Cycle touring: where to sleep each night on your route

On a cycling trip, the evening stop shapes the whole day: it sets the distance to cover, the climbing to tackle and the time you need to get going. Finding somewhere to sleep at the right kilometre is the key to a relaxed trip. Here are the options and how to choose between them.

Outdoors or comfort?

Cycle tourers have two main families of accommodation to choose from.

Outdoors

• The campsite: the most common choice on a cycling trip. Showers, drinking water, sockets to charge your phone or e-bike battery, and sometimes an area set aside for hikers and cyclists.
• The unstaffed mountain hut (refuge non gardé): in the mountains, a simple shelter for the night, with no booking and no services. You need to be self-sufficient for water and food.

Under a roof

• The gîte d'étape (walkers' hostel), designed for hikers, with dormitories or rooms and often a kitchen.
• The B&B (chambre d'hôtes) and the inn, for a proper bed and breakfast.
• The hotel, handy in stage towns.

Many cycle tourers alternate: a few nights under canvas, then a night under a roof to wash clothes, recharge and sleep well. For a trip in a campervan or motorhome, the rules are different: see our guide where to sleep in a motorhome or campervan in France.

Placing each stop well

• Factor elevation into the distance: a short mountain stage can be harder than a long one on the flat.
• Leave some margin: arriving early gives you time to find an alternative if your accommodation is full.
• Check opening dates: out of season, many campsites and gîtes close.
• Spot water and shops towards the end of the stage, especially for a night in a mountain hut.

Wild camping by bike

A one-night bivouac is tolerated in some places and banned in many others: the seafront, protected sites, nature reserves and national parks depending on their rules. The rules vary from place to place and local by-laws always take precedence. For peace of mind, official places remain the safe bet.

Riding as a group

If you are travelling with others, or if friends are joining you for a stage, the date is often the slowest thing to settle. CycloDate sorts it out in two minutes: upload the stage's GPX, suggest up to four dates, and the group sees the route and the weather for each date before replying in one click from WhatsApp. Free and no account needed.

A cycling route, with every night included

Pakvia also plans trips by bike, motorcycle and car: the route follows your mode of travel, and you choose your accommodation, Outdoors (campsites and unstaffed mountain huts), Comfort (hotels, B&Bs, inns and gîtes) or Both. Every evening ends at an official place taken from OpenStreetMap, never a wild spot, and each day opens in Google Maps.

Travelling with a campervan and bikes? Read our guide a campervan road trip with your bikes. Prefer an engine? See our guides to a motorcycle road trip and a car road trip. And for your next trip, plan your route for free.