Bike Tour: Loire Valley - from Saumur to Atlantic coast - 6 days

You individually travel to Saumur. Check-in at your hotel. Have you got some time left then visit the horse town Saumur, the home base of the prestigious riding academy Cadre Noir, where the elite of the French horsemen is trained. Enjoy the beautiful houses with their white tuff stone fronts in the centre. Admire the proud castle and all the other classified monuments.

Go right along the southern bank of the river. Admire the monuments of local white tuff stone, such as the church in Cunault and St-Maur Abbey. Once in St-Mathurin-sur-Loire you follow the northern bank of the Loire through a former swamp that was drained in the Middle Ages. Some time later you see tracks of the old slate quarries of Trélazé. Then, taking a small ferry, you cross the Authion river. Your destination Angers, situated on both sides of the river Maine, attracts your attention.

Challenge: 58.5km, 695m ascent, 680m descent

In the heart of Anjou, this Loire à Vélo stage goes from opposite Angers’s central castle out via the green setting of the Lac de Maine.
This urban stage is startling, avoiding motorized traffic, taking you through parkland and alongside the Maine River. Bouchemaine is great for a stop, for its typical quayside restaurants or a picnic beside the Loire.
Continue to La Pointe, in a tremendous setting in the heart of Anjou, where the Maine River joins the Loire. A bit west, this magical Loire à Vélo stage allows you glimpses of the prestigious vine-covered slopes of Savennières. You follow the wild Loire closely here. Don’t miss Béhuard Island before going on to cross Chalonnes’s island, one of the largest on the Loire. Nearby, along the south bank, are the celebrated Coteaux du Layon vineyards, then the pretty perched villages of Montjean-sur-Loire and Ingrandes.

Challenge: 42km, 348m ascent, 360m descent

From Ingrandes, you quickly reach the village of St-Florent-le-Vieil, with its great views of the Loire Valley, this Loire à Vélo stage goes on to Champtoceaux, a historic fortified site with further tremendous river views, standing on Anjou’s frontier with the Pays d’Ancenis on the north bank. It’s worth conquering the heights of St-Florent and Champtoceaux for the panoramas! The route is along quiet roads and greenways.
Designated European Green Capital in 2013, the city of Nantes comes into view, a shaded towpath offering a gentle way into town.
The new Tabarly Bridge leads over to L’île de Nantes, home to extraordinary outsized machines you can ride on, and to the Malakoff Quarter, being completely renovated. This island makes for a great introduction to the joyous tumult of the largest city along the Loire à Vélo cycle route.

Challenge: 64.4km, 442m ascent, 447m descent

Surprising works of art at unusual places enliven the start of this trip along the mouth of the Loire. After Le Pellerin the Martinière canal is your guide. You cycle via small, quiet roads through landscapes belonging to the mouth of a big river: broad swampy areas and vast forelands. From Paimboeuf you follow a part of the coastal route ‘Velodyssey’ and you more and more notice the strong influence of tides and currents on the Loire. The end is in sight: St-Brevin, a lively seaside resort on the Atlantic.

Challenge: 58.3km, 337m ascent, 335m descent

Breakfast marks the end of the trip. You can travel back to Saumur by train.