5 Days
Total Mileage 300 miles
Total Climb 13,600’
Steve and Gaz did this as a father/son cycling holiday early in May 2022. It can easily be modified to leave from our area (north Hampshire) and you can cycle the whole way back instead of taking the train. Thank you Steve for sharing this, and hopefully it will inspire others to cycle to Paris!
Day 1: Big Ben -> Newhaven/Dieppe 65 miles, 4100’ of climb
9am start at Big Ben; steady riding for 30 miles to Dormansland for a pub lunch at The Plough Inn. My sister lives close by in Uckfield, so as an added bonus we got to see her and her husband for a quick pub lunch. Arrival in Newhaven at around 4pm; just in time for our DFDS ferry to Dieppe. Ferry uneventful, landing in Dieppe at 10pm - a short ride to our Ibis Hotel on a B&B basis. The Ibis is bike friendly - we were allowed to bring our bikes into our room.
Strava Day 1 Big Ben -> Newhaven
Day 2: Dieppe -> Gournay-en-Bray 51 miles, 1340’ of climb
We set off around 9am and after a couple of miles picked up Avenue Verte, a converted fully paved railway; fully tarmaced, for 40 miles. Loads of villages along the way for coffee and food stops. Lunch was in Neufchâtel-en-Bray - baguette au chèvre at Boulangerie-Patisserie. The last 12 miles were on minor, very quiet roads - I think we saw more tractors than cars! We arrived in Gournay-en-Bray around 2:30, our hotel Le Cygne was closed until 3 pm, probably Siesta time - so we had to get a beer ;-( Le Cygne caters for cyclists; an evening meal is included if required, salad bar, soup, meal, crepes and cheese and coffee. Secure garage parking for bikes is available.
Strava Day 2 Dieppe -> Gournay-en-Bray
Day 3: Gournay-en-Bray -> the Eiffel Tower 90 miles, 4900’ climb
After our Continental breakfast we set off around 8 am, again along quiet country roads and saw loads of pretty villages. Plenty of steady climbs and long fast descents to make the route interesting. Lunch stop was at 30 miles in Marines. We pushed on to our Hotel in Versailles, another 35 miles of quiet roads and lovely sunshine; the last 10 miles to Versailles were through forests, no motor vehicles - just cyclists, runners and pedestrians. We arrived at our final hotel around 3 pm. I had booked an Ibis Hotel but it had changed ownership to a B&B Paris Versailles. Our booking with Ibis was still honoured and we were able to store our bikes in our rooms. By now it was around 3:30 pm; we decided to complete the final stage to Paris, around 13 miles each way, again we were riding through wooded areas and parks, it didn't get busy until the last couple of miles close to the Eiffel Tower. We got back to our hotel in Versailles at 6 pm, and then returned to Paris to eat at Bouillon around 7 pm via taxi. Tip: Uber would have been the cheaper option as we found out on our return journey back to the hotel.
Strava Day 3 Gournay -> Eiffel Tower
Day 4: Sightseeing in Paris -> Dieppe via SNCF 22 miles, 700’ climb
On Wednesday we did a steady tour around Paris on our bikes, sightseeing and having lunch at Frenchie FTG Paris. We returned with our bikes to Dieppe via SNCF from Paris Gare St Lazare, changing at Rouen, reaching Dieppe at 6 pm. There's a good choice of restaurants in Dieppe especially around the harbour area. We caught the 23:59 ferry back and arrived in Newhaven around 4 am (5 hour return trip) we booked a cabin and got a few hours sleep before our return journey home.
Strava Day 4 Sightseeing In Paris
Day 5: Newhaven -> Home 71 miles, 2600’ climb
An early start, our route mostly followed the Downs Link - I got home at 1:30 pm, aching and tired. But thoroughly enjoyed the experience with my son. I would definitely recommend this trip.
Resources:
http://www.donaldhirsch.com/dieppeparis.html article about the best low traffic route to Paris from Dieppe.
https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/downs-link Information on cycling the Downs Link
Steve’s Strava shows the route taken as per the links, and he would be happy to answer questions on his ride.
