Why choose Loire Life’s single centre cycling holidays in the Loire Valley France?

While most cycling tours in the Loire Valley follow a point to point itinerary with a nightly hotel change we’ve developed amazing centre based cycling holidays that our guests love!

Ten reasons why our Loire Valley cycling holidays are better

A unique approach – Single Centre Cycling Holidays

Our french cycling holidays are fixed centre.  You stay in one location and follow Loire Valley cycling routes that enable you to see as much as other cycling holidays achieve on more traditional point to point cycling tours.  You don’t continually cycle the same roads and you do not miss out of famous Chateaux.

Best of all, you unpack at the beginning of the week, make yourself at home and relax.

Relaxed Style & Small Groups

We create a relaxed atmosphere with a maximum group size of ten.  There is no pressure to cycle together – we suggest our routes to you, but you can do something else!

We cater for all levels of leisure cyclist and age is no barrier.  Our oldest guest was eighty (and cycled over 150kms during the week!) and our youngest fourteen.

We welcome guests from all over the world, but predominantly Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, South Africa and the UK.  We are originally from the UK, so language is no problem.

Beautiful Loire Valley Accommodation

Our single centre cycling holidays are based in an idylic setting  we have specifically developed over the last ten years.

Le Gué de Ray is an 19th century farmstead set in an acre of woodland gardens where we have created high quality guest accommodation.

The facilities, our hospitality and welcome is second to none, which is perhaps why so many of our guests either return or recommend us! We expect you to treat Gué de Ray as your home while you are with us and use all the facilities we have on offer.

See more on our cycling accommodation at Gue de Ray and the facilities we offer.

Wonderful home cooked cuisine

We pride ourselves on the great food and specially chosen wine we provide to our guests.  Our evening meals are full of variety, locally grown produce and flavour – click here.   We are able to cater for vegetarians and other dietary requirements

Cycling Itineraries packed with interest

We plan each day of our cycling holidays meticulously and cycle every single kilometre of the itineraries we offer you.  The hills are kept to the absolute minimum and the interest to the absolute maximum.   The Loire Valley is so much more than just Chateaux!  Check out the itinerary on the Loire Valley Discovery Tour .

Our intineraries are flexible and can be lengthened or shortened without difficulty – but to make the most of the Loire Valley Discovery Tour you should be able to ride 50kms in a day.

Fantastic routes that are easy to follow

Don’t be put off at the thought of guiding yourself through the Loire Valley.  We use a brilliant voice navigation system that guides you without fuss. We ride here continually, so our routes  are the best you will find anywhere – clear, packed with interest and tried and tested.

We watch in wonder at other tour companies and the busy routes they send their guests on. With us you’ll find the back roads and escape the crowds.

Support & Backup

If you run into difficulties we are never far away.  With the minibus we can cover mechanical problems and provide assistance or a lift back to base if necessary.

Well maintained rental bikes

Cycling holidays in France are about relaxing and soaking up the scenery without too much effort.  So, the standard bikes we offer reflect this philosophy. You’ll find relaxed gearing and an upright cycling position with the bikes coming in a range of sizes for ladies and men.
We also offer electric bikes and road bikes. 
Each bike comes equipped with water bottle and bottle cage, pannier, foam puncture repair can, multi-tool, bike-lock, bike pump and high visibility vest. Helmets are available in all sizes. 
The bikes are checked daily and are fully adjustable to ensure you have a comfortable cycling position!

See more on the bikes we provide and the bespoke services we can provide here.

The perfect Loire Valley location

Our holidays take place in the heart of the UNESCO designated section of the Loire Valley between Angers & Tours.   We’ve some of the most beautiful landscapes of the Loire a Velo cycle-way, stunning Chateau, towns rich in heritage and the vineyards of Torraine, Anjou, Saumur,  Bourgueil and Chinon – so reds, whites, sparkling and dessert wine all on your doorstep!

Travelling to us is straightforward

Easily accessible from anywhere in the world, yet deep in the heart of rural France and the Loire Valley.  Previous guests have found us ideally located for travelling onward to other parts of Europe as part of a European Tour, utilising the fantastic rail links that exist from the Loire Valley.

We’re not a tour company so don’t provide travel packages, but can provide you with help on train times etc.

By rail we are less than three hours from Paris and Charles de Gaulle Airport.  Our nearest mainline station is Saumur and if you are on our Loire Valley Discovery Cycling Holiday then you can take advantage of a mini-bus transfer to Gue de Ray at the start and end of your cycling holiday.  In addition, Hertz and Europcar are located in Saumur if you need car hire.

By road we are linked in all directions by Autoroutes.  From the United Kingdom, we are 3 hours from the nearest Channel port (Caen) and 5 hours from the Channel Tunnel.

By Air it is also possible to fly direct into Tours Loire Valley Airport from London Stansted. This is in addition to flying to Paris Charles de Gaulle and then using the rail services already mentioned.

We don’t provide packages that include travel tickets, but we are more than willing to provide advice on how to get to us in the most effective way.  With this in mind we have provided you with more travel information here

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