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Joe le Taxi	27 Apr 07:33
Joined: 25 Apr 2011 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile	Hi! I'm looking to do some long-distance cycling, probably from south to north France. Can anyone offer me advice re best maps to take. If I take the 1:100,000 scale, which are great for cycling, I would probably need about 12 maps to cover France. That's a lot of money and expense! What scale maps do people usually take for long distance cycling. I want to aviod major roads, so would need maps showing country roads quite clearly. I'm not interested in phone downloads, sat nav etc, just maps! Cheers Joe

27 Apr 07:33

Joined: 25 Apr 2011

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Hi! I'm looking to do some long-distance cycling, probably from south to north France. Can anyone offer me advice re best maps to take. If I take the 1:100,000 scale, which are great for cycling, I would probably need about 12 maps to cover France. That's a lot of money and expense! What scale maps do people usually take for long distance cycling. I want to aviod major roads, so would need maps showing country roads quite clearly. I'm not interested in phone downloads, sat nav etc, just maps!
Cheers
Joe

Joe le Taxi	27 Apr 07:35
Joined: 25 Apr 2011 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile	Sorry, re above, that should have said, "that's a lot of maps and expense."

LeGretan	30 Apr 15:06
Joined: 30 Apr 2011 Posts: 1 Bike:	Hi Joe, there,s a French site for the dedicated cycle routes. One specific route, albeit with some gaps you would have to work out by other means, takes you from St Malo right down the west coast. It's at www.voiesvertes.com. The site is easy to use as you can click on each section to get detail and it explains what actual physical maps are available. For example, i live in Mauron in Brittany and my local tourist office has maps for the Mauron to Questembert section. Again, it's a lot of maps but they're free so thought i'd mention it. Cheers. Wayne

LeGretan

30 Apr 15:06

Joined: 30 Apr 2011

Posts: 1

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Hi Joe, there,s a French site for the dedicated cycle routes. One specific route, albeit with some gaps you would have to work out by other means, takes you from St Malo right down the west coast. It's at www.voiesvertes.com. The site is easy to use as you can click on each section to get detail and it explains what actual physical maps are available. For example, i live in Mauron in Brittany and my local tourist office has maps for the Mauron to Questembert section. Again, it's a lot of maps but they're free so thought i'd mention it. Cheers. Wayne

Joe le Taxi	04 May 06:34
Joined: 25 Apr 2011 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile	Hey Wayne! Thanks a million for that! Best wishes, Joe

robbierunciman	08 May 13:38
Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 18 Bike: My Profile	Memory map do French maps which you can buy and access through a smartphone. NB my experience any road called D9xx is worth avoiding. more digits seem to mean more traffic.
My Latest Route: Jan 2013 Foxton Locks From Corby

HSW	17 Jun 10:43
Joined: 17 Jun 2011 Posts: 2 Bike:	Joe - how is your planning going? Are you going to stick to the west coast? HSW

madmike	20 Jul 05:33
Joined: 25 Apr 2011 Posts: 2 Bike:	Hi, I went from Le Havre to Montpelier in 2008 and i used pages taken from the France rd atlas by the AA, have a look, you can also get maps at the Office de Tourisme for free usaully! use them and ditch them, they will send them to you if you ask, enjoy Madmike

Joe le Taxi	26 Jul 07:31
Joined: 25 Apr 2011 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile	Hi HSW, I bought a second hand set of most of France from EBay. They are 1:200,000 so they should be good. I think in all I will have about 8 maps.I know it's a bit nurdy but quite like looking at maps. I'm pretty much going to go from north to south and not always but mainly along the French west coast. Joe

HSW	26 Jul 07:51
Joined: 17 Jun 2011 Posts: 2 Bike:	I would rather look at a map than a small screen that you cant see when the sun is out! Good to hear back from you, I anm looking to start at St Malo and aim for Ventoux then the coast. I am lucky as I have offer of support so wont have to carry anything. The route should be good just that hilly bit in the middle! Hoping to do about 105 miles a day. When are you off?

2011tigger	10 Nov 03:02
Joined: 09 Nov 2011 Posts: 1 Bike:	Hi Joe - just wondering if you have done the cycle yet and what route? I am co-ordinating a group who are planning to pretty much go from Biarritz all up the west coast and back to Surrey doing about 100 miles a day. Would really appreciate any tips or help! Thanks

andrew@snowrace	27 Nov 02:16
Joined: 20 Nov 2011 Posts: 1 Bike:	I cycled from Sy Malo to Spain in june 2020 mainly down the west coast we photo copied a good road atlas 14 sheets top to bottom also had a list of each village we had to go through to corespond to the map sheets so when we came to a junction we had two pointers. The other thing we did that worked really well was we didnt target a distance each day but time in the saddle this allowed for harder days without killing ourselves. in saddle for 8 every 1 hour 10 min stop for fluids at three hours 45 mins for food only carry on after 6 hours if whole group is looking good hope this helps its a great trip enjoy.

andrew@snowrace

27 Nov 02:16

Joined: 20 Nov 2011

Posts: 1

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I cycled from Sy Malo to Spain in june 2020 mainly down the west coast we photo copied a good road atlas 14 sheets top to bottom also had a list of each village we had to go through to corespond to the map sheets so when we came to a junction we had two pointers. The other thing we did that worked really well was we didnt target a distance each day but time in the saddle this allowed for harder days without killing ourselves.
in saddle for 8 every 1 hour 10 min stop for fluids at three hours 45 mins for food only carry on after 6 hours if whole group is looking good hope this helps its a great trip enjoy.

smallers	28 Nov 08:36
Joined: 19 Oct 2011 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile	Hi Joe le Taxi, Have you done the ride yet? I'm cycling from Central Portugal to Cherbourg up the west coast in April 2012, so would love to know how you got on and what maps you eventually used. andrew@snowrace, what road atlas did you use and what size did you use? Cheers, Andy

Martin	07 Dec 08:41
Joined: 29 Aug 2009 Posts: 5 Bike:	Hi, I have just done (July-Aug 2011)Santander to Le Havre and we used the 1:200,000 which are ideal and you only have about 6 maps, also as someone else said supplemented with Office de Tourisme literature - esp for finding accommodation. I've just written up our whole route at http://www.helenium.net/trips/index.htm. Martin

txbnet	07 Dec 10:26
Joined: 29 Jun 2010 Posts: 149 Bike: My Profile	Hi Martin I'll certainly read your blog tonight. I'm booked on the ferry and intend doing Santander to Cherbourg in April. Still not quite got my head around whether to take a tent, sleeping bag etc or paying for chambres d'hote all the way. I have no support vehicle so what doesn't fit on the bike or in my pockets doesn't go! I'm just looking at Google maps at the moment to get an idea of mileage and terrain, but I'm sure I'll get some value out of your blog. Other peoples experience, I think, is one of the best tools in preparing for a long distance ride. Regards Tony
My Latest Route: Jan 2011 Whitley Bay to Bellingham

txbnet

07 Dec 10:26

Joined: 29 Jun 2010

Posts: 149

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Hi Martin

I'll certainly read your blog tonight. I'm booked on the ferry and intend doing Santander to Cherbourg in April.

Still not quite got my head around whether to take a tent, sleeping bag etc or paying for chambres d'hote all the way. I have no support vehicle so what doesn't fit on the bike or in my pockets doesn't go!

I'm just looking at Google maps at the moment to get an idea of mileage and terrain, but I'm sure I'll get some value out of your blog. Other peoples experience, I think, is one of the best tools in preparing for a long distance ride.

Regards

Tony

My Latest Route: Jan 2011 Whitley Bay to Bellingham

txbnet	07 Dec 20:31
Joined: 29 Jun 2010 Posts: 149 Bike: My Profile	Yes, I enjoyed reading that. I won't be going inland as you did to visit friends but will follow most of this route, staying as close as possible to the beach all the way up. Hopefully if I am near Dinan in Brittany and have some spare days saved up, I'll have a day or two off the bike there. I hadn't realised that Le Havre was so far west, I wrongly assumed it was up near Calais, but I see its quite close to Cherbourg, so I'm expecting my journey to be a similar distance to yours. Was there any reason by your track on the map to change colour at times? Were they busy sections or something? Or just a different pen that day! Regards Tony
My Latest Route: Jan 2011 Whitley Bay to Bellingham

txbnet

07 Dec 20:31

Joined: 29 Jun 2010

Posts: 149

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Yes, I enjoyed reading that. I won't be going inland as you did to visit friends but will follow most of this route, staying as close as possible to the beach all the way up. Hopefully if I am near Dinan in Brittany and have some spare days saved up, I'll have a day or two off the bike there.

I hadn't realised that Le Havre was so far west, I wrongly assumed it was up near Calais, but I see its quite close to Cherbourg, so I'm expecting my journey to be a similar distance to yours.

Was there any reason by your track on the map to change colour at times? Were they busy sections or something? Or just a different pen that day!

Regards
Tony

My Latest Route: Jan 2011 Whitley Bay to Bellingham

skiad1	09 Dec 17:55
Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 84 Bike: My Profile	Michelin 1:200000 maps are more than adequate for the job. You should manage with 4 for the entire coastal route(nos. 524/521/517/512). I learned the hard way, having seen off Le Tour in Dinan then heading south with crap(DIY Internet) maps, earlier this summer. Having had a mare of a day round the St Nazaire area, which cost me an extra 20-30 miles due to missing the bridge(it really is a much much longer route if you miss it....so don't), I finally bumped into a German chap touring North with his young grandson who rightly pointed out that my maps were crap! Having put me back on the right track, I headed straight for the nearest shop and bought a proper 'carte'. I never got 'lost' again from there to Lourdes, nor thereafter from Narbonne round to Mont Ventoux then to Marseille and Corsica. I can't recommend those maps enough! The only other 'tricky bit' I encountered was from La Rochelle to Royan. I opted for a round about, criss cross, long route rather than taking the more direct 'main' D733 all the way south from Rochefort. This, after a fairly poor cycle specific route from Aytre to Rochefort. From that point south the riding's a dream and although I headed inland towards Hostens I believe the coastal route down to Spain is more of the same. Incidentally, I rode the route(Dinan-Lourdes) in under 6 days, loaded with about 15kgs(5 weeks camping), on an old Trek1000(veteran of many tours) with rack and guards. The only other changes are a more heavy duty rear hub(mtb deore 32 hole....rebuilt wheel with this hub specifically for loaded touring), aero bars(comfort and bit more av speed over long days in the saddle) and a 24 small ring. A relatively light bike for such a long tour(says conventional wisdom) but it's served me well.

skiad1

09 Dec 17:55

Joined: 09 Dec 2011

Posts: 84

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Michelin 1:200000 maps are more than adequate for the job. You should manage with 4 for the entire coastal route(nos. 524/521/517/512). I learned the hard way, having seen off Le Tour in Dinan then heading south with crap(DIY Internet) maps, earlier this summer. Having had a mare of a day round the St Nazaire area, which cost me an extra 20-30 miles due to missing the bridge(it really is a much much longer route if you miss it....so don't), I finally bumped into a German chap touring North with his young grandson who rightly pointed out that my maps were crap! Having put me back on the right track, I headed straight for the nearest shop and bought a proper 'carte'. I never got 'lost' again from there to Lourdes, nor thereafter from Narbonne round to Mont Ventoux then to Marseille and Corsica. I can't recommend those maps enough!

The only other 'tricky bit' I encountered was from La Rochelle to Royan. I opted for a round about, criss cross, long route rather than taking the more direct 'main' D733 all the way south from Rochefort. This, after a fairly poor cycle specific route from Aytre to Rochefort. From that point south the riding's a dream and although I headed inland towards Hostens I believe the coastal route down to Spain is more of the same.

Incidentally, I rode the route(Dinan-Lourdes) in under 6 days, loaded with about 15kgs(5 weeks camping), on an old Trek1000(veteran of many tours) with rack and guards. The only other changes are a more heavy duty rear hub(mtb deore 32 hole....rebuilt wheel with this hub specifically for loaded touring), aero bars(comfort and bit more av speed over long days in the saddle) and a 24 small ring. A relatively light bike for such a long tour(says conventional wisdom) but it's served me well.

Martin	12 Dec 13:04
Joined: 29 Aug 2009 Posts: 5 Bike:	In answer to Tony - the colour changes on my blog were to make clear the individual days cycling. We ended up doing Le Havre because it is so much less expensive than taking a bike on Britanny ferries from St Malo or Cherbourg or Caen and there not much in in for diatance. We also met a British guy heading down to visit friends in Biarritz who had a similar experience to skiad1 in St Nazaire and like him I've just rebuilt my back wheel with tandem spokes to cope with the extra load. Wow 6 days Dinan to Lourdes is good going! Martin

Martin

12 Dec 13:04

Joined: 29 Aug 2009

Posts: 5

Bike:

In answer to Tony - the colour changes on my blog were to make clear the individual days cycling. We ended up doing Le Havre because it is so much less expensive than taking a bike on Britanny ferries from St Malo or Cherbourg or Caen and there not much in in for diatance. We also met a British guy heading down to visit friends in Biarritz who had a similar experience to skiad1 in St Nazaire and like him I've just rebuilt my back wheel with tandem spokes to cope with the extra load. Wow 6 days Dinan to Lourdes is good going! Martin

lady.M	13 Mar 18:39
Joined: 13 Mar 2013 Posts: 14 Bike: My Profile	Hi Joe, When i do long distance cycling in France i take the relevent pages from the french atlas which has good detail, roll them up and carry them in a tube from a kitchen paper roll. I have always done this and never got lost...bonne chance!

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