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Tour de France
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Men's Tour de France tickets 2025
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L'Etape du Tour de France
Italy
Spain
Holland
United Kingdom
Portugal
Ireland
Switzerland
Croatia
Provence
Loire Valley
Bordeaux
Brittany
Burgundy
Dordogne
Alsace
Massif Central
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Provence
Loire Valley
Bordeaux
Dordogne
Burgundy
Brittany
Alsace
Burgundy
Alsace
Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Burgundy
Alsace
Provence
Loire Valley
Languedoc
Portugal
Provence
Alsace
Dordogne
Loire Valley
Brittany
Burgundy
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Corsica
Provence
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Loire Valley
Burgundy
Alsace
Brittany
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Loire Valley
Provence
Bordeaux
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Dordogne
Burgundy
Brittany
Guadeloupe
Loire Valley
Dordogne
Brittany
Provence
French Riviera
Spain
Normandy
Corsica
Atlantic Coast
Loire Valley
Dordogne
Brittany
Provence
French Riviera
Spain
Normandy
Corsica
Atlantic Coast
Provence
Loire Valley
Languedoc
Dordogne
Provence
Loire Valley
Languedoc
Dordogne
Other conditions Surface conditions – road/trails; all assumed to be in good condition; no technical experience is needed and not an added difficulty factor.
More challenging options : Ask us to design you a custom tour or simply take our maps and add miles to your route. Feel free to improvise, but know your limits and know what the symbols on the maps mean!
Weather: heat, rain, and wind will all have an effect on your ride/walk and extremes of each will make it more difficult. Load: carrying excessive weight obviously makes more work for you. We always transfer luggage, so this refers only to what you take in a day pack or in panniers.
Dress: layering, using appropriate and lightweight clothing, protection from the sun, and good footwear make it easier for you.
Equipment: primarily relates to bikes; but knowing how to shift, when to shift, and maintain your bike will make it easier for you as well. How long will it take to cover the rides/walks/hikes at these levels? There is no specific answer because everyone travels at his or her own speed. However, when we indicate a time, such as in the hikes, we generalize with an average of 5 km/hour on flat surfaces and 3.5 km/hr on grade. In the bike rides, we generalize an average of 13-18 km/h on flat surfaces and 10-13 km/h on grade. Those times do include bathroom breaks, but not time for lunch and visits. Everyone should allow time to stop and explore, visit sites, and check directions.
If you can ride a bike at 20 mph; you cannot take a trip and expect to finish a ride in 2 hours. First, you need to allow time to check directions as you go, and then stop to visit. No less than 4 hours should be allowed to do any of the hikes and rides we have in our programs on any day. Longer days will last as much as 8 hours with stops and visits included.
Star tours – aka loop trips! These are days where you return to the same hotel where you start the day. This means that people who are less strong can do shorter days than stronger persons. It also allows a day off, non-active participants to come along, and is a great way for families and groups of varying abilities/interests to do the same trip together. These tours offer everything from easy to challenging rides, (Levels 1 – 3) but are usually rated as easy because it accommodate easy.
All our Tours : We provide, at the orientation, a road-book with cue sheet (step by step itinerary), detailled maps and regional information.
Cycling & Multisport tours, you will find plenty of road signs and indications to keep you on course and roads are easily identified on maps included with the road-book.
On Hiking tours, it is more important to know how to orient with a map as you will have fewer sign postings to rely upon. Hiking tours mostly follow GR routes which are marked trails, sometimes paved, but nonetheless otherwise in remote areas. We provide more detailled maps for hiking Tours and
What else? You should be an independent person, capable of reading a map, interpreting directions, and taking charge of your planning. We are here to help you, but in the end, you will be the one out there on the road/trail and the more prepared you are mentally as well as physically, the more fun and better memories you will have! Use this tour as an excuse to increase your conditioning and fitness and take some time to read everything we send to you as well as do your own research. Preparation is part of the fun in travel – don’t let it go unattended! Within this site you can discover more than just our tours, but also information about the regions of France, and information about traveling in France. Most important though for anyone visiting our site and considering a vacation in France is that you can call us! Let our service and knowledge set us apart! This website isn’t to help us avoid speaking to clients, but to facilitate your planning process, and hopefully get you the information you need right away. If you have a question though, Please contact us if you have any questions about our services.
At Discover France, we own our own bikes! We employ professonal mechanics to look after all rental bikes as well as our regular professional service to the local customers.
You are responsible for the bikes. Bikes are delivered to each participant based on height. They are sized as close as possible but they remain rentals and may take some minor adjustments. The quality is top notch for rentals. Our mechanics review every bike after each rental to prepare for the next use. WHILE ON TOUR: remember that YOU must know how to fix a flat. We give you the tools, but we are not on call to fix that. We will resolve any other mechanical issues if they should arise.
Discover France Adventures is proud to be a leader in providing complete and even ‘advance’ technology on our self guided and custom guided tours that allow our clients to use the best equipment possible. We invested in GPS units a few years back and have some simple to use, easy to read, yet sophisticated devices available on nearly all of our tours. (Pictured: hybrid bike with GPS and mount, bike computer, handlebar bag with plastic map holder and inside cover of a sample route book.)
Our route books or ‘road books’ (same thing) are complete packages of information that will help you to guide yourself through the itinerary that we have planned and laid out for you our travelers. Anyone can produce a route book, in general, but we have invested significant time and incorporated the feedback of our customers over many years to make our road books even better. It is always a work in progress as roads change, sites change, and we find even better routes between 2 points. We work on them every winter to prepare for the upcoming season. Our road books include: color coded information, color maps, highlighted routes, orientation points, and easy to follow directions. We try to give you enough information to interpret the route without giving you too much information that makes you read all the time and not enjoy the ride! It is a delicate balance!
Road books are a tool, one that every traveler will use and interpret differently. 2 people do not always see the same thing on a map, and so some people will not interpret the directions the same way. We know this and its why we have created the system we have. Combining the GPS with road book really gives you all the tools and a fail safe way to make your way along a tour route without stress and all the time available to take in the gorgeous countryside, rich culture, and historic sites!
Tour Support? Yes, even on a self guided tour we are behind the scenes working and we are available to you if you need help. We refer to this in our tour pages as ’emergency support’ but we don’t treat many emergencies. In our 2 offices in the Loire Valley and in the South of France we are on standby via phone for all of our travelers no matter where they are in France. Our offices are bilingual French/English and we have some Spanish, Russian, and Italian speakers as well. This support service is available during daylight hours when our clients are out on the routes. We help customers arrange alternative transfers if weather is bad or someone is sick and can’t participate in the day’s activity. We can iron out any problem with hotels you may encounter when you arrive. We help if a bike problem should arise, and we help with additional services you may need during your trip.
Our travelers are never completely alone, even if you don’t see us. The beautiful part of a self guided trip is doing the activity yourself and those close to you; doing it when you want, how you want, but not having to do all the work to make it happen. You get expertly designed routes, support, and service. A self guided trip is the best deal going as far as were concerned, and with all the above info we think you will agree!
Part of our included services for tour clients booking trips with us is a variety of travel documents that we send prior to travel. This includes a lot of information relevant to each cycling or multisport tour such as sites in the particular region, and the points of interest. We include suggested dining spots, and any specialties of a region. We also help our customers book trains, added hotel stays, car rentals, and any other ground service in France. Below are some general travel tips we believe useful for any one traveling to France.
France Time zone France is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T. +1). This makes it 6 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time (E.S.T. +6, and +9 PST). The time is the same all over the country.
The country is divided in 95 departments, each has its name and its number and this number is set by alphabetical order. That number is found at the beginning of each zip code of the department as well as the last 2 digits of the car plates.
Documentation U.S citizens only need a valid passport to travel to France as long as their stay does not exceed 3 months. You are required to carry identification with you at all times when traveling in France. If you lose your passport, contact:
American Consulate
2, rue Saint Florentin – 75001 Paris
Tel: 01.42.96.12.02 or 01.42.61.80.75
Consular Section for Canadians
35, Avenue de Montaigne – 75008 Paris
Tel: 01.44.43.32.00
Post Office – Mail / Shipping
The Post Office is called LA POSTE or PTT. Generally open M-F from 9am to 6pm and Saturday from 9am to 12pm.
Telephone
France is divided by 5 zones for the telephone. The 2 first digits of a phone number tells you the area: 01 is Paris / 02 northwest / 03 northeast / 04 southeast / 05 southwest.
From the States, you don’t need to dial the 0. But once in France, you have to dial the 0. Phone numbers must have 10 digits (including the first 0), no exception, except of course the emergency numbers. Public phones in France require a telephone card, or they can often work also with a credit card. Check for the signs Visa, Master Card, etc.
24 hour ambulance (called SAMU): 15
Police: 17
Fire: 18
Other telephone numbers in Paris:
24 hour doctor: 01.47.07.77.77
24 hour dentist: 01.43.37.51.00
English language crisis line: 01.47.23.80.80
Banks are generally open weekdays 9am – 4:30pm. In many cities outside Paris banks close for lunch, sometimes for 2 hours. Most banks are closed Saturday and Sunday and all holidays. The main banks are: BNP / Credit Agricole / Societe Generale / Caisse d’Epargne / Credit du Nord, etc.
Document / Insurance / Law
Car rental
The legal age to rent a car is 21, but most companies require being 25 years old.
See our links page for companies, and insurance options.
Gas
Taxes on gas are very high in France, which explains the price of the liter:
On the petrol pump Sans Plomb means unleaded petrol. Gas stations along highways are open 24 h / 7 days. French usually get gas at large stores like Carrefour, Leclerc, Casino, etc. You can go at any time, help yourself and use your credit card.
Types of roads
Interstate toll way / Motorway = A + the number of the road / 130km/h is the speed limit. This is also a toll road, you can pay tolls with a credit card; this is the fast way to travel, but is not cheap! Every 20 km you have restaurants, gas station, sometimes shops, restrooms. National road = N + number of the road / 90km/h. If you are not traveling too far or if you have plenty of time, then the more scenic and free way to go is on the National roads. A famous road in France is the National 7 / N7. There is even a song about that road sung by Charles Trenet! Department road = D + number of the road / 50km/h. Great for seeing the back country of France; very slow going.
There are many convenient locations within Paris:
More detailed travel information is available at the French Governement Tourist Office Website at www.franceguide.com
We suggest that people either buy in advance or in country! What other choice is there? The way to think about it is like this:
If you have a very popular route on the TGV; we recommend advance purchases. Usually TGV tickets with specific seats cannot be purchased more than 60 days in advance. A TGV ticket is almost pointless without the actual seat. They are 2 different things! A ticket between Paris and Avignon, for example, might be valid on any train in a certain time frame, but doesn’t entitle you to a seat on any train. You have to also buy a seat reservation.
We recommend advance tickets with seats for the city pairs:
Rail Passes: usually a good deal when you travel on the TGV at least 3 times, but often still a good deal if you even use it only 2 times. See the France Rail Pass at Rail Europe. A new pass/ticket option being offered by Rail Europe is the Anywhere Anytime France program of E-tickets. This also looks to be a very useful option, depending your travel plans.
Buying in country, or if you are very confident, then buy online direct from SNCF, the French national railroad: www.voyages-sncf.com They have English language available, but you may have to go through the French language only site to make certain purchases. If a rail pass isn’t the best deal for you , then perhaps you can get a ‘PREMS’ deal on SNCF directly.
Other tickets: TER and regional trains for 1 way or simple/short round trips. We believe it is almost always best to buy them through SNCF, usually by walking into any station or at a kiosk when in France. Unless you travel with a rail pass, then your pass is good on these trains too. But, we don’t recommend buying point to point tickets on regional trains through Rail Europe. Shipping fees and even seat assignments add up to too much. NOTE: Regional trains do not require seat reservations, so don’t pay for them. Just sit in any open seat in your ticket class of service.
First of Second Class? Look at the prices! Sometimes there is little difference. On the train, there are no added privileges like larger seats or massages , etc in 1st class. What you usually have is a wagon that tends to be a bit quieter with business travelers or adults without children.
EXCELLENT Based on 235 reviews Robert M2025-01-02Verified Croatia Bike Tour = Amazing This is the second time we have used Discover France for a vacation in Europe, both trips were 10/10. This time was a little more special as this was part of our honeymoon! We booked the shorter Croatia trip through the Istrian peninsula and it did not disappoint.Our tour consultant, Solene, was amazing! She took care of everything and answered any questions we had throughout the process. She also made sure all the hotels knew that it was our honeymoon so we had a couple extra surprises waiting for us when we checked in at each hotel.We also needed several transfers to and from the airport which Solene was happy to help with. It made the trip so much less stressful when you are able to book everything through the same service.The bike tour itself was so much fun. The recommendations (sites to see, restaurants, cafes, etc) provided by Discover France were spot on. The locals were so friendly (and most spoke English which helped!). The food was delicious especially being in a wine and truffle region. We would 100% do this trip again!Thank you Solene and Discover France! Justin T2024-11-26Verified 5th time (and lifelong) return customer Hands down the best adventure organization I’ve ever worked with abroad. This will be my 5th time returning to the TdF in 2025 with Discover France. Gabriel and the reservation team do everything they can to make your trip exactly as you hope. If there’s something they can or cannot do they work with you all the way. It’s a very one-on-one, professional and reassuring process for reservations abroad. The programs are incredibly memorable, with exclusive VIP access that exceeds any other TdF organizations. Their focus is the riding, course, and to make sure your experience on a bike is as good as it can possibly be. Other programs offer different bells and whistles to their TdF packages but absolutely nothing is as exclusive, personalized, and uniquely small-group as Discover France programs. You do not need to be an expert rider for the programs. But experience and at least comfort on a bike is needed. The rides can also be tailored on a daily (or even hourly) basis to the rider/group skill, weather, overall energy level that day, and your personal preferences. Support vehicle with special French credentials allows for Discover France to provide a van with you the entire trip. Sun, clouds, rain, sleet/snow (yes…it’s the Pyrenees or Alps), hot and cold: there is always a vehicle that can help you along the way and offer a place to bring along your gear like the professionals. Shout out to: Florentin and Titouan for spectacular rides and support expertise. Finally, Thomas and Aurelian are two of the most dedicated cycling enthusiasts and leaders of a one-of-kind organization. Their dedication and leadership is evident from the top down as all of the guides and employees seem to love their works as much as they do. Kevin P2024-11-24Verified Puglia in October This is the second year in a row that our group of friends have chosen Discover France. This time to Puglia. And again, the experience was fantastic. It starts with our tour consultant, Gabriel, who is responsive and truly cares that we have a great holiday. This year, we requested a one-day diversion off the usual route and the Discover France team mapped a great route for us. We also appreciate how the bikes are in good shape and all is well organized for our arrival. The route was generally on bike paths or tertiary roads and relatively flat - a well designed route for sure. joel w2024-10-27Verified Costa Brava Spain This is our 4th bike trip with Discover France, and they never seize to amaze us. We have been working with Solene, and she is remarkably professional, responsive, and most importantly, she listens to our "wish list" of preferences, and makes suggestions with that in mind. All our trips have been in France, with this one in Costa Brava. We loved biking in this region of Spain. Most of the biking was on gravel trails, and kept us off the roads. The scenery was beautiful, particularly the small coastal towns. The itinerary was well planned and we enjoyed the 2 night stays in each village, in lieu of moving nightly. I would recommend this route. I will be reaching back out to Solene to book our next trip. She is wonderful and I wouldn't consider using another bike tour company. Safe biking..... Alisha Stephen C2024-10-16Verified Loire Valley success. My girlfriend and I had an amazing experience doing the Loire Valley ride from Amboise to Chenhuette. Gabriel and team Discover France were very always responsive and available to help us. The routes were well thought out. Once you master the App, they are very easy to follow. The hotels were amazing and the staff at each one had a good relationship with DF. The bikes were amazing - Moustache Dimanche 28.4. They made this trip the success that it was. Rob W2024-10-08Verified Puglia Bike Just finished a bike trip to Puglia. Gabriel did an awesome job! Great hotels, bikes, routes and destination advice. We would highly recommend having Gabriel at Discover France plan your routes. My brother and sister have also used Gabriel and were extremely happy as well Don Y2024-10-04Verified Cotswolds This was the 4th trip using Discover France and each time has been amazing. This trip was to the Cotswolds in the UK. The organization of the trip (specifically Gabriel service) was outstanding. The hotels were all great and scenery was beautiful. We had one day of heavy rain but that added to the allure and challenge of the rides. Thanks to all at Discover France and of course Gabriel. Robert M2024-10-01Verified Loire Valley Classic - Great trip! Our first trip with Discover France but I hope not our last. Tatiana put together a great itinerary for our self-guided trip. The hotels were lovely, clean and biker-friendly, with most in former chateaux themselves. The bikes (2 regular, 1 e-bike) were in great condition and well-equipped, and the orientation session was very thorough. Luggage service worked as promised. Discover France did a good job minimizing our time on busy roads - almost all the trip was on bike paths or roads with little vehicular traffic. No complaints from us! JB-in-SB2024-09-26Verified Bordeaux-Dordogne: The best trip yet! Our third trip with Discover France, from Bordeaux to Sarlat in the Dordogne, was the best one yet. Loved the countryside, the food, the hotels, everything. For the first time I rode a pedal-assist bike, and it was a game-changer for me now that I'm in my sixties -- no more worrying at night about climbs I might be facing the following day.! My husband stuck to the standard touring bike and it worked out well for both of us. Working with Gabriel was a breeze. Thanks, Discover France -- we'll be back! Janet G2024-09-25Verified Loire Valley Classic: An Incredible Tour One of the most visually compelling bike tours we’ve done in Europe. All the major chateaux in the Loire Valley are located along the route, which is largely comprised of bike trails and/or little-trafficked country lanes. The local food and wines are exceptional. Discover France is a first-class operation; we’ve worked with them before, and will again on our next visit to France. Their entire team is great; extra kudos to our tour consultant, Solene Graino.
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