The 1061km Loire Cycle Route starts at the source of the River Loire in the Massif Central mountains of central France and finishes at the Atlantic opposite St Nazaire. It descends past extinct volcanoes, crater lakes and deep gorges before joining Euro Velo route 6, followed by the fully waymarked Loire à Vélo, France’s most popular cycle trail. Following the river downstream in 26 stages, the route is generally downhill or level, often on dedicated traffic-free cycle tracks.
Packed with a wealth of useful information – from practical planning advice to fascinating insights about the river and its surroundings – the guidebook features detailed route descriptions and informative mapping. Details of facilities and places to stay, and a French glossary, are also included.
The route goes through the heart of France as the Loire becomes the royal river, bounded by extravagant châteaux, fields of Charolais cattle and vineyards. It passes through historic cities like Orléans and Tours, continuing past Angers and France’s fourth largest city Nantes to finish on the Atlantic coast.
قائمة المحتويات
Map key
Overview map
Preface
Route summary table
Introduction
Background
The route
Natural environment
Preparation
Getting there and back
Navigation
Accommodation
Food and drink
Amenities and services
What to take
Safety and emergencies
About this guide
The Loire Cycle Route
Prologue Getting to the start
Upper Loire
Stage 1 Gerbier de Jonc to Goudet
Stage 2 Goudet to Le Puy-en-Velay
Stage 3 Le Puy-en-Velay to Retournac
Stage 4 Retournac to Aurec-sur-Loire
Stage 5 Aurec-sur-Loire to Feurs
Stage 6 Feurs to Roanne
Stage 7 Roanne to Digoin
Middle Loire
Stage 8 Digoin to Bourbon-Lancy
Stage 9 Bourbon-Lancy to Decize
Stage 10 Decize to Nevers
Stage 11 Nevers to La Charit&##xe9;-sur-Loire
Stage 12 La Charit&##xe9;-sur-Loire to Sancerre
Stage 13 Sancerre to Briare
Stage 14 Briare to Sully-sur-Loire
Stage 15 Sully-sur-Loire to Orl&##xe9;ans
Lower Loire
Stage 16 Orl&##xe9;ans to Beaugency
Stage 17 Beaugency to Blois
Stage 18 Blois to Amboise
Stage 19 Amboise to Tours
Stage 20 Tours to Br&##xe9;h&##xe9;mont
Stage 21 Br&##xe9;h&##xe9;mont to Saumur
Stage 22 Saumur to Angers
Stage 23 Angers to Montjean-sur-Loire
Stage 24 Montjean-sur-Loire to Ancenis
Stage 25 Ancenis to Nantes
Stage 26 Nantes to St Brevin-les-Pins (St Nazaire)
Appendix A Facilities summary
Appendix B Tourist information offices
Appendix C Youth hostels and gîtes d’&##xe9;tape
Appendix D Useful contacts
Appendix E Language glossary
عن المؤلف
After a career in marketing, culminating as marketing director of a leading supermarket group, Mike Wells started to write walking and cycling guides in his fifties. He has been a keen cyclist for over 25 years. After completing various UK Sustrans routes, such as Lôn Las Cymru in Wales and the C2C route across northern England, he then moved on to cycling long-distance routes in continental Europe and beyond. These include cycling both the Camino and Ruta de la Plata to Santiago de la Compostela, a traverse of Cuba from end to end, a circumnavigation of Iceland and a trip across Lapland to the North Cape. Even further afield he has ridden the Congo-Nile trail from the Congo basin to the source of the Nile in Rwanda’s Nyungwe national park. On all these trips he was accompanied by his partner Christine, who sadly died in 2020. He has written 10 cycling guides for Cicerone, including a series following the great rivers of Europe. For a full list of Cicerone books and articles by Mike Wells, visit his author page.