2024 Big Cycling trip Ideas - London 2 Paris - Battlefields Tour etc

[dimrub]

Paris has great cycling infrastructure, and the people are on the whole quite cooperative. We rode through all of central Paris, North to South, in the middle of April's unrest, and it felt safe.

 

[mikeIow]

A pal and I did Lon2Par on our own, as a little challenge for my 50th (almost 10 years ago, mind).

Essentially followed Avenue Verte - see this awesome planning site!
A nice leisurely 3-5 day ride. Tougher cyclists might do it in 1 or 2: we took 3½

London to Newhaven was not overly exciting....we set off on a Sunday from Tower Bridge, planned to use back roads then just decided to get out of the city as fast as we could!
Stayed with pals near the ferry, then hopped over on the 4hr ferry and had a 4 hour pedal from Dieppe - very easy, mostly an unused train line..
Third day was longer (70m) and a little more hilly, but simply beautiful - French backroads are fabulous for cycling, & the locals understand about cyclists.
Our last morning was in absolutely pouring rain.....Paris was okay for cycling through, although I recall sliding a little down one steepish cobblestone road! VERY wet, but nice to end at la Tour Eiffel!

The hotel experience in Paris was suboptimal.....had our room "broken into" when we nipped out for a couple of hours for dinner: definitely an inside job (someone on reception pretty well inadvertently said as much). Daughters camera and some money stolen. Got the Hotel to pay up eventually 🙄

BUT....the first multi-day cycling adventure I had ever done.

In summary: go for it!!

 

[Simon_m]

Hi there, sounds like a good trip. I've not read all the replies, so i might be echoing other people. In June we cycled from Calais to Cassis and took in some of the battlefields. There are so many! Maybe search on google earth and see where they are, then plan a route through the ones you want to see. There are lots of little ones but I guess you want to see the larger ones like Thiepval Memorial, The Canadian WW1 memorial monument at Vimy, and Verdun. Loads in the Soamme area. Here are a few pics from this year

http://www.webm8.co.uk/riddler/photographs_other/france2023/blog/day02/index.html

http://www.webm8.co.uk/riddler/photographs_other/france2023/blog/day03/index.html

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I am crap at navigating and my anxiety soar if I get lost

Warning: pep talk incoming...

/pep talk

You are crap at navigating today, but given modern tools available you know you can easily learn, and this tour will give you the motivation to do that

The "Geoportail" app is available for free in France (works in Belgium too) and gives you the equivalent of OS maps with GPS location, so you know you can never get lost with a smartphone.

You're easily capable of using one of the many tools like cycle.travel to plan a route and upload to a device like Wahoo or garmin to guide you en route if you want as you ride instructions.

You can practice these skills on roads local to you now so you're prepared.

/pep talk over.

as you were.

 

[Emanresu]

Not at all relevant but close to the Thiepval Memorial is the Ulster Memorial Tower. Has a tea room and cake that's worth the journey in itself. You can leave the bike in their small car park.

 

[Simon_m]

Not at all relevant but close to the Thiepval Memorial is the Ulster Memorial Tower. Has a tea room and cake that's worth the journey in itself. You can leave the bike in their small car park.

http://www.webm8.co.uk/riddler/photographs_other/france2023/blog/day02/0051.html

 

[Jotheboat]

As far as navigation is concerned, there are simple technical solutions to this problem. Either invest in a dedicated computer, or in a waterproof case and holder for your phone, and set it up with one of many cycling navigation apps. My favorite is Komoot, but you have to be careful with it (in fact, with any such app) during the planning step. As far as the balance goes between getting you to your destination at all cost, and providing a pleasant and safe riding experience, it sometimes err towards the former. This concern can be avoided altogether by using one of the precooked routes, such as those available here. Just download the GPX files, feed them to your favorite app, and off you go, as easy as driving your car with Waze/Google Maps.

Your pre-cooked routes link feature Diksmuide where we lived for a couple of years.
Nice memories and fabulous, fascinating cycling territory.

 

[Dec66]

Your pre-cooked routes link feature Diksmuide where we lived for a couple of years.
Nice memories and fabulous, fascinating cycling territory.

I'm a very big fan of Diksmuide.

Discovered it when I went on the overnight (2am) ferry to Dunkirk and rode from there to Bethune via Bergues, Hondschoote, Adinkerke, De Panne, Veurne, Diksmuide, Ypres, Poperinge, Hazebrouck, and from there to Bethune (by which time it had gone dark again).

Might swing by again in June.

 

[Espresso vecchio]

I did the Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Ride in 2010, starting in Normandy, winding our way via numerous well-known and lesser-known places and finishing in Dunkerque. It was utterly wonderful on every level - the battle sites, cemeteries and sense of place, the companionship (including a dozen soldiers all without an arm or leg, and - in one case on his hand-cycle - no legs at all), the support teams for food and mechanicals, the quiet French roads, the views etc. The May weather was perfect. Those with no/minimal historical knowledge enjoyed it as much as the knowledgeable, thanks to a team of professional English guides leapfrogging us to the next venue. The organisation was incredible and meticulous - nothing was left to chance and the people knew exactly what they were doing.

This year it'll take place in June (click here), and again covers WW1 and WW2.