feiying

I am planning a South Frace trip by bike with some friends in July, 2012.

The itinerary is: D1, Nice-Eze-Monaco-Nice; D2, Nice-Aix en Provence; D3, Aix en Provence-Arles; D4, Arles-les Baux-Avignon.

Can we travel by bike? If can, where can we rent bikes? Where can find clean and cheap Hotel or family Inn? And is the itinerary too rush?

Please help me! help me!! help me!!!

bilboburgler

Have a look at the french trips on this site to give you a bit of background
http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk

FrenchMystiqueTours

Are you serious and experienced bikers? That's a lot distance by bike you are planning on covering and that region of France is very hilly and even mountainous in some places so you are in for some challenging cycling, not to mention long distances, if you want to bike to all those places you mention. For example, Nice to Aix-en-Provence is 184 kilometers by bike.

You may want to contact some of the bike tour companies in that area for more help. There are a number of companies that offer self-guided bike tour service where they will set you up with a bike and maps and perhaps even make hotel arrangements for you. Here is a link to a company you may want to contact in the Côtes d'Azur:

http://www.cyclecotedazur.com/

Here are links to some more companies that offer guided and self-guided bike tours. You'll have to look at their websites to see which ones offer tours in the areas that interest you:

http://cyclomundo.com/
http://www.detours-in-france.com/
http://www.nicholexpeditions.com/france.htm
http://outfittertours.com/
http://www.diversedirections.net/
http://www.randonneetours.com/bydestination/france.htm
http://www.walkingfrance.com/selfguided.html
http://www.beauxvoyages.com/Self-Gui...rs-France.html
http://www.discoverfrance.com/
http://tinyurl.com/6hmv9mr
http://www.frenchcyclingholidays.com/

Here is a link with some information about bike trails in that region:

http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/country/82/region/1812

A website where you can learn a lot about cycling in France in general can be found at the link below:

http://www.freewheelingfrance.com/

I suggest you get some good guidebooks about cycling in that region and get yourself some good maps so you can see where these places are in relation to one another, what the distances are and how steep/difficult the terrain may be for biking.

twk

I'm no cyclist, but you are aware that your trip is generally speaking, going uphill? If you were to do the same itinerary in reverse, it might more sense for that reason alone.

I would follow the suggestions and contact one of those cycling outfits.

FrenchMystiqueTours

I just looked at your itinerary again and noticed that you want to see all these places in 4 days. That would be challenging even if you were doing this by car but it is absolutely impossible to do that in 4 days by bike. If you have only 4 days to spend in this region then you need to drastically rearrange your schedule, whether you do this by bike, car or public transport (buses and trains).

If you only have 4 days in this region (which means only 3 nights) then I think you need to focus on the area near Nice or the area near Arles/Avignon. I would suggest that you do one of two things. 1) Base in Nice for your 4 days and use that as a base to explore the area. 2) Base in Avignon and use that as a base to explore that area.

If your 4 days in this area includes your arrival and departure days then you really have 2 full days and 2 half days. Part of your first day is lost getting to your hotel and checking in and part of your last day is lost to checking out of your hotel and getting to the airport/train station.

PalenQ

I have biked extensively in all those regions - marking for comment later.

FrenchMystiqueTours

PalenQ - If I read the OP's question correctly it appears they are seeking to bike to all the places they mention in four days (D1=Day 1, D2=Day 2, etc.). Just trying to save you a long and thorough response that probably isn't necessary. I think the OP needs to come back and clarify before any decent advice can be given.

feiying

Thank everybody so much for your information! Distance is not problem, but we know nothing about the topography. Is there flat or uphill? We don't know our itinerary is reasonable or not? If it's too rush, we can spent more days there. We need advice. Thank you!

FrenchMystiqueTours

Topping so the OP will realize they have duplicate threads running.

FrenchMystiqueTours

If you really want to do that itinerary you're going to need a ot more time in that area. There was some good advice about using the www.viamichelin.com website. They will give you info about bike trips in terms of time and distance. Keep in mind the times they give consider no stops at all. For example, the distance between Nice and Aix is 184km and just over 13 hours of riding but the 13 hours doesn't consider stops. You really need to get some guideboks and maps as a start and look at some of the weblinks provided above. It sounds like PalenQ will have some good advice for you since he has done a lot of biking there. The areas near Nice are very hilly but the areas near Arles and Avignon are much more flat.

StCirq

You simply can't do that in 4 days. Get some guidebooks and, more important, get good maps, including topographical ones (why don't you know anything about the topography? Google is your friend, as are good maps!). It boggles the mind that in this day and age, when all the information in the world is at our fingertips, people can't research the basic info required for a trip. Yelling help me! help me! help me! on the internet doesn't substitute for going to the bookstore or library and sitting down at night and poring over information...plus of course spending hours on the internet figuring it out. If you're a help me! help me! help me! sort of person about the planning, God help you on the actual route when you get there. Please, get a grip, get some guidebooks and good maps, and just figure it out.

Do a detailed itinerary, noting distances and topography. Look into bicycle tour companies in the area and what they consider to be reasonable distances to cover in various areas every day. Check out lodging and prices and where to stop to eat or get provisions along the way.

This isn't rocket science. It's a matter of gathering good resources, absorbing them, and making note of details that pertain to you, looking at maps and sketching out a plan, getting in touch with accommodations to make sure you have them, and then solidyfying the whole package.

PalenQ

If those are day trips then Nice to Aix and Aix to Arles are both long treks - especially Nice to Aix

Nice to Eze means a serious serious climb along a too busy for moi highway - ditto Eze to Monaco - serious downhill with too much traffic. Seems like no fun to me at least.