With 1,200 varieties of cheese, 17,500 km of bicycle routes/greenways and 21 million French people cycling during their vacations, France needed a themed tour to support and promote this emblem of our culinary heritage.
With 1,200 varieties of cheese, 17,500 km of bicycle routes/greenways and 21 million French people cycling during their vacations, France needed a themed tour to support and promote this emblem of our culinary heritage.
87 labeled itineraries in 45 departments, more than 1,000 sites to visit on nearly 7,000 km of roads with 72,200 m of positive elevation gain to climb (yes, tasting good local products is worth it!): this is the program set up in 2019 by the Assembly of French Departments, the CNIEL (National Interprofessional Center for the Dairy Economy), Tourism & Territories and Bicycle & Territories.
Objective: to discover the know-how of passionate craftsmen and the diversity of the culinary heritage of the Departments by proposing, within 6 km of the routes, visits to farms and maturing cellars, stops at cheese makers or gourmet breaks in the markets.
Getting around while admiring and preserving the environment, eating better and supporting the local economy: the Bicycle & Cheese network is perfectly in line with these 3 major recently reinforced trends.
France is the world's 2nd largest bicycle tourism destination and has a rich gastronomy of dairy products. With their character and diversity, our cheeses are popular with the French and also with foreign visitors who, through this thematic network, can follow safe and marked circuits offering, per itinerary, at least 3 cheese sites (open to visit at least one day per week).
Examples of itineraries: " The Sporting Loop in Bigorre" in the Hautes-Pyrénées for the brave cyclists, "The Castles circuit" in the Drôme for the 100% organic food lovers or, for a nice family walk, "La Plaine du Comtat Tree and Heritage" in the Hautes-Alpes.
As for the tasting of good products from local know-how, there is something for everyone!
Charente-Maritime, Bouches-du-Rhône, Saône-et-Loire and Loire-Atlantique are among the 45 departments offering a route. To download the guide of all the circuits.
Valérie from Comme des Français
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Crédits photo : Isère ©A. Gelin / Hautes-Pyrénées ©jnh barousse / Puy-de-Dôme ©JodieWay / DoubsTourisme ©Laurent Cheviet / Saône-et-Loire ©G.FONTANY
