London to Auxerre?

Kafka\'s Doll

Hello,

A friend has invited me to a cottage in Auxerre in June, and I wondered whether I could turn it into some kind of cycling trip. I could cycle the whole way (taking the ferry, I guess), but I only have a week or 8 days, so I presumed I should get the train to maybe Paris and ride from there. But would that be a good ride? Might there be another way of doing it? Ideally I'd spend three or four days cycling (stopping at camp sites), ship up at Auxerre for a day or two and then take public transport home.

I know next to nothing about where's where in France, and have never taken my bike abroad, so be gentle with me! Any tips at all much appreciated.

Thanks.

andymiller

Auxerre is a lovely place and of course in the middle of the Bourgogne, with a network of canals and cycle paths. I'd be tempted to ride there and then do day-trips or a circualr tour.

Have a look here :

http://www.burgundy-by-bike.com/

This pdf (4.3Mb) is well worth downloading:

http://www.burgundy-by-bike.com/include ... 007_GB.pdf

xilios

Kafka\'s Doll wrote:

Hello,

A friend has invited me to a cottage in Auxerre in June, and I wondered whether I could turn it into some kind of cycling trip. I could cycle the whole way (taking the ferry, I guess), but I only have a week or 8 days, so I presumed I should get the train to maybe Paris and ride from there. But would that be a good ride? Might there be another way of doing it? Ideally I'd spend three or four days cycling (stopping at camp sites), ship up at Auxerre for a day or two and then take public transport home.

I know next to nothing about where's where in France, and have never taken my bike abroad, so be gentle with me! Any tips at all much appreciated.

Thanks.

If you only have 8 days, why not just go there, rent a bike and do several day trips and really check out the area with your friend. The big plus here is you do away with the hassle of taking your bike on boats, trains, busses, etc...

Special K

don't know where you're based so don't know if this is any good to you but:

http://www.bike-express.co.uk/med_main.html

Kafka\'s Doll

Thanks all. The modified plan is to get the train to Paris and ride to Auxerre from there (probably stopping at Fontainebleu and Sens). Nothing too taxing, and it also means we can get a couple of days cycling around Auxerre.

Does anyone have any tips on getting bikes on the Eurostar or cycling out of Paris?

andyp

Kafka\'s Doll wrote:

Does anyone have any tips on getting bikes on the Eurostar or cycling out of Paris?

You can carry your bike onto the Eurostar as luggage as long as it is bagged. The only restriction on bag size is that it must fit through the x-ray machine at check in. I've an (enormous) Planet-X bag and that fits through so I'd imagine all bike bags are okay.

Can't help on a route out of Paris I'm afraid but would imagine your best bet is to get a local train out of the city then start your ride.

andymiller

You can also carry your bike without putting it in a bag -

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... 61f6d0608e

(It pays to spend a bit of time looking at previous threads - there is a lot of information on this site already.).

As far as getting out of Paris - what about the Piste du Canal de l'Ourq?

http://www.voiesvertes.com/htm/departement75.htm

Download the map of cycle routes in Paris from here (3Mb))

Special K

Agree with previous posts about getting to Auxerre and going on day rides near there. The towns and scenery are wonderful and much much more interesting than the ride from Paris to Auxerre or from London to Paris for that matter. You won't regret getting the train to Auxerre and doing day rides or a couple of three day loops.

Some places to consider:

Vezelay
Avallon
Semur-en-Auxois
Canal du Borgogne
The cote d'or and the wines of Burgundy (Dijon to Beaune to Macon and the vineyards in between)
The Morvan national park is good for a few days of remote camping and great scenery.

There are lots of other gems in between, but that's for you to discover. The Lonely Planet Cycling in France book has some good rides in this region, though the information is woefully out of date (this doesn't matter).

Get some 1:100,000 IGN maps of the area and get your self out there!