Hoping to plan a 3 to 4 day bike trip in the Loire Valley in May without using a tour company. I've spent much time on the Loire a Velo website but not finding it as helpful as I'd hoped, especially since the pamphlets available for download describing the routes are only in French.

My preference would be to bike from town-to-town, staying in B&B's or hotels along the way, rather than doing day trips from one location. Hoping for a leisurely pace that allows an opportunity to appreciate the views, not rushing to get to the end destination and do a bunch of sight-seeing.

From the map, it doesn't look like there's an obvious loop route that would take us back to our original destination to return the rental bikes so wondering if it's possible to spend a night in 3 different towns and then take the train back to the starting point?

Any tips or suggestions for itineraries would be much appreciated. The travelers are two adults in decent physical condition and a 22 month old who would ride in a bike trailer or infant seat.

This only slighlty answers your question
http://www.visit-loire.com/cycling-i...re-a-velo.html

I think think the options I'd look at is

1) catch a train back (lets you go further)
2) Try to avoid hills with the tow trailer
3) You might find a better quieter route north on Le Loir rather than La Loire. It is just as pretty and some nice little B&Bs

sorry "I'd look at are"

I haven't cycled in the Loire but I quite frequently make day trips by train from Paris into the nearby countryside with my bike so I can give you some general tips.

I know there are many resources for cyclists that will give you info and map routes to follow designated bike trails. I use none of these. This requires planning and I hate planning. I just use the Michelin map and ride on the roads with the cars. Let me give you some tips on how to read the Michelin maps of the scale 1:200,000. I generally stay on the small white roads and sometimes the yellow roads while generally trying to avoid the red roads (which carry the most traffic). If a road has a hill with greater than a 5% gradient you will notice that such a road will have a gradient arrow superimposed on the road. One arrow means a gradient of 5%-9%, two arrows means a gradient from 9%-13% and three arrows means a gradient of over 13%. Just because a road has no gradient arrows doesn't mean there are no hills but whatever hills there are should not be too strenuous. Twisty roads often mean hilly as well. Areas shaded in white are generally flat to gently rolling and non-forested terrain while areas shaded in green mean either forested and/or hilly terrain.

If you are looking for dedicated bikeways you can do google seaches using keys words such as "pistes cyclables loire" or "voies vertes loire". Also, the local tourist offices usually have very good info about hiking and biking trails which they usually don't put on their websites.

France does have some websites that will show where there are designated bike routes and there are also other on-line resources available for bikers so let me gives you a few links you may find useful:

http://www.voiesvertes.com/
http://www.ffct.org/
af3v.org/Cycle-routes-and-greenways-in.html
http://www.gobicycletouring.info/
http://www.cartovelo.com/
http://randovelo.fr/randovelo/-Anglais-
…blogspot.com/2010/03/biking-directions-adde…

Another thought, you might contact some of the self-guided bike touring companies and see if they might be able to help you put together a route. Usually these companies also include lodging and meals as part of their service but perhaps they could do something special for you and just put together a bike route for you, without taking care of your food and accommodation. Here are a few links to some of these tour companies.

http://cyclomundo.com/
http://www.discoverfrance.com/bikeindex.html
http://www.detours-in-france.com/
www.nicholexpeditions.com/francebike.htm

Here are 2 links I found about biking in the Loire that you may find useful:

http://www.freewheelingfrance.com/wh...e-by-bike.html

http://www.freewheelingfrance.com/wh...ire-river.html

Since you'll want to put your bike on a train here are links to websites that might help you in figuring out which trains allow bikes and what the rules are. The first one is in French (sorry):

http://www.velo.sncf.com/

http://www.sncf.com/en_EN/html/media...d-article.html

http://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm#France

Here is some other general advice for you. You should google tourist office websites for any towns you may want to visit. You will find loads of info on these websites and many have English versions. In doing a google search enter the name of your town/château followed by the words "site officiel" or "office de tourisme" and this will bring the town to the top of your search. This will be useful when you are seeking accommodation. The tourist offices will always assist you in finding accommodation free of charge. I think it's a good idea to plan your route ahead of time and to pre-arrange your accommodation.

I didn't give you any suggested routes because you didn't mention what you want to see but if you give some ideas I'm sure myself and others might be able to help you plan a route.

FMT-thanks as always for the great info. Bookmarking for future, hopefully!

You're very welcome Sidny.

CHeck out the journals at www.crazyguyonabike.com. THey have several on the Loire. I would avoid the Loire bike trail as it seems to be mostly unpaved trails. I agree on using the white roads on the MIchelin 1:200,000 maps - they are usually very lightly travelled and my experience the French drivers are very considerate of cyclists.

One possible tour - Start in Blois - then visit Chambord, CHeverny, Chaumont, Chenonceaux, Amboise, and TOurs - you would probably ride about 30 miles per day - not a bad distance if yo are pulling a child

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm starting to think that it might be too much for me to plan out different lodging each night since I still have much of the rest of our Europe itinerary to solidify and we leave in a couple of weeks.

Any recommendations on the best town to base ourselves in for scenic day trips via bike? We would have 3 days to explore. It's less about the destination of the day trip,(though would enjoy some good caves & chateaus), and more about a pleasant ride.

Amboise sounds nice but read somewhere that it's not that great to bike in and out of because it gets so crowded with tour buses, though maybe that's only in the summer (we'd arrive May 22nd).

bigtyke - Haven't entirely ruled out the bike tour. Any reason not to start in Tours and work backwards so we can take the TGV direct from Paris?

Sounds like the Michelin map is great resource. Thank you FMT for the tips on how to use it.

I use the Michelin maps to help me find scenic rides, whether by car or by bike. Here are a few more tips. The Michelin maps have icons for all kinds of historically/touristically interesting things such as châteaux, ruins, churches, abbeys, scenic view points, caves, Roman sites, megaliths, designated scenic roads and many other things. Usually when I'm exploring various regions in France I just look at the map and I am able to plan interesting and scenic rides/drives just reading the map. For instance, I usually look for a designated scenic road, which are highlighted in green, and I especially look for towns with the historic church and/or château icon. I also try to make sure the route goes through as many small villages as possible. Usually putting all these things together I find interesting and scenic drives without even knowing where I am going and with no assistance from a guide book. Often these places are never mentioned in guidebooks and remain completely unknown to many tourists.

If you are spending 3 days in the Loire I'm not sure you'd enjoy biking out of and back into Tours each day. Lots of uninteresting modern commercial and residential development away from the old center and busy roads. Perhaps on your last day you might make that your destination to take the TGV back to Paris.

I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions but I'll make one for Chinon. A lovely medieval town with a château ruin high on the hill above town that was once the favorite castle of Henri II, his famous wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and their son Richard the Lionheart. All three are buried a short distance away in the lovely Abbaye de Fontevraud. Also nearby in easy biking distance are the lovely towns of Candes-Saint-Martin and Montsoreau. East of Chinon you can bike along the D21 to Avon-les-Roches, Les Roches Tranchelion and Crissay-sur-Marne coming back through Crouzilles and taking the D8 along the river. You could go north from Chinon to Huismes, past the château of Ussé (the castle which inspired the story of Sleeping Beauty) and depending on how long you like to ride head to the medieval village of Langeais on the scenic road D16, or go to the small quaint town of Azay-le-Rideau with its lovely château.

Remember the tips I gave you about the maps in regards to hills and also using the icons (church, designated scenic roads, megalith, château, abbey and ruins) to find interesting towns and places to bike through/past.

Will you have a car? If so, you don't need to stay in a city or town. You can find some nice place to stay in the countryside and bike from there each day.

Have you come across the Cycling for Softies website? I read an article about them (years ago now) where a family biked through either the Mayenne or the Sarthe on a tour set up by Cycling for Softies. They didn't bike with a group, so in a sense it was independent travel. This area is much less heavily trafficked than the Loire.

I feel like a meanie but I have to inject a cautionary note. It rains sometimes, so it's good to have alternate plans.

I wish you sunny weather.

Either direction is ok

I have stayed twice in Onzain, a nice town between Blois and Amboise. IT h as train service. Stayed at Chateau de Tertres, a nice but reasonable hotel with a view of the chateau of Chaumont.

My second choice would be Azay le Rideau. Stayed twice at the Grand Monarque

Sounds like you have a great trip plan in mind and you definitely do not need a tour operator to bike the Loire, as it is really the best signposted bike route in France! I just finished my latest post, Top 10 Reasons to Bike the Loire, which is full of links that will help you plan your trip. I am currently writing the follow up post, which will be full of more resources, but take a look and this should get you pointed in the right direction:
http://slowtraveladventures.wordpres...e-loire-river/

Regarding bike rental, the best suggestion along the Loire is Detours de Loire. They have a great network along the Loire so you can pick your bikes up in one town, and return them in another at the end of the trip. Of course, there is a cost for this, but not much more than paying train fare to return to your start. Their website is www.locationdevelos.com/en/index.php. If you prefer to pick up and drop off your bikes in the same town, Amboise or Blois would be good choices. From Amboise, it is an easy ride to Chateau Chaumont-sur-Loire, home of the famous International Garden Festival and beautiful chateau. From there you can pick up the Chateaux a Velo network, with 40 different itineraries to places like Chateau de Cheverny and Chambord. You can find the link to the Chateaux a Velo network on my Loire Blog post, and you will be able to get a full size map of the network, along with the Loire a Velo hard map in the Tourism Office of whichever town you start your trip at.

If you are interested in concentrating your time in the western Loire, then a good starting place would be Saumur, where there is also a Detours de Loire bike rental location. From Saumur, you can bike to Chinon with its beautiful chateau, the Chateau at Usse, Fontevraud Abbey, Villandry and its famous gardens and the town of Azay-le-Rideau. If you are only going to have a week, and traveling with a young person, it might be difficult to do both the east and western Loire in one week.

I spent 10 days on the Loire last summer, and there are daily reports of our travels on my blog if you take a look at August, 2010. We only had the time to go as far as Blois, and only did a couple of itineraries on the Chateaux a Velo network as we just ran out of time. There are so many things to see and do on the Loire that I never plan to bike more than 30 miles in a day. That allows plenty of time for stopping for mid-morning coffee, seeing all the attractions along the way, a picnic lunch, and taking pictures of the wonderful scenery. I will be going back to the Loire again in July and am still having a hard time figuring out where to go!

As I mention in my post from last summer, this is perfect recreational bike riding territory, and it is perfect for traveling with kids. The routes are safe, well-signposted, and there are plenty of support facilities all along the way. Hope that this information helps and have a wonderful trip!