When Time is Short But You Need a Real Break, our Loire Star Cycling Holiday in France Can Deliver

If you're looking for a shorter holiday this year, or simply want an alternative type of minibreak, our Loire Star cycling holiday in France offers a real sense of getting away from it all and giving your mind a complete rest from the normal routine.

For those looking for a short break, holidays in the UK are one option of course – and we offer a range of 2 and 3 night cycling holidays in Suffolk and Norfolk for those who prefer something closer to home. But did you know that some of our cycling holidays in France can be just as quick to get to while offering a genuine change of scene?

Our Loire Star tour is available as a 3 or 4 night break, involving either 2 or 3 days of cycling. The tour is named after the 7 circular routes available, all fanning out from the charming village of Chitenay where you will be staying each night. Each day you choose one of the routes, depending on how far you fancy cycling, returning to base for dinner and 3 star hotel accommodation.

Cycle Breaks – See a map of the Loire Star tour here.

If you've never considered cycling holidays in France as a possibility for a short break before, here are just a few reasons to think about our Loire Star tour:

Short travel time – The flight time from Stansted to Tours is just 1h 20min, which is only slightly more than flying Stansted to Glasgow and about the time from London to Norwich by road or rail. Once landed at Tours airport, a train will take you to Blois in about half an hour, followed by a short taxi ride into Chitenay.

Organisation done for you – Organising your own cycling holiday can take time to plan, not to mention arranging cycle hire or getting your own bike ready and transporting it. We supply the bikes, all maintained and ready to go. All the Loire Star routes have already been researched and described in detailed route notes and map provided on arrival – all you have to do is follow the guidance in the notes.

3 star accommodation – Your accommodation is arranged for you in advance as part of the booking, so you don't have to worry about calling a hotel in France or trawling through French websites. We have personally visited each and every one of the hotels and B&B's on all our UK and European cycling holidays to ensure it meets the standards we would expect for our customers – and the Auberge du Centre in Chitenay is no exception. This stunning château-style hotel with extensive gardens and central location makes a fantastic base for any holiday. The Loire Star tour includes breakfast and dinner here as part of the price, and there is even a pool to help you cool off after your day's cycling.

Variety – A 3 or 4 night tour offers 2 or 3 days of cycling, with a choice of routes each day. The routes on offer take in a wide variety of different sights from rivers to châteaux to forests – so you will always have something new to look at it. Routes vary in length from 9 miles to 31 miles. So you can choose a longer route and make a day of it, or choose a shorter one, polish it off by lunchtime and enjoy the spectacular gardens or relax by the pool in the afternoon. With so much variety built in, you can easily pack in more activity on a short cycling holiday in France than some beach or villa holidays offer in a fortnight.

Different food – Nothing makes the brain really "get" that it has travelled than eating different types and styles of food, especially when the menu is in a different language. If this sounds a bit risky, don't worry, as dinner at the Auberge is in the capable hands of chef Gilles Martinet and we have arranged for you to be guided through the best of French cuisine as your stay progresses via the Menu du Jour, Menu Superior, Menu Terroir (focusing on local and regional dishes) and finally Menu Gastronomique – all included in the price.

Switch off – On a traditional holiday by the beach or pool, but with not much else to do, it can be hard to switch off your brain from thinking about the concerns of work or home. A cycling holiday, even a short one, gives your brain other things to think about from the moment you arrive – like following your route map, taking in ever-changing scenery and thinking about where you'd like to stop for lunch. You mind simply won't have time to linger on your life back home, giving you that all important downtime you need to get the most benefit from your break.

Cycling Holidays France – Find out more about our Loire Star tour.

Combine Adventure with Comfort on One of Our Scenic Cycling Holidays in France

What do you do when you fancy a bit of adventure on holiday but also want comfort? Or even worse, one of you wants adventure and the other one wants luxury. This can be a difficult choice to make – but not if you choose one of Cycle Breaks' cycling holidays in France or further afield in Europe. They combine a range of activity levels to suit your physical ability, with comfortable, hand picked accommodation.

Enough Adventure to Suit Your Preferences and Ability
At Cycle Breaks we understand that what spells an exciting challenge for one person could be difficult or unpleasant for another – something definitely to be avoided when you're on holiday! So we have carefully researched and graded all our cycling holidays in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and the UK, making it easy for you to pick the right level, from Grade 1 (the easiest) to Grade 4. While Grade 4 offers slightly more challenge, you don't have to be a superfit sports cyclist for any of our holidays – our focus is on "gentle adventure" and Grade 4 would still be within the capability of a leisure cyclist of average fitness.

For those unused to doing a lot of cycling we recommend one of our gentler tours, offering enough activity to be enjoyable but without involving long distances or lengthy steep inclines. A single centre, Grade 1 tours offer the easiest level of cycling and the most flexibility. Because you are staying in the same accommodation each night, you can simply opt to do no cycling at all on whichever days suit you.

Our "Loire Star" tour, for example, offers a choice of Grade 1 routes to choose from, ranging from 9 to 31 miles – so you really can pick and choose how much activity you want.

For those who cycle a little more regularly, we recommend one of our medium grade tours, with longer routes and incorporating steeper inclines. For instance, our "Tours to Angers" Grade 2-3 tour involves 4 days of cycling, with rides of between 26 and 38 miles per day – giving you a real sense of achievement when you arrive in the ancient city of Angers.

But for those who want a bit more challenge, choose one of our Grade 4 routes and be rewarded with some spectacular views. Our "Dordogne Cycling Through History" tour, for instance, involves 6 days of cycling of between 20 and 34 miles, including an ascent to the famous "perched village" of Rocamadour from where you can enjoy a panoramic view of the hills and forests surrounding this historic medieval village.

Of course, another measure of challenge is the number of days in a row you will be cycling. Again, there is a wide choice to choose from, from 3 nights to 10 nights, depending on how far you want to push yourself.

Cycle Breaks – See our full range of graded cycling holidays in France, Europe or the UK and pick one that is right for you.

Enough Comfort to Feel Like a Holiday
To ensure you feel as though you are on holiday, we also pay close attention to the accommodation where you will be staying.

All accommodation has been personally hand picked and visited by ourselves. As well as saving you considerable time researching and booking your own lodgings, this also takes the worry out of wondering whether it will be up to scratch.

All hotels and B&B's are a minimum of 2 stars, but 3 star accommodation is standard on many tours, and some tours have the option to upgrade to a higher level of accommodation if desired.

For multi-centre tours where you will be staying at a different place each night, we transfer all your luggage for you each day, so it is waiting for you when you arrive – all included in the price.

One of the major sources of stress or discomfort on a tour based holiday is the worry about finding your way around and finding good places to see or to eat. Again, we've done all this for you, providing you with detailed tour notes before you go. For each cycle route we suggest places to stop, either to see the local sights or to take refreshment.

And of course, your cycling holiday in France would not be possible without a bike! These are provided for you, and are delivered to your accommodation ready for your first day's cycling. We've chosen a comfortable hybrid touring bike with easy to use gears and a range of convenient accessories to make being out and about that bit easier to manage, such as map holders, panniers and bags. And for extra ease and comfort, electric bikes are available on many tours.

Cycling Holidays France – Find out more about the type of accommodation available on our tours.

Whilst we have done as much as we can to make it easy to pick the right level of tour for you, we are happy to discuss your individual requirements with you before you book. As we have personally researched all the routes on offer we can give you more details and make recommendations to ensure you have a holiday that is both stimulating and enjoyable.

Pedal Back in Time: Museums and Art Galleries in the Loire Valley

On a cycling holiday in France, it is always fascinating to discover something about the history of the area that you are going to, perhaps by visiting a museum or art gallery. Fortunately, on a Cycle Breaks tour there is plenty of opportunity to travel at your own speed and take in the attractions which appeal to you.

Cycle Breaks aim to ensure that families and groups of friends enjoy memorable holidays. Tours can be as energetic or as gentle as you want them to be, as our trips are all graded to suit different abilities. We organise your accommodation, bikes, maps and routes and you don’t have to worry about transporting your luggage as this is all taken care of for you.

One of the areas where Cycle Breaks organises self-guided tours is the historic and beautiful Loire Valley. This region has a wide range of fascinating museums which you may want to take time to visit during your cycling holiday in France.

Cycling Holidays Loire Valley France  – Click here to find out more.

Here is our guide to museums and art galleries that are worth exploring on your visit to the Loire Valley.

Tapestry Museum – Angers, the historic capital of Anjou, showcases the famous Tapestry of the Apocalypse at Angers Castle – a 100 metre 14th century tapestry created in Paris, which takes its inspiration from the Book of Revelation, showing the end of the world. The city also now has a more modern tapestry among its attractions, housed at the Jean Lurçat Contemporary Tapestry Museum, in the former Hâpital St. Jean. Lurçat took the medieval tapestry as the inspiration for his series of ten Song of the World tapestries, created in 1957, which show the joys and sorrows of life.

The Portrait Gallery – The Château de Beauregard is one of the Loire Valley's many celebrated châteaux and a popular place to visit while cycling through France. Beauregard houses the famous Gallery of Portraits, dating back to the first half of the 17th century, which contains an amazing array of 327 portraits including European kings and queens, clerics, diplomats, politicians and other famous people who lived between the 14th and 17th centuries. Among the people included in the collection are Cardinal Richelieu, Christopher Columbus, British monarchs Henry VII, Mary and Elizabeth I, and 15 French kings.

Hunting Museum – A museum dedicated to the history of hunting with dogs is at the Château de Montpoupon, to the east of Tours. This displays mementoes of the Montpoupon hunt over the ages, including uniforms and saddles, and gives an insight into French rural life in past centuries.

Musée des Beaux-Arts – Located in Orléans, this is one of the oldest museums in France and has one of the country's greatest collections of art treasures. It regularly stages special exhibitions, while its permanent collection includes 2,000 paintings, ranging from Correggio and Guido Reni to Paul Gauguin and Pablo Picasso, as well as a wealth of sculptures, drawings, prints and pastels.

Tank Museum – One of the world's largest tank museums is based at Saumur, at the Musée des Blindés. The museum traces the story of the tank from the First World War onwards, and its collection contains nearly 900 tanks and armoured vehicles, including more than 200 which have been restored to full working order.

Horse and Art Museums – Saumur also has links with horses going back through the ages, as it is now the home of the French National Horse Riding School and was formerly the base of the French Cavalry Academy. The town's equestrian heritage is celebrated in the horse museum at the Château de Saumur, which has a fine display of saddlery through the ages. The château is also home to a museum of decorative arts.

Fine Arts Museum – The former bishop's palace in Tours is home to a varied art collection, with more than 12,000 works altogether, including French, Italian, Dutch and Flemish masterpieces, although only a small proportion of these can be on show at any one time. At the front of the museum is a stuffed elephant, which was killed after escaping and running amok during a parade by the Barnum and Bailey circus in Tours in 1902.

Museum of Magic – Blois was the home of famous magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, who inspired legendary illusionist Erik Weisz to change his own name to Harry Houdini. In tribute to Robert-Houdin, a museum of magic has been set up opposite the Château Royal de Blois, featuring fascinating exhibitions about magic and magicians, with exhibits including a six-headed dragon, and a theatre where you can see conjurors on stage.

Cycling Holidays in the Loire Valley  – Click here to find out more.

Cycling Holidays France – Why Holiday in Provence, France?

If you're heading off for a cycling holiday in France, Provence is a region you must not miss. The area is famous for its beauty, with days full of sunshine, pretty vineyards, winding river paths, lavender fields and stunning landscapes whose vivid colours inspired post impressionist artists Cézanne and Van Gogh.

This region is rich in history and culture but, along with its museums, châteaux and ancient buildings, you can also enjoy wining and dining in some of the excellent restaurants en route. Cycle Breaks have put together tours through Provence which include routes to introduce you to the beauties of the countryside, with personally selected accommodation full of local colour.

Cycling Holidays in France  – Click here to start your journey of discovery.

Here are just some of the reasons why Provence is such an attractive place to spend a cycling holiday this year.

Wonderful Food – Budding gourmets will find plenty to tease their taste buds in Provence. Its cuisine typically features generous helpings of garlic and olive oil, while seafood also plays a key role. Among the region's most famous dishes are ratatouille, a vegetable stew bursting with peppers, tomatoes, aubergines and courgettes; tapenade, a sauce made of chopped olives, anchovies and capers; and bouillabaisse, a soup which can include as many as seven kinds of fish. Popular desserts include calissons, candied fruit delicacies, and fresh fig tarts. Or why not top off your meal with one of the region's celebrated goat cheeses?

Fantastic Local Markets – Provence has a wonderful range of local markets which are the perfect place to pick up fresh delicacies, as well as flowers, bric-a-brac, antiques and many other products. Carpentras boasts one of the largest weekly markets in France, which has been running since early medieval times and now has 350 stalls, including a famous trade in black truffles during the winter. Another popular market is held at l'Isle sur la Sorgue, an island town with hundreds of antique dealers. Other towns with thriving markets include historic Arles and Vaison-la-Romaine.

Delicious Wine – The village Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which has given its name to one of the world's most famous red wines, lies between Orange and Avignon, at the foot of a ruined château. Cycle Breaks' Provence tours include visits to this region, rich in vineyards, allowing plenty of time to wander round the village. You will also have the opportunity to visit St Cécile les Vignes, another community famous for its wine. Provence is well known for its rosé wines, said to be among the best in the world, so take the time to sample these too.

Ancient Sites and Buildings – There are many fascinating ancient sites to visit along the way during your cycling holidays in Provence. The amphitheatre at Arles, dating from the 1st century, bears witness to the region's Roman history, as do Orange's Roman arch and theatre, and the Pont du Gard, an ancient aqueduct near Remoulins. Another famous landmark is the Pont St-Bénézet, also known as the Pont d'Avignon, the medieval bridge celebrated in song. And don't miss Avignon's spectacular Palais des Papes, the medieval Gothic former Papal palace which is one of the largest buildings of its kind in Europe.

Fascinating Museums – Provence has an impressive selection of museums to visit during your holiday, including the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh in Arles, which features tributes to the artist by other painters, the Musée Municipale in Orange which contains paintings and pieces of Roman history, a wine museum in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the unique Epicurium, the “living museum” of fruit and vegetables in Avignon. And whilst it might not be typical French cuisine, those with a sweet tooth will enjoy the Haribo museum in medieval Uzès.

Pretty Towns and Villages – Make sure you have your camera with you all the time in Provence, because there are so many picturesque towns and villages to capture. These include Carpentras, with its Italian influence showing in the beautifully decorated houses, Pernes-les-Fontaines, which boasts no less than 36 fountains, Arles, with its plane trees and traditional French café terraces and Orange, with its Roman influence, ancient cathedral and old town.

Stunning Nature Reserves – Just south of Arles lies the Camargue, a unique region containing the largest river delta in Western Europe, which was designated as a regional natural park in 1970. One of Cycle Breaks' Provence tours offers the chance to visit this wildlife haven, a vast plain with reed beds and brine pools, which is home to wild white horses and black bulls as well as more than 400 birds, including pink flamingoes. Provence also has numerous other wild landscapes and natural havens which are well worth a visit.

And It’s Perfect for Romance – One of Provence's most unusual attractions is the small town of Roquemaure, near Avignon, where the church contains relics of St. Valentine – the inspiration for an annual kissing festival which attracts more than 20,000 people. The town is known as the “Capital of Lovers” and, if you post a love letter here, the post office will even seal it with a kiss!

Cycling Holidays in Provence  – Click here to start your journey of discovery.