France - Cycling the Via Rhona from Geneva to Lyon

Description	Dates and prices

Self-guided cycling holiday from Geneva (Switzerland) to Lyon along the Rhone Valley

Riding a bike from Lake Leman to reach the Mediterranean Sea by the Via Rhôna is not the shortest or the fastest way, especially by bike, but it’s certainly the most beautiful!

It is a haven in the ways of itinerancy. This cycling holiday is an invitation to contemplate landscapes, and discovering small villages, towns and small ports on the river.

Alternately immersed in history or going to the future, the Via Rhôna allows you to meet people settled on the banks of the river; people rooted in their land that brings it to life and will make you love it.

This self-guided bike tour takes place on the northern side of the Via Rhôna, from Geneva.

Lakes, gorges, villages and historic towns and flowers, unique heritage will alternate and will offer varied and authentic landscapes.The tour winds through between the Rhône, the mountains of the foreland of Savoie, the Bugey and the Dauphiné, the Dombes before joining Lugdunum, the city of two rivers Saône and Rhône, Lyon. This city will enchant you in the historic district, you will discover the Traboules wich are passageways from one street to another and the many restaurants called Bouchons with traditional local cuisine.

The route is a quite demanding (a daily average of 60 km) and follows mostly cycling paths with some stretches on smaller roads along the Rhône.

Day 1

Arrival in Geneva and check in at your hotel.
Night in a 3* hotel in Geneva.

Day 2

Genève – Seyssel
This first leg of the tour will lead you from Switzerland to France. Slowly you will discover one vineyard after the other until you reach the region Savoy and finishing your second day in Seyssel with a magnificent view of the Vierge Noire Bridge. 60km, +500m, -635m.
Night in a 2* hotel in Seyssel

Day 3

Seyssel – Champagneux, 59km
A day almost without ascent, you will cross the beautiful village of Chanaz and the canal of Savières, a paradise for fishermen that connects the Rhône to the Bourget Lake, the little Savoyard “Venice”, Belley, Bugey’s capital.
59km, +270m, -250m. Night in a 3* hotel in Champagneux.

Day 4

Champagneux – Villebois, 65km
You will successively cross St Genix, the country of Mandrin, but also of the brioche of praline, then Morestel, city of painters, a small medieval town with its donjon, St Symphorien’s Church and its bell tower; Briord and its underground roman aqueduct.
3* hotel in Villebois

Day 5

Villebois– Perouges, 41 km
By the Balme Les Grottes, a medieval town; after that you will leave the Via Rhôna for a little while to discover Pérouges, one of the most beautiful villages in France
3* hotel in Pérouges

Day 6

Pérouges - Jons - Lyon, 60 km
By the large park of Miribel Jonage, 2200 hectares of preserved nature in a conservation area. A blue lake of 350 hectares where you can swim before reaching the heart of Lyon by the banks of the Rhône.

Day 7

End of the tour after breakfast in Lyon
Discover this city crossed by two Rivers the Saone and the Rhone,the famous traboules are a series of passageways which lead you from one street to another running parallel to that street. These traboules were built back in the Renaissance period between the 14th and 16th centuries. and so many other things.