West of France suggestions?
 

Hi all,

Sadly my biking plans for a long European trip have been curtailed this summer due to the exchange rate and work, but I'll still have a bit of time to go down to Bordeaux and back.

So...has anyone got suggestions for particular sights to see, nice routes, etc on the West coast / side of France?

Thanks,

Alex

Hiya,

Oradour sur Glane about 20Kms N.W of Limoges is worth an afternoon stroll around if your down that way...

Try here Oradour-sur-Glane 10 June 1944

Millau Viaduct is always popular but never there myself...

Enjoy...
J

West of France isn't vety scenic at all - mainly flat and drab. La Rochelle and Les Sables are nice towns.
Best head for Millau and up through central France or, if time allows, head East and up that way - much better scenery

Lagan

The West of France is actually my favourite part of the country! I had a wonderful trip along that coast when I was going to Alicante in 2004 and again last year when I was going near Limoges.

As previously mentioned Oradour-sur-Glane, near Limoges, is most definitely worth a visit if you like WWII kinda things but my trip had started in Roscoff. I went to a little town called Morlaix, then down the coast to La Rochelle. I didn't go near a motorway for that entire holiday and I think I saw much more of the real France too. Fantastically quiet biking roads, lots of little towns and villages, cheap accommodation, locally grown food everywhere and you are also likely to get great weather to appreciate it all too.

To me France is the utopia of biking trips but that doesn't mean it is for everyone. The west coast is only ever a few miles from some fascinating roads and valleys inland. To me it doesn't matter which road you take in that region, it's always the right one!

Chris

Brittany
 

Depends what you want to do, do you want to clock up the miles or just potter about stopping when you feel like it to take in the sights, food, drink etc.

I'd say if you've not got long don't even bother to leave Brittany, there's a huge variety of scenery, great roads, friendly people, and good seafood.

But then I'm biased I live here.

Alex

Well, I'll actually be coming back up from Bordeaux over 3 or 4 days, the reason being that there's free accommodation down there and there's no point in missing out on that.

The trip down will be relatively fast, but I'm hoping to have a more leisurely trip back up again. :)

Hi

How does fresh seafood at retail prices sound? Lobster at St Gilles, and then
oysters from there on, it's the oyster route, you can eat them at the wholesaler, with a nice glass of white.

From St Nazaire it's pretty South Brittany, Couple of trenches along the coast. Skip La Baulle too hype, Go direct to Vannes and from there is really beautiful.

Bon route.

Ta

If you can drop down past Bordeaux and pop out in the Pyrenees. Fantastic biking and some good mountain roads. Check out Bayonne nice town with a nice harbor to enjoy a beer and some wonderful french grub.

I would head east toward Carcassone the mountain roads are well worth a ride:thumbup1: The city itself is safe and walkable and well worth seeing. Then you could come up through the wine region of Burgundy heading back to Blighty

Enjoy and ride safe

If it's not fun why do it?

If you are based in Bordeaux then a trip to the seaside at the old fashioned resort of Arcachon is well worth a visit. It's around 30 miles from Bordeaux and you could even go on the train for a bit of a change having stopped to look at the old train map on the wall of Bordeaux station.

Excellent, there's some fantastic suggestions there, so many thanks for those. :)

I'll be based there for 10 days, so I'll definitely potter about for at least 1 day.

Hi,
You don't say what kind of things you are into so I'll make a couple of suggestions for your France trip. First try 60 km SW of Bordeaux on the coast there are the Dunes De Pyla. Beautiful VERY HIGH sand dunes which are the highest outside of Africa I think, but certainly the highest in Europe. There are bars and tacky souvo shops at the bottom and steps up the dunes but when you get up there it is fantastic and one of Europes best sights. After that come back out on to the main coast road south to Biscarrosse Plage for a great Atlantic Beach it takes about 20 mins to get there from Pyla. If you don't like that sort of thing then you could try 50 km North of Bordeaux on the North/East Bank of the Gironde river is a place called Blaye. There is a huge fortress there designed by a famous historical fort designer who was that famous I've forgotten his name. It is a very interesting place and the town itself is nice with plenty of friendly bars and restaurants/cafes. Don't be afraid to ask whenever you pull up for a break, most French people are only too happy to tell you about things in their area and also if you get talking to them you will find they nearly all know someone who rents rooms on the cheap. If you are going to Oradour these places I'm mentioning are about 200 km SW of there.
Have a good trip.
Roy

What is Biarritz like? I'd like to spend the night somewhere in that area, but Biarritz sounds a bit much.

I'll be setting off in the next couple of days, so just a quick note to say thanks for all the suggestions - can't wait to get out there. :)

Alex

And the weather forecast est tres bien so bon voyage.