France Cycling Holiday - 3 year old in trailer

steve77345

Hi,

Looking for some suggestions on good places to go for a family cycling holiday in France (not bothered where). Taking Missus and 3year old who will be in a trailer most of the time and balance bike other times. So off road and flat is a must.
Any suggestions or experience greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Steve

alfablue

How about cycling along the canals, there was a story on it in C+ a couple of months ago. Bound to be flat and probably most/all off road.

alfablue

Just to add, there are lots of organised tours with various companies, you can probably copy one of their itineraries, such as this one. However, I did go on an organised (self-guided) tour in Tuscany last year, and it was pretty good not to have to worry about accommodation or luggage (bags were taken by van).

parkesy

Not sure where you are travelling from , but we sometimes take the bikes Plymouth to Roscoff , the small coast roads heading west are very quiet lanes , with plenty of camping sites . Not enough off road maybe for a 3 yr old but the french do slow down and really take care when they see a cyclist , unlike here
have fun 8)

I wonder if the French anything similar to our tarka trail or camel trail

Livia1521

When I was 5 (which was about 3 decades ago - ahem) my parents took me round the Massif Centrale near Cahors with lots of hills - I was on a drop-handlebar single speed racer with panniers and I think I complained quite a lot, but I certainly remember it as an amazing holiday. And the French people loved to see me on a bike - they would drive past leaning out of the car windows waving and calling out encouragement. Hope you have a fabulous holiday

juggling mum

We have stayed at Penestin in South Brittany for 3 years running now - the cycling is fairly flat and there are lots of 'voie verte' - cycleroutes -some of these are farm tracks turned into cycleways - roads are very quiet - seems an undiscovered corner - hardly any British cars - it fullfilled our tick list of quiet campsite with swimming pool, beach in easy riding distance, nice quiet roads to cycle on plus for hubby easy to navigate long rides. My daughter was 6 the first time we went and we found routes she could cycle - from the campsite we stayed on it is 50 yards to the cyclepath to the shops on a road well walked as it goes to the beach.

zonc

Plymouth Roscofff is great as you can then make your way to the Nantes Brest canal - really good for cycling - as you request, stunning scenery, towpaths and great facilities for cyclists and campers...go for it...

othello

We have stayed a few times about half an hours drive south of Le Mans. There is a good range of cycling there but nothing too major as we had kids in bike seats all the time.

I would agree with the person above who said they had good encouragement from the locals! My eldest, who was almost 4 at the time, had learnt some basic French at nursery. He used to sit in the bike seat and shout Bonjour etc to all the farmers and locals as we cycled past. The response we got as amazing and lots of people stopped us to talk. These grumpy old French farmers used to melt!

MIKE40M

If you don't mind a bit of a drive right down in the south west of France is great for cycling - its flat and there are 100's of miles of cycle paths. Anywhere from Bordeux downwards.

Also been all over Brittany - Carnac and Benodet both not bad for cycling - they have long flat coastal tracks.