Cycle tour from the high mountains of the Alps to the lavender fields of Provence following the Durance Valley.
Location: Briançon to Sisteron
Months available: April, May, June, July, August, September, October
This is a magnificent cycle touring route taking you from the high mountains of the French Alps in Briançon to the lavender fields of Provence in Sisteron. The way-marked route follows the famous Durance valley using small back roads and cycle lanes wherever possible. The Durance river, famous for its white water sports runs along the bottom of the valley framed by a stunning backdrop of mountains and encased by dramatic gorges, gradually opening out into orchards of peaches, apricots, apples and pears, and then the wonderful lavender fields as you reach Provence.
As well as traversing some of the most spectacular scenery in France on two wheels you can also discover some of the best restaurants, try a variety of activities, and visit some of the country's historical sites on the way. The beauty of this cycle tour is that it is 100% flexible and we can adapt the tour to suit you. You can start or finish half way down, miss out a section (via the train), spend extra nights along the way, book in extra adventures, or do two or three sections in one day.... the choice is yours. The full cycle touring route is 170km with 2500m of ascent and 3600m of descent with a couple of short steep challenges.
The itinerary we have detailed here is the 'official' cycle tour route with all the overnight stops scheduled in. You can book this as it is or get in touch with us to tailor it to suit you. In the itinerary section you can read about each section in detail including some of the visits and activities possible to help you decide how to create your perfect cycle tour.
We provide logistical support throughout your trip so if you need to find a repair shop, want advice on where to eat or need to change or adapt your trip along the way, we are there to help.
You can access each leg of the cycle tour by train so it is possible to bring your own bike and get here by train from anywhere in Europe. Alternatively, we can arrange bike hire for you to pick up at your starting point and you can take the train back at the end of your tour to return it.
For baggage, you can either carry all your own kit or use our baggage transfer services for all or part of your journey.
The route can be adapted for all levels of cyclists and it is possible on an e-bike or a muscular bike. Road bikes, gravel bikes or touring bikes are all suitable. As long as you can ride a bike and have a reasonable level of fitness you can enjoy this tour.
Families and recreational riders will love the option to spread the journey out over a week with a couple of days swimming and relaxing at the Serre Ponçon lake, kayaking on the Durance river, adding some adrenalin activities like rafting, canyoning, paragliding or via ferrata, or exploring the historical monuments of Briancon or Sisteron. It is even possible to avoid the steep challenges by taking a train for certain sections for a really chilled out cycle tour. Purists will love the idea of packing their paniers in London and riding the official cycle tour over 5 days. Road cycling enthusiasts will love the challenge of doing it over two days in cyclosportive mode!
This is a car free holiday and has been created using available local public transport logistics to make this possible and we offer a discount to anyone making their journey to Briançon by train instead of plane. Whilst this is an itinerary holiday staying just one night in each location, we highly recommend making this a longer stay and staying an extra night in each location to reduce the impact on resources of cleaning and laundering each night. Similarly for baggage transfers, we offer this service but would recommend reducing the number of transfers you require as much as is reasonable to reduce the number of transfers you use for your holiday. Where possible we will group your baggage transfers with other cyclists.
For this trip we have chosen local, independent hotels and bike suppliers so you can be sure your money is going straight back into the local economy. All our suppliers have signed our code of conduct for sustainable tourism to work with us.
We have used Carmacal, a tool which calculates the Green House Gas (GHG) CO2 emissions for tourism products by combining emissions from land transport, accommodation and activities. Have a look at the carbon footprint report.
We will also plant a tree on your behalf with our partners Mossy Earth to help offset your carbon footprint from this trip.
All the sections of this route are accessible on train with train stations at Briançon at the official start of the tour, Embrun, Chorges, Gap and Sisteron at end of the tour. All the stops are on the same train line that goes from Briançon to Marseille. We can help you plan your train journey here.
BY TRAIN / BUS:
WE OFFER A 3% DISCOUNT TO ANYONE TRAVELLING BY TRAIN INSTEAD OF PLANE. To claim your 3% discount, you will need to show us proof of train travel for routes of over 3 hours that could have been taken by plane. Please ask when you book.
There are direct train links to Briançon from Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille TGV station there is also an overnight sleeper train from Paris to Briançon.
You can plan your train journey using the Oui SNCF website. This works from all major European cities.
BY PLANE:
The nearest airports are Marseilles (MRS) and Grenoble (GNB). From Marseille airport there is a regular coach service directly to Gap every two and a half hours, from where you can then get a train to Briançon or you can get the shuttle from the airport to Marseille town centre and St Charles train station and get the train directly to Briançon from there. Plan your journey using this website.
From Grenoble you would need to get the airport shuttle to the train station and then a train from Grenoble to Briançon.
Please ask us about transport options when you enquire as we have become pros on getting people to this beautiful region!
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