France Paris – 8 Days
Type of tour: Guided
Level: 2
Duration: 7 Nights
Distance: 17 Miles/day average
Dates: Jul 4, 2015
Tour price: £1530
Start city: Paris, France
End city: Paris, France
Tour Description
Paris is a fabulous city for cyclists – lots of cycle lanes, canal paths, a fantastic route to Versailles and the inspiring courtesy of French drivers towards cyclists.
As well as the obvious sights, the Sacre Couer, the Louvre, the Musée D’Orsay and the Eiffel Tower, on the Paris cycling tour we’ll show you the lesser-known Paris: the Promenade Planté, the bike path to the spectacular Royal Basilica in St Denis, the memorial to the Vel d’Hiv.
The food, needless to say, is wonderful. We’ll have Chain Gang bikes for our longer trips, and the Paris Vélibs, a public bike sharing system, to explore the city.
This is the best 1-week cycling tour of Paris you can find.
Highlights: Guided Daily Program: Guided Day 1: A Paris Sampler (22 miles/35 km) We’ll also visit the Arena de Lutece, the Roman ampitheatre in the 5th arrondissement, climb one of the few hills in Paris to the top of Montmartre and see how far the mob had to walk to the Bastille after they’d stolen 26,000 rifles from the Hotel des Invalides. Day 2: Notre Dame and Musee D’Orsay (6 miles/9 km) In the afternoon, another Vélib hop along the Left Bank to the stunning Musée D’Orsay. Surely the best use of a railway station in the world, it’s packed with Impressionists: galleries of Monet, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gaugin, Matisse. Day 3: The Louvre, Hotel des Invalides, and the Pantheon (7 miles/12 km) Day 4: Versailles and the Arc de Triomphe (30 miles/47 km) In France Versailles is synonymous not only with the royal residence but with the whole concept of absolute monarchy. Imagine you were given all the money in the world and challenged to spend every penny of it on a single house – that’s Versailles. Michelin gives it a maximum 3*** stars, ‘Worth a journey in itself’, but that’s only because their scale doesn’t go beyond 3. On the way home, the Arc de Triomphe, the ultimate symbol of the mob that overthrew the masters of Versailles. Day 5: The Saint Denis Basilica (23 miles/37 km) On our return we detour into the park at Buttes de Chaumont, thence to the cemetery at Père Lachaise. It’s packed with famous tombs: Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Maria Callas, Proust, Chopin, Jim Morrison, Laurent Fignon … and was the scene the last stand of the Paris Communards killed by firing squad and buried where they fell in a communal plot against the ‘Federalists’ Wall’. Statues described by Michelin as ‘heartachingly grim’, commemorating Paris’ contribution to the Nazi concentration camps, line the ‘Avenue Circulaire’. Back to our hotel via the Promenade Planté,an old elevated railway line now a garden walkway for walkers and cyclists that takes us all the way into the Place de la Bastille. Day 6: Montmartre and Sacre Couer (13 miles/22 km) Beneath the Sacre Couer in disused gypsum mines are the graves of many of the Paris Communards from a bloody period in 1870. The Sacre Coeur sits on a colossal blood bath, and that’s why they built it here. After lunch, we’ll grab another Vélib and cycle to the Eiffel Tower and look at all the landmarks we’ve visited, before a final Vélib trip back to our friends at Saint-André. Day 7: Departure Included Services: Guided Bike Rentals: Guided Bikes come equipped with: Pedals: Helmets:
We begin with a taster. On Sundays many of the city roads are closed to traffic and Parisiennes take to the streets on roller blades and bikes. Today we’ll find out where everything is, and you’ll see why a bike is the perfect way to get around Paris and appreciate how the Ile de la Cité fits in.
The Ile de la Cité – a 5-minute Vélib ride. With the Ile Saint-Louis, these two islands form the heart of Paris. We’ll start with a tour of both islands then visit Nôtre Dame, the Conciergerie and Saint Chapelle.
We spend the morning at the Louvre (another five minutes away on our Vélibs) jumping straight to the front of the queue with our special Museum Pass. After lunch we’ll visit the Hotel des Invalides (more queue jumping, vive le Museum Pass!) with its huge, gorgeous golden dome and Napoleon’s tomb (also pretty huge and gorgeous). Then next door to the Rodin Museum, and grab another Vélib to the Panthéon, resting place of most of the French people you’ve ever heard of, and a beautiful church to boot.
One more Vélib – home, past the Sorbonne to Saint-André.
Today we head out of Paris via a special route through the Bois de Boulogne, the ‘lungs’ of Paris, all the way to the Palace of Versailles, a ‘must-see’. We’ll need our Chain Gang bikes for this trip because it’s a proper bike ride.
Today we use cycle lanes on our Chain Gang bikes to join the Canal St Martin at the Place de Stalingrad and follow the canal out of Paris, beyond the Péripherique to Saint-Denis where we’ll visit the beautiful Basilica, resting place of almost all the French Kings and Queens.
We’re back on our Vélib for a bracing ride up into Montmartre, the prettiest district in Paris. We’ll have a walk, perhaps stop at a café, and visit the Sacre Couer, a beautiful Byzantine basilica built on the Buttes de Montmartre, the highest point in Paris.
After breakfast, you’ll depart individually for your homeward connections.
Bikes available on this tour, and included in the tour cost (reserved in advance at the time of booking):
The bikes will have FLAT pedals. If you bring your own pedals, be sure to bring your own shoes and also the necessary equipment to change the pedals.
Helmets are available on this tour. However, we recommend that you bring your own helmet for safety and hygiene purposes.
