France is a European country with a rich history, with cities rich in tradition and world-famous buildings. France's capital Paris alone has so many sights that one can spend days there without feeling bored. You may visit buildings such as the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Perhaps you will stroll through museums such as the Louvre, enjoy delicacies in a Parisian café or visit the artists'; market in front of Sacré-Cœur. Paris is beautiful, rich in tradition and lively at the same time. It is, for example, the starting point of a bicycle and boat trip to Montargis, which can also be made in the opposite direction (Montargis to Paris).
You will see fascinating buildings, such as the castle of Fontainebleau and the abbey of St. Séverin from the 13th century, as well as places of art and culture such as the artists'; village of Barbizon. But French art, culture and sensational architecture are not only evident on trips by bike and boat through France starting in Paris.
A trip through the Loire Valley is also very attractive. There is hardly any other region in Europe where romantic castles and castle ruins are so close together. These include, for example, Saint-Brisson Castle, the ruins of Apremont Castle and Pont Chevron Castle, picturesquely situated on a small lake.
You can also get to know France's architecture, art and culture on an international combination of cycling holiday and boat trip. The journey with the MS Olympia, for example, first leads to German sights such as Mainz Cathedral, Heidelberg Castle and Mannheim Baroque Palace and then to testimonies of French architecture such as the fascinating Strasbourg Cathedral.
More architecture you can see on your travels to France? The Saint-Etienne Cathedral in Sens is one of the architectural highlights on the tailwind Burgundy tour by bike and boat. It was one of the first large Gothic churches in France. In the south of France, buildings such as the Cathedral in Avignon, called the City of the Popes, and the Pont du Gard, the best-preserved Roman aqueduct in Europe, are a delight.
France by bike and boat: wine and food delights
French culture is inseparable from the culture of food and wine. In the country grow many grapes for noble wines. Thus, cycling tours through France as well as a cycling holiday combined with a boat trip very often offer you the opportunity to taste excellent wines. The combined ship and cycle holiday in the Loire Valley, for example, offers you the pleasure of wine. It takes you to the famous vineyards of the Pouilly Fumé wine region. Here the grapes grow for a very good white wine.
A tailwind trip in the beautiful valley of the Marne will take you to the home of the famous Brie cheese and the Champagne. Here you will visit the small town of Épernay, which is also home to the world famous Moët & Chandon Champagne Winery. The numerous galleries in Épernay's limestone cliffs below the city, which together are many kilometres long, are remarkable. They serve as wine cellars. During the tailwind trip in the Marne Valley you will have the opportunity to enjoy a champagne tasting in a champagne cellar.
A true feast with culinary delights and outstanding wines is the bicycle and boat trip through the north of Burgundy. Here local beekeepers will spoil your palate, cheese dairies, cider producers and many wine growers. Vineyard snails are as much a part of North Burgundy cuisine as pike and zander, the meat of the Charolais cattle and the Époisses, a hearty cheese of the region.
Other culinary highlights include a trip to France by bike and ship MS Bordeaux through the wine-growing region of the same name. It is located in the southwest of the country and is undoubtedly one of the most famous in the country. The journey takes you through six wine-growing regions. The kitchen is just as appealing as the wines.
Delicious food from Bordeaux awaits you not only when you are on your bike. On board the ship you can also enjoy excellent food and drinks. The MS Bordeaux offers you a salon/lounge with a bar and a small dance floor as well as a very good restaurant. Here, excellent regional dishes are cooked for you from fresh ingredients. One of the drops from the wine bar is perfect for this. Taste the tastiest pages of France.
The tour from Paris and Montargis, for example, is scenically charming, as the ship sails again and again through small French canals. You cycle through beautiful forests like the one around Fontainebleau. The famous French artists'; village of Barbizon is embedded in it. It was here that landscape painters once created the so-called "School of Barbizon";, which sought direct access to nature.
Limestone cliffs and olive trees characterise the landscape on the way from Arles to Vallabrègues. It is part of the journey through Provence and the Camargue. This cycle and boat trip also takes you to the sea, for example to the bathing and fishing village Le Grau-du-Roi, whose picturesque fishing port is well worth seeing.
Beautiful ships and wonderful tours
Burgundy, Bordeaux, Provence and Camargue: enjoy a few wonderful days in the most beautiful regions of France. Each and every one of the bike and boat trips offered here has been designed by the Rückenwind team with great attention to detail and offers you a delightful blend of nature experience and culture. Each ship has its own character. But all ships agree that they offer you the best conditions for wonderful holidays.
Many of the combined offers of cycling holidays and boat trips in France are easy to cycle tours. Some - like the Marne tours - offer somewhat greater challenges. There are travel options with individual bike tours, where you are equipped with good maps and start off yourself. As an alternative, you can opt for combined tours with guided bike tours. Here you go in the group with a local travel guide on tour. Both have their charms. What's the nicer option? Just decide for yourself.
