France

Chateaux of the Loire

Self-Guided Family Bike Tour

Grade

1
2
3
4
5

Duration

8 days

Prices from

$2,380 P.P.
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Few places in the world are as well suited to a cycling holiday as France’s Loire valley. With a mostly flat landscape covered in vineyards and littered with Medieval history, combined with an excellent network of signposted cycle routes and bike paths, it is little wonder that cyclo-tourists have been flocking here for decades. This route in particular takes in some of the valley's most lovely areas, on an easy-going route suitable for most riders. 
The region’s biggest claim to fame is its abundance of spectacular châteaux, some of the finest examples of which can be visited by bicycle on this tour; those in Villandry, Saumur and Chinon being particularly noteworthy. Expect immaculate gardens and grand architecture, the kind of things you would expect from rival nobility trying to one up each other and display their wealth to the world. We think our route provides guests with the perfect mix of some of the most iconic châteaux alongside some lesser-known gems, which whilst often a little less over the top, are often even more interesting for it.
The châteaux alone make the Loire valley a fantastic destination – but when you add the fantastic array of local delicacies and a world-renowned wine industry, it becomes hard to justify not going! This tour takes you through the appellations of Saumur, Bourgeuil and Chinon, riding through the intricate patchwork of vineyards as you make your way around. Expect light, easy-drinking reds, crisp whites, and some super sparkling wine, served with meals including excellent local cheeses, mushrooms and fruits.
With relaxed routes knitting all of these threads of the Loire Valley’s distinctive culture together, as well as our expert local team being on hand for you, you can explore at your leisure and enjoy it all with the minimum of fuss.
Château de Villandry gardens, Loire, France.jpg

Highlights

  • Visiting a selection of the region’s most interesting chateaux; including Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau
  • Enjoying fine local produce and local red, white and sparkling wines
  • Following relaxed routes, along quiet country lanes and traffic-free paths
  • Learning about the Loire Valley’s rich history
  • Meandering through quaint, picturesque villages
  • Cooling off in the hotel pool after a day out on your bikes

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Itinerary

Day 1 Arrival in Chinon

Today you’ll make your way to your first hotel in Chinon (around a 50-minute taxi ride through the lovely Loire countryside from Tours TGV station).

In the evening, you’ll be greeted by one of our friendly local reps who’ll run through a quick welcome chat and get you kitted out with bikes (if you’re hiring).

Depending on when you arrive, there may be time for a gentle warm-up ride, a great chance to spin the legs and get a feel for the area.

If you’d rather take it easy today, the historic streets of Chinon are perfect for a relaxed wander and a great taste of things to come.

Day 2 Chinon to Fontevraud l'Abbaye

17 or 37 Miles / 28 or 59 Kms Approx.
Ascent: 215 or 425 Metres Approx.
  • Meals: Breakfast
  • Ascent: 215 or 425 Metres Approx.

Your first day of riding begins with a scenic jaunt to the wonderful Fontevraud-l’Abbaye, home to one of Europe’s largest and most beautiful monastic complexes.

You’ve got two lovely routes to choose from today. The first takes you north of the River Vienne, winding through peaceful lanes and past Savigny-en-Véron before reaching the postcard-worthy riverside villages of Candes-Saint-Martin and Montsoreau. Both are perfect for a relaxed lunch stop, think cobbled streets, river views, and a spot of people-watching, before you roll gently on to Fontevraud.

Fancy stretching the legs a bit more? Our extended route adds some extra miles (and smiles), heading out along a brilliant cycle path towards the enchanting Château du Rivau. This fairytale castle is tucked away in the countryside and even boasts a delightful restaurant using produce straight from its own garden, a truly tasty place to break up your ride.

From there, it’s all about rolling through sleepy villages and lush countryside before arriving at Fontevraud-l’Abbaye, your charming base for the night. Bikes parked, time to relax and soak up the history!

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Day 3 Montsoreau, Turquant and Saumur Loop

26 Miles / 42 Kms Approx.
Ascent: 430 Metres Approx.
  • Meals: Breakfast
  • Ascent: 430 Metres Approx.

Today is yours to do as you please! Whether you’re in the mood for a spin out, or a well-earned day off the bike, we’ve got you covered.

If you‘re tempted to take it easy, you can enjoy a lazy morning by the pool or wander back to the Abbey for a proper explore, especially if you didn’t have time to take it all in yesterday. With its quiet cloisters and fascinating history, it’s well worth a visit.

Or if you fancy a ride, then we’ve a lovely out-and-back route along the Loire à Vélo cycle route to Saumur. Think dreamy châteaux, rolling vineyards, and troglodyte dwellings carved into the rock. It’s classic Loire at its best.

Because it’s an out-and-back route, you can turn back whenever you fancy, but we’d recommend pushing on to Saumur, where the spectacular hilltop château greets you with its golden weathervane glinting in the sunlight. The town below is full of life, with plenty of cafés, boutiques, and bars, perfect for a scenic mid-ride pit stop.

On your return leg, enjoy a relaxed roll home along the riverbanks, keeping an eye out for those intriguing cave houses along the way.

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Day 4 Fontevraud l'Abbaye to Villandry

34 Miles / 54 Kms Approx.
Ascent: 305 Metres Approx.
  • Meals: Breakfast
  • Ascent: 305 Metres Approx.

It might be the longest ride of the tour today, but with wonderfully flat terrain and views to distract you at every turn, the kilometres will roll by in no time.

Your day begins with a gentle descent through a classic Loire Valley scene, golden sunflower fields, neat rows of vineyards, and winding lanes that lead you down to the river at the picturesque village of Montsoreau. From here, you’ll hop onto the well-signed Loire à Vélo cycle path, heading east at the confluence of the Vienne and Loire rivers.

After crossing the river, you’ll head inland for a short while, riding along quiet lanes, before rejoining the Loire as it sweeps you toward one of the real gems of the day: the fairy tale-like Château d’Ussé. Said to be the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty, this magical château is a perfect photo stop.

From here, the river is your companion all the way, as you cruise past more lovely riverside villages and lush landscapes before arriving at Villandry, famous for its beautiful gardens.

There’s just a short climb up from the village to your hotel – but don’t worry, the views will help you power up the final stretch. A rewarding end to a truly memorable day in the saddle!

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Day 5 Villandry to Montbazon (Optional ride into Tours)

20 or 24 Miles / 32 or 38 Kms Approx.
Ascent: 210 Metres Approx.
  • Meals: Breakfast
  • Ascent: 210 Metres Approx.

Today’s ride continues east along the Loire, with more riverside magic and a stop at the petrified caves of Savonnières, a quirky little highlight that’s well worth a peek.

From here, you’ve got a choice to make. If you‘re keen to soak up some city vibes, you can take a detour into the medieval city of Tours, the lively capital of the region. Riding into town adds around 9–10km to your day, but it’s a lovely spin along the Loire à Vélo w(tih some traffic as you enter the city) including a glide down the grand Avenue de Grammont – a tree-lined boulevard often likened to a mini Champs Élysées (with dedicated cycle paths, of course!).

If you’d prefer to keep things a bit quieter, you can skip the city and follow a more direct route onwards to Montbazon, your overnight stop, nestled just 12km beyond Tours. It’s a peaceful little place with just the right mix of charm and chill after a day in the saddle.

Whichever route you choose, there’s plenty to enjoy, whether that’s city cafés and cobbled streets, or the gentle roll of rural lanes and riverside calm.

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Day 6 Montbazon to Azay-le-Rideau

16 Miles / 26 Kms Approx.
Ascent: 180 Metres Approx.
  • Meals: Breakfast
  • Ascent: 180 Metres Approx.

It’s a shorter ride today, although we do recommend an early start so you’ve got plenty of time to explore the glorious Château d’Azay-le-Rideau later this afternoon. It’s one of the Loire Valley’s finest, and a real treat to round off the day.

Your route today follows the tranquil Indre River, winding west through a string of peaceful villages, including Artannes-sur-Indre and the especially lovely Saché. This charming spot is home to a quaint little château and a museum celebrating Honoré de Balzac – one of France’s literary greats. While he might not be a household name across the Channel, he’s something of a legend here.

With more gentle riverside riding ahead, you’ll soon roll into Azay-le-Rideau, where you’ll have time to explore its stunning water-flanked château or perhaps indulge in a well-earned local wine tasting. Whether you’re here for the history or the grapes (or both!), it’s a lovely place to end the day.

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Day 7 Azay-le-Rideau to Chinon

22 Miles / 36 Kms Approx.
Ascent: 225 Metres Approx.
  • Meals: Breakfast
  • Ascent: 225 Metres Approx.

It’s your final day in the saddle, and what a way to round things off. You’ll leave Azay-le-Rideau this morning following the peaceful Indre River, with a couple of hidden gems waiting just beyond town. First up is the fairytale-like Château de l’Islette, a lesser-known beauty nestled on the riverbanks, followed by the Musée Maurice Dufresne, packed with quirky machinery and vintage curiosities.

From here, the route winds into a stretch of shady lanes, offering wonderfully quiet riding. Keep those eyes peeled, it’s not unusual to spot deer darting through the trees or birds of prey circling overhead.

A gentle descent brings you down to the banks of the Vienne, and from there it’s a relaxed roll through sun-dappled vineyards as you make your way back to Chinon. It’s a fitting end to your Loire adventure, and one last chance to soak up those classic French landscapes.

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Day 8 Departure from Chinon

  • Meals: Breakfast

After a final breakfast it’s time to say au revoir! Extra nights in Tours or Paris can be arranged on request.

Understanding Profiles

Use these profiles to see:

  • Distance in Km (horizontal axis)
  • Ascent / Descent in metres (vertical axis)

Click 'see gradient' to see:

  • Distance in Km (horizontal axis)
  • % Gradient (vertical axis)

White vertical lines indicate unpaved sections or slightly rougher terrain.

Please check the scales on both graphs, and both axes as they both may differ from day to day.

GPS units and navigation softwares produce different statistical information based on a number of different factors, so please keep in mind the information we’re providing here is meant to be an indicative guide only.

Gradients in particular can be difficult to measure consistently, and sometimes steepness shown can vary as much as 5-10% from what’s signposted on the ground.

Using both graphs, alongside the grading and terrain information provided, should however give you a good idea of how flat, bumpy or steep the climbing on your particular tour is going to be.

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Still Thinking It Over?

Register your interest and we'll keep you up-to-date on departures, availability, accommodation and all the amazing experiences we have in store on this trip.

The Cycling

Terrain

Generally the riding is flat and easy going. You’ll find some short hills when you leave the river valley but nothing long or too steep. There’s a lot of cycling infrastructure in place, so most of the cycling takes place on signposted cycle routes that are designed and managed by local tourist boards. These routes mostly use very quiet roads that zig zag through vineyards or along the river bank.

Although much of the route (70% approx) is on roads shared with traffic, the majority of the routes outside of towns usually have low traffic levels and its very unusual to see more cars than cyclists. There are stretches of traffic free cycle path as well, notably outside of Chinon and Rigny-Usse. One day of cycling passes through the outskirts of Tours, a small city. This however is done on a signposted route on cycle paths alongside the road and through a park. It’s still generally very safe and easy to navigate.

We’d recommend a hybrid bike for this tour, although a road bike would suffice if confident on some of the bumpier sections (some cobbles and some hard-packed gravel / dirt sections). Although the terrain is relatively flat on this trip, e-bikes can be a great idea – particularly if you are travelling in July/August when the temperatures can be high! For more information about riding an electric bike on our holidays please click here

Château d'Ussé with bikes, Loire-photoshop.jpg

Family Cycling Grade

1
2
3
4
5
Grade 1 - 2 : Easy/Gentle

Aspects of both our grade 1 and 2 trips

Suitable for those looking for a relaxed ride

Occasional ups and downs

Our grading guidelines have been carefully created based on our many years of cycling experience, as well as customer feedback from our trips. Of course, if you're still struggling to figure out where you fit on the scale, do feel free to give us a quick call and we'll be more than happy to help!

For more information about our grading system click here.

Is this suitable for you?

Trips that are graded as a 1-2, will have aspects of both our grade 1 and grade 2 trips. These tours are still suitable for those looking for an accessible cycling holiday with manageable daily distances, along predominately flat terrain, however there will be some days / sections where we’d expect you to be up for a slightly cheeky challenge. It might be that the distances are a little longer on some days or that the terrain is slightly more undulating, but the rides are still relaxed and manageable for families who are generally fit and healthy.

For more information about the grading of this holiday in particular, please check out the terrain section which will give you some specifics of what to expect on this tour.

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Dates & Prices

2026 *2026* Departures available from 01 Apr – 21 Oct

Wednesday departures – $2380

Daily departures (excl. Wednesdays) – $2480

We may be able to offer children’s discounts for those interested in sharing a family room – please let us know if you’d like us to look into this option for you.

Secure Your Holiday With A Deposit

Book now with a $375 deposit and nothing more to pay until 60 days before departure. Choose a date to start your booking and see all prices, including bike hire and single room supplements.

Select a date to view prices and book
Start Date
End Date
Duration
Price p.p.
Start Date
Return Date
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Duration
8 days
Price
$2,380.00

Whats Included Tick

A) Accommodation (shared twin / double en suite rooms) in 3 and 4* hotels

B) Meals as per the itinerary (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner)

C) English speaking local representative (with welcome meeting)

D) Detailed route notes and maps (GPX files available on request)

E) Luggage transfers

F) Financial Protection through ABTOT

What's not Included Cross

A) Bike rental (available if required)

B) Flights and charges for travelling with your bike (if applicable)

C) Meals not stated in the itinerary

D) Single room (available if required)

E) Travel insurance

F) Personal clothing and equipment

G) Personal expenditure (souvenirs, bar bills, hotel facilities etc)

H) Entrance fees to museums and other attractions en route

I) Local tourist taxes

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The Essentials

Travel Options

This tour starts and finishes in Chinon, a small village 50km from Tours, the nearest major city, and the recommended arrival point for this trip.

Flights from North America require overnight travel, and may take several days, requiring more than one stop in intermediary airports, with Norwegian combined with another airline being a common combination for this trip. If travelling via the UK, you can take a ferry to St Malo in Brittany or to Caen and drive from there (parking is available at the hotel for a small fee – please just let us know at the time of booking if we should book a space. Free public parking is also available 100m from the hotel), or take the Eurostar from St Pancras in London, to Paris. From Paris Gare du Nord, you’ll transfer by Metro to Gare de Montparnasse, and then switch to the TGV to Tours. We strongly advise you to purchase your metro tickets from the café onboard the Eurostar train to save time and hassle at the station.

If you’d prefer to fly, the best airport is Tours (TUF). There is a bus service to Tours town centre that operates after every inbound flight.

Alternatively you can fly into Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) where you can take a direct train to Tours or St Pierre des Corps from the airport terminal. From North America, most large airports offer direct flights to CDG with airlines such as Norwegian and Air France.

You will then need to take a taxi from either Tours or St Pierre des Corps to your accommodation which will take around 50 minutes.

We can help with train station transfers if required on Day 1 – Tours station or St Pierre des Corps station to hotel in Chinon & Day 8 – Hotel in Chinon to Tours station or St Pierre des Corps station. Please contact our office for prices.

Please check with Skedaddle before making any travel arrangements so that we can ensure they fit in with the holiday schedule.

Accommodation

Accommodation (shared twin or double rooms) will be in a mixture of 3 and 4* hotels, all with en suite rooms.

Family rooms (triple and quadruple) are available on request and subject to availability.

We have selected hotels that really showcase the area and this tour is really about great riding and great accommodation at the end of a day out on your bike. We can send a list of example hotels ahead of booking if you’d like an idea of the standard to expect.

Contact us for full details on the accommodation for this trip

Bike Hire

If you’d rather not bring along your own bike, we have bikes available to rent.

Rental bikes are typically Trek Verve 1 Equipped (or similar model) – An aluminium frame, mechanical disc brakes and Shimano gears suitable for the terrain. Depending on your height, the bikes may have a high crossbar (as above) or have a low step-through frame. Please let us know if you have a preference).

We also have electric bikes available. These are typically Trek Verve +1. A versatile electric trekking bike with a step-through frame geometry that makes it easy to mount and dismount. Equipped with a powerful Bosch motor, 500Wh battery, Shimano drive train and hydraulic disc brakes.

Rental bikes will come with a back pannier rack and bag, a mobile phone mount, a puncture repair kit and spare inner tubes, a water bottle and a water bottle holder. Rental helmets available on request. You are welcome to bring along your own pedals (and shoes) and / or saddle if preferred, please just let us know in advance.

For your family we have a selection of child trailers (up to 5 years approx), child seats (up to 5 years approx) and children’s bikes (8 – 11 years approx – height dependent) available to rent.

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