Loire Cycling Weekend

Day 1
Start Amboise.
You should aim to arrive any time before dinner: please advise us of your proposed arrival time if you are making your own travel arrangements. We advise you arrive before 1830hrs in order to collect your bikes from the Cycle Richard shop (open until 1830hrs and closed all day Sunday and Monday) and make any adjustments necessary with our mechanic. If you arrive on a day when the shop is closed or after the shop has closed your bikes will be delivered to the hotel. There is an allen key provided in order to adjust seat and handlebar heights but these will have been set up in advance for you. Amboise is located right on the Loire River. On the south side of the river lies the town centre and castle, where the French kings spent their childhoods during the XV and XVI centuries. The beautiful gardens here offer splendid views of the river, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout July and August there is a Son et Lumière show at the castle (not included). In town there is also a museum displaying many of the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci, who spent the last few years of his life here until he died in 1519. Hotel La Breche is 200 metres from the train station and Hotel Bellevue is a 20min walk.

Day 2
Cycle to Cour Cheverny (Ride approx 48km)
Today we ride along peaceful country roads and through the quiet villages of the Sologne to Cour-Cheverny, home to one of the best-preserved private chateaux in France. Beginning north of the Foret d'Amboise we pass the sleepy rural hamlets of Vallieres-les-Grandes, Pontlevoy, Thenay and Phages on our way to the attractive village of Fougères sur Bievre, with its 19th century public laundry beside the river and castle, destroyed by the English during the Hundred Years War. We end the day in the village of Cour Cheverny, which is a perfect example of the Sologne architecture. The castle here is one of the best-preserved private chateaux in France, and was a regular venue for large royal hunting parties.

Day 3
Cycle to Chaumont sur Loire (Ride approx 48km or 25km)
We recommend taking the longer route passing through Bracieux, a delightful small village in the heart of the Sologne and a former stopover between Paris and the chateaux region of the Loire. North of the village lies the amazing chateau of Chambord, the masterpiece of the French renaissance, completed in 1545 and used by kings and presidents from Francis I until the 1930s. 1500 hectares of the enclosed national hunting reserve are open to the public, with viewing platforms for watching wild boar, stags, roe deer and mouflon. The route then heads back to the Loire River as we make our way to our accommodation for the evening in Chaumont sur Loire.
The shorter option follows the little Beuvron River as far as Les Montils, a pretty village with quaint old houses and a 12th Century arch before an easy downhill provides a great entrance into the charming village of Chaumont sur Loire.
If you have time this evening it is worth visiting the chateau of Chaumont - this was originally built during the wars between the counts of Anjou and Blois in the 11th century on a very strategic point along the river. Remodelled and rebuilt over the centuries by various owners including Catherine de Medici, the castle is now a venue for the International Garden Festival

Day 4
Cycle to Amboise (Ride approx 38km)
The final day of cycling dawns, and there is just one route, so no tricky decisions to face over the croissants. The highpoint is undoubtedly the chateau of Chenonceaux, the most romantic of all the Loire chateaux. It actually sits in the Cher River, whose waters reflect the pale stone of the beautiful turrets and arches, and was the home of both Catherine de Medici and Diane de Poitiers. The landscape changes to a more open, rolling scenery for the final run-in to Amboise.

Day 5
End Amboise