Gorges of the Cévennes

The Cévennes Bike Trips (the Massif Central)

On this page, you will find...

If you would like to see a map of our different French routes, it is here.
A link to an overview of all our trips is here.
And, for a comparison of our Cevennes route with our other French trips, see here.
Our Trips
Overview Map
of all of our routes

Departure Calendar
of our regular trips
What's Included
in the Trip Cost
Additional Services
you can add to the bike trip.

France’s least accessible region is almost unknown to foreigners, and only a vague idea to the French themselves. It is our favorite. Dramatic moors and gorges, pristine rivers and forests, and villages built of the stone cut from the surrounding mountains, astonish all who reach them. Imagine the Grand Canyon on the scale of New England or Nova Scotia, and you will have an idea of what awaits you.

More varieties of local honey in the country store than there are cars on the road in a day. Chestnuts just off the tree, goat cheese from the farm you just passed, and every wild mushroom flavor your dinner salad. Duck, lamb and fresh trout pulled from the rushing streams offer alternate flavors.

This is a ride about the France of our (or their) forebears, through a world your children are unlikely to ever see, in any country. Profit from it while you can — you will never forget that you did.

The following trips visit the Cévennes:

Roman Roads of France & Italy (4 weeks)
Visits France (Bordeaux & the Dordogne, the Cévennes, Provence), and Italy (Tuscany)

Tour de France (3 weeks)
Visits the Cévennes plus two other French routes

Rivers & Canyons (2 weeks)
Visits Bordeaux & the Dordogne followed by the Cévennes

Other Two Week France Trips (2 weeks)
Visits the Cévennes and one other region in France

France & Italy Trips (2 weeks)
Visits the Cévennes and one region in Italy

Gorges of the Cévennes follows this itinerary exclusively.
Departure dates and prices are in the table, at below.
Gorges of the Cévennes
2008 Dates
Trip Price
Baggage Services Offered*
(optional)
Difficulty of the Ride
May 24 - 31
Spring Special:
$1,499
US or C

950€
Half

Challenging

The incredible views are at the cost of serious hills, and back-ups are poor. Don't start your trip here if you're new to biking or hate climbing. However, this is an idyllic 2nd week, even for newcomers. You have all day to do each ride, as there are few “attractions” of the castle / interesting city variety. Just gorgeous scenery and beautiful villages.

The isolation of this route makes it different from our others. Back-up trains are rare, and shortening a day may require a taxi. Budget 50€ to dodge hills or bad weather, and spend it on sheepskin slippers when you don't need to.
July 12 - 19
Trip Full
$2,025
US or C

1,295€
Half

Sept. 13 - 20
Daily, Half

* Prices in $ and € do not include precisely the same things. Click here for details, and for prices of optional extras: private single rooms, baggage services, and (in the case of the € price only) bike rental and shipping.

** At least 4 riders must subscribe to a given baggage service for it to operate. The services listed are those currently offered on the departure in question. Services which appear in bold already have at least 3 subscribers (so, one more would ensure their operation). See here for a discussion of our baggage services.


Day-by-Day Itinerary: The Cévennes
Special note: the isolation of this route means that most dinners are taken at the inn, often the only option in town. Quality doesn't suffer, but your freedom to wander off on your own for a dinner “away from the group” is limited.
Day of the Week
Description
Typical distances, in km
Friday
 TRAVEL to SOUILLAC — “Access Package”
For guests starting their cycle trips with the Cévennes itinerary, a pre-trip hotel night is included in the “Access Package,” either in Paris or in Souillac.

Souillac is a pleasant town on the banks of the Dordogne river, with lots to see, an attractive pedestrian center, and especially one of France’s oldest abbeys. We recommend the night there, especially since this puts you where you need to be to join the trip on Saturday. Those staying in Paris travel to Souillac by early train on Saturday.

Half Baggage
Saturday
 Our Cévennes itinerary meets on Saturday, 1p, at the Souillac train station.

SOUILLAC - ROCAMADOUR
Our ride begins in the Dordogne Valley. Along the river past the castle at La Treyne, and the Grottes (caves) de Lacave. Carenac is one of the valley’s most beautiful towns, and since the tour bus crowd is too out of shape to climb up to the old village, you can enjoy a stroll in relative peace.

When we leave the valley, we come to the Gouffre de Padirac, one of the world’s most spectacular holes in the ground, and nothing at all like the New York subway. Pastoral biking, ending with a climb to the Causse de Gramat.

Rocamadour, our destination, is a vertical town where public transit is provided by elevators and dead stone saints wander around performing miracles.

Half Baggage
25 - 70 k
Sunday
 The LOT VALLEY
Morning to visit Rocamadour. After lunch, a train carries us south to the Lot Valley. Marathoners can skip all or part of the train to tack on the extra k.

Stop in Figeac, to watch the Travel Section crowd “antique” (who made that a verb?).

Then up the valley (the flattest riding you’ll see - don’t get used to it). A quiet lane follows picturesque river banks... stop for café in each of the infrequent villages. If you missed it yesterday and want some hill work, detour to beautiful Conques, where religious artifacts dispute center stage with ice-cream-and-post-card shops. Night in a village along the valley.
50 - 125 k
Monday
 The UPPER LOT
On up the Lot Valley on a beautiful road. A quartet of pretty towns line our route, each with its own château. Entraygues (“between the waters” in the local Langue d’Oc), sits prettily on a point of land between two rivers. Estaing is the family seat of the former French president of the same name, and his brother was long mayor of the village. Espalion pleases with tall tanner’s houses lining the river, and with aligot, a mashed potato and cheese concoction that has inspired religious vocations. St-Côme still has its medieval wall in place, and a beautiful hidden village inside.

The day ends with an absolutely impossible ride up a mountain. Then 10 k straight down, through a chestnut forest. You earned them!
75 k
Tuesday
 The CAUSSE de la SAUVETERRE
Only two hills today, but each lasts half the day. Oh well. Consequently one of our prettiest days, and an introduction to two new types of scenery. The causses, represented on today’s menu by the Causse de la Sauveterre: a limestone plateaux swept by wind and grazed by sheep. Also the spectacular Gorges created by the inevitable action of water on limestone.

Our night is spent at the bottom of a canyon that there is no point in describing: you wouldn’t believe us, anyway.
55 k
Wednesday
 GORGES du TARN, GORGES de la JONTE
Down the Tarn Gorge and up the Jonte Gorge. This ride is simply amazing. Villages built into the sides of the cliffs, vultures circling high overhead or nesting in the overhanging rocks, Bigfoot… you name it, it’s out here. Even a climatic change between the two gorges. Narrow roads where barely a car passes, delightfully peaceful. And the terrain lets up, relatively speaking.

Meyrueis, our base for the next two nights, was a Protestant stronghold during the wars of religion, and commemorates the era by burning itself down every few years. We just made that last part up.

Half Baggage
55 delightful k
Thursday
 MEYRUEIS LOOP, GORGES of the TREVEZEL
Another of our favorite days, anywhere. First up to the Causse Noir, and then along the Gorges du Trévezel, on a tiny lane in a pristine valley. Cantobre sits on top of a column of rock, looking out over a confluence of canyons. An en route restaurant only opens if you call ahead to reserve. You can seek out lavender extract from a farm up on the Causse or ewe’s cheese from the local farms.

On the way home, visit the spectacular chambers of the Grottes de Dargilan. Then coast back to Meyrueis, for an evening of shuttling back and forth between the town’s hot spots, the crêperie and the bakery.

Half Baggage
70 k for our suggested loop
Friday
 The CAUSSE MÉJEAN, FLORAC
Start with a climb onto the Causse Méjean, to visit the Aven Armand: a giant underground cavern with the world’s largest known stalagmite. Lunch can be had at a local farm, which makes its own jam, preserves its own mushrooms, raises its own cattle, sheep and poultry....

Then across the causse and down to Florac. The scenes from the top of the mountain look more like Utah than like anyone’s image of France. Florac is a regional center, where an exhibition hall outlines the work of the National Park, and the oh-so-different French approach to conservation. Lots of fun pictures of otters, too. Evening at the base of our last Cévenol hill.
50 k
Saturday
 The LAND of the CAMISARDS, train to NIMES
More chestnuts, honey, tiny towns, goat herds and stunning views. Yawn. Pont de Montvert was home to France’s most important Protestant rebellion, and Robert Stevenson’s donkey.

We also return to civilization today. Cycle out of the hills and to the railroad. An hour on a country local brings us to the ancient Roman town of Nimes, in the Gard. Some will continue their cycle odysseys, others will bid farewll to their metal steeds.

Half Baggage

Our post-trip “Access Packages” presume the night in Nimes, which we recommend as it allows you to complete the full biking day at a relaxed pace. Spend the evening wandering among the Roman ruins of one of France’s best-preserved towns.

It is, however, possible to catch an evening TGV to Paris, if you prefer, or need to for an early Sunday flight. See the “Access Package” description for details.
55 k
Sunday
 TRAVEL DAY
Those flying out head for the airport, to Paris, or on to your next biking week....