A smooth family journey along the water: we leave the banks of the Rhone dominated by the impressive castle of Tournon to reach the Ardèche plateau by vintage steam train. It's already an adventure ! We then overlook the Eyrieux river which winds its way through a dreamy setting, sometimes evoking the Cévennes, sometimes the Ardèche... This secret Ardèche region gradually opens its doors to us, as we discover its villages, its hidden creeks and its crafts. This itinerary also offers the possibility of visiting remarkable natural sites, by embarking on a canoe on the Eyrieux or by evolving suspended in the air on an acrobatic course above the valley.
This tour can be booked on the following dates in 2024 (linked to the Mastrou train timetables):
Price per person for a group of:
| Supplement for departures on a Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday | 35 € /  |
Children from 1 to 3 years old: 120 € per child (cot and meal to be provided by parents).
Single-room supplement will be automatically charged in the case of odd-numbered groups.
Children's discounts from 4 to 12 years old: -100 € on the price of the trip
Discounts can only be applied if the children sleep in the same room as the parents.
(prices per person)
| Single room accommodation | 145 € / |
| Extra night double room or twin room, including breakfast | 80 € / |
| Extra night in 3* hotel, triple room, including breakfast | 75 € / |
| Extra night in 3* hotel, single room, including breakfast | 110 € / |
Hybrid bikes and equipment for cycling trips with children are available for rent (delivery and return fee included).
| Hybrid bike | 80 € / |
| E-bike | 150 € / |
| Child bike | 55 € / |
| Child seat | 20 € / |
| Child trailer | 50 € / |
| Tow bar for child bike (model Trail Angel) | 40 € / |
All bicycles are equipped with mudguards, a puncture repair kit, a smartphone holder, a rear rack with two rear panniers (saddlebags). Helmets and bike locks available upon request.
Please confirm your height on your booking form.
Electric bikes offer pedaling assistance, greatly reducing the effort needed to cover a given distance compared to a classic "human-powered" bicycle. They offer an alternative solution in two cases:
You are a group of friends, a family, a company or a cycling club and you would like to organise a private cycling tour on the dates of your choice. This option is available for guided and self-guided tours.
For more information or to receive a quote, please contact us by phone at +33 458 140 435 or by email at info@france-bike-trips.com.
It is important to be correctly insured when embarking on a cycling holiday. We recommend checking the details of your travel insurance (if you have one) and, if necessary, subscribing to our contract below. Please note that France Bike Trips is simply an intermediary between you and the insurance company.
You can choose between these travel insurance contracts while completing your booking form:
Recommendation: |
In order to make a booking please fill in the online booking form on the "booking" page of your chosen tour. At the end of the booking process you will be transferred to our bank's secure payment page in order to pay a 30 % deposit.
All self-guided bookings made within 21 days of tour departure will incur a surcharge of 15 € per person.
A dedicated team of travel specialists is available to offer you expert advice Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm (French time) by phone - +33 458 140 435 or by mail - info@france-bike-trips.com.
In order to confirm our guided tours, we need to reach a minimum number of participants (usually 5 persons are necessary). Therefore booking a guided tour does not necessarily mean the tour is confirmed. In the unlikely event that we are unable to confirm your chosen tour, we will offer you the opportunity (no less than 21 days before departure) of switching to another (confirmed) tour, or receiving a full refund.
Self-guided or custom tours: We confirm bookings of self-guided tours and custom tours directly after booking.
In both cases, please await our final booking confirmation before making any travel arrangements.
Tour balance payment must be made no less than 30 days before tour departure. Your travel documents will be sent to you once we have received your balance payment. Road books and maps will be sent to you 3 weeks before departure.
In the event that you are obliged to cancel your tour France Bike Trips will reimburse the entire sum paid for the tour, minus the following cancellation charges:
Full details of our sales conditions are available here
By train: From Paris Gare de Lyon train station to Tournon sur Rhône train station (about 3h30 by TGV train).
https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/
By plane:
By car:
Route planner: en.mappy.com
You will receive an email 2 weeks before departure, containing all the information necessary for your upcoming tour, including the following navigation tools:
Follow your route with comfort and ease! Thanks to the Velorizons navigation app, download the full trip itinerary to your smartphone, view route maps and profiles, access the list of booked accommodation, services and useful contacts, and use the integrated route guidance (visual and vocal) for navigation.
►See the mobile app presentation video
To benefit fully from the app navigation system, we strongly recommend attaching your smartphone to the bicycle handlebar using a dedicated mount. An example can be viewed here.
| Operating system | Android | Apple | Windows Phone | Blackberry |
| Compatibility | Version 8.0 minimum | iOS 8.0 minimum. iPhone compatible, iPad compatible if GPS equipped | Non compatible | Non compatible |
Your tour road book will be available to download in your My France Bike Trips customer area. The road book contains:
Tour GPS tracks will be available to download in your My France Bike Trips customer area. The tracks are in .gpx format, compatible with all GPS devices/apps.
If you sign up for a guided tour, we offer you the opportunity to see if you can carpool with other participants to get to the point of departure. To do this, go to "Car sharing" in our website. By entering the complete reference and the date of departure of the tour (available on the registration confirmation that we have sent you), you have access to route details and emails of other participants who wish to carpool.
For guided trips we limit the size of our groups from 5 (min) to 12 (max) persons in order to ensure security and conviviality.
You will be guided by English-speaking French mountain bike guides.
No size limitation for self-guided groups.
We favour comfortable accommodation with warm hospitality. For more details, please see the "Costs and services" section.
For private groups and self-guided tours it is possible to choose alternative accommodation (upgrade) depending on availability.
"L'art de la table"
We pay very careful attention to the quality and the variety of your meals. Fresh and local produce will be served wherever possible.
Depending on the meals included in your chosen tour:
Please check the "Dates & Prices" section for meal plan details.
During the day you carry only a daypack for additional clothing, water, food, camera, etc. The rest of your baggage is transferred each day to the following nights accommodation.
We strongly recommend having a medical check-up before your holiday.
- A "group" tour: If you join a guided tour, you will be part of a group for several days. This is a superb opportunity to meet new people and share some magical moments. However, a group tour requires that each person show friendliness, openness and mutual respect for their fellow travellers.
- An "adventure" tour: despite the most careful preparation, adventure tours can present unforeseen events. Accepting these risks will help you enjoy your trip to the full, in the knowledge that your guide, our local partners and the entire France Bike Trips team will offer you the most suitable solutions to any given situation.
If you decide to bring your own bike, be aware that transporting a bike by plane or train is no longer an issue. However a few simple guidelines help to optimise the transport and avoid potential damages that could occur.
Your bike must be transported in a designated bike bag (standard size 120x90cm). This maximal size allows you to travel with your bike as "hand luggage" in any TGV and SNCF trains.
It is very important that you protect your bike in the bag. After having deflated the tires, removed the wheels (by removing the quick release mechanisms), pedals and rear derailleur (which is left hanging on the chain), we recommend you wrap your bike inside the bag in a sheet of dense foam (thickness of 3 to 5 cm). A piece of cardboard or rigid plastic positioned between the foam and the inside of the cover can be beneficial to provide more rigidity.
Once folded up the bike bag will take up very little space and will be transported by the assistance vehicle during your tour.
Bike bags are available directly from France Bike Trips at a cost of 70 euros, plus postage.
All your luggage must fit in two bags: a daypack and a travel bag.
This is the bag you will keep with you each day whilst riding. This bag should not be too large (up to 30 litres).
It will contain: a picnic lunch, camera, waterproof and extra clothing, etc.
Each day, your guide will advise you on what to bring in your bag according to the route and the weather.
This is the bag that will be transported from one accommodation to the next by vehicle. It should contain all the belongings you will not use during the day.
IMPORTANT: Your luggage transported from one accommodation to the next must fit in a single bag and must not exceed 20kg.
If you rent a bike from France Bike Trips, this material is not necessary.
Motivated by the knowledge that children simply love cycling holidays, we designed our Family range of trips with a strong emphasis on what we know will bring a smile to the faces of young and not so young children alike…
Family trips offer:
• Stage lengths of between 25 and 35 km (according to the amount of climbing), leaving plenty of time for stops and breaks, for the invariable technical adjustments associated with young children (taking a layer off, putting a layer back on, finding a lost toy...), but also for the parents to feel like they're on holiday and not on a cycle marathon!
• A pace that leaves plenty of time for off the bike activities: swimming stops, markets, visiting villages and historical monuments...
• A mix of very quiet back roads, smooth tracks and cycle paths offer easy cycling with very little technical difficulty.
• For most of our family trips it is possible to rent child specific cycle equipment: cycle trailers and/or tow bars (see "equipment" paragraph below).
• Special rates according to the ages of your children.
Whether guided by a French Bike Trips guide, or self-guided, our Familles range offers you the opportunity to make the very best of your cycling holiday. Far from the stereotypes (sometimes close to reality…!) of family holidays, travelling by bicycle offers the opportunity to share magical moments with children, who for the most part quickly fall in love with bike travel, and are always curious and excited to discover the next part of the journey.
Julien, Pascal, Vincent and Finn, the 4 dads of the France Bike Trips team, regularly test our routes with their children, fine tuning the itinerary each time…
Hybrids or mountain bikes with slick tyres are suitable for all the trips in the Families range. We recommend hybrid bikes. The larger wheels and smooth tyres offer good rolling resistance, and the geometry offers a comfortable upright position.
If you plan on travelling with your children in a bike trailer, make sure the gear ratios on the bike are suitable: a triple chainset and a wide range of sprockets at the rear are essential (the vast majority of hybrids and mountain bikes come with this equiment as standard). A small inside chainring (preferably 22 teeth) and a large inside sprocket (30 to 34 teeth), will make the climbs that little bit easier.
• 2 to 4 year olds: the perfect age to begin a cycle touring career! Bike trailers and child seats are ideal at this age. The majority of trailers allow a maximum load of up to 40 kg. However, you should bear in mind that above 20 kg (average weight of a 4 year old), trailers become heavy and more difficult to pull behind a bike. Child seats are also suitable (usually allowing between 15 and 20kg, depending on the model).
• 4 to 8 year olds: even if your child is not able to ride each stage fully, a tow bar system enables you to hook their bike up to an adult's bike if they get too tired. They can still pedal from time to time, helping out on the climbs. If they get a new burst of energy, you can simply unhook the bar, allowing them to carry on cycling… France Bike Trips strongly recommends the Follow Me system, tried and tested with our children! Another alternative is the Tag-along system, similar to the tow bar. However, this system remains attached to an adult's bike at all times, thus eliminating the possibility of cycling autonomously.
• 8 year olds and over: your child is no doubt old enough to ride the whole way on one of our trips! It is worth making sure that they are at least reasonably enthusiastic about doing such a trip, and don't forget to ask your bike dealer to check that their bike is the right size.
In order to achieve the planned tour programme, you must:
Self-guided tours are undertaken without a guide and at your own risk. France Bike Trips cannot be held liable for any route error, misconduct, personal imprudence, inadequate planning or inappropriate reactions in the event of incidents.
Any programme change of your own initiative is under your responsibility and at your expense.
Having said this, with our advice and good preparation, you should be able to look forward to a wonderful, trouble free holiday. Enjoy your trip!
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A dedicated team of travel specialists is available to offer you expert advice Monday to Friday from 9 to 12:30 AM and 13:30 to 6 PM (French time) on the phone, or by email.
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