4-day cycling tour on ViaRhôna from Montélimar to Avignon

4-day cycling tour on ViaRhôna from Montélimar to Avignon

4.3/5 on 6 Reviews

Discover biking along the ViaRhôna from Montélimar to Avignon, from the orchards in the Drôme to the vineyards in Provence. A trip rich of new tastes and culture!

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Ref: VR0403CO

Rhone Alpes
4 day(s)
Easy
~ 43 km/day
Itinerant

When travelling?

From March to the end of October

Minimum age

8 y/o

Related categories:

Nature

A trip rich of new tastes and culture!

Take the chance of a short 3-day biking trip to discover the ViaRhôna from Montélimar, city of the famous "nougats" to Avignon and its "Palais des Papes". This colorful part of the itinerary gently takes you to the heart of Provence. You follow the bike path along the ViaRhôna to Pont-Saint-Esprit, then keep on biking on small typical roads of Provence. Discover a wild Rhône river snaking through orchards and vineyards. Your trip ends in the gorgeous historical cities of Orange and Avignon, witnesses of a prestigious past.

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Program

Day 01

Arrival in Montélimar

Famous stage of the National 7 on the road of the vacations, Montélimar smells good Provence! Stroll through the pedestrian streets of the old quarters with their colorful facades before relaxing on a terrace in the Provencal alleys. The tasting of its famous nougats will delight young and old!

Day 02

Montélimar – Pont Saint Esprit

49 km
+ 46 m

You leave Montélimar and pass the medieval towns of Viviers and Donzère, witnesses of the prosperous past of the region. Your stage continues in Bourg-Saint-Andéol with its numerous classified historical monuments. You will be able to admire the most important bas-relief dedicated to the god Mithra of all ancient Gaul.

Finally, pedal to Pont-Saint-Esprit, crossroads of three departments: Vaucluse, Ardèche and Gard. Cross its 700 year old stone bridge and admire the majestic silhouette of the Provençal city that is taking shape before your eyes. History lovers will be won over by this step!

Day 03

Pont Saint Esprit – Orange

38 km
+ 25 m

Your path continues along the Rhône and leads you to Caderousse. This atypical Provencal village on the banks of the Rhone is surrounded by a 19th century stone dike protecting it from frequent flooding.

You then leave the Rhone to cycle through the agricultural plain to the Roman city of Orange. The ochre hues of the city will immerse you in the atmosphere of Provence. Thanks to its exceptional historical heritage, prepare yourself for an immersion in the heart of Roman civilization. Don't miss a visit to the ancient theater, very well preserved and admire the imposing triumphal arch.

Day 04

Orange – Avignon

42 km
+ 155 m

You leave Orange to reach Châteauneuf-du-Pape and its 3000 hectares of vineyards. Of course, tasting its Grands Crus is a must!

Take a stroll in the small streets of the village up to the ancient Chateau des Papes, resort place for the Popes from Avignon. Then your path takes you through the beautiful vineyards back to the Rhône banks.

Following the river, you’ll get slowly to the impressive Cité des Papes. Admire the gorgeous treasure of Avignon : the Palais des Papes, the bridge Saint Bénezet named « Avignon’s bridge », the city walls, the numerous churches and chapels...

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Accommodation

Comfort

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

Breakfast
2/3 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

As the first day is a non-biking day, you’ll arrive at your leisure, depending on your route. Please note that rooms are usually available by mid-afternoon, depending on your accommodation. Please let us know if you are arriving late.

To get to the departure point

By plane: Flight to Lyon or Montpellier, then take a regional or TGV train to Montélimar.

By train: Direct TGV trains from Paris, Gare de Lyon. The duration of the trip is about 3h. Plan your trip on, thetrainline.

Car park

You can park your car at the secure parking of your hotel in Montélimar. The parking price is 6€/day. Otherwise, you can park at the secure parking of the train station (21€/4 days).

To get back to the starting point

Trains take you back to your starting point if you wish. Regular regional trains are riding between Avignon and Montélimar. Bikes are accepted for free. The duration of the trip is about 56mn. Full rate 15€/pers. You will find the timetable of the day in your travel documents.

If you have taken the baggage transfer option, you can pick up your luggage from 4pm at the drop off point.

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4.3/5 on 6 Reviews

From

420 €/pers.

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Ref: VR0403CO

Rhone Alpes
4 day(s)
Easy
~ 43 km/day
Itinerant

When travelling?

From March to the end of October

Minimum age

8 y/o

Related categories:

Nature

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 05/07/2024

5/5

« Best bike trip so far »

We just completed the most enjoyable trip from Montelimar to Avignon. We will definately be back again for another trip. The organization of the trip was 5* Our luggage had always arrived prior to our arrival at the next stop. Velo Voyageur support prior and during the trip was exceptional.

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Kristinn.

The 10/05/2023

5/5

« A quick ride down the Rhône »

An enjoyable well organised ride mostly along the Rhône or related canals and some lovely quiet country roads, especially from Orange to Avignon. It gives a sense of Provence with a couple of charming towns and leaves you wanting more! B level accommodations were wonderful, generally conveniently and centrally located, and staff were friendly and helpful. Luggage transfers had no problems. Bikes were in good working order. The navigation app is excellent once you master its quirks. I turned up the volume and just used the audio and that was fine. Despite a very last minute booking, the staff handled it wonderfully and communicated well (and promptly!) both by phone and email. Our second trip with them and third on the way (first was Loire a few years ago, next is more of Provence!). Value for money is also good compared with some other companies we checked. Many seem to have lower prices but then charge extra for bikes and luggage, for example. Highly recommended.

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Mike from Perth.

The 16/05/2022

5/5

« Bike Trip Along the Rhone »

This was our first biking trip ever. We are in our mid-60s and we had a great time. The route along the Rhone was quite beautiful especially on the first day. The app was helpful and included spots of note along the way. This was like a separate vacation within a vacation. So much fun to see these sights up close and not from a car window. There was so much to see, smell and hear. Le Mistral followed us the first day encouraging us to keep going and birds sang songs all along the way like a crowd cheering us on. What a lovely way to see France.

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denise.

The 14/05/2022

3/5

« Great bikes but poor app »

All four of us liked the bikes (good quality and comfortable equipped with panniers) and this was important. Customer service is very good and responsive. But everything else was such a mixed bag of good and bad. The app needs a lot of work (and beware, it disappears before you can write a review so you have to rely on memory). Not easy to use or useful except for route finding but even then we got lost (and we are experienced.) (Other companies have little stickers on poles that you can follow we noticed.) The additional information on the app was useless as it wasn't by location. The hotels were not ones we would ever stay at again as they were all just okay, though all the proprietors were friendly and used to cyclists, and storing bikes and luggage. The hotels were generally weird in some way--some had awful bathrooms but okay beds, some pillows like bricks but lots of space. Breakfasts were mixed. Better off going out to find a cafe; it is France after all. It was a great to be cycling through vineyards on flat paths with friends in springtime, then enjoying an evening in a town in Southern France, eating excellent food for good prices, but the company could make a few improvements.

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Looseleaf.

The 07/05/2022

3/5

« construction-filled »

Most aspects (accommodations, bike rental, luggage transfer) were satisfactory, but the route was very frustrating - commonly taking me through construction requiring detours. The app was not intuitive but OK. Furthermore, the distances assigned the first day was not comfortable for a sometimes/rare bike rider despite the "easy" rating. It did not allow me to enjoy the sights, historical aspects, etc as much as I wished because my legs were so tired, my bottom bruised, and mind wanting to get to my accommodation for a soak in a tub. Also, for the route - not every unclear intersection has an instruction associated with it, necessitating me to get off my bike to look more closely at the app map. I don't think this was the best value for money either for a solo traveler. However, most packages are not good in this aspect. Overall, this was OK.

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Bean.

The 29/09/2021

5/5

« Lovely bike trip along the Rhone »

The trip from Montelimar to Avignon was organized to perfection. The rental bikes were of excellent quality, with good paniers and a repair kit with spare tube.The hotels were great, with nice hosts and excellent breakfast. The route is easy, only one or two hilly bits around Chateauneuf du Pape. All in all an experience we really hope to repeat next year.

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Happy travellers.