Start: Nantes

Your Itinerary


Nantes to La Rochelle Self-Guided Cycling Holiday
Self-Guided | Individual | 8 days | 7 nights | From £959 per person
Other durations available on request.
Full holiday prices by date are shown on the ‘Book Now’ tab.

Book the Nantes to La Rochelle cycling holiday here >>

The approximate difficulty level for this tour

Difficulty Scale

Day-by-Day Cycling Holiday Itinerary


Day 1: Arrival at Nantes

Arrive at your 4-star hotel in Nantes, where you will find the road book and bikes waiting for you. West capital and certified City of Art and History Nantes will seduce you with its historical and cultural heritage, among the essentials you will discover the Château des ducs de Bretagne, the Machines de l’Ile, before strolling in the Jardin des Plantes one of the 4 biggest botanical garden in France.

Overnight in a 3-star hotel. Breakfast included.

Day 2: Nantes – Saint Brevin – 60 à 65 km

Cycle track of « La Vélodyssée » and « La Loire à Vélo » make common road from Nantes to the ocean. Along the estuary of La Loire, you will discover damp places, canals, ports and an outside art gallery with the contemporary exhibition « Estuaire », a real open-air museum. In Saint-Brévin-les-Pins, feel the ocean breath of the sea air and its conifer scents, stare at the sand dunes and fine sandy beaches !

Overnight in a 3-star hotel. Breakfast included.

Day 3: Saint Brevin – Bouin – 61 km

On this step, you pass in few kilometers from large beaches of Saint-Brévin lined with pines to charming sandy coves and jagged coastline of the Baie de Bourgneuf quiet and pleasant, ponctuated by fishing spot and little seaside resorts. You are actually on the « Vendée Atlantique Oyster Road », and you won’t escape a tasting ! Plan to stay for a while in Pornic, before joining the Vendée and the little village of Bouin by the Marais Breton Vendéen.

Overnight in a 3-star hotel. Breakfast included.

Day 4: Bouin – Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie – 59 to 62 km

On this new bike day you will ride to the famous and mythical « passage du Gois », unique in Europe (remember to check the tide times the day before, the passage time is 3 hours per day, sometimes very early or very late) : road under the ocean of 4.2 km and praticable only at low tide (be careful not to slip on the cobblestones when the sea is withdrawing !), you are going to discover Noirmoutier. The little and preserved vendéene island with its diversified landscapes, and its authenticity will delight you.

If the tide does not allow you to take the passage of Gois it will be by the peaceful and serene Marais Vendéen that you will approach this new stage passing by Beauvoir and its market town dating from the 17th century, and Saint-Jean de Monts. You will then follow the Vendéen cornice composed of amazing cliffs and its famous rocks “The five Pineaux” to join the seductive and lively city of St Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.

Overnight in a 3-star hotel. Breakfast included.

Day 5: Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie – Les Sables d’Olonne 38 km

You continue your trip joining Brétignolles and Brem by a cycle path without any complexity and with sea view. You will get away the seaboard to continue your excursion with a amazing landscape between the ancient salt marsh and the Olonne forest leading you until Les Sables d’Olonne where you take the benefit of a large fine sandy beach to relax and finish your day or visit and walk accross the little and charming streets of the city.

Overnight in a 3-star hotel. Breakfast included.

Day 6: Les Sables d’Olonne – Tranche sur Mer 45 km

Your journey restart closer to the sea, the Vélodyssée weaves between forest and craggy coasts, making you discover amazing natural sites : Cayola Bay where you will enjoy a marvellous overview, the Point of Payré and its marshes, some lively ports like the Port of la Guittière, become oyster-farming village and designated a first remarkable site of Vendée. The pathway in forest permit you to take the advantage of the pines and holm oaks freshness before joining La Tranche sur Mer and its 13km of fine sandy beach.

Overnight in a 3-star hotel. Breakfast included.

Day 7: La Tranche sur Mer – La Rochelle 68 to 72 km

On this last stage the Vélodyssée brings you through one of the last natural lagoon of the atlantic littoral, the lagoon of Belle Henriette. Very wild, it houses a lot of protected birds and will seduce nature lovers. The trips goes on through the dryed part of the Marais Poitevin, by country lane and little desert roads offering a criss-crossed landscape with straigh lines canals, before crossing the Sèvre Niortaise and go along the canal an easy and quiet track leading you until the atlantic coast and the effervescent city of La Rochelle.

La Rochelle is a tourist and lively city, remarkable for its history. You can appreciate the old harbor and its towers which kept it the entrance from XIIIth century to XVth century. You can also enjoy the city centre and its arches as well as the town hall from the XVh century.

Overnight in a 3-star hotel. Breakfast included.

Day 8: Departure after breakfast.

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Map & Route Information

Route Profile

Cycling holiday on the Velodyssee along the Atlantic coast. Bike tour in Loire Atlantique and Vendee. From Nantes you go along the majestic estuary of La Loire before reaching the serenity of the beautiful peninsula of the Pays de Retz. South Britain and the côte de Jade offer you a coastline with sandy coves, jagged cliffs and picturesque hamlets, the diversified lands will seduce you like the fragrances of the sea air accompanying you all along this trip. You will pass by charming seaside resorts as Pornic the coast’s flagship city, then you carry on your journey through the salt marsh of Vendée and reach the Island of Noirmoutier, a nature jewel.

The exploration of the côte de Lumière goes on by beaches, forest and sandy dunes until Les Sables d’Olonne renowned for its fine sandy beach and its charming landscapes, and join La Tranche sur Mer. Your trek will end in La Rochelle that you link through the ancient Marais Poitevin, became protected area. All along your stay you will enjoy several culinary specialties covered in freshness and tastes.

Where is the starting point of the holiday?

Tour Route Map

Tour Information

Holiday Information

The Nantes to La Rochelle Tour stays in 2* and 3*hotels carefully chosen for their location, hospitality and proximity to your tour route.

Your stay includes the daily transfer of luggage to the next hotel and permanent assistance in case of problems.

- 7 nights in 2* and 3* hotels with breakfast (in double / twin room)
– Route notes & maps, regional information
– GPS App for Smartphone with vocal guiding as well
– Luggage transfer hotel to hotel
– Emergency phone call support 7/7

Star Star Star

Your Prices

Nantes to La Rochelle, 8 days, 7 nights
Prices are per person and include bike hire.

Cycling Holiday Prices:

Prices are based on seasonal date bands

Daily arrivals between 1st April to 31st October

Category A: Prices per person including bike hire
Season 1: From £959 | Book online here >>
Single Room Supplement: From £279

Calculate the cost of your cycling holiday







Hotel Category Descriptions
Category A: 2* and 4* hotels

Extra nights are available to book on this tour!
Prices are per person per night and based on two sharing. Single supplements apply.

For extra nights, you will stay in the same hotel. Please let us know if you wish to book extra nights at the start or at the end of the tour when completing your ‘Booking Request’.

Any local tourist taxes are not included in the holiday price and are payable at the hotel.

For help and queries regarding this tour…
Contact us | F.A.Qs

Holiday Price: From £959
Single Supplement: From £269

Click here to book now
Call: 01706 618155

Wheel2Wheel Holidays is part of KE Adventure Travel Ltd.

Central Car Park Road, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 5DF

Registered Address: Fifth Floor, 27 Greville Street, London, United Kingdom EC1N 8SU

Registered in England: 1911512