South of France: UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Traveler photos

Route Map

Maps are for information purposes only and reflect typical routes between overnight locations. They may not reflect your actual route.

• ★★★★★ Htim November 10, 2019

  Beautiful and Fascinating

  Beautiful routes, fascinating history, quaint, picturesque towns, grand castles and walled cities. Lodging ranged from excellent to very good. Bicycles and computer were great—we opted for carbon road bikes. Only negative was that the tour was short—one day had to be cancelled because of very heavy rain, and the last day was just a loop from Carcassonne to Limoux and back.

  What was the date of your tour?

  October 2019

  How many tours have you completed?

  8

  Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?

  As expected

  Who is this tour suitable for?

  Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens

  Do you recommend this tour?

  No

  • 4/5 Value
  • 5/5 Included meals
  • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
  • 5/5 Hotels or boat
  • 5/5 Scenery
  • 4/5 Ease of navigation
  • 5/5 Tour documents
  • 5/5 Local tour company services
  • 5/5 Route selection
• ★★★★★ BadgerBiker October 4, 2019

  South France self-guided

  Hotels and most meals were very good to excellent. Very good scenery and most roads were paved, in good or better condition and lightly travelled. Bikes were heavier than necessary for terrain, but sturdy (only needed hybrids on the Canal day). Detailed cue sheet, but hard to follow on-the-fly, especially through the towns. GPS was more helpful, but wrong route on Canal du Midi day. Accommodated 1 vegan traveller well, except 1 place where there was a communication snafu. Overall a very good tour, but could work on routing accuracy and tips on scenery/history along the way (and maybe lighter hybrid bikes!).

  What was the date of your tour?

  Sept 2019

  How many tours have you completed?

  3

  Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?

  As expected

  Who is this tour suitable for?

  Families with teens

  Do you recommend this tour?

  Yes

  • 4/5 Value
  • 4/5 Included meals
  • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
  • 5/5 Hotels or boat
  • 5/5 Scenery
  • 3/5 Ease of navigation
  • 3/5 Tour documents
  • 3/5 Local tour company services
  • 4/5 Route selection
• ★★★★★ Jessicarae July 3, 2019

  Wonderful trip and incredible moments!

  Bike trips are such an incredible way to see a country. This trip did not disappoint. The rides were definitely hilly - as hobby cyclists with not enough time to bike at home before the trip - we did great, but did walk a few hills. The hotels we stayed at were INCREDIBLE, each in their own way. All and all - I'd recommend this trip to any one that wants to really see and experience the south of France.

  What was the date of your tour?

  June 2019

  How many tours have you completed?

  2

  Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?

  Somewhat harder

  Do you recommend this tour?

  Yes

  • 5/5 Value
  • 5/5 Included meals
  • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
  • 5/5 Hotels or boat
  • 5/5 Scenery
  • 4/5 Ease of navigation
  • 4/5 Tour documents
  • 4/5 Local tour company services
  • 4/5 Route selection
• ★★★★★ JayF September 23, 2017

  Some Surprises!

  We had some terrific rides on this tour. The most notable being the third day of riding with a stop at Minerve. The scenery was incredible. The first two days also had some great vistas.
  We took the time to explore the first night's village of St. Guilhume le Desert. Worth the time. We also stopped and walked the cave at Clamuse. The vineyards on the hillsides and in the valley were treats to cycle through. We enjoyed exploring the villages in which we stayed such as Villeneuvette and Siran.
  The accommodations were all adequate with a couple highlights with the Chateaus in Lignan sur Orb and Siran. La Source in Villeneuvette was also charming.
  The staff at all the accommodations were all very helpful and friendly.
  The included meals were lovely.

  I do have some criticisms/suggestions:
  1. When we booked this trip we wondered how we were going to achieve our usual daily mileage of 80-100kms. The tour is rated a 3 "rolling, hilly terrain". Discover France rates it as Hobby or Active. We were surprised when meeting with our Discover France contact at the 1st hotel that every ride except the canal ride into Carcassonne is rated Active/Pro. We have cycled frequently in rolling, hilly terrain such as Kentucky, rolling hills do not have names (as at least one of the climbs did). There were a few long climbs that by no measure qualify as rolling hilly terrain. We are also familiar with categorized climbs so we adjusted our expectations and pedaled. One steep incline on a rare broken pavement type road will stay with me for a while.
  2. Discover France titles this ride "The Best of Languedoc" which is exactly what it is, you may want to adjust Biketours.com title as Narbonne is not on the itinerary.
  3. A shorter road bike option into Carcassonne should be provided. There is a hybrid bike ride along the canal or a long road bike option. The weather was not co-operative on that day and we had to make our own shorter road option into Carcassonne.
  4. The Hotel Montmorency was the smallest room on the trip and frankly a let down after the Chateau de Siran. At the end of the trip with all your stuff for two days it gets cramped. As well the hotel is really an annex of another with check in at the Chateau du Hotel, although there is no mention of the need to go across the street to check in. Checking in through a 4 star hotel had me questioning "why are we not staying here?". As noted previously the staff were excellent at Hotel Montmorency (really Chateau du Hotel), strictly room size issue. The location cannot be beat either.
  5. Another day in Carcassonne might be offered as an option. The medieval city and the other sites in Carcassonne cannot be done justice in half a day. To chose between riding and properly seeing a place such as Carcassone is one that should not have to be made.

  What was the date of your tour?

  Sept 14-20 2017

  How many tours have you completed?

  Countless

  Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?

  Somewhat harder

  Who is this tour suitable for?

  Solo travelers

  Do you recommend this tour?

  Yes

  • BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson, Founder and president September 24, 2017

    I very much appreciate your detailed feedback, which I've passed along to our tour team. We will also inform the local tour company of your helpful comments. I'm glad you had some great rides despite some of the surprises!

  • 4/5 Value
  • 4/5 Included meals
  • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
  • 4/5 Hotels or boat
  • 5/5 Scenery
  • 5/5 Ease of navigation
  • 4/5 Tour documents
  • 4/5 Local tour company services
  • 4/5 Route selection
• ★★★★★ Go Legs Go April 26, 2016

  Excellent Company to use for Cycling in France.

  My husband and I did this self guided cycle tour. I can not recommend this tour highly enough. The bikes were in perfect condition. Extremely well maintained. The maps and GPS provided made for easy navigation - we did however get lost once. The cycling was sensational. Discover France had obviously put a lot of thought into the routes chosen to avoid main roads and show case the amazing scenery. Accommodation provided was perfect (even stayed in Chateaus). The food variety and quality available was exceptional. We generally ate where we were staying if they had a restaurant in house. At Carcassonne we ate at the Michelin star restaurant in the old town. This was fantastic food and outstanding value. On a personal note I had a day where I "hit the wall" and couldn't continue cycling for fear of fainting. We were in the middle of nowhere and it was 39 degrees.. I rang Discover France and they had us and our bikes picked up within 30 minutes and took us to our accommodation. Now that is service!

  How many tours have you completed?

  6

  Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?

  As expected

  Do you recommend this tour?

  Yes

  • 5/5 Value
  • 5/5 Included meals
  • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
  • 5/5 Hotels or boat
  • 5/5 Scenery
  • 5/5 Ease of navigation
  • 5/5 Tour documents
  • 5/5 Local tour company services
  • 5/5 Route selection