Planning your trip

We plan all our trips away well in advance of the holiday. Usually a year ahead of the trip. These are the main areas we plan to ensure an enjoyable stress free trip away.

Accommodation.

• For us Airbnb is the first stop. For us, piece and quiet countryside is the ideal place for us to stay. When looking at options we try to find a well equipped house with outside space to relax. These can get booked up fast for the summer months so we book before Christmas for the following summer

Location.

• We look to be close to a small village so we can pop out for things we may need. Most villages have a café and bakers to grab a baguette when needed. Or even a nice quiche or two. its always nice to sit and have a coffee near home after a day of cycling too. Within 10km we like a good large supermarket for a weekly shop. There are many of these around so usually you don't have to look so hard to be near one. 

Routes. 

• Once we know where we are located the mapping of routes starts. For a two week holiday I aim to have at least 5 routes planned in advance. When exploring a new area within a day or two, when you have got your bearings new route ideas come into your head and then the lap top comes out and we add some more to the list. Often a sign to a location can give you ideas and in this digital age finding out about a town, village or a landmark is not hard to find.

Booking the ferry and the drive to France.

• Ferry prices tend to rise after Christmas , so once again we book early to save a few pounds. The journey to the Loire for us means driving from Doncaster to Portsmouth. Staying over night in a Premier inn close to the port ready for the 8am ferry to Caen. Staying overnight relieves stress and means we start to day of travel relaxed. A five hour journey on the ferry is always relaxing and seems to pass in half that time. The ports at either end are simple enough. The only frustrating part we find is the queue to actually get back into the UK when you just want to get home. The return ferry for us is the 4pm departure arriving back at 9.30pm.

French motorways and tolls.

• Pretty quickly after leaving to port you start hitting the French motorways. These are always quiet and get quieter the further you seem to get into France. It seems that all the cars you ever see are UK licenced vehicles doing the same trip as you. These roads are toll roads and seem quite expensive. But I look at it another way. To be on empty roads with good signage and no delays the 35 euro charge is a bargain. We keep a card on hand to pay these as fumbling around for cash is more aggravation than its worth. Under French law you must have an emergency pack in the car. These are available quite cheap on Amazon and ebay and consist of warning triangle, High vis vest, first aid and breath tests. Also keep your insurance documents, log book and driving licence with you in the car. 

Checklists.

• These are used by us to make sure we have the essentials with us, especially for the bikes. Just list the essentials you will or may need. Clothing, Shoes, Inner tubes, pump, spare cleats, spare cables. Anything you can think of. It could save your holiday if your prepared for all eventualities. 

Recommended accommodation

This house is charming with all the amenities on hand for a relaxing stay.  Opposite the house is a lovely heated swimming pool surrounded by views of open countryside. For us it was the ideal place to stay for a cycling holiday with main velo routes just a few Kilometres away.  Catherine and Jackie are the perfect hosts making the two week we stayed here perfect. 10/10 from us.

So good we are going back again in 2026