The Via Rhôna. From the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea by bicycle.

The Via Rhôna. We started with snow, rain, and hail, and ended about 800k later in sunshine and wind.

When we start a specific EuroVelo route, or any other point to point cycle tour, we always assure each other that we can absolutely take a train boost if needed. I’m happy to report we didn’t take a train, bus, or taxi for the ViaRhôna. We rode the entire way. The blue dot is us in Montpellier, our 15th night since leaving our friends’ house in the Alps. We spent two nights in Lyon seeing friends, and two nights Uzés to have a needed rest day.

The one stretch we might recommend skipping is between Lyon and Vienne. You can take a local TER train for 30 minutes out of Lyon. The cycle route was mostly on street, with some narrow bike lanes, poor pavement, and quite a bit of diverting around industrial sites, mixed with off street trail riding. We’re not purists who insist on riding every kilometer, and more realistic about having a good (and safe) time, while not suffering TOO much. There will always be enough accidental or incidental suffering on a bike tour, so, if you can skip some known unpleasantness- go for it. That said, it was rideable and ok if you want to do every km of the route.

Our first night after Lyon was in Les Roches-de-Condrieu, at a small hotel called Hotel-Restaurant Le Bellevue. A decent hotel above a fantastic restaurant, as are many in the Logis network of locally owned lodging.

Usually we seek out something casual and simple for dinner, after a hotel breakfast buffet and a picnic lunch. But, when in a small town with not many close by options we sometimes choose the hotel restaurant; especially in France. I am always impressed and grateful with the way the French approach food. Even in a restaurant like this, which I would consider fancy and upscale, the service is lovely and straightforward. No attitude, no showy or flashy flourishes, just good service and delicious food.

Montélimar was night 3 past Lyon, and as we headed there we had peek a boo views with Mont Ventoux all day. Mont Ventoux is the stuff of Tour legends, and its white top can be mistaken for snow when it’s only its bare limestone 1,910 m (6,266 ft) elevation.

At this point we veered off the Rhone and EuroVelo 17 to visit a famous Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard, and spend two nights in Uzés for a rest. Regional routes V66 and V60 take you to the Pont du Gard and Uzes mostly on a beautiful route and rail-trail.

Our two night stay in Uzés was very relaxing. We cooked in one night, walked the small and fancy old town by daylight and night, visited the cathedral, and walked by the Gardon River below town.

We rode back down to the Rhône and rejoined EV17 through the Tunnel voie verte Beaucaire. It really felt like a change of climate and zones, as if once through that fairly short tunnel we were in a drier much more Mediterranean climate.

Our next stopover was Arles. Famous for its association with Van Gogh and a stunning Roman amphitheater and coliseum, and visited by many tourists every year. Rich had booked us a hotel out of old town – much easier with loaded touring bikes – and since we assumed that once at our hotel we might not have the energy and enthusiasm to walk back into old town, we did a bike through visit. During a busier season I would not recommend visiting old towns with big loaded bikes but Arles was pretty quiet on this Friday afternoon in late March. So we biked around and admired town and the sights for a few hours before heading to our hotel.

After Arles we had one more night before reaching the Mediterranean, in Aigues-Mortes. Unfortunately, Rich was developing a nasty cold, complete with a hacking cough and burning sinuses. And, to make the final part of the ViaRhôna even more painful – the headwind gods decided to pay us a sustained visit.

So, filing this under you never know what you don’t know: France still has bullfighting. The arena in Arles hosts bullfights in the summer. I shouldn’t be surprised that this activity traditionally exists in France as well as Spain, what’s a border, really. France has a law protecting bullfighting as a long standing cultural tradition. From what I can find online it seems that the bulls are no longer killed. So there’s that.

Rich didn’t get much to time to rest up, as we could have stayed two nights at Aigues-Mortes but the hotel was a bit overpriced and we knew that after the headwind a rainstorm was coming so we wanted to press on to Montpellier and spend two nights there. So, out into the wind it was. Oh, and the train spur to Nimes from here was not running due to work.

With the Via Rhôna complete, and two more months of bicycle touring ahead of us – what do we think of the Via Rhôna? I enjoyed it, the river isn’t as wild or beautifully stunning as parts of the Loire, nor is the route as complete. Parts are definitely still under development. But, with a route passing through so many municipalities there must be so much negotiating and planning behind it. Certain areas were so well marked with fantastic new protected lanes and intersections, loads of benches and rest areas for weary cyclists, and other stretches had almost nothing beyond an occasional sign.

I think the Carmague is a place I’d like to return to with a car. Apparently the mosquitos get thick during the summer and then you wish for wind, but the bird watching is fantastic. As we were pushing along into the wind I did slightly envy the visitors in cars, but I know, that as always, we have a more up close experience from the seats of our bikes.