Biking the Loire: 5 day trips from Tours

It took us more than an hour to get out of Saumur, a town of 26,000 along the Loire River in France.

We took the train from Tours early one sunny Saturday morning. A 5-minute bike ride, across the bridge from the train station, is the downtown area. The Saturday market was just opening, and brick-and-mortar restaurant owners were pulling out their tables and chairs for the day. Just what you imagine in France.

But where are the food stalls? All we see are clothes … and then a stylish burgundy jacket catches my eye. Swingy, three fat buttons, upturned collar. Just 49 euros. We are on bikes .. I really shouldn’t.

But I do.

One bike pannier is now full.

Now to find breakfast. Ah, there’s a boulangerie with a bit of a line, always a good sign. A pastry apiece to start the day, plus a baguette for a midday sandwich using the cold cuts and cheese that we brought along.

But as we head out … another market. A food one! A man holds out a paper-thin slice of cheese — a present, he says. I stop and decide to sample the charcuterie. He proudly explains that the one made from wild boar has won a gold medal at a sausage competition in Lyon. All natural. But no, the stuffed wild boar’s head adorning his table is not one he shot, just something he bought in a store.

We leave with a half-dozen slices (not paper-thin) of his prize-winning saucisson to add to our random picnic items.

Now you know why it took us more than an hour to leave Saumur. And this is what we hoped for when we decided to come to France and bike along the Loire.

Our trip

We based ourselves in Tours for five days and did day trips by bike each day. Read about why we did that here.

Wherever you start, I’d recommend stopping at the local Office du Tourisme (tourist information) as soon as you can and asking for a free map of bike routes. In Tours, it’s a block from the train station. We found the La Touraine a Velo so helpful because it shows everything from more local routes to its section of Eurovelo 6, also known as La Loire a Velo. So nice to be able to visualize your options.

While planning at home, this link lists all the routes.

The Touraine region ends just east of Saumur, so of course we had to stop at tourist information in Saumur to pick up the bike map for the Anjou region. What can I say? I like maps.

Our rides

On our first day, we biked to the southern end of Tours, where we picked up the “Heart of France” regional bike trail that follows the Cher River, a tributary of the Loire. It took us to Chenonceau, that gorgeous castle that straddles the Cher.

I admit we didn’t go in. Just seeing the castle was enough, no need to view all the tapestries, furniture and paintings.

We then headed north toward Amboise, another castle town. Pro tip: follow the suggested bike route, rather than the D road. We were out of prime tourist season, but we still had to deal with tour buses and cars passing a bit too closely.

After wandering around Amboise for a bit, we biked back to Tours along the Loire and through some vineyards for a 46-mile day.

Day 2: This day was pure Eurovelo 6 going east. We reached Amboise just before the weekly market closed.

Our picnic. The red stuff a cheese that mixes in tomatoes — who knew?

Fun art along the way.

We ended in Blois 43 miles later. Yes, there’s a castle there too. The train station is at the top of a hill, and we took the train back for 13.30 euros apiece.

Read what you need to know about taking the train here.

Day 3 started with that train ride west to Saumur. Another 13.30-euro ticket. Another castle town. But we found something more enticing: troglodyte territory. These are caves cut into limestone cliffs where people live

… or ferment their wine.

Again, we followed Eurovelo 6 back to Tours, though we did debate detouring to Chinon. Only 6 miles away! But we’d still have much of our bike ride left to do, so could we really enjoy the wine? Maybe we’d find a vineyard and cave open for tasting further down?

We finally did stop at a castle: Villandry, which like others dates back to the Renaissance and not far from Tours. We opted just for the gardens, in part an eclectic mix of formal borders surrounding … bright yellow Swiss Chard, red hot peppers, quirky eggplants and other vegetables.

Eurovelo 6 impressed us with its signage, and not just at turns. Reassurance signage was plentiful too. We just followed the signs, barely looking at our electronics as we biked 47 miles.

More images from the day:

Day 4: Finally a wine tasting! Vouvray is an easy 9-mile ride each way on the north side of the Loire, following the Via Chartes and Saint Jacques route, a longer regional route that tracks the paths taken by pilgrims heading through western France to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela.

I should say it’s easy if you aren’t dealing with the annual 10k/20k/marathon. OK, so we ran into some blocked roads and had to climb some hills, but we still got there (and a bit beyond). All part of the adventure, right?

The other tricky part is that it was Sunday. Most businesses are closed, and those that do open often close at 1 pm. We knew the Cave de Vouvray, the local cooperative with its own brands, would re-open at 2 pm, after a lunch break, so we headed there.

In July and August, this cavernous tasting room is packed every day. But on a Sunday afternoon in late September, we practically had the place to ourselves. And so we tasted more than a half-dozen wines. Vouvray is all chenin blanc, both still and bubbly, but the cooperative also had some reds from other nearby wine areas.

It’s tough to carry much when you are traveling by bike, but we somehow headed back to Tours with four bottles wrapped in bike clothes.

Day 5: For our last day, we opted for a train to Chinon (10 euros each way) for a 14-mile loop through the hills above the town. Thank goodness for the elevator that did much of the climbing for us!

This was a local loop route (No. 39), and the signage could be better. We also couldn’t find an easy place to download turn-by-turn instructions. So we took one from Komoot that almost, almost copies it.

One surprise: A stage in the Tour de France started here:

Not quite a castle, but still wow:

But I figure we’d be in an outbuilding: