This gentle cycling holiday includes all that we love about Brittany and more.

A dramatic and rocky coast with wide sandy beaches, medieval streets, a rural landscape sometimes wild and always beautiful, seafood in abundance, small towns that charm and hotels with character - not to mention the wonderful local food. Add the rarity of Mont St Michel, the pedallers delight in a flattish terrain and a string of fascinating towns with oodles of time to explore them and you have something we think is difficult to beat.



Holiday details

Price

Classic

from £1,390 per person

Luxury

from £2,170 per person

Based on two people sharing a room

What’s included?

There are no extras, however you’ll love what’s included as standard

Duration

8 nights

Start & Finish

Starts daily and is circular from St Malo. St Malo is 3 hours by TGV from Paris Montparnasse station and is a major ferry port. Dinard St Malo airport is a 20 minute taxi ride

Hotels

Classic

Small hotels, 2 chambre d'hotes, a sea front restaurant with rooms and a small lakeside hotel

Luxury

A varied mix of a 4 star hotel, a small boutique hotel, a 3 star hotel, a family run 4 star chateau hotel, a country house hotel and a stunning 15th Century boutique b&b

Holiday type

Self-guided

This tour is priced without a guide and you are free to explore on your own.  If you would like a guide for part or all of your trip, we are happy to provide a knowledgeable, local guide

Activity level

Gentle cycling (2) More info...

Electric bikes

Not available

Mileage

6 days of cycling 6 - 25 miles (10 - 40 km) per day

Terrain

Flat with two hills

Traffic-free

33% very low traffic on the rest

Options

  • Additional nights en route
  • Add: horse riding , kayaking, sailing a vintage boat and a guided wildlife tour by 'train' in St Michel Bay
  • Combine this holiday with one of our tours in Dorset by taking the ferry from St Malo to Poole where we meet you


Itinerary day-by-day


Classic & Luxury

  1. 1. Day one

    St Malo

    Arrive in St Malo and check into your hotel located within the old walls of this fascinating port. The Quic en Groigne is family run and just 50 metres from the stone gate leading to a sheltered sandy beach. Explore the maze of narrow cobbled streets and walk the ramparts for a fine view of the bay and the many islets dotted in the Rance estuary. Splash along the wide beaches and on to the island of Petit Bé, have a nose around the harbour and museums and tuck into delicious crepes or oysters. It's the perfect way to start your holiday!

  2. 2. Day two

    St Malo to Cancale

    After breakfast your host will meet you with your cycling equipment and run through the itinerary. Today's cycling leads you along the beautiful Emerald Coast where you can enjoy its many rugged promontories, beaches and peninsulas. With the wind in your hair and the sea salt in the air its a gentle spin to reach Cancale your next stop. Recognised as the seafood capital of northern France you will pass many small restaurants and stalls selling mussels and oysters. Your overnight stay is on the seafront where you will overlook the expansive bay from your window.

    15 miles (24 km)

  3. 3. Day three

    Cancale to Mont St Michel

    Hugging the coast at the start of the day you pass ancient windmills and sand yachters and a string of characterful old fishing villages with sea food ever present. Its a land of big skies, long vistas, flat as a pancake terrain and shallow waters which dictate your route eventually turning inland across the polder landscape. The view of Mont St Michel dominates much of the ride with its magnificence becoming more magical the closer you get. Your overnight stay is close to Mont St Michel in a chambre d'hotes.

    23 miles (37 km)

  4. 4. Day four

    Mont St Michel to Pontorson

    It's World Heritage listed and probably the most famous island in the world. So we have designed an itinerary for you to enjoy Mont St Michel with its Benedictine abbey and the village that grew up in the shadow of its great walls. Explore the narrow streets and historic buildings and soak up the island's special atmosphere. Mud flats, salt marshes and the most powerful tide in Europe are a feature of the bay surrounding the island and it too is heritage listed supporting some remarkable species from the parsley frog to the harbour seal. It's a short riverside pedal to Pontorson but for those preferring something more energetic there is a longer ride via the attractive Norman town of Ducey. Your overnight stay is in a chambre d'hotes with a good choice of restaurants in this small town.

    6 or 30 miles (10 or 48 km)

  5. 5. Day five

    Pontorson to Combourg

    Today offers a different scene as you head inland on quiet lanes through pretty country and attractive villages. This is unspoilt rural Brittany at its best. Stop in Bazouges-la-Pérouse, which is popular with artists and wind your way on to delightful Combourg, set by a lake and dominated by its medieval chateau built between the 11th and 15th Centuries. Hotel du Lac is lakeside and family run.

    25 miles (40 km)

  6. 6. Day six

    Combourg to Dinan

    Still heading west your ride picks up the bike path alongside the Ille et Rance canal and on the banks of the Rance river. This traffic free pedal offers yet another landscape - shady trees line your route, lock cottages, waterfowl and wildlife are much in evidence and pretty waterside towns invite you in. When you reach Léhon, head for the patisserie and enjoy a dip in the heated open air pool beside the river. Dinan is just a few minutes away - with its wondrous medieval centre and your hotel perched 250 feet above the river. Here is the second hill of the tour with a warm welcome from Hotel Arvor awaiting you where you will stay for 2 nights.

    20 miles (32 km)

  7. 7. Day seven

    Dinan

    We love Dinan and who wouldn't! It's the best preserved medieval town in Brittany; the ramparts encircling the town run for 2 miles with 10 watch towers giving stupendous views; there are numerous 15th Century half timbered houses and squares and a steep medieval cobbled street twisting its way down to the old river port. Here boats still tie up, inns beckon and cameras jostle for views of the old bridge and the dramatic viaduct strung high above. The town has a great choice of restaurants, several churches and a castle and chateau. Enjoy!

  8. 8. Day eight

    Dinan to St Malo

    Your final day of cycling continues along the riverside bike path and then leads north following a disused railway line. This traffic free route takes you to the fashionable coastal resort of Dinard with its beautiful curved bay and a large sheltered beach. Time for a dip perhaps or just a loll on the sand eyeing St Malo on the far side of the estuary. Hop on the ferry when the spirit moves you and you will be back where you started at Quic en Groigne, full of Breton life!

    15 miles (24 km)

  9. 9. Day nine

    Depart St Malo

    Depart at your leisure.