This gentle cycling holiday includes all that we love about Brittany and more.
A dramatic and rocky coast with wide sandy beaches, medieval streets, a rural landscape sometimes wild and always beautiful, seafood in abundance, small towns that charm and hotels with character - not to mention the wonderful local food. Add the rarity of Mont St Michel, the pedallers delight in a flattish terrain and a string of fascinating towns with oodles of time to explore them and you have something we think is difficult to beat.
Holiday details
Price
- Classic
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from £1,390 per person
- Luxury
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from £2,170 per person
Based on two people sharing a room
What’s included?
There are no extras, however you’ll love what’s included as standard
Duration
8 nights
Start & Finish
Starts daily and is circular from St Malo. St Malo is 3 hours by TGV from Paris Montparnasse station and is a major ferry port. Dinard St Malo airport is a 20 minute taxi ride
Hotels
- Classic
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Small hotels, 2 chambre d'hotes, a sea front restaurant with rooms and a small lakeside hotel
- Luxury
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A varied mix of a 4 star hotel, a small boutique hotel, a 3 star hotel, a family run 4 star chateau hotel, a country house hotel and a stunning 15th Century boutique b&b
Holiday type
Self-guided
This tour is priced without a guide and you are free to explore on your own. If you would like a guide for part or all of your trip, we are happy to provide a knowledgeable, local guide
Activity level
Gentle cycling (2) More info...
Electric bikes
Not available
Mileage
6 days of cycling 6 - 25 miles (10 - 40 km) per day
Terrain
Flat with two hills
Traffic-free
33% very low traffic on the rest
Options
- Additional nights en route
- Add: horse riding , kayaking, sailing a vintage boat and a guided wildlife tour by 'train' in St Michel Bay
- Combine this holiday with one of our tours in Dorset by taking the ferry from St Malo to Poole where we meet you
Itinerary day-by-day
Classic & Luxury
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1. Day one
St Malo
Arrive in St Malo and check into your hotel located within the old walls of this fascinating port. The Quic en Groigne is family run and just 50 metres from the stone gate leading to a sheltered sandy beach. Explore the maze of narrow cobbled streets and walk the ramparts for a fine view of the bay and the many islets dotted in the Rance estuary. Splash along the wide beaches and on to the island of Petit Bé, have a nose around the harbour and museums and tuck into delicious crepes or oysters. It's the perfect way to start your holiday!
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2. Day two
St Malo to Cancale
After breakfast your host will meet you with your cycling equipment and run through the itinerary. Today's cycling leads you along the beautiful Emerald Coast where you can enjoy its many rugged promontories, beaches and peninsulas. With the wind in your hair and the sea salt in the air its a gentle spin to reach Cancale your next stop. Recognised as the seafood capital of northern France you will pass many small restaurants and stalls selling mussels and oysters. Your overnight stay is on the seafront where you will overlook the expansive bay from your window.
15 miles (24 km)
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3. Day three
Cancale to Mont St Michel
Hugging the coast at the start of the day you pass ancient windmills and sand yachters and a string of characterful old fishing villages with sea food ever present. Its a land of big skies, long vistas, flat as a pancake terrain and shallow waters which dictate your route eventually turning inland across the polder landscape. The view of Mont St Michel dominates much of the ride with its magnificence becoming more magical the closer you get. Your overnight stay is close to Mont St Michel in a chambre d'hotes.
23 miles (37 km)
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4. Day four
Mont St Michel to Pontorson
It's World Heritage listed and probably the most famous island in the world. So we have designed an itinerary for you to enjoy Mont St Michel with its Benedictine abbey and the village that grew up in the shadow of its great walls. Explore the narrow streets and historic buildings and soak up the island's special atmosphere. Mud flats, salt marshes and the most powerful tide in Europe are a feature of the bay surrounding the island and it too is heritage listed supporting some remarkable species from the parsley frog to the harbour seal. It's a short riverside pedal to Pontorson but for those preferring something more energetic there is a longer ride via the attractive Norman town of Ducey. Your overnight stay is in a chambre d'hotes with a good choice of restaurants in this small town.
6 or 30 miles (10 or 48 km)
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5. Day five
Pontorson to Combourg
Today offers a different scene as you head inland on quiet lanes through pretty country and attractive villages. This is unspoilt rural Brittany at its best. Stop in Bazouges-la-Pérouse, which is popular with artists and wind your way on to delightful Combourg, set by a lake and dominated by its medieval chateau built between the 11th and 15th Centuries. Hotel du Lac is lakeside and family run.
25 miles (40 km)
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6. Day six
Combourg to Dinan
Still heading west your ride picks up the bike path alongside the Ille et Rance canal and on the banks of the Rance river. This traffic free pedal offers yet another landscape - shady trees line your route, lock cottages, waterfowl and wildlife are much in evidence and pretty waterside towns invite you in. When you reach Léhon, head for the patisserie and enjoy a dip in the heated open air pool beside the river. Dinan is just a few minutes away - with its wondrous medieval centre and your hotel perched 250 feet above the river. Here is the second hill of the tour with a warm welcome from Hotel Arvor awaiting you where you will stay for 2 nights.
20 miles (32 km)
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7. Day seven
Dinan
We love Dinan and who wouldn't! It's the best preserved medieval town in Brittany; the ramparts encircling the town run for 2 miles with 10 watch towers giving stupendous views; there are numerous 15th Century half timbered houses and squares and a steep medieval cobbled street twisting its way down to the old river port. Here boats still tie up, inns beckon and cameras jostle for views of the old bridge and the dramatic viaduct strung high above. The town has a great choice of restaurants, several churches and a castle and chateau. Enjoy!
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8. Day eight
Dinan to St Malo
Your final day of cycling continues along the riverside bike path and then leads north following a disused railway line. This traffic free route takes you to the fashionable coastal resort of Dinard with its beautiful curved bay and a large sheltered beach. Time for a dip perhaps or just a loll on the sand eyeing St Malo on the far side of the estuary. Hop on the ferry when the spirit moves you and you will be back where you started at Quic en Groigne, full of Breton life!
15 miles (24 km)
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9. Day nine
Depart St Malo
Depart at your leisure.