We were lucky enough to dodge the astonishingly wet weather in France recently to enjoy a rather lovely cycling holiday in the Loire valley. We specifically chose to come here because it looked like a good place to ride with a baby in a chariot (light on hills and heavy on tow paths), with suitable entertainment for grown-ups to while away quiet evenings in (gallons of wine). It delivered on both fronts, and as such is a great destination for cycle touring whether you have a family with you or not.

 

The Tour de France will pass through the Loire valley this year (stage 3 finishes in Angers; the race continues the next day from nearby Saumur), so those who’ve travelled out there to catch a glimpse of the race should spend some time pedalling at a more leisurely pace between the hundreds of chateaux and vineyards in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The route I’m going to describe is around 41km/25miles and takes you from the fabulous chateau at Chenonceaux on the river Cher to the equally marvellous chateau at Chaumont-sur-Loire. It’s easily doable in a day, but make sure to give yourself more time at either end to enjoy the chateaux themselves.

Chenonceaux

Chenonceaux Chisseau station, which is practically on the doorstep of Chateau de Chenonceau, is just a half hour’s train journey from regional capital Tours, itself only an hour and a quarter by train from Paris Montparnasse. The USP of this fairytale 16th century chateau is the way its ballroom spans the river Cher on five elegant arches, fuelling a bustling trade in boat trips from nearby riverbanks. During the second world war the Cher marked the boundary between free and occupied France and local legend (which I really hope is true) is that the ballroom, with its doorway onto the left bank, was used as a route to smuggle people out of the occupied zone.

 

The chateau is not visible from the road so to see it you need to take one of the aforementioned boat trips or just pay to go in, which is well worth it and will easily occupy all ages for a full day.

You approach the chateau along an atmospheric avenue of plane trees before passing between a pair of sphinx to enter the grounds proper. The inside of the chateau itself is grand and interesting, and the grounds include formal gardens, wild areas, a maze, a vegetable and flower garden and even a donkey park, so there is plenty to entertain little ones and tire them out to encourage snoozing in the chariot later on.

 

Or, if you can get them to sleep sooner, sneak in a cheeky half carafe of wine from the well-stocked self-service restaurant, assuming you have the patience to negotiate baffled pensioners from all over the world. The chateau was busy but not unpleasantly so when we visited (May), but I can imagine it being jammed in high season.

On to Montrichard

There is provision for bicycle parking in the car park, and from here you turn right onto a cycle path running alongside the railway line in the direction of Montrichard. You will soon need to cross a road then take a left to continue on the path which takes you down on to the banks of the river. The river is fast flowing and no good for swimming, but it seems to be alright for anglers, who were pretty much the only company we had on this quiet path other than the occasional donkey in a field and butterflies gently batting our faces.

 

There are a few campsites and plenty of picnic areas along this green and tidy stretch but not much in the way of civilisation until you reach the village of Chissay-en-Touraine, about 15km from Chenonceaux. As you pass by the village look up to the left to see the Chateau de Chissay on the hillside, a wonderful hotel with an amazing restaurant that we had the grave non-misfortune to be upgraded to when our original hotel booking fell through.

 

Continue for a few more kilometres along a track between hedgerows alive with birdsong to Montrichard. We didn’t linger here but it is a sizeable town with all the facilities for cycle tourists that that implies, including banks and a big supermarket. It is also full to the brim with caves de dégustation, so if you’re keen to sample and buy wines from the Touraine area through which you’re cycling, this could be a good place to aim for.

 

Pass through Montrichard on the D176 then turn left onto the D62a. You will now be climbing up a reasonably steep hill lined with sizeable houses extending out from caves within cliff walls, generally accessorised with a barking dog prowling a lavish outdoor deck. The gradient and narrowness of the climb means that you can expect a small convoy including at least two cars, a tour bus and a lorry to appear from nowhere and chug patiently behind you as you sweat your way up in a mild panic. Look out for Chateau de Vallagon on the right, another interesting accommodation option in the area, before turning left on to the D62.

Heading off road

For a direct and fail-safe route to Chaumont-sur-Loire, albeit on main roads, follow the D62 until it becomes the D139 and then the D114. Drivers in the region are used to sharing the roads with cycle tourists and will generally give you plenty of room, more so on the main roads than the quieter country roads (in my experience). It’s more scenic (and fun) however to pick your way there through farmlands and woodlands on gravel and grass tracks. You’ll need a decent map to do this because my memory of the exact route we took is sketchy; number 317 in the Michelin local map series should do the trick. You essentially need to head north through the Foret Domaniale de Montrichard and then skirt the western edge of the Bois de Sudais. Look out for green bike route signs as these will help, but don’t be surprised to find yourself cycling along vague grassy paths through the middle of garlicky-smelling rapeseed fields as well as gravel tracks through quiet, spooky woodlands.

 

The rough stuff makes for fun riding, although the tracks are pitted and muddy after rain and not enormously practical for riders with a baby trailer attached, but we (i.e. my husband!) managed and it didn’t stop the baby from having a sleep. The route was lovely and quiet too, we pretty much had the place to ourselves apart from the odd tractor.

 

Chaumont-sur-Loire

Bike route signs to Chaumont-sur-Loire should start to appear as you emerge from the woods, following which should bring you to the south entrance to the fine chateau here. If you’re not ready to visit the chateau right now, take a left then immediately a right down a very steep hill into the village on the banks of the Loire. Bridges crossing over your head as you plunge down the hill and squeals of delight from those crossing them hint at the excitement to be had in the chateau grounds, more on which in a moment.

If you turn right at the bottom of the hill and continue along the main road for a few minutes you will find a large riverside picnic area on the left, opposite which is one of those amazing tourist shops that sells anything you could ever want, tucked into the wall of the chateau grounds. We dropped in due to my husband’s uncanny ability to sniff out craft/artisanal beer anywhere in the world, even here in a land where wine practically flows from the taps, and so had farmhouse ale brewed on the premises to wash down some excellent ham and goat cheese baguettes.  The east entrance to the chateau grounds is a little further a long the road.

 

You will need at least a day to make the most of a visit to  the chateau at Chaumont-sur-Loire and its grounds and, tellingly, two-day passes are available. We didn’t even make it into the chateau itself as we were amply occupied for hours by the wonderful International Garden Festival, over 30 individually designed plots to seek out and explore, all based around the theme of “Gardens From the Coming Century” this year. Even this only occupies a fraction of the vast grounds, which also hosts a contemporary art exhibition comprising around 20 large sculptures sympathetically placed amongst the plants of the park. There are also great views across the Loire valley.

 

If you’re saving the chateau visit for another day, you should at least cycle on to and over the nearby bridge over the Loire for a look back to the chateau sitting imperiously on a forested hill, with the village of Chaumont-sur-Loire round its ankles on the river bank.

Also in the area

The Loire valley is vast and in the space of a few days we barely scratched the surface of all it has to offer. The town of Amboise is an easy 25km ride from Chenonceaux and offers a full day of entertainment in the form of a medieval castle, a mini chateau park and the fascinating Chateau de Clos-Luce, former home of Leonardo da Vinci, where replicas of his inventions are scattered throughout the grounds.

 

Away from the major chateaux there are boundless sign-posted trails through fields of wheat, sweetcorn, sunflowers and asparagus patrolled by hovering birds of prey.  The safari train and grounds at the Reserve de Beaumarchais in Autreche, not far from Chaumont-sur-Loire, offer a fun day out for all the family and the many and varied opportunities for wine-tasting dotted absolutely everywhere offer a reward for those towing the baby-trailer.

How to do it

Due to the flat terrain and easy distances between sights there is no shortage of holiday companies offering cycling packages in the Loire valley, many of which cater for families of all ages and save you the hassle of transporting your own bikes, child seats, trailers etc (we travelled with Belle France on their “Loire en Famille” itinerary and were expertly looked after from start to finish). Such is the popularity of cyclo-touring in the region that many hotels have their own fleet of bikes to lend anyway, so you could very easily create your own itinerary without having to take your own bikes.

For the purists, regional capital Tours is an hour and a quarter by train from Paris Montparnasse as mentioned above, but an easier route logistically if coming from the UK (to avoid crossing Paris from Gare du Nord) would be to take Eurostar to Lille and travel from there to St Pierre-de-Corps just outside Tours, a direct journey of around three hours. French train tickets can be bought here.

Bikes can be taken on Eurostar if booked in advance, costing £30. The rules regarding taking bikes on French trains are more complicated but, as with all things regarding train travel, a good place to find out more is at the ever-informative Man in Seat 61 website. What would we do without him!