Ardeche mountain biking holiday
| country: | France |
| location: | Ardeche |
| trip type: | Adventurous mountain biking holidays |
| departures: | This trip departs on Saturdays throughout the year |
| price: | From £350 - £450 (8 days) excluding flights. |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The Ardèche is home to a huge range of tracks and trails that rise and fall in meandering routes all over this pristine region. We show you the best of the area in our fully supported weeks.
Trails are quiet, abundant and range in difficulty from high, open paths on the plateaus to tricky, rooty, rocky sections in the forests and gorges.
Weekly programmes are very flexible and can accommodate differing abilities.
Visitors benefit from the company of our staff in order to seek out the most suitable and exiting routes as well as the best lunch and refreshment stops.
Based in self catering or half board accommodation, our riders head out each morning to explore the region in a series of planned routes, stopping for lunch at a market or local restaurant and maybe a late afternoon drink in one of many friendly bars and cafés. See the sample itinerary below or contact us for details.
Trails are quiet, abundant and range in difficulty from high, open paths on the plateaus to tricky, rooty, rocky sections in the forests and gorges.
Weekly programmes are very flexible and can accommodate differing abilities.
Visitors benefit from the company of our staff in order to seek out the most suitable and exiting routes as well as the best lunch and refreshment stops.
Based in self catering or half board accommodation, our riders head out each morning to explore the region in a series of planned routes, stopping for lunch at a market or local restaurant and maybe a late afternoon drink in one of many friendly bars and cafés. See the sample itinerary below or contact us for details.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival |
| Day 2: | Easing in. Making the most of great terrain on the doorstep, we'll give you a taste of what's to come whilst allowing you to test your kit. In the afternoon we head across the plateau to the gorge with a choice of routes, from easy to technical. |
| Day 3: | Forest trails. A morning spent on purpose built woodland tracks before hitting some favourite singletrack routes to lunch. In the afternoon we climb up above the gorge before heading back into the forest for more secret trails. |
| Day 4: | Saints Day. Over the plateau with a couple of Gorge-top photo stops on the way down to lunch at the town of St Martin. Then across the river and up to St Remeze before a breathtaking technical ride back into Vallon. A mission of a day. |
| Day 5: | Free day. Giving you a chance to head out with the maps or to take in some of the other regional sights and activities. Alternatively, we'll all jump on our bikes and go and take on the course of the local adventure race! |
| Day 6: | Exploring. Heading west with vehicle support to discover the high trails, moors and pine forests of the Ardèche mountians. |
| Day 7: | Group choice. With hundreds and hundreds of miles of trails left to experience - what did you like most so far? We will have plenty more of it in store for you... |
| Day 8: | Departure |
how this holiday makes a difference
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We use planned routes for our riding days, ensuring that our routes will not have a negative impact on the physical environment. Our staff have detailed knowledge of the area and can recommend trails that will ensure that our riding does not cause unnecessary damage.
Our accommodations are locally owned and have recycling facilities. We hire equipment and purchase spares locally wherever possible. During all of our holidays weeks we encourage our guests to support the local community by stopping in at nearby shops, restaurants and markets, run by local people and producers. We are committed to Responsible Travel and request feedback from our guests in order to continually improve our service and performance. We aim to use 100% locally owned and run businesses for all of our external requirements. These include all of our activity suppliers for canoe trips, bike hire, horse riding etc, our hotel and the places that we stop for meals and shopping. All of these businesses are based locally. We do this not only because it is good for the region economically but because we feel that it will give the local population a chance to represent itself to its visitors, adding to the cultural feel of the holiday. The only thing that we intend to source from the UK is our customers. We will do our utmost to ensure that our guests are respectful of the physical environment and will provide them with appropriate means to minimise their impact. We will achieve this as our trained staff will accompany guests on almost all activities and excursions. By planning our routes, sticking to established trails and taking all of our waste away with us we can ensure that the impact of our presence is nominal. We encourage and facilitate the recycling of paper, glass and plastics. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've lead the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |