Hi,

I am planning a trip to Europe for four weeks. Originally I had planned to do the first 8 days cycling the Loire region, a week in Paris, a few days between Dijon and Lyon and the remaining week visiting family near Antwerp.

Recently, I have been wondering if we should do Provence instead of the Loire. It sounds great for food, history and weather. I would like to know if anyone has any preferences or suggestions. I am thinking that I should visit the family first and then divide the remaining time between Provence, Lyon and Burgundy.

Any help would be appreciated.

I guess it depends on the type of road you like to ride on ETC and the temperature you want o ride in. For me the Loir (no e) is great riding as little traffic while some parts of the Loire have too many tourists and their traffic.

Some of the best riding I have done has been in Alsace, but Chablis is also nice.

Provence needs a bit more care due to the relatively low populaiono density and hence hotel availability.

Food good in both, history (I like the idea of measuring the amount of history a place has, you heard of Ford?) weather Provence will be warmer but could be too warm depends on the month.

Carrying your own luguage?

I am not a cyclist, so my views are probably skewed, but I would do Provence simply because IMO the scenery and food are better (possibly the wine, too, but that's a matter of taste). On the other hand, it's flatter in the Loire, and there's less traffic. I just find the Loire Valley to be overall a bit dull by comparison to other areas of France in terms of terrain and the charm of villages.

From what I've read, it seems that the Loire valley is more cycle friendly but Provence sounds wonderful for the food and the charming villages. I hope not to find the Loire region dull or touristy. It seems that Provence might have more tourists in the summer than the Loire.

The Loire Valley will have plenty of tourists--it's a big attraction for people headed to Paris and wanting to see the Loire châteaux. I agree with St-Cirq that the area, after the first day or two, isn't nearly as interesting as Provence. The Loire Valley just doesn't have the variety of terrain or the charming small villages that make Provence so special.

I have twice cycled the Loire and really enjoyed it. Traffic is not much of a problem if you stick to the small roads - I recall riding between Chaumont and Chenonceaux and having only 2 cars pass me. I haven't cycled in Provence, but the routes the bike races take thru it are verrrrrrry hilly.

I did a bike trip for a week in Provence and absolutely loved it; I'd do it again in a heartbeat! We did a loop starting in Avignon, heading west, north and finally east of the city before ending there again. It is not a flatlander ride, for sure, though I understand you can find flatter routes than we were on. Several others on that trip had previously done the Loire Valley and reported it "boring" in comparison. An easier ride, but "after you've seen more than one chateau they all start to look alike" was the report. Since I've not been, I can't testify personally, but it did influence our decision to go to Burgundy for this year's ride, rather than the Loire.

<<I haven't cycled in Provence, but the routes the bike races take thru it are verrrrrrry hilly.>>

That's because they're bike races. The entire Camargue is as flat an area as can be - it's a swamp - and the Bouche du Rhône area is fairly flat as well, certainly as flat as the Loire valley.

cageym
- Where were you based for cycling?

I don't want to be moving to a new hotel every day but would rather find a central spot and take day trips. 2 or three locations spread over 8 nights would be ideal.

JPM78 -- We started and ended in Avignon, but in between stayed in Uzes, Aigueze (2 nights), Vaison-la-Romaine (2 nights), etc. You really might want to explore one of the self-guiding touring companies. They handle all your luggage, etc. Though I have no personal experience with them, I've heard good things about Discover France (www.discoverfrance.com) and am interested in exploring that option more for a future trip. Their "Vineyards and Lavender" tour in Provence, while not precisely what we did, covers much of the territory we did so my comments about hills and degree of difficulty would more closely pertain to that.

we used headwater over the years before we set ourselves the task of finding routes. They were pretty good

I am seriously considering Provence in a loop from Avignon. The self-guided tours are still out of my price range. I will be doing all the planning myself.