Pedal Pioneers: try France’s incredible new cycle route with kids this summer

The new La Régalante cycle route is the best reason for a family cycling holiday in France this year. Rudolf Abraham and his daughter were among the first to put it to the test.

Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy

Salty, windswept, sun-drenched, the northeast coast of Brittany stretches across the horizon, with the faint silhouette of Mont-Saint-Michel, set amidst a vast sweep of racing tides; a place which never fails to make an impression. It also lends itself rather well to the end, or in our case, the beginning of a family cycling holiday. So after checking our panniers, we turn our backs on the coast, and pedal south for a five-day cycling trip across northwest France.

Saint-Malo from Ilok du Grande, Brittany ©Rudolf Abraham

Up your family cycling holiday game with new La Régalante

We’re cycling La Régalante, a new route, which opened just a couple of weeks before we got there and stretches from Mont-Saint-Michel across Brittany to Nantes, in the heart of Loire-Atlantique.

The 275km route is split into nine stages of between 19 and 42 kilometres, but we did it in five days without any problem. This allowed us enough time to spend a day and night in Nantes at the end of the route, on top of the five days cycling; as well as a bonus night in Saint-Malo on the way back home. And we travelled out from the UK and back by ferry, all of which fitted neatly into a half term holiday.

Greenways make La Régalante ideal for a family cycling holiday ©Rudolf Abraham

Get in quick before everyone is riding this greenway-rich route

Much of La Régalante is along greenways, and the first few stages mostly follow a former railway line, making it a fantastic route for families.

It takes in great swathes of countryside across Brittany and Loire-Atlantique; visits the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mont-Saint-Michel, and Nantes with its bonkers Les Machines de l’île; along with quiet villages where half-timbered houses rub shoulders with rambling castles; all accompanied by plenty of delicious food, making it a very worthwhile alternative to other better-known and longer-established routes nearby, such as the Vélodyssée or La Loire à Vélo.

And if you get in quick, you’ll still have La Régalante mostly to yourself.

Fougères, La Régalante family cycling holiday

Fougères adds a touch of medieval magnificence to a family cycling holiday

South of Pontorson, we get onto the first greenway. More specifically, it’s the former Vitré to Pontorson Railway: a standard-gauge line, the first section of which opened in 1867. The northern part closed to passengers in 1938, the southern part in 1972, and it opened as a greenway in 2018.

We cruise along this green artery for the best part of two days. It’s a lovely stretch of the route to cycle: smooth, level and entirely traffic-free. Much of it is overhung by trees, and we pass fragments of its former heritage in the form of abandoned stations, signal-boxes and the occasional section of track, left embedded in asphalt.

After checking into the Hôtel des Voyageurs in Fougères, we go through the brief essentials of our cycling routine: park the bikes in the hotel’s covered car park; take the panniers and batteries up to our room; plug the batteries in to charge. Then we head out into the cobbled streets and squares of the upper town, working our way across to the Jardin Public, where the terraces have fabulous views out over the castle.

Fougeres Castle, Brittany

Why does Fougères have such an immense castle?

In a part of France with no shortage of jaw-dropping castles, Fougères is a place that might just have slipped off your radar. But the castle here is neck-craningly huge, its mighty curtain walls bristling with 13 towers; while beside the main gate a series of old wooden water wheels still spin in the rushing Nançon stream. In the evening we walk down Rue de la Pinterie, for a dinner of sublimely good galettes at La Broustal, including the best flambéed galette aux pommes this side of anywhere, awash with Calvados.

As to why Fougères has such a whopping great castle, the answer lies in its medieval neighbours. Fougères occupies a strategic position on the edge of the former Duchy of Brittany, which was bounded in the east by Normandy – ruled at the time by the English – and Anjou, ruled by the kings of France, both of which were more than keen to bite off a chunk of Brittany, if they could.

Vitré, Brittany

How to pack the perfect picnic for your family cycling holiday

La Régalante bores through a tunnel beneath the town, so in the morning we glide back down a steep street, and set off through the well-lit former railway tunnel, emerging at the other end into a steep-sided ravine on the south side of town.

We pass a succession of small lakes, then pedal up into the beautiful medieval heart of Vitré. Here we visit the Gothic Église Notre-Dame, then wander down the narrow cobbled streets around Rue de la Poterie with more half-timbered facades, before stocking up on picnic supplies.

There’s a familiar theme to our French cycling picnics, which has changed little over the years. The basic requirements are a nice bakery and a small supermarket, which between them net the core ingredients of a deliciously fresh, crusty baguette and a melty Brie, along with a hard cheese such as Comté, cucumber for some refreshing crunch, a croissant for me, and a pain au chocolate for my daughter. Once stocked up, we just need a Swiss army knife and a well-placed bench to sit on; in Vitré, we find the latter in front of the railway station.

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La Broustal, Fougeres ©Rudolf Abraham

La Régalante cyclists are always welcome guests

From Vitré we continue south, partly along another greenway, to La Guerche-de-Bretagne – the double stage from Fougères, at over 70 kilometres, makes this our longest day. Then, the following day, we go for another double stage, to Châteaubriant. This section includes a slightly busier open road which my teenage daughter was fine with, but if you have younger kids on their own bikes, you could always skip this stage and take the train.

Halfway through the day we stop at Ferme de L’Öko-Pain, an organic farm and artisan baker west of Martigné Ferchaud, with a table and chairs placed invitingly at the end of the drive, accompanied by a sign reading: Régalante cyclists – for a break in the shade. We end up being invited in for lunch by the owners, Samuel and Kim Froger, who tell us they enjoy meeting cyclists travelling from different places and hearing their stories.

‘In a way we get to travel, even though we’re working here on the farm,’ says Kim.

Châteaubriant Castle, France

Explore the higgledy-piggledy streets in Châteaubriant

Further into the afternoon we join another greenway, this time a railway built in the 1890s to transport iron ore. Before finally arriving on the edge of Châteaubriant, where we stay at Domaine de la Ferrière, which has a fantastic restaurant.

Châteaubriant’s magnificent-looking castle combines medieval stronghold with Renaissance palace, while the increasingly narrow and higgledy-piggledy streets nearby lead to the soaring white spire of the Église Saint-Nicolas.

Beyond Châteaubriant, we cycle through Issé, crossing the River Don a couple of times, and continuing for a few hours beyond La Meilleraye, where we follow the shore of the Grand Réservoir de Vioreau: a beautiful expanse of deep blue streaked with the green of aquatic plants, dotted with birdlife, and mellowed by the late afternoon sun.

Le Moulin de Bel Air ©Rudolf Abraham

We highly recommend you add Le Moulin de Bel Air to this family cycling holiday

Day four ended with one of the highlights of the entire week, a stay at Le Moulin de Bel Air. This 18th century windmill has been lovingly converted into a beautiful guesthouse by Estelle Guihard, the daughter of its former Breton owners.

Once widespread, windmills are increasingly a rarity hereabouts as we’re told there’s less funding to restore them than, say, a church, and their location is usually by definition a prime spot for a potential wind turbine. Sitting out on the flagstone patio surrounded by climbing plants, with a bottle of Trompe Souris from La Divatte, a craft brewery near Nantes, and some freshly pressed apple juice, we soon decide this is a place we’re in absolutely no hurry to leave, possibly ever.

Street art, Nantes ©Rudolf Abraham

Last day on La Régalante and a fast track to Nantes

The next day is our last day of cycling, and after returning part of the way towards the Grand Réservoir de Vioreau we turn south again, at one point following a section of the Canal de Nantes à Brest. Then the final couple of hours are taken at speed, racing along a broad asphalt cycle path as we approach the northern edge of Nantes, counting off signposts as we pass them: Nantes 19 minutes; Nantes 17 minutes; Nantes 12 minutes….

Les Machines de l’Île, Nantes

Make time for Les Machines de l’Île, Jules Vernes and vintage shops

It’s hard not to fall in love with Nantes: a city with oodles of character and stacks of history. It was the capital of Brittany for several hundred years and, in the 18th century, the largest port in France, although it also comes with a healthy dose of quirkiness and counter-culture grunge.

We spend the following day wandering around the buzzy streets of old Nantes, packed with cafés and restaurants, and cool second-hand shops along Rue Maréchal Joffre.

The really excellent Musée d’Art de Nantes, has an amazing collection stretching from Artemesia Gentileschi to Monet to Anish Kapoor. And 15th century Château des Ducs de Bretagne houses the Musée d’Histoire de Nantes, which presents the city’s kaleidoscopic medieval and maritime history, including its time at the centre of the French slave trade in the 1700s. And as Jules Verne was born in Nantes, the Musée Jules Verne is another must do.

Finally, we head over to Les Machines de l’Île, to see the legendary mechanical giants. Tours through the exhibition space introduce you to a steam-punk menagerie, including a hummingbird and a giant spider. Although the huge armoured elephant is undoubtedly the best known, and several times a day it goes walkabout, spitting water at unsuspecting passers by: it also carries passengers, but make sure you book in advance.

Saint Malo, Brittany ©Rudolf Abraham

Saint-Malo and beaches are a bonus before the ferry home

Returning to Saint-Malo by train, we spend a final evening in the old town, taking in a gorgeous sunset from the massive sea walls overlooking silhouetted islands and offshore forts. In the morning we have just enough time to skim stones on some beautiful French beaches, before shouldering our packs, and boarding the ferry home.

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