English guidebook for the Veloscenic bike route

Published by Andrew on 14 March 2018

An English guidebook has now been released for the popular Paris to Mont-St-Michel Veloscenic bike route.

We've ridden Veloscenie - full report here

The Veloscenic (or Veloscenie, to use the French branding) is one of France’s most popular cycling routes. That's thanks in no small part to its role linking the French capital Paris to the country's no.1 regional tourist site, Mont St Michel, which hugs the coast of Normandy, a short hop from the border with Brittany.The route is fully signposted and takes in no less than five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, crossing eight departmental borders along the way.

Originally opened in 2012, the route is over 450km (280 miles) long, with around half that on traffic-free greenways (ie dedicated cycle paths), and the remainder on mostly quiet shared lanes that are suitable for families.

Up until now the only guidebook for the route was written in French, but a new English guide has now been released, providing detailed mapping, lots of highlights as well as accommodation suggestions, all in an easy-to-carry spiral format.

The book has been written by Richard Peace – a regular contributor to Freewheeling France – in conjunction with local tourism authorities.

With the many ferry links coming in to northern France from the UK and Ireland, as well as the Eurostar into Paris, this is a fairly easy do-it-yourself route. There are also tour companies providing route and baggage assistance – use our bespoke service for contacts. For bike hire from Paris (or one-way hire the other way), go here.

This is a lovely, relaxing ride and a nice way to experince such delights as the Palace at Versailles, the Chartres Light Show and many pretty towns and villages long the way, including Rambouillet, stately Alençon and medieval Domfront (which crosses with Velo Francette).