Cycling Midlands to Monaco

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Why Midlands to Monaco?

(Charlie had some time to kill, so this one was a solo trip.)

Long before I ever got interested in Formula 1, a mate sparked my curiosity about Monaco (thanks Pete!) after a work jolly there.

But: could I visit this millionaires' playground under pedal power, and on a budget ?!

Challenge accepted !

And because I was living near Stafford at the time, the Midlands was my slightly less glamorous starting point....

Above: Incredible road (D22) and scenery en route to Nice.

Cycling Midlands to Monaco:

My Route

So after a bike service and some new threads (cycle shoes, shorts and gloves!), I set off for the white cliffs of Dover from Gnosall, Staffordshire.

Below: My Midlands to Monaco cycle route. 1104 miles and 17 days pedalled.

After the first day of riding which included almost 35 miles on canal towpaths, the second day through Milton Keynes on amazing cycle paths was a breeze.

And the sun came out too! 

To my surprise, I enjoyed the Google Maps Bike route across London! The route even took me through the Olympic Park area. 

Below: A traffic-free route along the River Thames

Google Maps Bike gave me an incredible ride along the River Thames..... amazing boats, barges and characters.

My route took also me through a tunnel under the River Thames at Woolwich via stairs and a lift. The lift was oak- panelled inside !!

At first I thought that Google Maps had gone loopy! I didn't even know there was a tunnel under the Thames. A local guy came to my rescue, confirmed it was the right way and even helped me carry my bike down the stairs. (at that time the lift on this side was out of order!) 

The Royal Borough has two foot tunnels at Greenwich and Woolwich which are used by 1.5 million people a year to cross underneath the river Thames.

There are stairs and lifts at each entrance. Cyclists must dismount, without exception, when using the tunnels. Oops! 🚴🙊

Below - Cycle path alongside the River Thames, Woolwich area. 

Below: The Pilgrims Way and North Downs Way - both tricky, lumpy, scenic.

After only 3 days and a short morning pedal, I made it from the Midlands to the Port of Dover and managed to arrive 15 minutes before this Irish Ferries boat (below) left for Calais !

Winner 🚴👍

Now in northern France, between Arras and Laon: 

Google Maps decided to give me a tough time, taking me onto what initially looked like a scenic cut-through into a mud/clay/straw fight ! 🤦‍♂️

I lost the fight and had to do a U-turn !

I hate U-turns!! 

Above: Aftermath of the Arras to Laon mudfest.

Luckily there was a churchyard nearby (below) - great places in rural France to find drinking water, or in this case water to wash off mud! And lots of it!

Below: A quiet backstreet in Laon, early morning. A beautiful city with an impressive cathedral. 

In Courtisols I had the good fortune to stay at Mariyon and Didier's Airbnb - a gorgeous, ramshackle, homely place with a swimming pool 🤗

Better still Didier was an engineer, with tools galore! He repaired my broken luggage rack and had everything I needed to service and clean my bike. 

Above: All smiles with Mariyon and Mr.Fixit, aka Didier ! 🔧

Cycling from Dijon to Beaune: the route was awash with vineyards and stunning fields of sunflowers. 

There were miles of great river towpaths in the Champagne region of France (below).

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The route to Montmerle Sur Soane included 25 miles on an old railway track, complete with tunnels (below).

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The ride through Grenoble en route to Saint Bonnet en Champsaur was nice and flat (below). Some serious climbs to my destination followed this ! 

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La Chaffaut st Jurson (below): A hamlet full of character near Digne, and a lovely stay at Nathalie's Airbnb....

... where I was treated to an evening meal, breakfast and fresh figs from the garden.

Merci Nathalie ! 

The N85 (below) was a super-scenic route to La Saulce.

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The stunning scenery and mostly sunny weather definitely took my mind off the more challenging parts of the route.

There were some serious but doable climbs and some tricky descents. 

Saint Julian du Verdon (below), a beautiful little village.

BREATHTAKING doesn't even come close to describing some of the roads and scenery in the South of France (below) !

Above & Below: Riding the D2, Parc Naturel Regional des Prealps d'Azur. 

If you want the one of the rides of your life - Just Do It! 🚴👍

CYCLE IT or MOTORBIKE IT or DRIVE IT

YOU DEFINITELY WON'T REGRET IT! 

Looking down onto Lac Du Sautet from the N85 (below).

Looking across to the town of Tourette sur Loup (below).

A happy chappie mugshot (below), having made it coast-to-coast from Calais to Cagnes sur Mur (just south of Nice).

18 days' Incredible-pedals from Midlands to Monaco (well ok - a budget base away !).

I booked an Airbnb in Saint Paul de Vence, as it was cheaper than staying in Nice or Monaco. 

The next day I jumped on a train to visit Monaco. My best decision yet.

As the Monegasque roads were super-busy and not very cycle-friendly!

Above : The amazingly tropical park area in Monte Carlo! Who'd have thought it ?! Close to the famous Casino. 

Below: Looking over Monte Carlo from up in The Old Town. 

I walked around Monte Carlo, had an expensive coffee, and peeked through the window of the BUGATTI shop. Drooling, but no bicycles in sight !

Then checked out the entrance to the famous F1 tunnel, visited the Old Town (well worth seeing), and got a photo in the "photo car". Finally headed back on the train to plan the next day's itinerary ...

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Cycling Midlands to Monaco:

Food & Accommodation 

Food

Ok, so food in France ! Well for me, it wasn't the best! Aldi was good though 👍😊 Some homecooked food and a truckers cafe helped redeem the situation for me. 

Even the coffee was sometimes terrible ! Maybe I just ate or food-shopped in the wrong places ?!

Accommodation 

I generally booked accommodation the day before, or even in the morning before heading out. Too many unforeseen possibilities make this the best way for me.

Mechanical issues for instance! 

I camped only once on this trip. The first night in the UK. (I've tried to harden up BUT just don't get on with being cramped up!!) WIMP comes to mind!! 

I found Airbnb to be invaluable. Even in the remoteness of rural France 👍

Below - first stopover in France, Guines. Airbnb caravan. 12 miles from Calais.

The first time that I'd been asked to empty the loo cassette into the septic tank, before I leave in the morning. Bit of a shit job to be honest! 

My accommodation varied from a Airbnb caravan to having to carry my bike and gear up 5 flights of stairs in a city hotel, where I was kept awake by strange comings and goings throughout the night. Make of that what you will! We all have to make a living 😉🤦 

To 5-star Airbnb with outdoor pool. And lovely Airbnb owners who not only rent you a room or apartment but cook you dinner, repair your bike bits and even watch a movie with you too. 

Above - Didier and Mariyon's Airbnb. 

Above - a great coffee for breakfast (Moka Pot that's the real deal!) Nathalie's place. 

Below - an incredible stop off at a Airbnb in La Saulce. Stunning and reasonable price. Great homecooked food too

Should you cycle to Monaco from the UK? 

Oh yeah! Wherever you live in the UK get to London to experience cycling the River Thames.

Don't miss out on the Kent Downs.

Get on that Dover-Calais Ferry and:-

LET FRANCE BLOW YOUR MIND! 

Practical Pointers

⭐ The majority of my route to Monaco was just spectacular. This was purely down to luck, not careful planning ! 

I just looked briefly at the overall route on Google Maps, then picked out stopover points as I went along.

 Having no time constraints definitely helps with this method !

⭐ I averaged 65 miles a day, with one rest day.

So a 3-week trip should be good to take in the sights and spend some time in Monaco. Or shorter if you want to blast it !

⭐ Make use of the free churchyard water, as rural France is vast (I found!) and it's not always easy to find shops/cafes.

⭐ As mentioned France is big and so carrying emergency rations for a couple of days is essential. 

Wallace fountains are a common sight in rural French villages and towns, providing safe drinking water. The one below is in the old town of Monte Carlo. 

⭐ I carried my tent/camping gear as usual! But never used it in France 🫡 So not sure about camping opportunities. 

Bonus section !

Cycling Monaco to Alicante

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Well, I wasn't quite ready to stop pedalling just yet... 

I mean have you seen the place names on this coastline..... Cannes, St Tropez, Marseille, Perpignan. Over the Pyrenees and Spain beckons.... Girona, Barcelona, Benidorm! 

Below - I took a photo of this painting whilst walking through St Tropez. Just beautiful - look closely. 

Above & Below: My coastal route southwards from Monaco

Below - fantastic D559 heading towards St Tropez. Just a little windy!

Below - I cycled into St Tropez having carried straight on through Cannes without stopping, as it was incredibly busy due to a yacht show.

Cycling off the D559 and into St Tropez is incredible. There is a cycle path! And you just fly past queuing traffic. Brilliant 🚴😊

Below - the artists are out in force on St Tropez Harbour. Well worth a walk around. 

Below - en route to Marseille Google Maps did what it does sometimes..... Tests your bike handling skills! I failed this one and had to turn back. Luckily there was a great cycle path coming up! 

Below - busy and tiring cycling out of Marseille the next day but the stunning amphitheatre in the amazingly gorgeous town of Arles was well worth the effort. 

Below - cycling towards Beziers on the D613 was very memorable! A biblical storm, including hailstones rained down. I took cover in an open JCB digger (thank you Uttoxeter!) at the side of the road. Then my 'guardian angel' came to my rescue! 

The family pictured above told me to follow them to their smallholding, where they lived in a run-down shack! A hot drink and a chat about their life and I was on my way. True kindness from people living on the breadline. Thank you Gaia, Prune and Argant. 

Below - Beautiful Beziers. This building is in fact part painting - the tree and shop front are painted. 

I was cycling towards the Pyrenees full of anticipation, just how painful was it going to be?! From Beziers through Perpignan and suddenly I was climbing. But hey, it wasn't at all bad! Phew!! 

And then a long downhill into Spain on to a overnight stop in Figueres - BELOW:- Salvador Dali's birthplace. 

Below - en route to Barcelona. I got caught up in the Ironman Barcelona (I thought the road was quiet!) and I was doing ok, getting lots of shouts of encouragement from the triathletes that I kindly let overtake me!!! 

And then a race marshall spoiled my fun and banned me from the race! A short detour was my only option. NO medal either!! 

A night in Barcelona and then on to Tarragona. There are some cycle lanes in Barcelona so getting out of the city wasn't too bad.

After a busy dual carriageway section Komoot put me onto a long-distance cycle path and then 2 big mountain passes. A tough day on the pedals. 

Below - en route to Tarragona I had to stop for this mural of Javier Gomez Noya. One of the greats of triathlon. 

Above - another beautiful coastal road en route to Valencia. Fantastic cycling roads - running alongside the motorway then brilliant cycle paths into Valencia 👍

The cycle path out of Valencia was superb.

Great country lanes and amazing cycle paths again! 
I did get told off by motorcycle police about not wearing a helmet!! (obliged immediately - I did not want to get into trouble with the Spanish police!) 

A tough hilly ride over the mountain towards Benidorm and then a narrow fast road into the city.

After an overnight in the Old Town it was onto Alicante. A 35 mile pedal. There are really good cycle paths in Alicante.

Below - El Toro watches over road users on the N-332 coastal road. 

So "where to now"? I asked myself! Well, it seemed a trip back to the UK was calling. Box sorted from a Trek shop in Alicante and return flight booked for the next day. Sorted! 

It's a bit sad I know, but always a relief to get on the plane with your bike, especially when you can watch it being loaded too!!