Bicycling Bordeaux & the River Dordogne

Depart from home for France. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary.

Upon arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. If your luggage is lost, fill in a PIR form before leaving the customs area; VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. Please note: Make sure that your VBT luggage tags are attached to your bags. This helps our representative identify you.

After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative or driver, who will be holding a VBT sign. Your representative will welcome you to France and arrange for your transfer via taxi or van to your Paris hotel (approximately 60 minutes, depending on traffic). At this time, please verify with your airport representative the time of your transfer tomorrow to the Paris Montparnasse train station. Important: If you are delayed in meeting your VBT representative at the CDG Airport, please call 06 72 07 59 24 or 06 15 15 15 25 from within France. Outside of France, call +33 672 07 59 24 or +33 615 15 15 25.

Use the rest of the day to relax or begin exploring the elegant boulevards of Paris on your own, using your VBT City Information as your guide.

Please note: Exchange bureaus may not be open on Saturday afternoons or Sundays in Paris, and ATM availability can be intermittent once you leave the city. So you may want to exchange some money prior to joining the tour.

Hotel: Hotel Franklin Roosevelt

VBT No-Air Package guests: Meet your Trip Leaders in the lobby of the Hotel Palais Cardinal in St. Emilion at 3:30 p.m. They will be wearing VBT staff garments. Please contact the first hotel to advise the staff of any travel delays or changes so they can inform your VBT Trip Leaders.

VBT Air Package and Pre-Trip Extension guests: Meet your VBT representative in the hotel lobby. He or she will help you transfer to the Paris Montparnasse train station, where you’ll board a train for Libourne (approximately 3 1/2 hours). Your VBT representative will have a group train ticket for all VBT guests. Plan to have lunch on your own and use bathroom facilities before leaving the train to meet your VBT representative in Libourne. (Perhaps buy a sandwich or picnic-style lunch in Paris and eat it on the train.) Once the entire group is assembled, you will transfer via taxi to St. Emilion and your first hotel (transfer time approx. 20 minutes).

Please note: Your train schedule varies according to your departure date. Trains typically depart between 8:45 a.m and 11:00 a.m. VBT’s airport representative will provide you with the meeting time for the transfer before leaving you at the Paris hotel. If you would like more schedule information, please contact our Tour Consultants.

Your centrally located hotel in the medieval town of St. Emilion has an inviting area by the pool, next to the old ramparts of the village. You have free time to settle in before your VBT Trip Leaders offer a safety and bike-fitting session and warm-up ride. Tonight, get to know your fellow travelers during a welcome dinner.

Hotel: Palais Cardinal
Meals: B (included for Air Package guests only), D
Daily Options: 4.5 miles (7.5 km)

After breakfast, cycle through the bucolic countryside of St. Emilion past a rolling terrain of vineyards. Your ride leads you into tiny, quiet villages and past several impressive châteaux, some renowned by oenophiles. Among them are the Château Angelus and Château Cheval Blanc—both classified as 1st Grand Cru Classe A, the region’s highest classification. On your return to town, select from many options for lunch on your own.

In the afternoon, you may wish to venture out again by bike, relax, and taste wine in one of the many cellars right in town, or take a dip in your hotel’s outdoor pool. Afterward, you are free to select a restaurant of your choice for dinner on your own.

Hotel: Palais Cardinal
Meals: B
Daily Options: 12.6 or 27 miles (21 or 44 km)

After breakfast, your small group gathers for a private guided walking tour of the medieval town of St. Emilion and discovery of its underground monuments. (Please note: as time allows, you might enjoy this walking tour the previous afternoon instead.) You’ll then leave St. Emilion and cycle downhill to the flood plain and banks of the River Dordogne. Enjoy a beautiful ride along the river, passing Castillon-La-Bataille, the site of the end of the Hundred Years’ War. Pause at a small local restaurant, La Table Rouge, for lunch.

After, continue your reel along the Dordogne and through small villages, vineyards, and fruit orchards. Keep an eye out for white egrets and buzzards perched on markers along the trail. You’ll finish your ride at your hotel, the intimate Château de Sanse. Here, you can enjoy the pool or relax on the terrace before a typical dinner in the château.

Hotel: Château de Sanse
Meals: B, L, D
Daily Options: 26.5 or 38 miles (42.5 or 61 km)

From the hotel, you’ll cycle through a small wood to the top of a nearby crest before a long and pleasant downhill meander. This pastoral route eventually circles back to the banks of the Dordogne, passing through Ste. Radegonde. Look out for the charming traditional windmill on the way. A lovely outdoor lunch, prepared by your Trip Leaders, will be waiting for you at a scenic picnic site.

Your cycling today also takes you past a 13th-century castle in the small town of Rauzan and the 12th-century abbey at Blasimon. An endless dream-like tableau of vineyards and rolling cattle pastures marks your progress throughout the afternoon. Before dinner in the château tonight, visit with Claire Poncet at the Château Font Vidal. She will explain the entire process of wine production on her estate, and then offer a tasting.

Hotel: Château de Sanse
Meals: B, L, D
Daily Options: 13 or 32 miles (20 or 51 km)

In the morning, ride back down to the banks of the River Dordogne into the Dordogne region. You may wish to stop at the tiny store in Pessac Sur Dordogne to buy a sandwich and fruit for a picnic lunch along the way. You’ll ride through to the small village of Eynesse, where you can stop for a snack or beverage in the rustic café on the main square. Then, pedal south on an undulating road through small hamlets and villages that line the picturesque Gravouse Valley. In tiny Les Leves et Thoumeyragues, you’ll find a restaurant that serves as another possible lunch option.

Your afternoon route takes you through small patches of forest and blankets of vineyards to your home for the next two nights, Château des Vigiers. Once settled in, you have time to relax before gathering for dinner in the hotel’s bistro.

Hotel: Château des Vigiers – Relais
Meals: B, D
Daily Options: 19 or 34 miles (31 or 55km)

After breakfast, cycle to the medieval Sainte Foy la Grande, a walled town on the banks of the Dordogne dating to the 13th century. Here, you can wander through the town square, with its arcades and half-timbered houses, while enjoying the town’s Saturday market, a colorful array of fresh local produce, clothing, and local handicrafts. This wonderful gem is rated as one of the 100 most beautiful markets in France, one of the last remaining authentic markets where it is possible to buy direct from local producers. You may wish to purchase fresh-from-the-farm ingredients for your picnic lunch.

After, cycle back to your château, passing through this vast agricultural landscape. Later, enjoy some free time in the outdoor pool, in the spa, or on the golf course. Tonight, celebrate your discoveries with a special farewell dinner in one of the hotel’s dining rooms.

Please note: Château des Vigiers has a dress code for our farewell dinner guests. Gentlemen must wear a collared shirt and may not wear sandals, shorts, or jeans. Women may not wear shorts or jean skirts. Dress sandals are acceptable for women.

Hotel: Château des Vigiers – Relais
Meals: B, D
Daily Options: 16 or 20 miles (26 or 32 km)

VBT No-Air Package guests: After breakfast, we assist you with your transfer to our Bordeaux hotel, arriving at approximately 11:30 a.m. Your tour ends here, where taxis can be arranged for transfers to the Bordeaux railway station or airport. Important: Train departures from the Bordeaux train station prior to 12:30 p.m. are not recommended. Guests departing earlier must make transfer arrangements at their own expense from the last hotel to the train station or airport in Bordeaux. Taxi cost is approximately 200 euros (travel time is approximately 1 hour 45 minutes).

VBT Air Package and Post-Trip Extension guests: After breakfast, you’ll transfer to your Bordeaux hotel by private motorcoach. Here, you have the rest of the day to relax and explore this magical city, using the City Information provided by VBT as a guide. There are several self-guided walking trails through the various districts, including one that leads you through the lovely public gardens. This park has played a significant role in Bordeaux history. Several French artists contributed to its design. During the French Revolution, it was used for official ceremonies until Napoleon redesigned it as a classic English garden. Today, it’s the perfect place to relax en plein air.

If you want a glimpse of art or history in Bordeaux, simply walk through the city’s streets. Many buildings in Vieux Bordeaux have retained their charm and character over centuries. For historical views of the city, you can stroll through the Quartier Saint-Eloi. There, you can see the Grosse Cloche, the great bell that once rang from the Old Town Hall’s belfry. Continue along Victor Hugo Avenue to view the Porte de Bourgogne, a huge stone arch that once marked the entrance to the city.

You might also explore the Palace Royale, a fine example of French classical architecture. During its construction in 1755, the building’s beauty influenced the style of its surrounding neighbors. The result is block after block of the most beautiful architecture in the city.

While Bordeaux is famous for its wine, it is also celebrated for its food, as you’ll discover during dinner on your own this evening.

Hotel: Bayonne Etche Ona
Meals: B

After breakfast*, transfer to the Bordeaux airport for your return flight**. Please ensure you are ready in the hotel reception area at the designated time.

*Please note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the front desk to verify the times that breakfast is served.

**VBT recommends that you check your transfer time in your “Transfer Reminder.” The transfer is prearranged by VBT and is prepaid. VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense.

Meals: B