Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Our trip starts in Marseille. An exuberant multicultural port city in southern France with a mix of grit and grandeur, Marseille was originally founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC and has been a crossroads of immigration and trade ever since.
The Tour Leader plans to meet you in the hotel reception at 7pm for the welcome meeting and, slightly later, our first group dinner to get to know your fellow travellers. If you would like to receive a complimentary airport transfer today, you will need to arrive into Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), which is a 30-minute drive from the hotel. There are no included excursions today and if you miss the briefing, your Tour Leader will inform you of any essential information as soon as you catch up.
No cycling today.
We start the day with an orientation walk around old Marseille – including the old port, Place de Lenche, Place de Moulin, Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica and the historic Panier district. Later this morning we leave the city in our bus and drive to Porte-Saint-Luis-du-Rhone where we take a short Rhone river ferry crossing. It is here that we commence our first cycle ride into the protected lowlands of the Rhone delta alongside dikes and saltwater lakes, always close to the sea until we reach Saintes Maries de la Mer where we spend the night in the heart of the Camargue (31km cyling).
Our total cycling distance today is approximately 31 kilometres on the flat.
Today we continue cycling on a mixture of paved and unpaved roads through the rivers, lagoons and canals of the Camargue and Rhone Delta. The area has rich birding opportunities and we will keep our eyes peeled for wildlife including the evocative white horses and Flamingos (seasonal). On our route we will visit the fortified medieval town of Aigues Mortes. Finally we reach Villeneuve-les-Maguelone where we end our ride today. We continue by train to Sete where we check into our hotel in the new part of town and you have a chance to swim in the Med. Sete is an ancient port and the old part of town is just 20-30 minutes away by foot. Our support vehicle has limited access to us today as cannot access our cycle route.
Our total cycling distance today is approximately 75 kilometres (300 metres total accumulated ascent and descent).
We leave the Camargue today and cycle to Bezier along back roads and a stretch of the famous Canal du Midi. Today’s cycling ends in historic Bezier where we get on a train to the picturesque, medieval fishing port town of Collioure. It is known for the impressive Chateau Royal de Collioure which dominates the waterfront (51km cycling).
We leave France along a section of coastal road and then cycle inland on quiet back roads over the Banyuls pass, which marks the border between France and Spain. Entering Spain, we cycle south to Figueres, where we spend the night. The afternoon is left free for you to explore the town and you may choose to visit the famous Salvador Dali theatre-museum (50km cycling).
After breakfast we cycle from our accommodation off across the rolling hills of the Emporda region of Catalonia. We will take a rest stop in Empuries where you have the chance to visit the remains of one of the most important Greek settlements in Spain. The beaches here are inviting and you have the chance to swim. We continue by bike to our hotel located a few kilometres outside Torroella de Montgri and close to the beach (58km cycling).
This morning we cycle from our hotel through diverse scenery including stops at the lovely medieval villages of Peratallada and La Bisbal. Our route continues across low hills covered with oak tree forests before reaching the port town of Palamos. After a coffee stop here we drive to our bus ride to Barcelona (50km)
The trip ends after breakfast.
