Look no lycra! Headwater’s offers Tour de France for wimps route in Alsace to celebrate the start of the famous race from Strasbourg for the first time since 1953.
If the Tour de France conjures up images of a lycra clad Lance Armstrong scaling an Alpine pass, prepare to be surprised. As Strasbourg, where the race begins on the 1st July, is mostly flat! The official itinerary on the 2nd July will see the racers coasting for 185kms through the many half-timbered, flower-decked medieval villages along the foothills of the Vosges hills that make up the surrounding region of Alsace’s wine route.
However, if even 185 flattish kms in a single day sounds a bit daunting, why not try Headwater’s cycling tour of the Alsace wine route, totting up just 138km over 9 days?
The whole point of exploring a wine route after all is to stop at vineyards along the way. (We’ll transport your luggage for you, and even pick up that odd bottle of Muscat or Pinot Gris as you cycle from hotel to hotel.) And - unlike the Tour de France athletes - indulge in some of the region’s best cuisine. Your hotels in Ammerschwir and Rouffach have Michelin starred restaurants; the chef at Rouffach even used to cook at the French presidential palace!
Travelling at a slower pace, you can explore the region’s many curiosities that will have passed the Tour de France racers by such as beautiful Colmar – Venice of Alsace, diminutive Turckheim whose medieval cobbled streets are still patrolled by a night watchman, and gorgeous Andlau whose Romanesque church sits in a sea of swaying vines.
So whilst we can’t promise a glorious finale through the Arc de Triomphe, we do guarantee that you’ll return home refreshed and invigorated from your own mini Tour de France (and with fewer aches and pains than Lance used to – may he enjoy his retirement this year!)
Headwater’s Rivers and Vineyards cycling tour departs every other day between May 23rd and September 24th. It is priced from £668 based on 2 adults sharing a room and travelling by car in September. The price includes: 8 nights half board accommodation, cross channel ferry, bike hire, all local transfers, bags moving service, cycling route notes and maps. To book call 01606 720199 or visit www.headwater.com
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