Cycling Holidays in Gascony and Gascogne bike hire

If you’re looking for a healthy and active holiday, then look no further than a cycling holiday in Gascony: rolling, open, bucolic landscapes, with plenty of villages and market towns for a light refreshment stop, not to mention a variety of terrain to suit all abilities…  

When international travel resumes, we believe Gascony should be top of the list when it comes to places to explore. Peaceful and serene, yet brimming with things to see and do – Gascony is the perfect post-pandemic holiday location. 

With its fantastic year-round climate and practically no pollution, Gascony is one of the healthiest destinations in Europe – for both the mind and the body. It’s open, unspoilt rolling landscape offers plenty of scope for outdoor expeditions and exploring, with the chance to enjoy an active holiday at entirely your own pace. Gascony also enjoys one of the lowest population densities in the whole of France – it’s certainly a holiday location that is guaranteed to be far from the madding crowds! 

These factors also make it a fantastic place to enjoy a cycling holiday. While you can simply pitch up, get cycling and you’ll still be guaranteed to have a fantastic time – there are also some slightly more tried and tested routes available. We’ve rounded up a few of the most popular:

Best cycling routes in Gascony 

• The Green Way of Armagnac – Lying between the towns of Condom and Lagraulet-du-Gers, a former railway line has been ‘refurbished’ to offer visitors wonderful cycling route with all the amenities needed for a family bike trip including parking, reliable directions, picnic tables, and toilets. Departing from the episcopal city of Condom, this greenway allows you to discover the vines and valleys of one of Gascony’s best-known products: Armagnac. 

• THE Baïse valley bike-route – by entering the Gers near Condom and cycling part of the Armagnac greenway, you will discover the town of Vic-Fezensac. On this route you will traverse beautiful countryside before arriving at the Hautes-Pyrénées. This route is often referred to as the ‘Mill Bike Route’ as it runs along the river Baïse, offering wonderful views of the mills that line it. You will also catch sight of some beautiful locks, the most remarkable of which is the Graziac double lock.

• The French divide and the roads of Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle – this long-distance mountain bike race is one for the more intrepid bikers, inspired by the American Great Divide. 

• Cycling around L’Isle-Jourdain – Head a little further south and east, and you will come across L’Isle-Jourdain. Around this area you will find tracks that were built for the transport of the A380 aircrafts manufactured nearby, once inaccessible to cars and now subsequently rehabilitated as greenways – perfect for cycling. 

While you can bring your own bikes with you on holiday to Gascony, perhaps an easier alternative would be to partner with our associates over at Gascogne Bike Hire – a great business which we highly recommend, and that can deliver its rental bikes to our beautiful Simply Gascony holiday homes, as well as offering a programme of fun and interesting tours and excursions, such as GBH’s Wine Tasting & Cycling Tours. Here’s what business owner David Jones says about Gascogne Bike Hire: 

“Having lived in France since 2003 and being a keen cyclist I always knew one day I would be involved in cycling in some form in Gascony as it really was made for cycling. So in 2018 Gascogne Bike Hire was born. We started off with bike hire as they were no one else in the area offering this service and the first season was beyond our expectations. We knew quite a few people with vineyards and came up the idea to do Wine and Cycle Tours, we offered a full day cycling with stop offs at historical villages, Chateau Tours and the all-important French two-hour lunch stop. 

“We asked friends to join us to test them out and everyone had a great day out, so this was where Gascon Experience Tours were born. A typical tour usually starts with meeting over coffee and explaining what will be involved in the day. We then have a leisurely cycle through the French countryside and have a stop off at a historical village with time for you to have a look around, then continue cycling to a local Gascon vineyard for tastings and a tour of the vines. We then continue to a carefully chosen restaurant for a leisurely lunch. After lunch we learn about Armagnac which is local to Gascony and Floc de Gascogne before heading back to finish our Tour. We also pick up any wines or local products and deliver them back to your accommodation or car. 

“We now offer various Tours to suit our clients and various locations around Gascony. And we are also very busy all year round with our bike hire as personally I think some of the best times to cycle here in Gascony is out of season, as the weather is cooler and generally it’s definitely quieter, although with its slow pace of life Gascony is never really busy. Look forward to showing you France’s Best kept Secret - Gascony!!!”