The Ardèche is a varied and under-rated French region in terms of visitors, but it's home to some of the country's most spectacular cycling.
Click the routes above for popups with individual descriptions + GPX downloads (where possible). I'll try and add more route as time permits.
Sweeping canyons, quiet back roads, prehistoric cave systems and some of France's finest wines – you can find all this in the the Ardèche, an area often overlooked in the clamour to get to the Alps to the north or to the lavender fields of Provence to the south.
However, quiet roads, wild landscapes and stacks and stacks of history are here for anyone who takes the time to visit.
The ViaRhôna Rhone Cycle Route (EuroVelo 17) snakes its way through the Ardeche for 90km, while there are also miles and miles of local roads ready to be explored (many of them taking you past Côtes du Rhône vines).
See also the Dolce Via voie verte – we have a separate page here on it.
If you fancy a particular challenge, then there's the annual L'Ardéchoise sportive each June. The 13 routes can also be ridden at your own pace throughout the year. Many of the routes cross over and run on concurrent roads, which makes the map above look a little messy. For this reason, I've not included all the official local routes (they are essentially variations of each other). You can also plan your trip here but you can't download the maps (well, not that I can work out). They are, however, available indvidually from the sportive site (or email me and I can send them to you).
There are also two gentler routes for younger or less experienced riders – unfortunately I can't find either GPX file to share but there is a 29km one here and a 50km one here (let me know if those links change and you can't access them).
Local authorities in this region are doing more and more every year to develop the area for cyclotourism, with more bike-friendly hotels popping up all the time (I'll try and add some more to the site when I can), plus a luggage transfer service available for cyclists (ask at tourist information centres or at your hotel/B&B for support).
Official tourist information here.
The stunning – and ancient – Gorges de l'Ardeche. Photo: Bernard Niess
About this page
Note: This page is a work in progress – I'm adding more and more routes as time permits. The colours on the maps are just to make the different routes easier to identify on the maps – they don't represent distances or levels of difficulty.
I try and make the GPX files available for download where possible (click on the coloured route to see if it's available from the popup). As always, the information is for guidance only – please shout (lyn@freewheelingfrance.com) if you need clarification on anything, and please double check routes locally etc in case of road works or other factors that should alter your course.
Thanks to all the cyclists and tourist boards out there who are making their files available for me to share with people researching cycling holidays in France.
