France Bike Tour Reviews — 31 to 60 of 211

Great scenery; safe ridding;
We should have stayed an extra day touring around St Emillion.

Bike and ferry to Porquerolles Island. Nice riding, fun ferry ride and beautiful island.

The Provence region of France is exquisitely beautiful, and biking is very much a part of French life. Everywhere we went, we saw beautiful medieval villages and gorgeous countryside. However, my strong suggestion would be to encourage E-bike rentals. Although we are strong bikers, the hills we encountered made it very difficult to get to some of our destinations. Also, the App we used in order to access our daily riding maps was not user-friendly and we had a difficult time following it.

The loveliness and peacefulness of biking by the canal. The GPS tracks were spot on as was the support from Robert. The bikes were outstanding and the accommodations were perfect!

Beauty of the Dordogne region. Great pull-offs for picnicking every day. Lascaux caves and museum, brilliantly well done!! Don’t miss it. Also, a last minute side trip to Les Eyzies prehistoric museum! Also fantastic!

Lascaux Caves were unbelievable, as were the cliff dwellings and Natural History museum in Les Eyzies. Sophie was inccredible, always responding in a timely fashion with our questions and concerns. My bike seat kept sliding down, and I had to stop many times a day to raise it again. The biggest dissatisfaction was not having audible cues with our road navigation system. And it wouldn’t tell you that you were off course right away, so often we found ourselves turning around. The food was very difficult if you were a vegetarian and after riding bikes all day, we would have liked to have eaten before 8 o’clock at night. I know you don’t have control of that, but, just saying…

The biking itself and the dinners and stay at L’ostal de Pombonne
We were glad we took an e yea day in Bergerac.
We would have liked to receive the detailed booklet with information about sites to see on the route much earlier than our arrival in Bordeaux! We would have planned differently
For others: be aware you have to reserve a spot at each Lascaux cave. We didn’t know this, and unfortunately we’re not able to go to any of them.

The memorable part of the trip were the WWI sites including the beaches, American cemetery, and the German fortifications. If you plan to go to Point du Hoc to see the cliffs the army rangers climbed, note the navigation tool does not include this add on. We traveled on some scenic roads to get there and then heading to Omaha Beach found a bike path along the cliffs that took us right to Omaha Beach. This was actually backwards because we did not want to be at the beach at high tide. So if you are traveling the route the suggested way you will find the path to Point du Hoc at the end of Omaha Beach. We stayed in Bayeux and loved the town with its great restaurants. The navigation tool was a bit of a hassle because had to keep going out and coming back into the ap to see whether or not we were still on the route. Even so it was a great trip. Oh and highly recommend the e-bikes because where most of the ride was fairly level, we encountered some pretty long hills several times.

How many castles and what is the schedule for this tour?

Great way to see Normandy and learn about D-Day. Some of the museums are a bit redundant, so pick carefully to avoid repetitive experiences.

The hotel selection was wonderful. The bike route was designed perfectly. The local travel agency staff is super easy to work with and very helpful.

Scenic ride along the Loire using quality bikes. Overall accommodations were comfortable enough, and breakfast were adequate but basic.
Looking back, I wish we had downloaded the Road to Discovery App beforehand, as we were tired after travelling down to France and it would have been more seamless if we'd have had all road info in front of us.

This trip was amazing! The directional app was excellent— we were always able to find our way. We purchased the dinner package and the cuisine was fabulous, especially in the small restaurants along the trail. The people who assisted us were incredibly patient, helpful and courteous.
Overall our experience was wonderful and unforgettable ! Thank you!

We experienced the most amazing trip for our wedding anniversary. The self-guided tour was a great way to visit this beautiful region at your own pace. The hotels picked out were absolutely gorgeous and well situated, all the main sights were at walking distance. I have to say that the itinerary was a bit harder than we expected and there were some very steep (and long) climbs. We highly recommend this trip!

Everything was perfect!! The bikes awesome. The places and the experience amazing! We had a wonderful time, even though the weather was not very good.

This was a great trip for beginners - the hotels and bike journey were extremely well curated. These bike paths are also much more traveled than we were expecting (in a good way), but be sure to ask your tour provider to provide lunch options in the GPS route.

Our group of 4 friends (2 couples) enjoyed the chateaux that we visited, the French countryside, cuisine, wine tasting, accommodations, and friendliness of the French people. We would likely not have found the hotels selected if we planned the trip ourselves and several were very unusual and enjoyable. The hotel locations were typically near a variety of restaurants. In Tours we found a very interesting museum housing journeyman crafted works in all trades that were exquisite. We also encountered a "self-service" ferry boat that was fun to operate. Angers had a chateau housing the Apocalypse tapestry that we found worthwhile.
This ride was a mix of flat and hilly days with the last day longer and hillier than the rest. One of our riders was "fit" and in his 60's and had no difficulties; I, fortunately, upgraded to an e-bike and managed fine but struggled the week before on several of the Amboise based rides (I am 74 and a lifetime rider). In addition to the subjective difficulty rating, it would be helpful to include the total elevation change in the tour listing so one can better decide between a regular bike and e-bike.
The other complaint was the quality of the maps and instructions. They are not adequate without the app that was provided though I was told the maps and ride instructions would be sufficient. (I've seen some comments on other tours about app problems, too.) I was expecting maps and instructions of the quality provided on rides in the past and these were dissimilar. Sign posting was generally good but not always. The app did manage to keep us on track, however. The app also routed us to the destination city but not to the hotel so we had to use google to find the hotel. All part of the adventure, I suppose.
The bikes were flawless and appropriate for the roads and the support from Tripsite before and during the tour, especially with my last minute request for an e-bike upgrade was excellent and greatly appreciated - a big shout out to the Tripsite team. This was our 4th Tripsite trip and we look forward to our next one.

Cycling through the stunningly beautiful and varied landscapes. Not to be rushed and stop for coffee breaks to enjoy watching the locals .

Riding up Restonica Gorge outside of Corte really showcased the rugged beauty of this island. The pedal-assist bikes were necessary and very good quality. We appreciated our guide Georg who had encyclopedic knowledge of the history and geography of Corsica, among many other things. As the only Americans in this all-German group, we still still achieved a lively camaraderie by the end of the week. Two of the hotels were wonderful, charming and stylish; two other hotels were disappointing in their setting and service level (from someone who is picky about hotels!). Bring layers for cycling - even in hot weather there were shady downhills that got very chilly!

Road cycling in and between small villages in the Loire Valley countryside is a great experience that we will remember for a lifetime. The air was fresh and clean; the farm roads and paths quiet and almost entirely car-free; and the locals we encountered along the way were delighted to attempt conversation with us. We often stopped along the way at small local patisseries, boulangeries, and ice cream shops for sustenance, which was heavenly and inexpensive by American standards. We traveled by train from Paris to the start of our tour in Orleans and again by train from the end of our tour in Le Croisic back to Paris. The trains conveniently ran frequently, quickly and on-time.

We bookended our self-guided cycling tour with a few days in Paris at both ends of the tour. We were glad that we gave ourselves time to adjust to the nine-hour time difference and the attendant rigors of travel before getting on our rental bikes in Orleans. Taking a few days at the end before returning home gave us an opportunity to visit the Palace at Versailles, the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, as well as learning how to navigate the Paris Metro and RER transit systems without the pressure of catching a flight or a train.

Our tour was customized at our request to include the routes of three six-day tours offered by Tripsite, run back-to-back. If we were to do this tour again, we'd include some extra overnight stays in the tour to give us a chance to spend more time doing activities off the bike.

We elected to purchase a dinner package. This was helpful as it made sure we had reservations at suitable restaurants where we sampled French haut cuisine that we likely would have missed had we not bought the package. In France, many smaller towns have limited dinner service on Sunday and Monday evenings, so having reservations in advance saved us from going hungry a couple of times. We also elected to purchase a château tours package, as we anticipated long lines at the ticket windows for château tours.

Our accommodations were excellent. All of them were well suited to cycle tourists, providing safe and secure places to park our bicycles overnight.

The rental bikes we used were very suitable for touring and well-maintained, and came with repair kits that came in handy when we experienced a couple of flat tires. The rental service was very accomodating when we wanted to change our pedals to SPD-style pedals and replace a non e-bike with an e-bike during the tour. The e-bike had a removable battery so we could charge it in our hotel room.

Tripsite provided an app for our smartphones, “Roadbook for Discovery.” The app proved to be useful for navigating the trip stages as it would notify us when we were off-course, provide use with descriptive information for places of interest and the availability of food and picnic areas along and near the route. It also includes an “SOS” feature that we did not need to use. Having the routes on our GARMIN GPS devices with European cycling maps would have been an improvement in navigating the routes. We learned to rely on the Loire Vélo road signs for most of our journey. Having a GPS is helpful when the "official" route is blocked or detoured.  SHOW MORE 

The city of Dijon is a wonderful place to spend a few days before starting on this tour. Riding from Dijon, which I loved, I was struck by how soon I was riding through wine country. The terrain is very gentle and the vineyards are beautiful. I stopped at several vineyards and sampled some very nice pinot noir, Chardonnay and rosé wines. I found several wineries that were recommended to visit, and a few that I went off the tour route to find. The weather was beautiful, the accommodation was nice and the wineries were world class.

Cycling through french villages was simply out of this world! Take the time to get to know how to use the Sat Nav before you start, as it took us the first day to get it right, but after that it made the trip much easier. The electric bikes (although were heavier than I'm use too) were great as there are quite a few tough inclines.

We had a great time on this trip. It is easy cycling so good for newbies. The cassoulet at the Castelnaudary lodging was excellent. As was the place itself.

We used the GPS files so no problem navigating. Others mentioned the written directions could use work. Bikes were very good and we had no problems.

Would recommend taking the alternate routes some days. They go off the canal for better views.

For a picnic lunch go to Le Relais de Sully in Villesèquelande. Very well provisioned store.

If having lunch on the last day go to Marseillan Port, not Plage. Very limited options. Or power through and stop at La Parenthèse (accès N°23) almost at Sète. For which you will pay more but beautiful beach and food.

Carcassonne was a highlight of this trip. It is an exceptional city. I plan a return visit. The weather cooperated, only one day of showers. This is my 4th bike trip using Tripsite. I highly recommend them. They are extremely responsive and helpful in planning your dream vacation.

Gordes and Rousillon and St Remy where the best bike rides. Very Scenic and interesting. This is our first self guided bike ride. Hotels were friendly and great. Avignon is a great place to visit and see local culture and history.

Ride book is almost useless. helped with start of ride location. Maps are unreadable; trip route lost in all the colors. Without GPX phone maps would not have been feasible to do the rides. One phone battery is not enough for a days ride. Important you stress riders need backup phones or portable charger unit.
Bike set up was poorly handled. Phillipe was unavailable, his wife came late instead. She did not discuss all relevant issues for first time riders - pedal change mechanics, two different bike computers and operation, use of map book. Got a late start for ride in morning

I have cycled in many parts of France and this was one of the most beautiful. The tour takes you through vineyards, fields of sunflowers, fields of produce, hilltop villages, castles. We found fabulous coffee stops and great food. We choose the basic hotel package. 2 of the hotels are very basic but the beds were clean and comfortable and the meals provided were excellent. I personally would opt to upgrade next time. This tour has 2 days of hills which were doable and provided fabulous views. You need to be a regular cyclist to enjoy. It was quite something to cycle through these high vineyards and villages. I highly recommend this tour. The bikes were excellent and similar to what we use at home. We had a good hand off.The gps provided stopped working after 2 days but we easily used the ride with gps app that we had downloaded. I would make sure I had this as a backup. A couple of the restaurants and sites were actually closed down so double check before you head out. I love dealing with Tripsite as everyone is so helpful.

Great itinerary, good hotels, beautiful scenery. Bikes in excellent condition.

Very nice trip! We were celebrating our anniversary so opted for the 'luxury' level accommodations, each of which was nice and unique. We were assigned an extremely tiny room in the last hotel, but that was (I think) just luck of the draw and their lovely pool area was nice enough to make up for it. The bike routes were mostly awesome, but there were a few spots that need to be slightly revised in just a couple spots for safety. Overall, lots of beautiful vineyards, vistas, lovely hill towns. If you are a foodie, some of the hotels have Michelin star offerings, but they are closed a couple days of the week-- our timing was slightly off with the days we were in the hotel in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue was when the days their restaurant was closed, so if that is important to you, I'd recommend starting this tour on a day that enables you to overlap with at least one open day.
We started on a Saturday, and while that wasn't great for some of the restaurants in some towns, it still worked out well for hitting an amazing local products market in Gourdes and in St Remy a couple days later. We still ate amazing food - many many great options in each of the cities you will stay in.

The chateaux at chenonceaux and chambord were very impressive. The former for its harmony with the natural setting and the latter for the sheer size and grandeur of roofs and towers.

Overall the entire biking experience was fantastic even for non-bikers like 3 of the 4 in our group. E-bikes made all the difference. There were some miscommunications with the Tripsite team hear in the US, but the actual tour operators, Active Tours, who are in country did a phenomenal job of picking up the ball. If it has been a while since you were on a bike, I would double the time to get to each scheduled reservation for wine tasting. But once you get into the groove, being able to ride the "Route of the Grand Crus" and taste the wine along the way it will be an unforgettable experience.