Bike and Barge Tours France | Cruise and Cycling Vacation | French Waterways

BIKE AND BARGE – HOTEL BARGE CRUISING

Biking and boating go together in France – there are so many lovely regions to explore and a bike and barge tour gives you that extra feeling of freedom and personal discovery. Towpaths are, naturally, fairly flat – after all, they run alongside the waterways – but canal barge tours also give you fabulous options for exploring the towns and villages further away.

Enjoy the best of both worlds on a hotel barge: cruise and tour by bike

A slow luxury hotel barge cruise is the perfect vacation to relax and wind down – the barge cruising at a very gentle pace on quiet canals and calm rivers and your life on board is easy with the crew attending to your every need. But your vacation is not limited to the confines of the boat. When you’re are not on a vineyard tour or a castle visit, you can enjoy plenty of free time to sit up on deck and watch the scenery drift by, or hop off the barge and explore it. While some enjoy a leisurely walk on the towpath, you might like to stay a little more active and grab a bike for a cycle alongside your hotel barge. The serenity of cruising through the perfumed fields of France and the sheer joy of free-wheeling, wind in hair, meld together perfectly it seems.

France is a hugely attractive destination for cyclo-tourism. In fact, according to France Vélo Tourisme, France is the second most visited country for bike tourism in the world, probably thanks to the world-famous Tour de France and the culture that stems from this iconic race, but also the 10 long-distance European cycling routes crossing through France and numerous regional biking itineraries to discover. There are a total of 16,000km of safe, waymarked cycling itineraries in France, including many running along the waterways!

How to Bike and Barge

The towpaths next to French canals are usually very well-maintained and perfect for easy cycling: they are mostly flat as they follow the waterway – though you can expect a very short and gentle climb on the approach of a lock or a bridge – and forbidden to cars and motorbikes, making them very safe for biking. Many of these towpaths have in fact been transformed into fully-fledged cycle tour routes, called Voies Vertes in French, some even sporting smooth asphalt for a more comfortable bicycle ride.

In fact, cruising and biking are intricately linked in France: over 90% of navigable waterways in France have a Voie Verte or a cycling path running along them. This means that your luxury hotel barge vacation can double up as a biking vacation too! Except that, if one day you don’t feel like cycling, you can just stay on board and relax; it’s up to you. As such, all hotel barges provide bikes for their guests who wish to go for a cycle straight off the boat.

With electric bikes (e-bikes) surging in popularity in France these past couple of years, some barges also provide a few to guests wishing to have that extra little help when cycling. These have proven to be a real bonus with families out on bike rides as parents and grandparents are now able to keep up with their grandchildren thanks to the electrical assistance. The battery hooked to the bike provides a kind of boost which is activated when pedalling: you’ll go faster and with less effort than a classic bicycle but you still need to pedal! If a luxury family barge cruise is on the books and you’d like to bike a little too, the Luciole, Randle and Nouvelle Etoile barges all have electric bikes on board.

The Bike Tour Itinerary

Whilst other guests are relaxing on deck, or maybe enjoying a stroll, help yourself to one of the superb bikes on board to venture along the towpath and into the country lanes. Your cycling cruise route has been carefully researched and a round-trip planned out for you.

You won’t miss any of the planned daily excursions planned for all guests – unless you want to; the barge trip itinerary remains for you to enjoy. But for your own additional cycling pleasure you’ll be given clearly marked maps for each round trip route and a back-pack with everything you might need. For an hour or two you can explore the surrounding countryside and villages along the lanes, tow-paths and byways. You could try the Loire valley biking tour aboard Renaissance, for example.

Where to Bike and Barge: Exploring the French countryside by bike

One of the oldest canals in France, built by the Sun King Louis IV, the Canal du Midi, offers lovely towpath cycling in the shade of proud plane trees and through sleepy southern French villages. You can pedal alongside luxury barges such as the aptly named Roi Soleil, the Espérance or Enchanté which all cruise on the Canal du Midi.

Some barges can offer your charter group the chance to get to your excursions by bike rather than by car transfer. Routes are guided and carefully planned according to the terrain and a support vehicle will never be far away. Or, if your hotel barge offers the Biking Plus option (see below), you can use the map on the smartphone application for guidance. Cycling parties on a charter hotel barge cruise also have the possibility to replace an excursion with half a day of cycling for example – just enquire at the booking stage.

Beyond the towpath, there is so much you can explore by bike. Whether it’s charming medieval villages in Burgundy, beautiful vineyards near Bordeaux or even the incredible castles of the Loire, the French countryside is a beauty to see by bike. And with an intricate network of country roads used mostly by farmers, there is little circulation in most rural areas so you can enjoy a bike ride in total serenity.

In recent years, the Alsace region has developed its biking tourism offer and has just finished creating a cycling itinerary that allows visitors to follow its well-known Wine Route, which tourists usually take by car. La Route des Vins à Vélo brings you through some of the most beautiful villages of France and stunning vineyard landscapes. You can enjoy a luxury hotel barge cruise in Alsace on board the Panache, the Après Tout, the Nouvelle Etoile and the Saroche.

In fact, the Loire area is a true bikers’ paradise: running along this majestic river is the fabulous network of biking paths and trails known as Loire à Vélo which is also a much-loved long-distance cycling itinerary in France. The beautiful Meanderer, which operates along the Canal de Briare in upper Loire, offers a special biking-themed cruise with a guide available to guests wishing to cycle instead of cruising or joining the daily excursions.

Passionate Bike and Barge: Special cycling-themed cruises

Avid cyclists can also enjoy bike-themed cruises, offering half-days or full days of cycling, with all the usual comforts of a luxury hotel barge vacation included: exceptional accommodation for relaxing and delicious gourmet meals to restore you fully after a day on the bike. As ever, there is no obligation to cycle every day.

Bike and barge tour on hotel barge Deborah in the Loire

The longest and most regal of French rivers, the Loire, meanders by beautiful historic towns and castles and through lovely countryside along the length of its valley. The area is actually known as the Garden of France for its quiet and bucolic countryside and the tranquil lifestyle that people seem to enjoy there. Step aboard the hotel barge Deborah and enjoy a gentle exploration in the heartland of France on and off the barge. Deborah and other hotel barges in the CroisiEurope fleet, are happy to welcome cycling parties on a charter cruise and adapt the itinerary to include bike outings rather than transfers by coach to the daily excursions. Guests can bike to historic towns and abbeys such as Nevers and Apremont-sur-Allier, one of the most beautiful villages of France; see Sancerre, a stunning hilltop village which produces some of the finest wine in the world, along with Pouilly Fumé which you will also learn more about (and taste!) at Pouilly-sur-Loire. Guests are not obliged to cycle every day and there is a supplement for bikes and for e-bikes.

Bike and Barge tour on hotel barge Luciole in Burgundy

Cruising in northern Burgundy on the quaint Nivernais canal, the Luciole has created a fun Bike and Barge itinerary which includes the usual all-inclusive Luciole cruising experience. It blends half a day of biking (15 – 30 miles (25 – 55 km)) per day, with a half-day of cruising. A highly experienced guide from local firm France à Vélo will take guests to Chablis, Noyers, Vézelay, Bazoches and through the stunning Morvan natural park.

Tour de France cruise on hotel barge Savannah on the Canal du Midi

Cycling amateurs will love the sound of Savannah’s special Tour de France themed cruise. When appropriately close to her cruise region, the famous Canal du Midi, this itinerary offers you the chance to cycle the same route as the iconic Tour de France with a professional guide; of course later there’s the added incentive of delicious meals and superb accommodation back on your barge. Guests are fitted with Carbon racing bikes, adjusted to their exact measurements, and are accompanied on a 2 to 4-hour outing. A visit to either the BMC or TREK Tour de France teams on their rest day is also included, as well as branded cycling gear.

Biking Plus: European Waterways hotel barge cruises

Biking Plus offers ready planned routes and a map and App to guide you. What can be nicer than cycling in the sunshine on a comfy, sturdy bicycle with not a care in the world? If you like to keep active and enjoy exploring things for yourself, choose a hotel barge cruise with a Biking Plus option.

See, for example, the Art de Vivre along the Nivernais canal in Burgundy.

Biking Plus has a special App for your smartphone or tablet. With specially drawn offline maps and clear directions you can download the exact route to take and you’ll never get lost! There’s also a printed leaflet about each barge’s route to study before you leave or consult when you stop at the village cafe for a refreshing drink on your way.

Smart, new, easy to ride, all-terrain bicycles are available for each guest and the crew will unload and load the bikes for you so you won’t need to do any man-handling. They will also make sure that the bike ‘fits’ you, making any adjustments necessary.

Family adventure

Children’s bicycles for family groups, or tandems for the romantics amongst you, can also be made available with advance notice. Helmets are not compulsory in France but are also provided should you like one. Then you’re all set – off you go!

The Benefits of Biking Plus

Biking Plus doesn’t cost any more but can add a great benefit to your holiday. The hotel barge itinerary is arranged so that you won’t miss any of the organised excursions or much of the cruising, but you will have seen a little more of the people and places around you – and done yourself some good at the same time!

With pre–designed offline maps and directions that you can download to your phone, you’ll never get lost and you’ll be guided along the most scenic and interesting routes.