Destination: France

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION

Itinerary: Tour de France

Tour de France cyclists take three weeks to bike 3000km around the country. This 3000km tour of France can be done in one month, but warrants much more time than that. As with the world’s greatest cycling race, it labours through the Pyrenees and Alps, and finishes on Paris’ Champs-Élysées.



Get set for your race around the country in Strasbourg: stroll canal-clad Petite France, marvel at its cathedral and dine in a winstub . Moving on to greener climes, pick up the Route du Vin d’Alsace and tipple your way around the Vosges foothills. But keep a clear head for that splendid Art Nouveau architecture in Nancy, where you should spend at least one night to enjoy romantic place Stanislas illuminated. From Lorraine it is guns a-ho to champagne cellars around Épernay, then north to the sobering Battle of the Somme memorials in far northern France.

Devour Normandy and Brittany’s best sights in week two: base yourself in Bayeux to see the tapestry, D-Day landing beaches and WWII memorials. Mont St-Michel is an astounding pit stop en route to France’s Celtic land of legends; St-Malo and Dinard make charming overnight stops. Meander around megaliths in Carnac, then zoom south for more prehistory in the Vézère Valley.

The pace hots up the third week: from the Dordogne, wiggle through the Upper Languedoc – through the spectacular Gorges du Tarn– to Avignon. Take a break with local café culture then slog like a Tour de France cyclist up Mont Ventoux. Explore Provence’s hilltop villages then speed north to the majestic city of Lyon, from where an Alpine mountain adventure is doable.

The last leg takes in wine-rich Burgundy: Beaune, Dijon and Vézelay are the obvious places to stop en route to Paris.

Travelling to France?
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