 hrs). Tours Val de Loire is the closest airport and is serviced by Ryanair from both the UK and European airports. Journey time to Tours is around 30 minutes by airport bus, with onward train services connecting to Amboise (approximately 20 min).

Train: Amboise has regular services to Tours (20 min), and Paris (1.5hrs -2 hrs). From Paris it is also possible to connect to London, Brussels and many French destinations. For times and fares please check Trainline Europe. On arrival in Amboise train station your accommodation is located approximately 3 km from the town centre. Taxis are easy to obtain from outside the train station, and the journey time is around 5 minutes.

Getting from the End

On your day of departure from Fontevraud l'Abbaye you are only 15 km from Port Boulet train station, or 20 km from Chinon train station, from where you can travel to Tours and make your onward jounrey (a taxi is easily arranged from the abbey).

Train: Onward travel to Tours is 40 min - 1 hr, with regular services to Paris taking between 1.5 - 2.5 hrs. For full details of timetables visit Trainline Europe.

Air: Paris Orly and Paris Charles De Gaulle airports connect to all major European and worldwide cities. From Paris it is possible to connect with Amboise via train (approximately 1.5 hrs - 2 hrs). Tours Val de Loire is the closest airport and is serviced by Ryanair from both the UK and European airports. Journey time to Tours is around 30 minutes by airport bus, with onward train services connecting to Amboise (approximately 20 min).

Luggage Transfer

Baggage transfers are included in the price of your trip. We ask you to keep your baggage to a maximum of 1 bag per person (maximum weight 20 kg). If you require excess baggage allowance do contact us prior to travel.

General Information

The distances and ascents/descents are approximations of the recommended routes.

Please be prepared by packing all necessary items, for example, proper rain gear (jacket and trousers), sun hat and sunscreen. Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard cycling gear such as good shoes, warm and waterproof clothes for the cooler months and lightweight clothing for summer, and a day pack.

Equipment

Trek 7.3 hybrid bikes are available for hire. All bikes are equipped with a pannier, trip computer and spare inner tube along with a pump. It's also possible to hire an e-bike for a little extra battery-powered assistance. For more information on how e-bikes work click here. If you’d like to hire a bike, please let us know your height and the frame size you currently ride. Alternatively, we’re happy to answer any questions you have about the hire bike. 

If you prefer to bring your own bicycle please ensure it is thoroughly serviced and is an appropriate hybrid or touring bike for this trip.

Please be prepared by packing all necessary items, for example, proper rain gear (jacket and trousers), sun hat and sunscreen. Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard cycling gear such as good shoes, warm and waterproof clothes for the cooler months and lightweight clothing for summer, and a day pack.

Travel Insurance

It is a requirement of booking this tour with Macs Adventure that you have suitable travel insurance which covers you for the activity, emergency evacuation and hospital care.