Cycling

With more than 1000 km of marked cycle trails as well as endless quiet, safe roads, Poitou-Charentes is the perfect place for a French cycling holiday.

Choose from short, easy circuits suitable for family cycling holidays or longer, more challenging routes for the experienced cyclist.

Wherever you go, you are guaranteed some of France’s most beautiful countryside and coastline.

Pack a picnic and cycle along the Atlantic Coast. Bicycles are a way of life on Ile de Ré where 100 km of dedicated tracks wind through vineyards, salt marshes and nature reserves. Or try neighbouring Ile d’Oléron to explore forest trails and oyster beds on two wheels.

There are more coastal trails on the mainland, as well as glorious inland routes.

Pedal through the vineyards of Cognac Country, cycle the towpaths of the Marais Poitevin, France’s ‘Green Venice’; and explore picturesque villages dotted with Romanesque churches.

Plan your itinerary from home with the Plan Charente Vélo, a virtual road atlas now available online, that includes family-friendly cycle routes as well as long distance routes for the seriously sporty.

Off-roaders can hire VTT or Vélos Tout-Terrain to explore graded trails, and you can even tour La Rochelle on a municipal yellow bike or ‘Yélo’.