Routes near Perpignan

philclubman

Hi all,

I'm driving down to Perpignan in a couple of weeks and am looking for some good routes. Ideally approx 4 hour circular rides that I can get done in a morning.

Anyone know any or have advice on how to plan/find some?

Ta in advance

ugo.santalucia

During the Raid Pyreneen we crossed the area, from Prades to Cerbere... some nice bumps along the coast, while if you want the big stuff I remember the descent of the Col de la Perche and into Prades was long and fast, so the ascent must be quite challening... kind of a busy road though.
If you can drive, Aix le Thermes is quite nice and there are several climbs in the area

mercia_man

There's great riding in the hilly country around Sournia, north of Prades and west of Perpignan. Lots of little twisty minor roads with green "picturesque" markings on the Michelin map. Cycling heaven if you don't mind climbs and you will see hardly any other traffic. There's also good riding south East of Prades around the Col Fortou.

North west of Perpignan is more good riding. Sites to see include the Grau de Maury, the Gorges de Galamus and the Cathar fortresses at Peyrepertuse and Queribus.

Collioure and Port Vendres are both lovely fishing villages on the coast where the Pyrenees meet the Med but a bit of navigation is required in that area to avoid the big and busy D914. Definitely worth visiting though.

canamdad

The village of Ceret is not far from Perpignan and worth a visit if you find yourself riding through there. Picasso and Braque lived there for a couple of years in early 20th Century and there is a very nice art museum there with some of their works in it. Reputedly, Ceret is the home of the first cherries of the season in France. I remember the main street as leafy and cool with a number of bars that will entice you for a citron pressé or a pastis if you're in the mood.

philclubman

Mercia Man wrote:

There's great riding in the hilly country around Sournia, north of Prades and west of Perpignan. Lots of little twisty minor roads with green "picturesque" markings on the Michelin map. Cycling heaven if you don't mind climbs and you will see hardly any other traffic. There's also good riding south East of Prades around the Col Fortou.

North west of Perpignan is more good riding. Sites to see include the Grau de Maury, the Gorges de Galamus and the Cathar fortresses at Peyrepertuse and Queribus.

Collioure and Port Vendres are both lovely fishing villages on the coast where the Pyrenees meet the Med but a bit of navigation is required in that area to avoid the big and busy D914. Definitely worth visiting though.

Thanks for the advice, gents.

I've very quickly put together some routes on Strava route builder. It's a family holiday, so all routes have to be doable before breakfast.

Any thoughts on these? Am I missing out by staying so close to home and are there any roads within touching distance of these routes that I'm missing out on?

mercia_man

Those all look excellent routes. It's pretty tough going so you would have to set off very early to do them before breakfast. It's the hottest part of France down there so make sure you use sun cream and have two bottles of water on board. You'll love the cycling in that area. Some of the minor roads can be a bit rough. I see you have tried to avoid the N116 which is a good plan.

ugo.santalucia

100 Km before breakfast? :shock:

Dorset_Boy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

100 Km before breakfast? :shock:

He's on holiday - breakfast could be at 11 am!

Spent a summer working in Palau del Vidre back in the Indurain days, lovely area.
Ceret used to have a Sunday market.
Colliore is definitely worth a visit with the family and the Salvadore Dali museum across the border isn't too far.
Le Perthus on the border used to be a duty free town and a great place to stock up on cheap gin!

Some good beaches all along the coast too.

looks like some nice routes you've planned. Have a great time!