1st cycling holidays with the kids: forests and seaside
French "Côte de Beauté" with the family
For a successful first getaway by bike with the children, what could be better than a cycle route through varied, outstanding scenery: pine trees, sand dunes, long beaches, cove-indented coastlines and seaside villas …
The La Coubre Lighthouse and La Palmyre Zoo provide two cultural and entertaining stop- off points.
😍 The La Coubre lighthouse and its eco-museum: built in 1904, the current lighthouse was at that time located 1.8 km from the coast. From the top of its 300 steps, you’ll have a stunning 360° panoramic view of the Gironde Estuary, La Coubre Forest, the Arvert peninsula and Oléron Island. At the foot of the tower, the eco-museum recounts the adventures and history of the lighthouse. The site is Accueil Vélo (Cyclists Welcome) accredited.
📍 40 km
⏱️ 2-3 stages
🏁 Ronce-les-Bains ➡️ Royan
🚲 I begin / Family
ℹ️ ALL THE PRACTICAL INFORMATION
➡️ Type of route: linear with return by bus
🅿️ Where to leave your vehicle?
Leave your car safely at the Post Office car park in La Tremblade. To get to La Vélodyssée, take the little road which leads to the ‘rond-point des bateaux’ roundabout (this is the little connection point shown in purple on the cycle route stage map). Once you have crossed this roundabout, La Vélodyssée opens up to you all the way to Ronce-les-Bains!
To get back to your starting point : one of you will have to go back to Ronce-les-Bains via the CARA bus line number 6+ (45 minutes long) so that you can pick up the vehicle you left at the place of departure. The others can take a relaxed stroll around Royan. The town was recently awarded the ‘Ville d’Art et d’Histoire’ (Town of Art and History) label, for its 1950s architecture.
🚲 Bike hire
In Ronce-les-Bains you can rent bikes.
💡 To avoid returning by train with your bikes, one-way rental is the ideal solution: see the “one-way” bike rental companies on La Vélodyssée
📓 Finding your way around
There are a number of paper guides to help you follow this route, find the references.
