Paris-Rome (First-time tourer!)

bojangles

Hi All,

Am planning a cycling trip from Paris to Rome this summer.

My original route plan was essentially Paris-Dijon-Lyon-Grenoble, then across the Alps to Turin, and onto Rome via Parma / Florence / Perugia. Now a friend has said he may be interested in joining, but is keen to do Spain instead of Italy.

One option is to do Paris-Aix together, and then for him to head West to Perpignon-Barcelona, and me East to Nice-Alessandria.

I have a month to do it in, and about £1000 total budget, so need to keep it cheap! It will also be the first time I've seriously ridden a bike in over a decade, so I'm not really looking to do more than 100k a day if I can help it!

Any advice on either of the routes welcome (places to stop / see on route, passes across the Alps, camping / hostels around the posher bits of the sourther coast) plus any general tips for a first time Tourer?

Thanks guys!

gerrypatt

Your routes sound fine to me. They are the straightest at least! The only suggestion I'd have for the rough route you have is to stay away from the nasty big national routes (red roads on your Michelin map). Then, if you do that you'll quickly find out that your 1500 km estimate (or whatever) from Paris to Rome has ballooned into 2000+, since the small, more bike-friendly roads don't always go in straight lines. What I'm getting at is not to stretch yourself too thin with distances. I always make the same mistake, so I'm speaking from experience!

Everybody is different with their daily km threshold, but even the strongest won't see much if they do 100 km a day. I'd recommend using 50-80 when planning. You'll be surprised how many reasons you'll find on the road to stop and look around. Really depends on how you want to experience France and Italy.

If your friend decides to turn right at Aix he might be interested in my Cycling Languedoc site, which has routes and practical info on the region, including a cool, 'secret' mountain pass into Spain!

Back to your Aix idea, if you do go this route then you will have a long haul over to the border with Italy, assuming you choose to cut across Provence instead of backtracking into the Alps. I've done this and it's pretty hilly. Having said that though, you are riding through one of the most beautiful areas of France. Stay off the main roads here for sure - it's camper van hell in the summer.

Bonne Route!

Gerry

bojangles

Thanks Gerry, that's much appreciated.

Plan has changed slightly now in that we're splitting up at Puy-en-Velay: Him to start the Way of St James ride, and me to head on to Aix, then Nice along the Riviera. Will direct him to your Languedoc site for a look around too, thanks for that.

Really useful to have the advice re: the red routes / distances too, and will definitely bear it in mind when figuring out stopping points. So thanks again!

Alex

Lyn

Hi Alex,

We have a series of articles on the Way of St James that might be of interest to your friend. See our introduction, as well as The Way of St James: Le Puy en Velay to Conques, The Way of St James: Conques to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port and The Way of St James: Alternative Routes. All are written by John Higginson who wrote the Cicerone guide to cycling the Way of St James, which might be useful for his pannier.

Let us know how the trip goes.

Cheers
Lyn.

Welcome

Categories