2023 Prue’s Best of France Private Tour
Private Cycling Trip through the France, travel through the romantic countryside of Bourgogne, the hills of Beaujolais, the beautiful Rhone Valley
10 days
Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, France
Tour Departs
Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, France, June 16, 2023
Tour Finishes
Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, France, June 25, 2023
Tour Style
Group Size: 7 guests – 2 staff
Rides: Always a social ride option and for those that want a challenge, we have some epic rides also.
Challenge Rating: We get you to the iconic climbs so that you have all the time to ride them at your pace. Our challenge rides are for experienced riders.
Accommodation: 3 to 4-star hotels, twin-share basis, all breakfasts included, and many dinners.
Trip Suitability
Social Riding and Leisure: We understand that your cycling holiday is a HOLIDAY! You may not normally ride every day at home. Our ride routes allow you to cherry-pick the sort of riding that you’d like to do. Choose the days you want to climb, the days to ride flat, and days to rest.
Experienced Riders: Your cycling holiday is actually about the bike! Our epic and challenging ride options seek more vertical meters and longer miles. Choose your rest days or recovery rides, or just ride, and ride, and ride.
Meals Included
Buffet breakfast every day, 4 dinners and 1 lunch
Tour Inclusions
Accommodation and Transport
- Transport throughout custom vans
- Transport for your bike with professional bike carriers
- 9 nights accommodation 3 & 4 Star hotels
- Scheduled arrival and departure transfers to Lyon-Exupery Airport
Meals
- Buffet breakfast daily
- 3-course evening meals on 3 nights
- Wine at welcome and farewell dinners
- Cooking Class
Professional Ride Support
- Hosted by our experienced tour guides and professional drivers
- Mechanical assistance with your bike
- Ride support vehicle when you need it most
- Navigation assistance on all guided rides
- Sports powders, water, and bars during your ride
- Bikestyle Tours Cycling Kits
Why we Love this Tour
- Fine dining in Michelin Restaurant
- Wine tasting
- Boutique accommodation including luxury chateaux
- Wonderful cycling including the Giant of Provence – Mont Ventoux
- Visit the historical Hospices de Beaune, Dijon and Avignon
- Local cuisine of Machon Beaujolais with the option of a cooking class in Beaujolais
- Custom private trip
Pricing
PRICING: Pricing for private groups is based on agreed minimum numbers of participants being met at the time of receipt of payment of final invoices by all trip participants. Prices may increase if minimum numbers are not met at the time of final invoicing (90 days prior to trip departure date). Final pricing will be based on the number of participants at the time of invoicing.
DEPOSIT: AUD$1500 per person.
A reservation is not considered to be finalised until a deposit for the trip is received.
PRICING: TWIN SHARE PER PERSON
- 7 people: $7150 per person twin share
- 6 people: $7450 per person twin share
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT FOR SOLE USE OF ROOM (SINGLE) PER PERSON
Cost: AUD$1520 (require even numbers for single supplement)
FINAL PAYMENT: Due 18th March 2023
CANCELLATION POLICY:
If for some reason you have to cancel your place on the trip, the following deductions will apply.
- From payment of deposit to 120 days prior to trip departure date: Loss of 50% of deposit
- Between 90 and 120 days prior to trip departure date: 100% loss of deposit. This may be reduced to 50% of deposit if a replacement person is found to take your place on a trip.
- Less than 90 days prior to trip departure date and after final payment: 100% loss of trip payment. This trip payment may be applied, at the discretion of Bikestyle Tours, to avoid a price increase being levied on other passengers of a private trip due to a reduction in group size.
Note: It is a requirement of Bikestyle Tours that you have Travel Insurance for your trip. Please take out Travel Insurance at your earliest convenience. We recommend at the same time as paying your deposit.
Bike Hire
Many guests find it convenient to hire one of our professionally prepared quality hire bikes.
- Hire a bike so that you’re not lugging a bike around on your extended European holiday
- Hire a bike and mitigate damage or delays during international transit
Bike Hire Charges
Bike Hire: AUD $630 Note: Renters of our hire bikes are liable for damages to their hire bike during the period of hire, treat it like you own for the rental period. Bikes are set up to your measurements before your arrival and are fully serviced by our professional mechanic.This Trip will be Escorted by Former Pro-Cyclist, Pat Jonker
Although born in The Netherlands, Patrick is an Aussie. He often raced with a Dutch licence during his career and has won 12 major European races.
Patrick turned professional at the end of 1993 and he raced with:
- 1993 WordPerfect
- 1994 Novemail
- 1995 and 1996 Once
- 1997 to 1999 Rabobank,
- 2000 with US Postal,(when injury ruled him out of the Tour)
- 2001 and 2002 with Big Mat
He finished 12th overall at the 1996 Tour de France, Miguel Indurain was 13th and that was the year Bjarne Riis toppled the Big Mig. A young up and coming Ullrich was second. Pat is also a former Dutch and Australian time trial champion.
Most South Australian’s know of Patrick’s greatest win in his final race as a professional, the Tour Down Under. It was a fairy tale win for him in front of his hometown crowd and one that we will remember for years to come.
Trip Summary
2023 Prue’s Best of France Private Tour
A very special small group trip that is suitable for cyclists and non-cyclists alike who will see, eat, drink and ride the best of France starting in Lyon we travel through the romantic countryside of Bourgogne, the hills of Beaujolais, the beautiful Rhone Valley and finally the garden of France, Provence
Each day we’ll have options for cycling, sightseeing and enjoying some of the finest food and wine in France.
2023 Prue's Daily Itinerary
Welcome to France
Your private tour starts at Lyon Saint-Exupery airport, where staff will greet you and transfer you to our first hotel. We will schedule a collection time based on your travel arrangements. We suggest arriving around midday.
Our staff will help you assemble your bike before setting off on our short afternoon ride where we can see a few sights, ponder our ascent of Mt Wellington (for another day) and test if our bikes are in working order.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ride along the Rhone
- Welcome Dinner
An easy warm-up ride through Lyon. A few busy city streets to navigate until we reach the cycle path along the Rhone which we follow for most of the ride. Flat all the way with a nice loop halfway through parklands, returning to the hotel via the same route along the Rhone.
Beaune and the Côte d’Or
This morning we will transfer to Cluny (2hrs) to see the Benedictine Abbey. The monastery of Cluny was the largest in the Western Christian world before the building of St Peter’s of Rome.
The Benedictines were once the greatest power in Europe, controlling over 10,000 monks from Poland to Scotland. Cluny abbey today is a ghost of the past – only 10% of the gigantic cathedral remains. This was the first monastery in Burgundy, started by the Benedictine monks in 910AD. At its peak over 1000 monks were in residence and 40 farms produced food for the community.
We will indulge in wine tasting after our ride.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Night in Beaune
- Ride through Burgundy
- Wine Tasting
An easy ride to kick off our trip through the vineyards of Burgundy from Cluny to our hotel in Beaune. The terrain is flat to gently undulating most of the way, but about 15kms from the end, there is a short but steep little climb between the villages of Rully and the aptly named wine village of Bouzeron.
From Cluny we are following the Voie Verte north for the first 42kms to the village of Givry. This lovely path is over 70 km long, running past sloping vineyards, châteaux and scenery of the Saône-et-Loire. Safe and flat – it follows the course of an old railway line!
Vineyards of Côte de Beaune
This morning we will ride through Côte de Beaune and the well-known vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault and Pommard before finishing in a cellar in Meursault for a winetasting.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ride through the Côte de Beaune vineyards
- Wine Tasting
Our ride today takes you south through the Côte de Beaune vineyards, climbing out of Beaune and gaining a bit over 300 meters in altitude. Not a hard ride and once past the first climb the going is easier.
Dijon
This morning we head north on the bike to Dijon, passing through the vineyards of Côte de Nuits on our way to Dijon, the mustard capital of France.
The most famous and expensive red wines come from La Côte de Nuits, made up of a narrow band of hills south of Dijon. All of Burgundy’s red Grands Crus are produced here apart from one – the exception being the appellation Corton (in the Côte de Beaune). You may be familiar with the village names from the wine labels: Fixin, Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle Musigny, Vougeot, Flagey-Echézeaux, Vosne-Romanée, and Nuits-Saint-Georges.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Dinner at “Loiseau des Vignes”
The easier option today has one small climb at the beginning as you leave Beaune, but is generally easy going all the way to Dijon after that.
The longer ride is harder than the 42km route, but not hard enough to be classified as a difficult ride. Takes a detour from the shorter route adding in a climb up to a touch over 500 meters. The final part of this ride follows a pleasant path along the Canal de Bourgogne into Dijon.
Beaujolais
Reluctantly this morning we must leave Beaune but there is more great riding and gastronomy in store yet!
First, we will drive close to Mâcon and the prehistoric site of La Roche de Solutré in the heart of the Pouilly-Fuissé wine-producing area. This strange, precipitous rock rises out of the vineyards to 495m and presents a sheer cliff face at its summit.
Our ride will be a list of his favourite roads and places passing through the spectacular (and hilly) Beaujolais region. Our ride will end at Quincié en Beaujolais at the base of Côte de Brouilly. We will stop for lunch before transferring to our hotel for the evening.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Lunch in Beaujolais
Today is a 53 km ride from the rock of Solutré to our lunch in Quincié en Beaujolais. The first 22 km is undulatingly followed by a climb from 200 to 750 meters, spread out over about 13 km, so it’s a steady climb.
After the climb, a nice long descent takes you to Beaujeau where you join another “Voie Verte” for the final part of the journey before turning off to Quincié en Beaujolais.
Cooking class & south to Provence
Today we have a choice of things to do. Maybe you would like a day off the bike to try your hand at a cooking class?
In the heart of the Beaujolais province in a small village called Le Perreon, you will find Chef Fred in the kitchen of his warmly decorated house where you will feel at home. Discover and learn Fred’s recipes and tips in a convivial and relaxed atmosphere in the heart of the Beaujolais.
While the cooks will be preparing lunch, those who are riders and not cooks will head off from the hotel on a discovery by bike, Beaujolais, to our lunch in Perreon.
After lunch, you can sleep it off as we drive you through the Rhone Valley to Provence, where we will spend the next three nights at the Chateau de Mazan. Conveniently nestled at the foot of the legendary Mont Ventoux
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- French Cooking Class
- Transfer to Ventoux
For those not wanting to put in some training for Masterchef there is the option of adding to your training on the bike with a pleasant ride through Beaujolais.
You’ll definitely work up an appetite for lunch so we’ll have to make sure the cooks do a good job. The 66km ride is similar terrain to what we have done in the last few days with undulating roads through the vineyards.
Avignon and the dentelles
This morning our ride through the Côte du Rhône continues with such famous appellations Beaumes de Venise, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Rasteau. The riding here is spectacular with beautiful small roads passing through vineyards with the ever-present Mont Ventoux hovering in the distance.
Our ride will finish in Rasteau where we will end with a wine tasting of sweet wines served with chocolates! The perfect finish to the last official wine tasting of our trip.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Visit Malaucene
- Wine Tasting
A lovely ride that will take us a full morning, or longer, with much to see along the way.
Our ride will take us first around the base of Ventoux and the village of Malaucene before climbing up into the Dentelles de Montmirail.
Once we drop down from the Dentelles it is an easy ride through the vineyards, past the “plus beaux” village of Seguret (worth a quick look) before arriving in the town of Vaison la Romaine. We can stop here for a coffee and a look around the town centre, which is held every.
Mont Ventoux
We have a big day planned today with the Mont Ventoux on the menu. Today we have the opportunity to ride one of the most famous cols of the Tour de France, Mont Ventoux.
It is 21,8 km to the summit, gaining 1620 meters from Bedoin, with an average gradient of 7.4%.
The fastest time so far recorded has been that of Iban Mayo in the individual climbing time trial of the 2004 Dauphiné Libéré: 55′ 51″.
After the compulsory photographs at the summit, we’ll head back down via the thrilling descent back to Bedoin. Take care as it’s a fast descent and arrive at the bottom in one piece.
After enjoying lunch in Bedoin we will return to our hotel where we will be able to relax and enjoy the swimming pool with a refreshing drink in hand.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ride Mont Ventoux
Definitely the hardest ride of our trip and one of the hardest you will ever do. At 1912 meters Ventoux is not as high as some of the climbs in the Alpes, but you start at a much lower altitude than you do for most of the climbs, so the total amount of climbing without much relief along the way is over 1600 meters. We will get away reasonably early to escape the heat on the climb.
Final Gastronomic Experience
This morning we leave Provence and head back towards Lyon, with a stop on the way for a very nice ride following the Rhône River. Our ride will take us from Crozes-Hermitage to Condrieu, which is located on top of a hill where the Grand Crus produce some of the finest wines of the Côte du Rhône.
We will arrive at our hotel in Lyon not too late in the day in order to pack up our bikes and relax before our special last night together.
Tonight we have a special treat for our farewell dinner at a Michelin Hat restaurant.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rhone River
- Farewell Dinner
Our final ride takes us back into the vineyards along the Rhone River. The ride starts with a couple of small climbs in the first 20 km, then flattens out before a final climb before Condrieu.
We follow the Rhone River bike path for about 10 km before the final climb away from the river valley, so if you wanted to cut out about 8kms of riding and skip the final climb you could follow the bike path along the river, which will take you all the way to the edge of Condrieu.
Farewell from France
It is farewell to your new friends as our trip comes to an end this morning. You will be offered transfers to Lyon airport for your onward journey. If travelling by train then Gare Lyon Part Dieu is adjacent to our hotel.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
Ride Challenging Climbs with the most experienced Tour Operator in Europe
Grand Tours for 27 years
2023 will proudly be our 27th year of organising trips to the Europe, making us among the most experienced tour operators events such as the Tour de France.
If you’ve ever stayed up late watching le Tour de France on TV and swooning over the imagery, we’ll help you make your dream come true by bringing you there live and letting you cycle the famous roads yourself!
- 20+ years of experience running Tour de France trips
- Different trips and itineraries to suit your holiday preferences
- Accommodations in 3 & 4 star hotels
- Luxury transportation throughout your holiday
See the race at various stages including the start, finish, epic climbs, and routes in small French villages. Go beyond the typical tourist areas of France and celebrate Le Tour in a friendly French town.
However you want to experience the Tour de France, we have a trip for you.
Book your 2023 Tour de France trip now and be a part of the largest annual sporting event.
Why Book with Bikestyle Tours?
A COVID-Safe plan
- All staff and guests must complete a pre-travel questionnaire prior to the start of the trip
- Bikestyle Tours complies with the COVID requirements of the local authorities (Tourism and Accommodation, Bike Tours); such as controls for social distancing, cleaning and hygiene, vehicle transport
- Check your departure and return requirements for your country of residence
Are Trips Guaranteed Departures?
We make every effort to guarantee departures to give you peace of mind that once you’ve booked your trip – you’re going! We do not cancel trips due to insufficient numbers leaving you stranded.
