3 days along the Loire Valley from Tours to Saumur

3 days along the Loire Valley from Tours to Saumur

4.3/5 on 9 Reviews

From Tours to Saumur enjoy your cycling holiday along the Loire and explore the castles of Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon or Ussé. Discover the wonderful vineyards of Chinon and Saumur.

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Ref: L0302ST

Loire Valley
3 day(s)
Easy
~ 35 km/day
Itinerant

When travelling?

Fram May to August

Minimum age

7 y/o

Related categories:

Between castles and vineyards along the Loire Valley cycle route

Discover the breathtaking beauties of the Loire valley by riding on the “Loire à vélo” bike route between Tours and Saumur. Meandering between the Loire valley and the Vienne valley, the bike route follows little country roads passing by the most prestigious castles, the Loire castles such as the castle of Villandry, the castle of Azay-le-Rideau or the castle of Ussé that inspired the famous tale of Sleeping Beauty. You will not only admire the changing colors of the Loire River, the traditional boats swinging between the sand banks, but also the vineyards of Chinon and Saumur. You will also see many cave houses all along the way. Give into the magic of a cycling holiday in the Loire.

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Program

Day 01

Tours – Azay-le-Rideau

Exists in :

35 km
57 km

You ride leisurely on the cycling path along the Loire to leave Tours and reach the castle of Villandry with its beautiful French gardens. You can make a detour to visit Langeais and its medieval castle (+22km). Enjoy the banks of the Loire Valley before riding up through forests towards the castle of Azay-le-Rideau.

Visit of Villandry’s castle

Take a self guided tour of the castle and it's gardens. Originally a medieval fortress transformed into a Renaissance castle is now a Unesco World Heritage site.

We recommend that you allow 2 hours for your visit.

Options:

14,00 € € Entrée adulte (18 ans et plus)
8,00 € € Entrée jeune (8 à 17 ans)
0,00 € € Entrée enfant (moins de 8 ans)

Day 02

Azay-le-Rideau – Chinon

35 km
+ 120 m

Cycle back on the « Loire à vélo » route and take the dike to get to the chateau d’Ussé which inspired Perrault's tale of Sleeping Beauty. You enter into Chinon overlooking the old town. Enjoy the labyrinth of medieval narrow streets when you ride down the Vienne River.

Day 03

Chinon – Saumur

Exists in :

37 km
49 km

You continue to ride along the Vienne River and enjoy the view on the wild Loire banks. You arrive in the gorgeous small village of Candes-Saint-Martin built with freestone. You can stop to admire the XIIth century foundation church. Keep on to Montsoreau which is one of the “Loveliest Villages in France” built around its castle. From there, you have the option to keep on the hills to Fontevraud which is worth visiting for its magnificent abbey which shelters the tombs of Richard the Lionheart and Eleanor of Aquitaine (+12 km RT). Otherwise ride straight to Saumur. On your way you admire the cave house villages and stop to taste Saumur wines in the numerous wine cellars. Discover Saumur and its castle with impressive dungeons at the end of this idyllic ride.

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Accommodation

Standard

Convenient stops for cyclists: easily accessible accommodation, essential comfort, and immediate proximity to bike paths or village centers.

Breakfast
2 stars

Comfort

Well-located stops along our cycling routes, combining comfort and quality, secure bike storage, local tips, and a friendly atmosphere.

Breakfast
3 stars

*Typical example of accommodation corresponding to the proposed category. These photographs are for illustrative purposes only.

Equipment

For this trip, bicycles are equipped with 2 waterproof saddle bags with a 10 to 20 L capacity each to carry your luggage. Do not forget to put your items in a soft travel bag to be able to place it easily in your saddle bags.

For more comfort, you can choose to add luggage transport in your booking:

We transport your luggage from one accommodation to the next using a private vehicle.
Your luggage is directly delivered in your accommodation before you arrive.
We provide a saddlebag for the things you'll need during the day (included in your bike rental).
We advise you to take an extra set of clothes with you if you expect to arrive before 5 p.m. at your accommodation.

Our word of advice : as we know from experience, we strongly recommend you to avoid wearing a backpack during your cycling trip.

On your arrival day, we provide you with:

a touring bike suited to your size;

equipment: a front panier, a saddlebag (or two if luggage transport is not included), a helmet (on demand), complete repair tool kit.

We also offer on this trip:

electric assisted bikes for adults (+1m55);
children bikes suited to their size;
children equipment (trailer, seat, trailer bike, follow-me system);
gravel bikes.

You can of course also bring your own bikes, in this case a discount will be applied.

For this trip, you can also use our smartphone app featuring GPS guidance (without extra fee). You will find in the app all the information given in the map and step-by-step roadbooks. You will be located on the itinerary with the GPS device of your phone. The route and directions to follow will be both viewable on the screen of your phone and announced aloud. As you ride along the itinerary, you will be given information about visits, restaurants, services and useful alerts on the way. -> You need to have a smartphone and download Le Velo voyageur app on your Apple or Android store before the trip. All details regarding the download and use of the app will be given after we have confirmed the booking and the balance is paid. Once the trip is downloaded, the GPS guidance can be used off-line.

A cycling holiday is the best way to explore a region and discover its culture, landscapes and local traditions.

Your tour is self-guided to give you the freedom to ride at your own pace. You will be provided with all the information you need to enjoy the itinerary and its points of interests. We can send printed travel documents (extra cost of €15 for printing and postage, in France only), which include:

a roadbook with maps that we drew at the easiest scale to follow on a bike;
a roadbook with step-by-step description giving the direction to follow at each intersection and highlighting the points of interest.

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Information

Beginning of the trip

You start your trip with a cycling day, and can arrive at any time of the day depending on the opening hours of the bike store or depot point. However, we recommend arriving at the departure point early enough in the morning to make the most of the day.

Please note that if you select the luggage transport option, you will be asked to arrive early in the morning of the first day.

To get to the departure point

By plane: flight to Paris then train to Tours or flight to Tours.

By train: arrive at Tours train station (city center or Saint-Pierre-des-Corps), from Paris (direct or with connections), by regionnal train or high speed train (TGV). Plan your journey with Trainline.

Car park

If you’re coming by car, you can park your vehicle in one of the city’s public parking lots. In Tours, we recommend the Indigo Gare – Palais des Congrès parking lot.

You can also look at the Parkopedia website to find out the location and price of each parking lot.

To get back to the starting point

You take the train back to your departure point. The ticket can be bought in advance online or directly at the station on the day of travel. There are several trains during the day. If you’re traveling with your own bike, be sure to ask the SNCF about conditions for traveling with a bike.

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4.3/5 on 9 Reviews

From

300 €/pers.

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Ref: L0302ST

Loire Valley
3 day(s)
Easy
~ 35 km/day
Itinerant

When travelling?

Fram May to August

Minimum age

7 y/o

Related categories:

Tried and tested stays!

Experience
15 years' experience in cycling to advise and satisfy you
Tested & Approved
The whole team goes out into the field to design the itineraries and select the best partners (accommodation, bikes, etc.).
Quality of service
A dedicated customer service team available and ready to listen, from the moment you book until you return from your holiday.
Secure payment
Individual or fractional payment by secure means via our website

They've just returned from their travels!

The 21/05/2025

4/5

« Lovely journey! »

An excellent way to experience this area of France! Overall we were very satisfied with our holiday and enjoyed the views and the ride. The only issue we had occurred on the final day, when the rain caused mud to cover our backs, the mudguards/fenders on the bike did not offer much protection.

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Clare.

The 15/04/2025

5/5

« Great first cycle trip! »

this was our first cycle trip and we did 4 nights accommodation, 3 days of cycling. it was really enjoyable. of course it helped that it was so sunny, early spring, vibrant colors of the country side. The hotels/bikes/luggage transfer all worked, which was kinda cool as we never booked anything like this before. The route was well proposed by the app and we really enjoyed a couple of detours it offered. Definitely learned that the app knows cool places and it's best to follow it exactly . thank you for the Le Velo Voyageur team for wonderful memories.

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Anna.

The 11/10/2024

4/5

« Cycling through Loire Valley »

le Velo Voyageur did a fantastic job planning and executing our trip and I feel they are a very affordable option. Their customer service was top notch, always quick to respond to my questions. We found the bikes and app to be in great shape and easy to use. Our e-bikes were perfect for exploring the area. We probably could have handled regular bikes as the road is very flat, but I was happy not to exert too much effort :) The area is clearly ideal for cycling enthusiasts. The hotels had safe garages for parking each night. The road is very well marked and maintained. The few encounters with car traffic we experienced was great - I found the drivers to be extremely polite and accommodating to us and never felt unsafe. We had an amazing adventure biking through the Loire Valley. The only thing that could have been better was the weather, but we can't control that, so we just had to embrace it.

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Julee.

The 13/10/2023

5/5

« 5* »

This was a wonderfully organized tour of the Loire Valley. Very easy booking process, easy to use app and navigation very nice accommodations. Would definitely book with this company again.

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jennifer.

The 25/09/2023

4/5

« Ride »

Good

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Robin.

The 07/09/2023

4/5

« Love the Loire »

This three day trip from Tours to Saumur takes in some of the varied scenery, including chateaux, villages, museums etc. A great introduction to a very interesting area.

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Ian.

The 01/06/2023

5/5

« Highly enjoyable 3 days in the Loire Valley »

We would highly recommend this tour. The route was varied and scenic, while being easy to navigate and easy to ride. The trip logistics ran very smoothly, with great communication from the team in the lead up and throughout. The accommodation selections were also lovely and comfortable. We loved stopping at all of the wine houses along the route - the biggest challenge was picking which wines we wanted to buy that would also fit in the bike satchel.

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Sophie.

The 29/09/2019

4/5

« Tours to Saumur, 3 days »

We enjoyed the route. The notes supplied were comprehensive although there were a couple of wrong directions on the last day. The bikes were very good, the bike hire collection and drop off was very easy to find and the accomodation was mostly good. Luggage transfer was excellent. Will consider using Le Vélo again in the future.

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Peejay.

The 02/07/2019

4/5

« Excellent and fun road trip in Loire Valley »

We had a great time on this trip. The choice of hotels were fantastic, the routes were nice, the descriptions and tidbits of information about things to do, and the history of the area, were excellent. Because a significant portion of the trip was on roads that were not in good condition, a bicycle with better suspension would have been helpful. Therefor four stars not five. But everything else was amazing. The bike itself was very good and all the equipment, etc, was great. The Velo Voyageur people were extremely responsive, helpful and nice. Excellent overall -- a strong recommend!

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Jennifer.