Open a GPX file

Calais to the Pyrenees and back

South from Calais through the Perche and the Loire valley to the Dordogne and the Lot, west to east over the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde, then home through the Gorges du Tarn and the volcanoes of the Auvergne.

Distance
1,867 miles (3,005 km)
Type
Loop
Where
Loire, Dordogne and the Pyrenees

At 150 to 300 miles a day, this is 7 to 13 days of riding. Set your own daily distance and add rest days.

Plotted by us, not yet ridden

Starts at Calais ferry port

Click a dot for details. White dots are the stops, each with a bed search. Yellow dots are places to see.

Main roads

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From the map

Longest gap between fuel
50 miles
Fuel stations near the line
386
Curvature
127 ° a mile
Campsites within 2 km
500

Measured on the route line from OpenStreetMap data, which can be missing or out of date. Curvature is degrees of turning a mile, measured every 100 metres. On our routes they run from 6 on the E19 to 701 on the SP638.

Before you go

  • The Tourmalet and the Aubisque are normally open from about June to October. Check before you go.
  • The line keeps off motorways and toll roads by design. Swap in the autoroute for any stretch you want to cover quickly.
  • Cyclists in large numbers on the Pyrenean cols in summer.

On the way

  1. Calais
  2. Abbeville
  3. Neufchatel-en-Bray
  4. Lyons-la-Foret
  5. Les Andelys
  6. Verneuil-sur-Avre
  7. Belleme
  8. Saumur
  9. Chinon
  10. Le Blanc
  11. Brantome
  12. Les Eyzies
  13. Sarlat-la-Caneda
  14. Rocamadour
  15. Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
  16. Lectoure
  17. Oloron-Sainte-Marie
  18. Col d'Aubisque
  19. Argeles-Gazost
  20. Luz-Saint-Sauveur
  21. Col du Tourmalet
  22. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan
  23. Col d'Aspin
  24. Arreau
  25. Col de Peyresourde
  26. Bagneres-de-Luchon
  27. Saint-Girons
  28. Foix
  29. Mirepoix
  30. Castres
  31. Lacaune
  32. Millau
  33. Le Rozier
  34. Sainte-Enimie
  35. Florac
  36. Mende
  37. Saint-Flour
  38. Pas de Peyrol
  39. Salers
  40. Bort-les-Orgues
  41. Le Mont-Dore
  42. Montlucon
  43. Bourges
  44. Sancerre
  45. Gien
  46. Montargis
  47. Fontainebleau
  48. Meaux
  49. Compiegne
  50. Amiens
  51. Hesdin
  52. Calais

Split it into days

Pick the miles you like to ride in a day. Each day ends at the named place on the route nearest that distance, and you get a GPX file for each day.

This is your pace, not our estimate of how long the riding takes. Day lengths vary because each day ends at a named place.

Ready to ride it?

Book this trip

Plan it with dates in the tour planner

1Getting there

This route starts where the boat or train lands at Calais. Book the bike as a motorcycle, not a car.

Compare every crossing

2Places to stay

Split the route into days above and each day gets its own bed search for where it ends.

Back to the days

3Cover

Check your bike insurance covers riding abroad, get travel insurance that covers motorcycling at your engine size, and breakdown cover that recovers a motorcycle in every country on the route.

What to check before you buy cover

The country on this route

What GOV.UK says riders need for it, checked 05/11/2026. Rules change, so read the official page before you go.

France

Money
Euro
Ride on the
Right
  • Riding into central Paris, Lyon, Grenoble or another low emission zone? You need a Crit'Air sticker. Buy it only from the official site (official site)
  • Some mountain areas require winter tyres or chains from 1 November to 31 March: check which vehicles and areas it covers (official site)
  • The drink-drive limit is a third lower than in England and Wales, with regular roadside checks

On every trip abroad: your licence, insurance that covers riding abroad, the V5C and travel insurance with medical cover. The tour planner turns all of this into a checklist each rider in your group can tick off.

Places to see on the way

Castles, passes, viewpoints and more within easy reach of the line, in the order you reach them. Yellow dots on the map.

Place details from Wikidata. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card.