Paris to Manchester

[Matt]

Right. This is going to be a hard one, but me and two mates are thinking of a Paris to Manchester ride at the end of July and into early august. We currently have planned to fly into paris on the 25th July, watch the final part of the tour De France, then start heading home to manchester.

There is no set return date, we are just going to take our time and see how well we do.

So my question is. With it being the tour de france, would most of the accomodation in the paris area be full or expensive? or is there somewhere a bit further away from paris (ideally within 10-20 miles) where we could stay?

Ideally we want to make this trip to cost us under £250 each. The flights would cost us around £55 each.

 

[rich p]

Are you camping at all?

 

[jay clock]

I do not think the tour will make a lot of difference. Although a big event, it is a big city. If you REALLY want to do it cheaply there are F1, Etap and similar hotels all over the suburbs of Paris

Check bike charges with the flights. I think your budget may be a challenge depending on how far you plan to cycle. I would estimate

arrive Friday
leave Sunday morning
Ferry Monday night (2 days to do 300k to the coast, 200k if you go to Dieppe or Le Havre)
Tues -Fri gives you 4 days to cycle from the South Coast to Manchester (400k)

So that is 7 nights. If you can do £50 per night for lodging between 3 (average) that leaves £19 per person per day. Plus the ferry.....

Camping would save you a fair bit but mean more weight

 

[Matt]

Yeah, Camping was one of the options we were looking at, but we would probably favor cheap hotels or hostels. Mainly because of the extra weight we would be carrying

Flying with Easyjet from Liverpool with bikes and insurance included will cost us roughly £55 each. I did a few flight checks earlier, which would see us leaving around 6pm from liverpool on saturday 25th, and getting to paris later in the evening. So really we would want a hotel in paris for that night, then head off home sunday afternoon or whenever the tour finishes

On the subject of getting the ferry from calais. How much do they charge just for a person and a bike roughly?

Cost isnt really too much of a problem, but ideally we want to stay under £250 for the whole trip

 

[Tim Bennet.]

Also in your plans, you need to workout somewhere to leave your bikes when you're in Paris. I rode in once for the final day and it was a right royal pain. It's so crowded that the bike is just a nuisance. You also have to be in position early if you want somewhere on the Champs Elysees.

I'm not sure I would leaving Liverpool on the Saturday at 6pm to pull this off.

 

[Matt]

Also in your plans, you need to workout somewhere to leave your bikes when you're in Paris. I rode in once for the final day and it was a right royal pain. It's so crowded that the bike is just a nuisance. You also have to be in position early if you want somewhere on the Champs Elysees.

I'm not sure I would leaving Liverpool on the Saturday at 6pm to pull this off.

thanks for that information. We have decided to travel out early morning on the 25th. Should arrive in paris for about 9am. We have found a cheap hotel for £30 a night for a room. We were then thinking of leaving the bikes in the hotel (hope its bloody safe ), and having a day at disneyland, go back to the hotel that night, watch the final of the tour de france, then have a wander round the centre of paris for the rest of the day. Return to the hotel and set off home on the monday morning.

Not booked it yet as not all 3 of us have confirmed we will be going, should find out tomorrow

 

[bobbiezak]

Last year 3 off us cycled from Blackpool Tower-Eiffel Tower (T2T) There was an incentive to arrive the day before Le Tour arrived in Paris It took us 8 days. We arrived at mid-day on the sat. which allowed us the evening to relax, store the bikes at the hotel, enjoy the final day and return on the monday