Cycling in France

[TheDoctor]

Ah. You might struggle to match that.
Although...I'm currently looking at the Bonne Auberge in Ardres (about 10 miles from Calais), for a planned trip with a work colleague. A twin room is E61.50, and a double is E55.50 (but I don't know him that well!!). The Hotel Clement just up the road has twins from E44, and family rooms at E63 for 4 people. It's in the same ballpark as your caravan, which is around £40 a night.
Or...cyclecamping? Get a reasonable tent (£30 tops), a couple of self-inflating mats from Wilkos (£18 each last year) and a sleeping bag each. Should get sorted for under £100, and you've got them for next time too.

 

[DCLane]

Each time I've been over I've used this site for B&B's: http://www.stopoverconnections.com

They've always been good - and storing a trailer/bikes is usually no problem. One of their B&B's on the site is called 23 Grand Rue south of Dieppe; www.23grandrue.com and they're really helpful with a lovely meal available.

 

[brokenflipflop]

Thanks for that. I've got a garage full of camping gear but E45 - E50 a night for a double (no kids now) sounds reasonable. The trouble with the camping abroad for me is it's a lot of stuff to carry about in the car, with the bikes as well so we only camp these days for long weekends in the UK.

So if you were say, going to France for a couple of weeks, would you stay somewhere different every night or stay a few nights in the same place. If you venture further away from blighty I suppose I'd have to factor in stays in a kind of crescent shape to the motherland so there's not a big drive back. I don't know what the hell I'm on about sometimes! Now you know why we camp down on one site because I've not got the brains to plan anything remotely complicated.

 

[MissTillyFlop]

Me and the wife are intending to drive to France this summer with the pushbikes. We've been a few times but without the bikes.

Has anyone been with their bikes and can you suggest anything that may help our plans. At the moment we have absolutely no firm ideas at all so any info on where to go and how to do it and where to stay at all would be appreciated. We're quite happy to just do a little cycling or a lot depending on whatever or how it pans out.

Cheers

Me and the wife are intending to drive to France this summer with the pushbikes. We've been a few times but without the bikes.

Has anyone been with their bikes and can you suggest anything that may help our plans. At the moment we have absolutely no firm ideas at all so any info on where to go and how to do it and where to stay at all would be appreciated. We're quite happy to just do a little cycling or a lot depending on whatever or how it pans out.

Cheers

Yes, it's wonderful.

We went through the Somme, which would be fascinating to explore.

 

[TheDoctor]

I'd probably move on every couple of days, myself. I've done moving-each-day, moving-most-days, and staying-put type holidays, and it's nice to have the option of an easy / lazy day if you need it.
Now - I've just looked up Worsley and seen where it is. For ease of ferries, is the Hull-Rotterdam one worth a look? If so, you could chuck Holland and Belgium into the mix too. Just to further muddy the waters...

 

[brokenflipflop]

Yes, it's wonderful.

We went through the Somme, which would be fascinating to explore.

Actually, I've always wanted to visit 1st WW graves and battlefields etc and I've wanted to do that before and this time I think I will.

 

[brokenflipflop]

I'd probably move on every couple of days, myself. I've done moving-each-day, moving-most-days, and staying-put type holidays, and it's nice to have the option of an easy / lazy day if you need it.
Now - I've just looked up Worsley and seen where it is. For ease of ferries, is the Hull-Rotterdam one worth a look? If so, you could chuck Holland and Belgium into the mix too. Just to further muddy the waters...

Cheers for that. We normally do the chunnel. Reason is, it's a couple of hours to Hull, then the time and expense taking the ferry and we'd be there quicker and cheaper by car although it is a long slog. I've been to Belgium but not Holland and I quite fancy that. I'll look into the ferry and if it looks ok price-wise I'll try and convince the wife coz she ain't the sea faring type.

 

[G-Zero]

Thanks for all the replies.

I will be putting the bikes inside the car. I've previously been to Normandy, Brittany, The Vendee, La Rochelle but on every occasion we just camped at the same site all holiday.

The drive down south to La Rochelle was a bit long so I think the northern half of france would be better.

What is the deal though. Do I book a hotel for a night, drive to it, get up, cycle around a bit, get in car and travel to another destination or spend a few nights in the same place? Although I've been to France numerous times I've been a creature of habit, going to the same sites and doing the same things. It'll be the first time taking the bikes and I don't have any set requirements but I'm rubbish at the ideas stage of things like this hence the question in the first place. (I think very hilly would be good to miss as well)

Different holidays appeal to different people, depending on their needs and preferences.

We pretty much head with the motorhome to the same site in the Vendee due to the fact that the kids love it. Once the kids stop coming away, the rest of Europe beckons....


I love cycling around the Vendee as it's reasonably flat and the site is only 10 miles from the Atlantic, with some excellent coastal cycling routes. We ventured further south a couple of years ago and toured through Limousin and the Ardeche, which personally appealed to me as the riding was stunning in the gorges, but very hard work at times in the heat.
That holiday wasn't as big a hit with the kids as the sites didn't compare to the Vendee and I get outvoted every time now.

Like others have said already, I generally feel safer on French roads, as there is a sense of drivers having more respect for cyclists.

 

[johnny mcgurk]

Most French regions will have a tourist website with a portion of it dedicated to cycling. This is the one for Brittany http://bretagne-rando.com/. The problem is they very seldom show up in google, a problem which is exacerbated by the belief that everybody knows the numbers attributed to all French departements. Gironde is 33, Pyrenees Atlantique is 64, Paris is 75 etc etc. my advice would be, find an area that you are interested in cycling, find the appropriate departement number and then google cyclisme64 or whatever your number is. Many of these tourist sites have free downloadable maps of green routes, cycle paths or just popular routes with local cyclists.
I have never cycled in the north of France, but many French people still consider Brittany the true home of cycling.