Coming without a car

1

There’s no need to bring a car to get to La Loire à Vélo. You can get here via all means of public transport (or nearly!) including plane, train or coach. Find out how to reach the itinerary easily with or without your bike.

Getting to La Loire à Vélo is easy!

The Loire Valley also provides interactive tools to make planning your journey easier, such as the jv-malin.fr and destineo.fr websites which have multimodal journey calculators. Organising your journey to La Loire à Vélo couldn’t be simpler!

From Paris, there are several high-speed TGV train lines leading to La Loire à Vélo. It takes between one and three hours to get to Tours, Angers, Nantes or Saint-Nazaire. Orléans is just one hour from Paris by TER regional trains or Intercité trains.

La Loire à Vélo is also easy to get to from European capitals via Nantes Atlantique and Tours Val de Loire international airports. Paris Orly airport, which is just 120 km from Orléans, can be reached on public transport using the Ouibus coach network.

You can also arrive by coach! Several private bus lines (Flixbus, Ouibus, Isilines etc.) will take travellers to the itinerary aboard new and comfortable high-end tourist coaches. These lines stop at most of the major cities along the route.

Bike hire

Le Bistrot'Quai : lieu de restauration et de détente installé dans le jardin de la maison éclusière de Civray-de Touraine © V. Treney - CRT Centre-Val de Loire

There are multiple options along La Loire à Vélo, including hiring a bike in one town and returning it in another, having your bike delivered to a train station or hotel, and hiring an electric bike (e-bike), trailer or paniers. Contact one of the bike hire companies along the itinerary for more information on the different options

Have your bike delivered

Have your bike transported between two cities on the itinerary. You can have it delivered to your starting point or sent back at the end of your journey, something which could be very useful for groups. Contact one of the bike transport companies along the itinerary

If you want to transport your bike to or from a city that is not situated on the itinerary, the French railway company SNCF also proposes a luggage delivery service.
Find out more about this service here

Getting on public transport with your bike

Couple de cyclotouristes à la gare de Tours © P.Forget - CRT Centre-Val de Loire

You can travel with your bike by plane, train or coach under certain conditions. To find out more about how to board different modes of transport with your bike, visit the “Getting to the itinerary” page.

In summer, consider using Train Vélo Loire, a bike-friendly service with specially dedicated coaches on the Orléans / Saint-Nazaire Interloire train line.

« It’s also nice sometimes to let yourself be guided… Take a look at La Loire à Vélo’s route suggestions and “turnkey” holidays. »