Dordogne & West Coast Adventure

The Dordogne and West Coast tour comes close to offering everything that travellers head to France for: traditional French cuisine, a spectacular landscape of vineyards, gorgeous Atlantic Coastline, dense forests, beautiful chateaux, winding rivers and picturesque fortified villages such as Beynac and La Roque Gageac. The tour starts in the charming city of Bordeaux and then heads west exploring the Aquitaine region of France taking in the vast beaches of the Atlantic Coast and famous vineyards of this region. Charming towns such as Bergerac, Sarlat and Domme are also a must see and what better way to visit this amazing part of the world than by bike! We'll wind our way through the world renowned and beautiful villages of this region, hugging the banks of the Dordogne river along the journey. You will get the opportunity to spend a leisurely day canoeing down with the tide of this magical river and sampling the finest food and drink of this magnificent hidden gem of France. This is a very diverse and beautiful tour that really allows you to immerse yourself in all the cultural goodies that France has to offer. If you've forgotten what the outside world is like and are itching to get out, then this one's for you!

Overall the cycling is very manageable with an average of around 50km per day for five of the seven days and only around 20km’s for the other two days. The first two days are flat terrain along the coast. Days 3, 4 and 6 are the most challenging with some undulating terrain and some decent hills thrown in. Days 5 and 7 are short days in term of distance as we are using Vitrac as a base on day 5 - exploring the local sights and we will make sure to challenge those who would like it as there are some hilly terrain that will challenge all. Day 7 is easy riding as we explore the streets of Sarlat and Bordeaux before setting off home either that evening or the following morning, depending on individual travel arrangements. Riders should have a good level of fitness and experience riding a bicycle, as well as be competent with trail and loose gravel riding on both a mountain and hybrid bike.