Arrive at Bordeaux railway station or airport where you will be picked up and transferred to to your accommodation in either Cadillac or Rions. Your bikes and route notes will be waiting for you at the hotel and the rest of the day is yours to relax or explore the local area.

Your first day’s cycling leads through the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, an elongated wine growing area on the banks of the Garonne River. The limestone and clay soil of this region produces excellent wines that are renowned for their character and finesse. It’s a picturesque ride and you’ll enjoy superb river views for much of the way. You can if you wish make a small detour to visit Château Malromé, the former residence of the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Eventually you arrive in the charming medieval town of St Macaire (or possibly Langon). Check-in to your hotel and then take a stroll through the bustling, cobbled streets, perhaps stopping in a convivial bar for a glass of the local wine.

Leaving Saint-Macaire you cross over the Garonne River and follow a network of quiet winding lanes through the world-famous vineyards of the Sauternes region. The sweet wines produced here using Semillon, Sauvignon blanc, and Muscadelle grapes have a very distinct flavour and harvests can be hit or miss but when they are hit, they are very good indeed. Château Yquem is the most famous vineyard in the region and you can stop off here to admire the lovely old Chateau – and perhaps taste the wares. The itinerary then leads you to the nearby village of Budos and then south along the course of the River Ciron, past the sleepy villages of Leogats and Nouaillan and into the Landes de Gascogne Regional Nature Park. You stop for the night in Saint-Symphorien.

Dinner included this evening

Today’s ride leads you on quiet roads through the Landes de Gascogne Regional Nature Park, a protected area of pine forest and wetlands. Shortly after the village of Louchats why not take a break beside lakes of Hostens there’s plenty of shade beneath the pines and if it’s warm you may even be tempted in for a dip. You then head on along the forest road lined by heathland and pine forests to the town of Le Barp where you stop for the night. Please note, if no availability in Le Barp then you will be accommodated 13 km further along the route in the village of Salles.

After breakfast, mount up and continue westwards through the Nature Park towards the Atlantic Ocean. The pine forests begin to thin out and a pleasant cycling path delivers you to the town of Mios. A little further on you reach Le Teich, where the Park finally meets the sea. Here you begin to follow an idyllic cycle path that leads you through a protected wetland area, where all manner of wild-fowl can be seen, to the shores of the Bay of Arcachon. A pleasant ride along a coastal path delivers you to bustling town of Arcachon, a pretty town with a lovely beach and plenty of bars and restaurants. You’ll spend one, or three nights here depending on which duration package you have booked.

5 night option

If you have opted for the 5 night cycling trip your cycling tour finishes after breakfast today.

7 night option

After breakfast, catch the ferry across Arcachon Bay to Cap Ferret, a sandy spit of land that separates Arcachon Bay from the open ocean. The expansive sandy beaches on the Atlantic side are definitely worth a visit as is an ascent of the lighthouse. Pedal to nearby L’Herbe and Le Canon, delightful villages of brightly painted traditional buildings which are part bungalow and part beach-hut – the epitomy of ‘shabby-chic’. This is seafood heaven and our tip is to search out the small locals’ bars in the backstreets that serve delicious dishes at a fraction of the price of the smart brasseries on the sea-front. At the end of the day catch the ferry back across the bay to Arcachon to your hotel.

Today you can choose between a relatively short ride south along the coast to the Pyla Sand Dune or a longer ride around the bay, visiting the chain of small towns and villages along the shoreline. If you opt for the shorter ride to Europe’s largest sand dune then you should of course have the energy to climb to the summit, 110 meters above sea level. The views across to Cap Ferret are quite stunning.The dune is popular with parascenders who’s colourful canopies look like enormous butterflies surrounding the dune.

The other route will lead you along the eastern shoreline of the lake through pleasant towns such as Gujan Mestras, La Teich and Audenge. The majority of the route is on a lovely bay-side cycle path and it’s entirely up to you how far around the bay you wish to ride.

You then return to Arcachon for you last night in this idyllic little town.

After breakfast it’s time to head for home or your next adventure.