Compiègne and Pierrefonds €395
We start with a visit of the beautiful (and completely unheard of) medieval town of Crépy-en-Valois, where we'll do a little cycling around town before heading off on our journey. The ride continues through countryside, forest and tiny villages before we make our one major ascent to an agricultural plateau where we'll visit the remains of a 2nd century Gallo-Roman amphitheater and its associated bath and temple remnants. You'll also learn a little bit about the history of tanks here. For the remainder of the ride we'll be cycling through the forest of Compiègne with a stop along the way in the tiny, adorable village of Saint-Jean-aux-Bois and also in the town of Pierrefonds, where you will admire the majesty of its magnificent medieval castle (well, it was reconstructed in the 19th century but I'll explain that). After leaving Pierrefonds we'll pick-up a dedicated bike path for 14km until arriving at our destination of Compiègne, where you'll have time to stretch your legs for a brief stroll on the grounds of its château before we do a little cycling in town. This is a tour for those who love cycling in forests as roughly half of this tour will be through forested terrain.
Click HERE to see the Tour Summary for this tour, which will provide you with a sampling of photos of some of the sights you will see on this tour.
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Meeting time and train times: We will meet at the bike rental store at 7:45AM and take an 8:34AM train leaving Paris and arriving in Crépy-en-Valois at 9:10AM. We will take a train departing from Compiègne at 4:10PM and arrive in Paris at 5:25PM.
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Total round trip train time: 1 hour 50 minutes
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Touring Time: 7 hours from train arrival in Crépy-en-Valois to train departure from Compiègne
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Distance round trip from bike store to train station: 3km / 2 miles
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Touring Distance: 50km / 31 miles from train arrival in Crépy-en-Valois to train departure from Compiègne
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Total biking distance: 53km / 33 miles
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Level of difficulty: Easy to Moderate. Most of the ride is on slightly undulating to flat terrain. There is one steep hill on this ride with an ascent time of 5+ minutes and it is roughly one kilometer in length. Due to this and the length of the ride participants should be fit and have cycling experience to do this tour.
Additional Per Person Costs:
€28.50 (train) + €30 (bike rental)
Important Note: This tour is not offered on Saturdays or holidays due to inconvenient train schedules.