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5 essential tips for bike packing in France

Wine, croissants, cheese, lush forest and turqouise rivers. If these are things you are looking for in a cycling holiday then France is the place to be!

The country has so many beautiful roads to explore by bike and offers some of the easiest bike packing. Nonetheless, here are 5 essential tips to help you enjoy bike packing in France even more!





Tip 1: Bring a tent

When bike packing it's not a necessity to bring a tent, but for France I would definately add one to your pack list.

The country is filled with campsites, ranging from big international campsites to the smaller campsites surrounded by nature. With prices hovering around 12,- per night it's definately a great way to explore the country. (Of course prices go up a lot the closer you get to big tourist destinations, sometimes even exceeding 25,- near the coast)





Tip 2: Plat de Jour (Plate of the day)

France and food is a match made in heaven. A lot of classic recipes originate in France and the french definately love their lunches. So why not discover some of the excellent french cuisine when you've burned off those precious calories.

You don't have to be in france long before you'll see signs with ''plat de jour'' followed by a description. Usually the plat de jours offer you two options: A starter + main or Main + dessert. It'll be a fixed menu and often for a really good deal.


It's reserved for lunch, and the french lunch early and long so start looking for a place around noon. If you're too late you might be left empty handed. On sunday's you want to start an hour early, the plat de jours are usually a bit bigger but restaurants close early.



A plat de jour !
Nothing better than a plat de jour


Tip 3: Everything closes on Sunday

It happens to all of us. You're having a great time on the bike, saturday was filled with food and wine and then you forget about groceries. The next day you are confronted with closed supermarkets everywhere.

Bakery's are open in the morning so you can get a quick baguette, but don't count on getting groceries later than 11. Stock up on saturday.


Tip 4: Learn a few phrases in French

This might apply to more countries but in France it really helps to learn a few basic phrases to get you going. In bigger cities you might encounter people speaking English, but more often than not you'll encounter people who don't understand a word.

At least attempting to speak French, even if it's a few words, will get you a lot of friendly faces and help.


I only knew these phrases in french:

Hi - Bonjour

Thank you - Merci

I would like a camp spot for one night - Je voudrais un emplacement de camping pour une nuit.

to pay - payer


Tip 5: You can flatten croissants for easy storage

Okay so this might give you some weird looks from the locals so if you do this, do it a little sneaky.

The fluffy, flaky and famous pastry is a perfect snack for on the road. But sometimes you just dont have enough space for food in your panniers. Well, in this case you can flatten croissants to make sure you can fit a few for a nice roadside break. It might feel wrong, the French will absolutely say it's wrong but sometimes a sacrifice is to be made whilst on the bike.

You'll get used to it eventually.




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