Self Guided Cycling in the Loire Valley of France

Our Clients’ Reviews

Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It's the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you're interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers. Any feedback collected (Good or bad) from Exodus clients is posted straight onto our website - totally unedited. Read more...

Average Review Rating: from 11 reviews.

Sue Strang

CYCLING IN THE LOIRE VALLEY

Written August 2012
Beautiful countryside and the cycling was very gentle. The food and wine in the region was a real highlight. It was a really stress free holiday.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
It's a very gentle holiday, with a chance to see a different chateau every day - from the well known ones to litttle local chateaus and castles. Food and wine along the way was wonderful. Hotels were 2 star and had fans rather than air con - but that was OK apart from one very hot night. Friendly local hotels which was great.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

The French trains are really well set up for bicycles - so if you want to on the Blois day take the train in and cycle back that is really easy. We took the train both ways in order to have a bike free day and long enough to see Blois. Check the train timetables though as there are some odd gaps in service in the day.
There was only one part on the first day that was on quite a busy road (for about 2km), but after that the rest of the trip was on very quiet roads or designated cycle paths. We took the short routes as that was enough for us - and they seemed very well planned. I thought the route map given by Exodus was great - there was only one point where we got the big map out to check.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
The bicycles were perfect, the organisation of the bags etc went really smoothly. Finding places to picnic was easy, the Exodus guide gave some suggestions. We also took a couple of days at the end in Tours, then a train with only one change back to Charles De Gaulle - really liked Tours, recommend it!
William Scott

CYCLING IN THE LOIRE VALLEY

Written August 2012
A really nice family holiday that worked well. Lovely countryside and good choice of route offered a great shared experience. The hotels were basic but perfectly good enough and the food, where provided, was always excellent. We would definitely consider another Exodus cycling holiday in the future.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Arriving at Bracieux after a 49km ride was very satisfying - especially once in the pool
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Padded cycling shorts essential - and maybe consider gel saddle pads too. Cycling gloves are unnecessary.
Take mosquito repellent plug-in devices
Don't bother with the son-et-lumiere in Amboise on your first night, espcially if you don't speak fluent French or got up early to get there!
Book restaurants ahead of time for the days where you are not half-board, particularly in Chaumont, as there isn't much choice and everywhere was full. Even booking something at lunchtime would help.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
Detailed itinerary arrived only two days before the trip - more time to prepare would have been helpful
The Relais D'Artemis restaurant in Bracieux was closed when the notes said it was open (and open when the notes said shut) and was very disappointing - the one poor value for money meal we had. Actually it would have been poor even it it had cost the same as the others.
On the other hand the restaurant in the square opposite the Hotel Du Cygne - The Au Fil du Temps - was much better (and cheaper) and a really nice experience. We suggest you recommend that one instead.
The route notes became unhelpfully brief at some points of the trip - particularly the last afternoon - and we went the wrong way as a result.
It could be more clear where meals are included and not included in the trip notes.
The bike shop was closed at both ends of our trip. It would have been useful to know this in advance so we didn't have to make another return trip across Amboise to return the bikes when all along they were going to be picked up from the hotel. We also missed out on any adjustment/instruction on the bikes before we set off and didn't have a full set of panniers/bungees until another traveller complained to the local rep. Brackets to hold water bottles on the bikes would have been useful. Otherwise, the bikes were in very good condition.
It would have been useful to have a map with the official bike routes marked on them, so it was clear when were were supposed to be following them, or not.
It would be even more useful to have an iPhone app with the routes and points of interest overlaid on the map. We had no idea what distance we had covered until we came upon a town or other landmark.
On the return leg, the train booking left us with an unnecessary change and 1:30 hour wait in Blois. We didn't get this schedule until the tickets arrived two days before we left. We were then told we would have to pay to change the tickets to catch the direct train, but when we tried to do this, the ticket office said the tickets were flexible and we didn't need to. It would also have been useful to have been told that we had to validate the tickets before getting on the train.
It would have been useful to include information on the chateau card (offering discount for visiting lots of chateaux) as we only found out about it after paying for most of them individually.
The price for the horse spectacular at Chambord was a lot higher than was said in the route guide.
Overall we ended up spending a lot more money than we thought we would need to.
Geoffrey Wells

CYCLING IN THE LOIRE VALLEY

Written August 2012
The Loire Valley is a superb region for cycling for riders of all standards. The variety of natural settings (forests, vineyards, farms, rivers) and the built environment (castles, villages, towns) provides for entertaining and informative travel. The terrain is gently undulating and our route generally avoided busy roads. The accommodation was just right: friendly staff in family style hotels with excellent food (where provided)
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The friendly and very helpful hotel staff;
Riding through forests on "no-cars" tracks;
The sheer magnificence of some of the chateaux.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
For anyone who has done some cycling, this is a very relaxing holiday and provides plenty of time to see and do things along the way. We enjoyed cycling into the old city of Blois on our rest day, and to the chateau in Amboise where Da Vinvci lived for three years.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We were very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hotels used for this trip. Although they were rated as 2-star we found them ideally informal for a cycling holiday.
Angela Jones

CYCLING IN THE LOIRE VALLEY

Written July 2012
The Loire Valley was beautiful, cycling was wounderful and I would recomend althoug I feel the holiday was over priced for what we actully had. One week cost as much as two weeks 5 star in mexico!!!!! plus we had to find our own way to the Loire. The maps provided were up to date but if you just followed the Exodus details they were really poor.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The wounderfull time spent with my family, french food was good.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Do it yourself as it is much cheaper.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
It is a wounderful place to go on holiday and I would really recommend.
Sandra Jemson

CYCLING IN THE LOIRE VALLEY

Written June 2012
Relaxed easy cycling with over night stays exactly as we expected.Villages very small which can make evening eating out a challange.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The fact we had wonderful weather for the whole week, when only days prior to our arrival it had rained as much if not more than Britain.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Most of the overnight stops with no food provided were also the places most difficult to find a place to eat on the evening. We were very lucky, but would recommend you ask your hotel to book you into the best local restaurant prior to your departure. We were bitten by midgies, and would suggest you take preventative measures, as well as treatment.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
You really need to be able to speak some french to get by on a holiday in rural france.
Don't go to France in May thinking you will be getting wall to wall sunshine, the weather is warmer than Britain, but you could get just as much rain. We were very lucky!
Paul Fox

CYCLING IN THE LOIRE VALLEY

Written March 2011
The Maps PROVIDED were excellent, so when we lost the approved route we could make up our own 'till the route reappeared at the village after next. The hotel contact staff were very friendly and even spoke bits of English when my sub-fluent French broke down. Hire bikes were excellent and were "Touring bikes" with racks and mudguards, not French racer style "road bikes"
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Finding the hotels at the end of each day and our bags there in reception was like a pat on the back and the invisible Exodus person saying "well done".
As I am a typical English cyclist, stopping with our flasks at the Pinic table for tea breaks was what life is all about.
Seeing the outside of many chateaux and the inside of a BIG chateau.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
It was a great holiday and you had looked out the best of a flatish area of France; we enjoyed exploring the quiet roads and tracks for which you had given us super bikes. To quote your literature "they are our Hybrid bikes don't worry about the surface, just do it". We'll be back.
John & Jane Gosnell

CYCLING IN THE LOIRE VALLEY

Written September 2008
A great escape to the sun form our wet Summer, quiet roads, lovely views, lots of scope to extend or shorten the day at will. Everything we wanted and more, and all the bookings and moving on of luggage were faultless.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
That Exodus had gone the extra mile and managed to put the holiday together at such short notice. I din't even expect them to be able to do anything when I rang at 4:50pm on a Monday afternoon, but before the day was out the holiday was confirmed and all the details of the accomodation and routes emailed to us. Less than 24 hours after our first phone call to Exodus we were booking into the Hotel at Amboise on the Loire, stunning customer service.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
There are many ways to extend the trip each day for those that may wish to, we did lots of extras, and such easy cycling on such peaceful roads.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
My thanks to all at Exodus who made the trip possible.