You are free to join the hotel from 3:00 p.m., to settle in and prepare your bike for the adventure ahead and prepare your bike for the road ahead. Prefecture of Hérault, Montpellier is worth a good visit on foot for its small streets of the medieval quarter, its large public places, or its parks. If you want to enjoy a sunny day, several beautiful beaches can be reached within half an hour by bike.

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

Your trip begins at 6:00 PM with your first group meeting at the hotel entrance. There you will meet your guide, and discuss the next seven days of cycling from Montpellier to Lyon.

You will then have your first group dinner in the city center, where you will get to know the other participants in the group, before hitting the road the next morning.

To begin our tour, you will cycle through a mix of city, suburban and agricultural landscapes. As the prefectures of Hérault and Gard do not yet have a cycle route that connects them, you will take a mix of local roads and canals.

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

Nîmes has over 2,600 years of history, with an impressive number of buildings and monuments that date back to the Roman era. Impossible to be indifferent to the immensity of the arenas of Nîmes dating from the first century, almost as large as the famous Colosseum in Rome and even more intact.

Today you will leave the agricultural plains behind, and meet the majestic Rhône for the first time. You will first cross a succession of villages and vineyards, thus joining the AOC Côtes-du-Rhône. When you first meet the river, you will cross it towards its left bank for a quick foray into the Bouches-du-Rhône department. You will finally cross the Durance, where you will finally enter the city of Avignon.

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

Avignon is dotted with several monuments classified as World Heritage of Humanity around its walled country house, such as the Palais des Papes, the Cathedral of the Doms, and the Pont d'Avignon. You can tour the ramparts on foot or even by bike, or take a free ferry to Île de la Barthelasse with its bucolic cycle routes.

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

The “budget participants” spend that night in a dormitory.

Prepare to pedal the banks of the Rhône for most of the day, through villages whose stories have been intimately linked to the river for centuries. You might be tempted to stop for a wine tasting, rolling through the AOC Côtes-du-Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards. You can take a short visit to the small town of Orange with its great Roman remains and have your dinner in one of the medieval villages such as Mornas or Mondragon.

This stage culminates in Bourg-Saint-Andéol, perched directly on the river. Even though its small center revolves around its church with Roman origins, it is also worth walking a few more minutes to the bas-relief of Mithras, Indo-Iranian god, carved out of the rock in the second century.

“Budget participants” sleep in tents in front of the Rhône, at the campsite adjacent to the village.

It's our serious climbing day today, but only after a relaxed warm-up by the river. You will start the day with 30 km almost entirely flat on green roads along the Rhône. Consider making a short visit to the eleventh century Saint Vincent Cathedral in the heart of the intact medieval center of Viviers, which was already a diocese in the fifth century. The morning part along the river culminates on a spectacular suspension bridge: the Himalayan Gateway. Take a break here in the village of Rochemaure, because the rest of the day will be in the wild hills!

The Ardèche is known for its valleys, and today you will climb them. Prepare to zigzag along these ancient roads, lined with old stone walls covered with bushes, and chestnut forests covered with lichens. With more than 1200m of vertical drop over the first 25 km, the climbs are nevertheless rewarded with glorious descents over the last 15 km.

You will spend the night in Privas, the smallest departmental prefecture in the country. The “budget participants” will spend the night in a campsite located near the city, directly in front of the Ouvèze River.

You will take one more day to admire the mountainous landscapes of Ardèche, with well-deserved descents. The day begins with the only real climbs, of around 350m over 6 km… followed by descents for the majority of the next 30 km! You will ride on the slopes surrounded by forests for the first 10 km, then descend the Eyrieux River for its last 20 km before it empties into the Rhône at Beauchastel.

Only 39 km upstream from the Himalayan Gateway, your first key point of this section of the Rhône is the hydroelectric dam at Beauchastel. You will drive mostly on green roads that follow the river for your last 20 km of the day, while the landscape becomes more and more industrial.

You will spend the night in Valence, prefecture of Drôme, known for its eleventh century cathedral. You will explore its network of small pedestrian streets in the center, or its vast network of parks on the river front.

“Budget participants” spend the night in a cyclist hostel adjacent to this park.

Today's route truly embodies the Via Rhôna cycle path. Almost exclusively on green roads, you will pass terraced vineyards, and cross orchards, and come across many small riverside villages. You will follow the banks of the Rhône, but also a few other adjacent rivers such as the Iône and the Lône.

At 80 km, this stage is the longest of this tour, however with a strict minimum of climbs. It is also a fairly busy day in the departments: we cross Ardèche, Drôme, Loire, Isère, and Rhône!

“Budget participants” spend the night on the somewhat cramped rural campsite of Condrieu, and therefore follow a slightly different route for the last few kilometers.

On the way to Lyon today, you will notice a gradual transition where the tranquility of terraced vineyards and natural islands gives way to the effervescent landscapes of the metropolis.

The historic city of Vienne is worth a visit in the morning, recalling its era as a Gallo-Roman capital. For nature lovers, the Île du Beurre can seduce you with its natural trails, its observation platforms, and there is even an aquarium with a permanent exhibition on the European beaver!

Our journey finally brings us to the heart of Lyon, recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage of humanity. You can spend the afternoon exploring its different neighborhoods, its beautiful city center, or its daring golden basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.

In the evening, we will gather for our group dinner, to celebrate the end of this trip and the distance covered by bike the previous seven days.

Congratulations on having driven 450 km from Montpellier to Lyon!

This day is a day of rest to explore the districts and attractions of Lyon. Breakfast at the aparthotel is our last activity of the tour.

For participants also registered for the next section of the Grand Tour Cycliste going to Orléans, it is the first day of this 10-day tour. So it's a day of rest and laundry, with a laundry room available at the aparthotel.