loire valley france

[derrick]

Looking into cycling in the loire valley, thought we would take the car with the bikes in it, ferry to calais and drive down, can anyone suggest a starting point , thinking about someware as a base to leave the car, then a five days of riding staying in b&bs, have googled it but there are so many nice looking places, don't know were too start, anyone done this and were is best,

 

[vernon]

I've done the entire legth of the Loire and without recourse to looking at the maps that I've got stashed away I'd be loath to recommend a starting point.

You could purchase the Eurovelo six set of maps that cover the Loire, Doubs and Rhine and go from there. Everywhere is nice along the Loire. You won't be disappointed with your choice.

The strangest place to choose as a start could be Saumer where folk lived in caves.

 

[Dave Davenport]

We stayed in a really nice troglodyte B&B in Saumur.
Have done about 250 miles of the Loire route, only thing I'd say is don't bother sticking to the signed route, it sometimes takes you down some rough tracks just to avoid a short bit of D road that's got hardly any traffic on it anyway. Oh, and you get very blase' about chateaus.

 

[Brains]

We did this a few years back, started and finished at the 'Le camping de moulin fort' which is run by an English couple and is walking distance from Chenonceau castle (the one built on a bridge) to the east of Tours.

A great little campsite right on the river, great people and nice food.
No problem leaving the car there for a couple of weeks

 

[patheticshark]

ooo. Just popped into this thread to ask for suggestions for where to stop for a rest day in the Loire and that looks a bit perfect.

 

[Brains]

and here is the link ......
http://www.caravancampingsites.co.uk/france/37/moulinfort.htm

We did a mixture of camping and B&B.

Start and finish was camping here as well as a number of days out as places like Chinon are only an hour or two away by bike
We then B&B'ed on our longer forays