See Paris by Bike !

Here is a whole new way to experience Paris. You can make use of the new Velib' bike hire service in Paris. It is one of the biggest bike hire services in the World, with over 20,000 bikes available for hire. There are various "Velib" hire sites throughout the city. You can hire a bike for a reasonable price at one site and leave the bike at another. A daily ticket is only 1.70€ and you can use Vélib’ as often as you want during 24 hours! The 30 first minutes of each trip are always free of charge. It's only 8 € for a 7-day ticket to use Vélib’ as often as you want during 7 consecutive days! Again, the 30 first minutes of each trip are always free of charge. (For more information : https://aboen-paris.cyclocity.fr/)

To find out about possible cycle routes in and around Paris then you might want to get this a fantastic guide book :

It tells you routes to use in and around Paris, a description of things you might see and it also has handy sections about the parts of a bike and also about the law with regards to cycling in France.

We have recommended a campsite right in the centre of Paris, on an island on the Seine, so if you really want to explore Paris that might be ideal - have a look at our website to find out some more :
Best French Campsites

Voie Verte - Green Cycle Route - Atlantic to Mediterranean !

This is fantastic - You can cycle the whole way from Bordeaux near the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea along green cycle routes (voies vertes) and canals. There is lots of information and maps available at http://www.canal-et-voie-verte.com/index.php. You could do all or part of it.

Visit Carcassone, Toulouse, Beziers and other fantastic French places en route along the Canal du Midi, Canal de la Garonne and Voie Verte cycle route.

Eurocamp and Keycamp offer campsites on the coast  80km from the beginning of the route at Biscarrosse and there are lots of great campsites on and near the Mediterranean to chose from at the end in Languedoc Roussillon :

Eurocamp Domaine de la Rive, Biscarrosse

Keycamp Domaine de la Rive, Biscarrosse

Eurocamp Sites in Languedoc Roussillon

Keycamp Sites in Languedoc Roussillon

There are not really any campsites from Eurocamp and Keycamp en route though.

This is a nice blog post from "Experience France by Bike" about the difference between Voie Vertes, Veloroutes and Eurovelo : http://slowtraveladventures.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/understanding-voie-verte-veloroute-and-eurovelo/

Go Back to Best French Campsites

Tour de France Route 2011

Here is a nice video of the route of the Tour de France for 2011.
It starts at Ile de Noirmoutier then through Vendee and into Brittany so there is lots of action for us campers who like to camp in the North of France. We should be able to get to see this great spectacle of a race.

http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/video/2010/10/19/le-tour-de-france-en-3-minutes-40_1428401_3242.html

Go Back to Best French Campsites

London to Paris Cycle Route !

If you are feeling energetic you might like to try this London to Paris Cycle Route ! However you better read this article first !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11447348

Go Back to Best French Campsites

Loire à Vélo Cycling Route

"Loire à vélo" has excellent information about cycle routes on the Loire as well as very reasonably priced organised trips, including a 3 day cycle tour of vineyards which sounds great ! It also has information about cycle friendly campsites and hotels which welcome cyclists and help with things like storage facilities.

http://www.cycling-loire.com/Default.aspx?base

Go Back to Best French Campsites

Loire Bike Routes

If you are taking your bike to the Loire Valley this year then you will love this website : http://www.cycling-loire.com/Default.aspx?base
Go Back to Best French Campsites

Excellent Motorway Travel and Traffic Sites

There are some excellent sites for travel information in France. They allow you to print route itineraries and also some let you plan which service stations to stop at en-route.

The Society of Autoroutes http://www.autoroutes.fr/accueil.html

From "Autoroutes du Sud de la France" ASF there is a website for routes to and within the South of France: http://www.asf.fr/control/index.aspx?alias=Internet2007Anglais.home

The North and East of France has the organisation "sanef" which has this website : http://www.sanef.com/fr/index.jsp

For Paris and Normandy Routes http://www.sapn.fr/index.php

Has anyone else found any better sites, particularly covering the West of France ?

Blogging with information to help us enjoy our camping holidays from Best French Campsites

Voies Vertes

These are French cycle ways rather like the UK Sustrans network.
Some are entirely off road and some are on quiet roads.
The website has a map and you can see if there are any cycle routes where you are holidaying. You can then download an excellent pdf file with a description of your chosen route.

http://www.voiesvertes.com/