From Tours to Saumur : 4-Day cycling tour in the Loire Valley

Your cycling adventure starts with a ride along the bank of the Cher river. With kilometers of peaceful cycling paths it offers the opportunity to admire the "toues cabanées", traditional boats of the Loire navy and the village of Savonnières, with its petrifying caves. Then, you proceed to Villandry to discover the last of the great Renaissance castles in the Loire Valley, its remarkable Gardens and its famous French-style Kitchen Garden.

End of the stage in the small town of Azay-le Rideau famous for its elegant castle built on an island in the middle of the river Indre.

Extension of 6 kilometers: a short detour by bike through the troglodyte valley of Goupillières offers you the opportunity to discover the modest life of the peasants who lived for centuries in the shadow of the great castles, in these dwellings dug into the tufa rock.

Departure toward Chinon with three of the great writers of French literature on your journey !

Along the banks of the Indre river, in a valley so dear to Balzac, you reach the banks of the Loire and the village of Bréhémont whose monumental paved quays bear witness to a rich river past.

Cycle along the Loire river on the dyke systems built to protect the population against flooding. Reach the Château of Rigny-Ussé, a real fairytale castle which has inspired Charles Perrault for its famous Sleeping Beauty!

Your bike ride ends with a few kilometers in the countryside of Chinon. Before discovering the medieval streets of the Rabelaisian city, a visit of the Royal Fortress of Chinon, scene of the first meeting of Joan of Arc and King Charles VII, is highly recommended.

A cycling route in two stages. First you cycle through the hedged farmland of the Véron peninsula, a protected natural area characteristic of the Loire Valley up to the confluence of the Vienne river and the Loire. Then, back on the banks of the Loire, cross the villages of Candes-Saint-Martin and Montsoreau listed as ones of the “most beautiful villages in France”. Continue between the vineyards of Saumur and the troglodyte dwellings which are particularly remarkable on this route.

Return extension: 5 kilometers from Montsoreau is the royal abbey of Fontevraud, the largest monastic city in Europe. Necropolis of the Plantagenets, it houses the tombs of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II and Richard the Lionheart. This UNESCO World Heritage site is well worth a visit.

Saumur is a beautiful town with the Loire along which it stretches and the silhouette of its castle built on a rocky promontory. A city of art and history, which is also renowned for its national riding school, the Cadre Noir, its fine wines and its troglodytic cellars. A heritage to discover by bike.

Another possible excursion is a 30 kilometer cycling loop on the Thouet Valley greenway to the Château de Brézé. Less well-known than the Renaissance castles of the Loire Valley, it is an extraordinary and unusual castle, with one of the deepest dry moats in Europe and a huge network of several kilometers of underground galleries, testimony of the turbulent Middle-Ages when life was organised underground.