If you’d like to find other riders travelling on the same dates, please use the Strava Club page and create a thread, using the travel destination name for your title for outbound transfers, and the departure town for any return transfers (don’t use the Loop name, because several Loops arrive/depart on the same days). It’s worth doing outbound and return as 2 separate threads.
My Rider Account
We will post travel advice for each Loop below, when we publish our Loops at the end of October.
Until then, there is some general guidance below.
Travel to Le Loop
You need to arrange and pay for your own travel to and from your first and last hotel unless a transfer is included in the Loop.
- Please arrive at your hotel no later than 7pm on arrival day – 5pm for Lille.
- For train travel to and within France: eurostar.com and sncf-connect.com
- For flight comparison, kayak.co.uk is one of our favourite sites.
Train versus Plane
Train travel in France can be booked on the SNCF website: sncf-connect.com. We encourage riders to take the train where possible in order to reduce our environmental impact. We’ve put together guidance notes to help make taking the train as easy as possible.
Team up with other Loopers
To Lille. Fri 27th June
Train: From London, it’s the easiest of Eurostar journeys (90 mins) to the centre of Lille and from Paris it’s only an hour from the Gare du Nord. You’ll arrive at Lille Europe or Lille Flandres station which are next door to each other and from here it’s a 15 minute taxi or 45 minutes by public transport (bus or metro+bus) to our hotel on the west of town (Holiday Inn Englos).
Long haul: See above – the most likely thing is that you’ll fly into either London or Paris and make your way by train. Taking your bike on the Eurostar is not as simple as it should be so you’re probably best using our Bike Transport. Taking a bike on a French train is more straight forward but does need to be booked in advance (see French train notes above)
Back from Paris: Mon 21st July
Train: Trains to London are easy with the Eurostar!
Flight: It’s worth checking Orly airport as well as CDG as it has improved connections each year and is just as easy to get to.
To Lille. Fri 27th June
Train: From London, it’s the easiest of Eurostar journeys (90 mins) to the centre of Lille and from Paris it’s only an hour from the Gare du Nord. You’ll arrive at Lille Europe or Lille Flandres station which are next door to each other and from here it’s a 15 minute taxi or 45 minutes by public transport (bus or metro+bus) to our hotel on the west of town (Holiday Inn Englos).
Long haul: See above – the most likely thing is that you’ll fly into either London or Paris and make your way by train. Taking your bike on the Eurostar is not as simple as it should be so you’re probably best using our Bike Transport. Taking a bike on a French train is more straight forward but does need to be booked in advance (see French train notes above)
Back from Dunkirk: Tue 1st July
Ferry: If you’re travelling back to the UK, you could consider taking the ferry and arriving directly in Dover.
Train: Dunkirk is only half an hour from Lille by train so it’s very easy to get to London or Paris with a simple change in Lille (trains leave from the same station you arrive in).
To Lille. Fri 27th June
Train: From London, it’s the easiest of Eurostar journeys (90 mins) to the centre of Lille and from Paris it’s only an hour from the Gare du Nord. You’ll arrive at Lille Europe or Lille Flandres station which are next door to each other and from here it’s a 15 minute taxi or 45 minutes by public transport (bus or metro+bus) to our hotel on the west of town (Holiday Inn Englos).
Long haul: See above – the most likely thing is that you’ll fly into either London or Paris and make your way by train. Taking your bike on the Eurostar is not as simple as it should be so you’re probably best using our Bike Transport. Taking a bike on a French train is more straight forward but does need to be booked in advance (see French train notes above)
Back from Toulouse. Tue 8th July
Train: It’s only 5hrs by train from Toulouse to Paris (and under 9 to London including time to change in Paris) on the very comfortable TGV trains.
Plane: Toulouse has a very well served airport with flights to many UK and European cities. Our hotel is very close to the airport.
To Toulouse. Wed 9th July
Train: It’s only 5hrs by train from Paris to Toulouse (and under 9 from London including time to change in Paris) on the very comfortable TGV trains.
Plane: Toulouse has a very well served airport with flights from many UK and European cities. Our hotel is very close to the airport.
Back from Paris: Mon 21st July
Train: Trains to London are easy with the Eurostar!
Flight: It’s worth checking Orly airport as well as CDG as it has improved connections each year and is just as easy to get to.
To Montpellier: Mon 14th July
Train: London to Montpellier can be done in as little as 7hrs including time to change from the Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon in Paris.
Flight: Easyjet fly direct to Montpellier from Luton and Gatwick and BA from Gatwick. Montpellier is also pretty well served from other European airports. However, it’s also under 2hrs from Marseille so that could provide a helpful plan B if you’re travelling from other UK or international airports.
From Geneva (Porte de Geneve). Sat 18th July
After finishing cycling in La Plagne, we’ll have dinner together and then the group will split, with departing cyclists being taken to a hotel in the “Porte de Geneve” district for bed and breakfast (and Paris cyclists staying in the next stage start location of Nantua).
This means you’ll wake up on Sat 18th with a 15 min taxi ride or 45 min bus/train ride to get to either Geneva airport or Geneva train station
Pau. Fri 11th July
Train: TGV fast Trains from Paris to Pau take 4.5hrs, making it very possible to do the journey from London in a day (8hrs includes time to change trains from the Gare du Nord to the Gare Montparnasse in Paris).
Flight: Fortunately you can fly to Pau via Paris with AirFrance from CDG. While flying to Lourdes would usually be a good plan B, Ryainair doesn’t have flights scheduled on 11th July so if the AirFrance options don’t suit, it would be worth looking at flights to Biarritz, Toulouse or Bordeaux which all have easy onward train possibilities to Pau (or travelling a day early and enjoying the sights of Pau!)
From Geneva (Porte de Geneve). Sat 18th July
After finishing cycling in La Plagne, we’ll have dinner together and then the group will split, with departing cyclists being taken to a hotel in the “Porte de Geneve” district for bed and breakfast (and Paris cyclists staying in the next stage start location of Nantua).
This means you’ll wake up on Sat 18th with a 15 min taxi ride or 45 min bus/train ride to get to either Geneva airport or Geneva train station
To Montpellier: Mon 14th July
Train: London to Montpellier can be done in as little as 7hrs including time to change from the Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon in Paris.
Flight: Easyjet fly direct to Montpellier from Luton and Gatwick and BA from Gatwick. Montpellier is also pretty well served from other European airports. However, it’s also under 2hrs from Marseille so that could provide a helpful plan B if you’re travelling from other UK or international airports.
From Valence: Thur 17th July
Train: Valence is one of the main southern TGV hubs and has a large out of town TGV station. You can travel to London in under 6 ½ hrs and Paris in 2 ½ hrs, making train an excellent travel option.
Flight: If you need to get to an airport, Valence is well linked by train to Montpellier and Marseille (both under 90 mins) or even Nice in approx. 3 ½ hrs.
To Dunkirk: Mon 30th June
Ferry: If you’re travelling from the UK, you could consider taking the ferry from Dover (with a car or as a foot passenger) and arriving directly in Dunkirk.
Train: Dunkirk is only half an hour from Lille by train so is very easy via London or Paris (see Grand Depart arrival info) with a simple change in Lille (trains leave from the same station you arrive in).
From Bayeux. Thur 3rd July
Ferry: Bayeux is only half an hour’s drive from Caen Ouistreham ferry terminal which has Brittany Ferries links to Portsmouth. Alternatively, if you took the ferry to Dieppe and have a car waiting in Dover or Dieppe, it’s possible to return to your car by train…
Train: Bayeux is under 3hrs from Paris by train (with a change in Caen)
To Toulouse. Wed 9th July
Train: It’s only 5hrs by train from Paris to Toulouse (and under 9 from London including time to change in Paris) on the very comfortable TGV trains.
Plane: Toulouse has a very well served airport with flights from many UK and European cities. Our hotel is very close to the airport.
From Luchon. Sun 13th July
We have included a transfer at the end of the Pyrenees Loop to take you to Toulouse airport. It will leave the Luchon hotel at 8am to arrive at the airport by 10am for flights later in the day.
If you’re taking the train from Toulouse, it’s an easy shuttle from the airport into town.