This Ride explores the coast of the French Riviera between Nice and Toulon. Despite the popularity of this coastline we have created a beautiful route which takes in much of this fabulous coast and the hills behind. We shall visit coastal resorts such as Antibes, Cannes, St Raphael, St Maxime and St Tropez all of which conjure up the splendour of a time gone by. These vibrant resorts are complimented by some remote stretches of coastline, the hillsides of which are peppered with villas of all descriptions.
As a complete contrast, cycling through the wooded hills behind is another world of narrow winding roads, grand vistas and quaint ancient villages. We will also visit an isolated wine growing chateau.
We will spend each of the 4 nights in a different coastal resort in good 3*/4* accommodation with swimming and leisure facilities in most cases.
The daily ride itinerary can be found on the next page by clicking the following link.
Duration
4 days cycling
Distance
Up to 55 miles cycling/day
on road
Up to 1000m (3300ft) elevation gain per day
Ride level
2 - moderate
Support
Tour leader, driver/mechanic
Price includes:
Accommodation in good quality 3* or 4* coastal hotels with amenities
Transfer back to Nice
All meals
Bike Hire
Maps and route notes
Day 1
Coastal Ride 52km
We arrive in Nice on the early flight. After bike fitting, we quickly reach the very beautiful and surprisingly quiet (a constant feature of the roads on this trip) coast road. With the sea on our left we are soon into the historic harbour town of Antibes for a latish lunch after which we take an excursion around the Cap D'Antibes, a peninsular from which we have grand views of Nice and Canne. Our leisurely afternoon pace along the coast takes us through the fabulously glamorous town of Cannes and a little further to our evening coastal retreat at Miramar.
Day 2
Coast, Resorts and Mountains 72km
We continue to follow the beautiful corniche road until we reach St. Raphael and Frejus. Now we take to the mountains for the rest of the day, winding our way majestically up to the hilltop village of Roquebrune and the hills beyond on a spectacular narrow mountain road which climbs smoothly up a series of interlocking wooded valleys with views all the way. If there is time we will continue through the wooded hills to the pretty village of Plan-de-la-Tour before dropping dramatically into the valley and onto our accommodation again on the coast at Ste Maxime where we will stay the night.
Day 3
Remote Hill Country, Winelands, Chateaux and Coast 81km
Today we are very much in the winelands of Provence. We commence cycling a short way along the coast and soon turn inland to Grimaud and then along a narrow winding road into peaceful and remote countryside. Soon we will reach the delightful village of Collobrieres for a late 11's and soon after we turn off into the vineyards and on to our extended lunch/vineyard tour/provisions stop at a family owned chateau/vineyard.
After our agreeable and somewhat extended lunch we head back towards the coast to la Londes-les-Maures and then with the coast now on our right heading back towards Canne, we pass several more vineyard Chateaux. Then its just a short ride through the seaside town of le Lavandou to our overnight by the sea at Aigue Belle.
Day 4
Corniche and Coast 88km
More corniche cycling to start heading towards San Tropez, but before we do, we take an excursion to the Caps of Lardier and Camarat and a visit to the beach. We reach St Tropez for an early lunch hopefully on the world renowned St. Tropez beach or failing that in St. Tropez itself. Then, we will ride more of the glorious corniche in the afternoon as we head back into Frejus and through St Raphael to our hotel on the point overlooking the sea.
Day 5
Finale Mountain Climb and Coast Ride 52km
Our final day comes round all to quickly, but we have saved the best till last. From St Raphael we take a traffic free mountain road, described by the recce team as one of the best cycling routes they have ever found, up to Mt. Vinaigre from where we have extensive views of all the coast line we have seen intimately over the last 5 days. Here we have lunch before dropping down to the coast at la Napoule from where we make the finale ride along the seafront to Canne for our very special finale dinner.
Then finally, hopefully invigorated, and looking forward to planning another trip it's just a short train journey back to the airport for our evening flight home.
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