RIDES SELECTION AT OUR B&B BASED TOURS.

The cycling and weather, that we have in the Luberon valley, Provence, is excellent. Cycling everyday in Provence, means biking along beautiful, calm back roads and through outstanding landscapes and countryside, with many world famous, Provençal villages along the way.

Over the years of running hosted bike tours in Provence, it became very clear to us that not all cyclists are the same. Some prefer a short, gentle ride with an emphasis on sight seeing, visiting & cafe stops. Whereas others, prefer a longer, hillier ride where the effort is more important. So what works for one group, will not necessarily work for another.

So, in order to make the most of all this great Provençal biking that we have, we have developed, and adapted over time a Ride Directory of more than 30 self guided routes, that cater for all the different types of bikers that visit. This makes for a lot of flexibility, giving you the bike tour that's right for you

Here's how it works...

Step 1 - Choose a different zone to visit each day:

From whichever direction you go out of our single base Bed and Breakfast, you're in for great Provençal cycling. So, we have created 6 different geographic zones around the farmhouse, zones A through to E. By selecting any given zone, you'll have a full, different day's cycling and sights each day, with very little repetition from one day to the next.

And we can help you with which zone is best for any given day. When the best market days are. When the best restaurants are open. Which day is best to visit a village? Museum closing days etc...

You'll get to see beautiful, famous Luberon villages, countryside and some amazing sights on each day's ride; chateaux, museums, lavender fields, churches, provençal markets, restaurants, vineyards, cafés etc...

Here are our 6 different bike zones:

• Zone A - Along the waterways. This is a lovely, very flat route along the beautiful Sorgue river with just 35 kms / 21 miles (and only 150m of climbing), where you can visit the famous villages of L'Isle sur la Sorgue & Fontaine de Vaucluse along with Lagnes. A longer trip visits these villages plus St Didier & Pernes les Fontaines for approx 65 kms / 40 miles.
• Zone B - 2 of the most Beautiful Villages in France. A superb, rolling ride with just 39 kms / 24 miles and 500m of climbing, we can take you the easiest, and a very picturesque way through the lavender fields to two of France's "Most beautiful villages" Gordes & Roussillon. With a longer ride you can visit these villages plus Murs, Lioux & St Saturnin for approx 65 kms / 40 miles.
• Zone C - "A Year in Provence" country. With a trip of just 37 kms / 23 miles and only 350m of climbing, we travel the superb winding bike route visiting the archetypal Luberon villages of Menerbes, Oppede le Vieux, Maubec, Robion & Les Taillades. With a longer ride you can visit these villages plus Vidauque & Cheval Blanc for approx 52 kms / 32 miles.
• Zone D - Rail bike track to Bonnieux. With a minimum of 33 kms / 21 miles and only 324m of climbing you can cruise along the excellent rail bike track, ride through beautiful vineyards and visit picture perfect Bonnieux. A slightly longer, but easy 51kms will also take you over the ancient Roman Bridge and to the excellent market at Apt. A longer, harder tour visits these villages plus Saignon & Lacoste for approx 65 kms / 40 miles.
• Zone E - Around the Petit Luberon Hills. With 76 kms / 47 kms and a 800m of climbing you can cycle around the Luberon hills visiting Vidauque, river orchards, Merindol, Lauris, Lourmarin & Bonnieux.
• Zone F - Unknown treasures. With just 35 kms / 21 miles and 450m of climbing we can take you the easiest way to visit the beautiful, medieval villages of Goult & Lacoste, with the Marquis de Sade's Chateau. A longer route visits these villages plus Joucas & Gargas for approx 65 kms / 40 miles.

STEP 2 - Select the difficulty of your ride:

Use our Ride Directory, along with help from us, if you need it, to choose the right ride for you.

For simplicity, we have divided our self guided rides into 4 levels of difficulty:

• Easy,
• Moderate,
• Hard,
• & Hardest.

The level of ride difficulty is a combination of both the Mileage and the amount & difficulty of the Climbing during the ride.

So, for example an Easy category ride will feature low mileage along with limited climbing, and any climbing will be the easiest possible to get you to the places of interest. And at the other end of the scale a Hardest category ride will have high mileage mixed with potentially lots of climbing that will feature some high gradient climbing.

Minimum distances & Moderate rides - We have designed our Ride Directory so that every zone has a Moderate ride of between just 33 and 39 kms (21/24 miles) of biking for the whole day. And importantly, any climbing takes the easiest possible routes, thus making for a leisurely ride. And although these moderate rides have a relatively low mileage, they have nonetheless been designed with a full day's Provence cycling and entertainment in mind.

And remember if you want more Kms than you see above (step 1), that really isn't a problem. We'll just sit down with you, listen to what you want, and draw you a GPS route using our knowledge of the terrain and the backroad network. It takes just 10 mins, all in, to draw and upload the route to your GPS. We'll also give you a paper map overview and info on all the best sites along the way.

So, once your zone and ride chosen, simply select the ride number on your Garmin GPS and off you go! Please note that all rides start and finish at the farmhouse, this is single base cycling.