Ingo Scholtes Photography

Bringing the great outdoors inside.

Bike Tour through the South of France

September 2006

Following a much shorter tour through the Lorraine, in 2006 some colleagues and myself had decided to explore the South of France by bike and tent. This tour from the French Côte d'Azur to the Massif Central was my very first experience of a longer trek and I have phantastic memories about this trip. We started on the little island of Île de Porquerolles in the Mediterranean, continuing to the heart of the Provence, cycling up to the summit of Mont Ventoux, and finally continuing to the Ardèche canyon, which we exlored for two days on a canoe. Carrying more than 20 kg of camping equipment over more than 650 km on bike this turned out to be a memorable, but exhausting experience.

Please note that the track data provided below for visual reference have not been recorded by a GPS device. They have been reconstructed on a digital map. They should thus not be used as a reference for own tours.

Day 1: Île d'Hyère and Porquerolles

The first stage took us from our starting point, the train station in Toulon to a campsite on the peninsula Île d'Hyère which extends into the Mediterranean sea. From there, a small ferry took us to the picturesque Île de Porquerolles, which we explored by bike. We returned to the main land and spent the night on a campsite in Giens.

Day 2: Mediterranean coast

On the second day, we first followed the road back to Toulon, from where we continued along beautiful scenic coastal roads to La Ciotat, a little town located directly by the sea. Here we pitched our tents and spent the night on a campsite directly by the Mediterranean sea.

Day 3: The gate to the Provence

On the third day, we headed north towards the Provence. We first had to climb some mountains, which provided us with a nice scenic view back to the Mediterranean sea. We then continued to Aix-en-Provence, a nice little town famous for its typical Provence character. Here, we spent the night at a campsite close to a little river.

Day 4: Provence and Avignon

The next day offered 90 kilometers of rather flat roads en route to Avignon, a medieval city located at the banks of the Rhone. We cross beautiful farmlands and finally arrive at the city. Here we pitch our tents on a campsite situated on a little island in the middle of the Rhone. In the evening, we stroll through the city and enjoy the medieval spirit in the area around the Palais du Papes, an old palace which used to be the seat of the popes of Avignon.

Day 5: Pont du Gard

On the fifth day, we left our tents in Avignon, while doing a tour to the Pont du Gard, a famous aqueduct about 30 kilometers west of Avignon. We explore the area around the impressive Roman building and return to Avignon in the evening.

Day 6: At the doorstep

We pack our tents, leave Avignon and head to the north towards Mont Ventoux. Our plan for the next day is to cycle up to the summit of the lonely mountain, which is famous among cyclists around the world thanks to the Tour de France. We approach the area around the mountain, which slowly appears at the horizon like a warning of the great efforts to come. Passing through farmland with oolive trees, in the evening we arrive at a campsite in Malaucène which will serve as our basecamp for the next day.

Day 7: The Mont Ventoux

We start early for the summit, which thrones more than 1600 meters above our tents. We follow the winding road up, when at a height of 600 meters a technical problem appeared. The gear shift of Markus broke and we could not continue. We thus went back to the little town of Malaucène, but could not find technical assistance. We continued to the neighboring town of Vaison-La-Romaine, but also here we could not find help. We eventually helped ourselves, fixing the problem by removing the gearshift on Markus' bike altogether. We now finally started our ascend towards the summit. After more than 20 kilometers of a continuous ascend totaling to more than 1600 meters, we finally reached the summit at 1912 meters. Happily, we cycled down and returned to our tents.

Day 8: To the Massif Centrale

On the eight day of our tour, we headed west crossing the Rhone towards the Massif Centrale. We followed winding roads through the mountains towards our target Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in the middle of the Ardèche canyons. We pitched our tents right next to the banks of the river Ardèche. Here we will stay for three nights, and we will use the opportunity to explore the canyon. On the ninth day, Alex and myself pause and explore the nearby river by foot, while Markus and JJ explore the windy roads along the canyon by bike.

Day 10: Gorges de Ardèche

On day 10, we packed our sleeping bags, rented two canoes and explored the Ardèche canyon by boat. After a wonderful day of rafting, in the evening we arrive at the bivac site of Gournier, where we spend the night under clear skies in the middle of a herd of wild boars.

Day 11: Gorges de Ardèche

On day 11 we continue our exploration of the canyon on our canoes. Starting from the banks of the river at the Gournier bivac site in the morning, we again spent the day on the water, admiring the large cliffs of the canyon. We finally arrive in Sauze, where we return our canoes and take a shuttle bus back to our basecamp in Vallon-Pont-d'Arc.

Day 12: The finish line

The twelfth and final stage of our tour leads us from Vallon-Pont-d'Arc back to the banks of the river Rhone. A last time, we enjoy the great views of the canyon and the wild forests around it. When we arrive at the descend towards the Rhone, we enjoy a last view of the Mont Ventoux at the horizon. In Pierrelatte, we finally enter the train taking us back home. A marvelous tour has reached its end. Certainly not the last one.