France’s two greatest rivers, the Loire and the Rhône, come tantalisingly close… but to cycle between them, you need to conquer the hilly country of the Haute-Loire and the Ardèche.
Until now. A brand new rail trail, the Via Fluvia (‘Way of the Rivers’), connects Loire to Rhône via fabulous scenery and gentle climbs. More than 60% traffic-free, and most of the rest on very quiet roads, this is already shaping up to be one of the country’s finest véloroutes – whether ridden in its own right or as part of a longer cross-country tour.
The old metre-gauge railways of the Vivarais take you up to the watershed near Dunières, after which a former freight line whisks you downhill to Annonay. From there, enjoy the glorious descent of the Cance valley to the Rhône at Sarras.
(The much missed GCN+ filmed this route in 2022 for their ‘Slow Cycling’ series. You can watch the trailer on YouTube and the full programme is available by subscribing to GCN.)
The westernmost section of the route is compacted gravel and not ideally suited to a skinny-tyred road bike, though you can follow parallel D roads. Anything with robust tyres will be fine. From there, it’s paved all the way, fine for anything from a road bike to an MTB.
After several years of work, this is now a complete through-route. The great majority is on traffic-free rail trails. Two sections are on quiet roads – one near Saint Sauveur en Rue, the other on the descent to the Loire. There is only one sub-par section remaining, and that’s the 4km on the D503 main road to the summit just west of Saint Sauveur.
Almost entirely. The short 4km stretch on the main road is not ideal for children but should be ok for adult beginners. (A painted cycle lane is provided in the uphill direction.)
Yes, with a colourful Via Fluvia logo.
Both the Loire and the Rhône have fantastic EuroVelo cycle routes along their banks. In fact, the Via Fluvia would make a perfect link in a north-south cycle tour: take the Velo Francette across Normandy to the Loire, then follow Loire à Velo upstream, cross to the Rhône on the Via Fluvia, then the Via Rhôna to the Med. Bear in mind that the official Loire route gives out (for now) at Digoin, so you’ll need to make your own way upstream from there.
For a more unusual connection, you can take the Velay Express steam train from Raucoules to Saint-Agrève (bikes welcome with reservation), then follow the winding Dolce Via route – another rail-trail – down to La Voulte sur Rhône.
There are railway stations at both ends: Lavôute sur Loire and Saint Vallier (Rhône). Both lines are served by TER regional trains, on which bikes are welcome, and connect at Lyon.
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
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Via Fluvia
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Just got back from a journey and we took the Via Fluvia. We were three of us : two parents and a 7 year old with his own…
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