We are thinking about doing a ‘Tour de La Manche’ this summer:
Part 1: From Hoek van Holland via Bruges and Ypres to Boulogne-sur-Mer, along the coast towards Normandy, hopefully via the Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey) and Saint-Malo into Brittany, along the coast towards Roscoff. Ferry crossing to Plymouth, train to Penzance. Part 2: From Land's End via Cornwall and Bath to London. Train to Harwich, ferry crossing back to Hoek van Holland.
Total distance: ca. 2,250 km.
We are looking for information on the route between Le Tréport and Carentan in Normandy. According to the Cycle West website (http://cycle-west.com/), this is the EuroVélo 4. We found the Véloroute du Littoral between Le Tréport and Le Havre, which is supposed to be marked, but nothing after that. Does anyone know if there is a véloroute or voie vert from Le Havre via the ‘plages du débarquement’ to Carentan?
We are also looking for information on the ferries between Normandy/Brittany and the Channel Islands. We aim to take a ferry from Carteret (Normandy) to Guernsey, then take a ferry from Guernsey to Jersey, and then take a ferry from Jersey to Saint-Malo. The Manches-Iles Express and Condor Ferries websites do not have any information on taking a bicycle along (at least not on crossings from France). Does anyone know if it is possible to take a bicycle on board?
If anyone has other tips & tricks for this area, we'd love to hear those, too!
Dim & Marieke
Donna and I (David) cycled this in Sept 2008. We found that the route along the sea(in general) D514, to be light of traffic. The summer could be a compltetly different story? Honfleur is a must see and North of Le Havre is Etretat. We took the Ferry (leaving)from Cherbourg Octeville to Poole or Portsmouth,(British Ferries website)and you should book in advance. I hope this helps
Thank you, David and Donna! That is helpful information indeed!
Did you cycle all along the D513/D514 from Le Havre to the 'plages du débarquement'? Did you cycle across the Pont de Normandie or did you take a detour through the Forêt de Brotonne?
We also noticed the D513/D514 on the map and we were wondering how bicycle-friendly it is. If it is light of traffic as you say, we would guess that the EuroVélo 4 would follow that road as well.
We will probably go in June by the way, so we hope to avoid the summer crowds of July and August.
The 513 we took as well as the pont de Normandie, which was fun and cool to cross. Research the route to get to the bridge fron the Le Havre, as it is a bit tricky and trafficed. Once you are on the bridge and south it is great. We found the traffic easy but, it was September?
This site gave us a camping site info for the country, there are alot of sites along the Normandy coast.
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