Touring from Caen (May 12th 2021)

[jack1]

Touring from Caen,3/4weeks.”May 12th 2021” Fingers Crossed any Suggested Routes) through quite country lanes,(no camping) b/b,Small Hotels, air B/B. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Have booked ferry, taking the bike was not a (Problem) to old for Camping Bed/Breakfast would be fine,if (COVID French Rules Allow)

[pq]

I live in France and have toured quite a bit over the past few weeks. Accommodation is easy to find - most places are open. Current restrictions which may or may not be lifted by then include all restaurants being shut and a 6pm curfew - that's a bit of a logistical challenge but not impossible - I just buy the day's food in a supermarket before setting off - and make sure I stay somewhere which has a decent supermarket.

There are heavier restrictions in places with higher rates, some of which are in the north. Dunkirk has absolutely huge rates for example. You should avoid those.

France is vaccinating much more slowly than the UK so rates are more static (and rising in some places) so it may well be that rates in May will be very much as they are now.

Can't help with route, I live in the southwest, but whenever I have ridden in that area I've found figuring out a route easy - there are plenty of quiet roads.

[ANTONISH]

There are plenty of quiet roads in Normandy.
I usually stick to white and yellow roads - but I did get caught out once when a white road I started riding on turned out to be a rat run for HGV's travelling between two main roads - it wasn't wide enough for two HGV's to pass without them both using the verge and I was subjected to blaring horns with nowhere to move over - one of the few times in France when I felt unsafe.
I've also given up camping - I usually use hotels (are they open?) and book using a smart phone usually a day ahead.

[hamster]

Assuming you are arriving at Ouistreham, then westwards along the coast visiting all the D-Day stuff is a nice relaxed route. First night in Arromanches, then a day trip to Bayeux. Continue along the coast via Omaha Beach, Ste Mere Eglise. I would then go up to St Vaast and Barfleur for the food. Then cut back and take the old rail route to Briquebec. Then work southwards eventually to Mont St Michel? After that head further west into Brittany before looping back inland via Rennes ?

Quite a few campsites seem to have static vans / huts which might add accommodation options.

[tatanab]

Touring from Caen,3/4weeks.”May 12th 2021”

3 or 4 weeks, easily enough to head south to the Med and back, or east towards Switzerland and back. I've done both at one time or another. Swiss trip from Caen I went virtually due east through Burgundy and the Jura, just into Switzerland, turned north a way to the Vosges and back on a route north of my outward. Going south I went Bourges, Castres, to the sea, then Carcassonne, north of Toulouse, across the Lot, Tarn and Dordogne to the coast around La Rochelle and then northwards. Plenty of variety in both. I prefer to camp (campsites), but I'm only 68 , each to whatever makes them comfortable. Have a good trip. I have no particular plans this year, although France is my preferred touring country, dipping a toe into those adjacent.

[Richard Fairhurst]

The Velo Francette route is really lovely - it starts at the ferryport in Ouistreham and heads south to the Loire (and beyond that to La Rochelle!).

[st599_uk]

I think it will depend if the rules on leaving the UK are relaxed.

Currently there's a form on the UK Gov website that you need to have with you at the port - it's now a criminal offence to enter a port without one.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... travel.pdf

They also ask to see letters confirming why you're travelling.

[jacobean]

Normandy is very nice cycling country and gets better weather than Brittany.

Started and finished a few tours in Caen.

Of places that standout Chartres is definitely worth a visit. Nice historic and charming town. En route, there is a town called Aigle which has a nice hotel and it's superb adjoining restaurant (Brit Hotel du Dauphin). Le Mans is a nice and an unpretentious town which might be worth a night. Heading further south, you reach Tours - a totally forgettable town but at least you're now on the Loire Cycle Route. Very peaceful route where you can cycle at the same speed as the barges running parallel to you.You can take this route all the way to Atlantic passing Angers and Nantes along the way.

You could then take a TER train (albeit with 1 or 2 stations changes) back to Caen.

[francovendee]

The Velo Francette route is really lovely - it starts at the ferryport in Ouistreham and heads south to the Loire (and beyond that to La Rochelle!).

+1 I've not done it all but it passes through some lovely countryside and towns.

[nsew]

Infection rates remain high in France (25,000 per day), here in the UK they are rising again and the superspreaders are back in school. Half of Italy has gone back into lockdown. The UK variant accounts for 60% of new cases in France. In Europe vaccine uptake is a fraction of what it is here. The travel industry is full of ****, they need to re-capitalise to stay afloat (boom boom) you’ll almost certainly receive a voucher and not a holiday for your outlay.

[Psamathe]

Two months is a long time and rates can go down as well as up but as things stand now EU is not looking as likely as it was a months ago.

Third Covid wave sweeps across EU and forces new restrictions
A third wave of the Covid pandemic is now advancing swiftly across much of Europe. As a result, many nations – bogged down by sluggish vaccination campaigns – are witnessing sharp rises in infection rates and numbers of cases.

The infection rate in the EU is now at its highest level since the beginning of February, with the spread of new variants of the Covid-19 virus being blamed for much of the recent increase.
...

But without appreciating in detail what steps each country is taking and compliance with those measures and with the time lags in the stats (delay between infection and positive test, hospitalisation, etc.) it can be very difficult to appreciate what direction that country in moving in. And then political pressures that could result in early relaxation (either in measures of public perception of the ned for compliance) ... Who can make predictions.

And then the prospect of new variants.

I'm uncertain how much I'd enjoy a tour in France with an 18:00 curfew, but for me I think I enjoy touring for the lifestyle as much as the cycling.

So not trying to be "doom and gloom" but I'd want to make sure my insurance covered cancellation for a broad range of reasons.

Ian

[pq]

I think I'd probably book the ferry and nothing else, that way if you can't go, you don't lose much. Booking accommodation as you go is no problem.

My recent tours in France have included looking up what the local covid rates are - I don't go anywhere where the rates are elevated. Where I live in the SW we have never, at any point, had significant numbers of covid cases so I feel pretty safe, although I'm avoiding almost all socialising. Average figures are quite misleading in that sense, there are hotspots where you absolutely shouldn't go, but other places where rates are vanishingly small, which often are the same places you'd enjoy riding a bike.

The curfew is a pain, but I'd rather tour with that in place than not go at all. I've done a lot of reading I wouldn't otherwise have had time for.

I was vaccinated last week so when the immunity kicks in such risks as there are touring carefully in France will diminish further.

[simonhill]

OP has now changed dates to June, so a word of warning.

Le Mans was mentioned and if anywhere in the area accommodation can be hard to get during race time. I had problems in a town 40 odd Kms away on the Thursday of the race.

[Mick F]

Called in at Caen in HMS Sirius for the celebrations of the anniversary of the Allies liberating the city in June 1944.
I think they have an anniversary celebration every year?

Any road up, I took my bike on the ship, like I often did, and went out for rides to explore Normandy.
Arromanches for the Normandy Landings, and a trip out to Bayeux for the tapestry.
Imagine my surprise when I went through a village twinned with Mary Tavy (near Tavistock)

Two photos.

Mery Corbon.jpg (29.98 KiB) Viewed 744 times

[teamonster]

The Velofrancette is lovely - but some of the river/canalside paths can get very muddy if it's been wet. Like a lot of these routes, it's good to use as a general guide but sometimes it makes more sense to detour off bits of it. Parts of the first section not far from Caen has some lovely tarmac ex railway lines and some of the picnic benches even have drinking water taps next to them !

Don't forget although France has lifted the requirement for a "pressing reason" to travel, I think PCR test before travel, the quarantine on arrival and the need for PCR test after 7 days is still a requirement. I could be wrong as others have said this is a constantly moving situation.

If you're able to go Im sure you'll have a great time.