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My epic trip road-riding holiday in the Alps has been cancelled due to work. We can now only leave Wednesday late evening and have to get back to the UK on Sunday afternoon. We will be taking our campervan. Where can we go that will be nice riding and won't be all travelling?
Fanku
I had 6 days bike packing in the Vosges mountains this July on the route below. Fantastic riding, 400 kms of off road through beech and pine forests and only 5 hrs from Calais.
My route was not technical however there are masses of trails to explore with plenty of village camp sites and restaurants to refuel if you fancy touring around. Alternatively there was downhill courses and uplifts towards the south of the Vosges.
Be warned I had some big thunderstorms !
http://www.bikepacking.com/routes/bikepacking-france-traversee-du-massif-vosgien/
I did St Malo to Caen over a weekend and really enjoyed it. (Although the reverse might work better for ferry timings.)
There's plenty of quiet roads and challenging hills. Extending the route into the Cherbourg peninsula would be good - the d day beaches were interesting to cycle past and with more time you could see them all.
Earlier this year, I took the overnight ferry to Caen and rode to Lisieux the next morning. Lovely cycling in that area, and there's a campsite near the town.
Ferry to Roscoff?
Nice place, loads of options - beach/bar hop along the coast to the west or head inland for some kulcher.
Second the Vosges, lumpy enough to be fun without being Alpine 'Epic' and amazingly quiet
Pretty much anywhere in Northern France will be good for 'just riding around' as most motorised traffic sticks to the main roads to get anywhere fast, you won't be ticking off any famous named climbs or whatever if that's what you want
Another option would be a to nip over the border to Belgium, tackle the famous cobbles and begs of Flanders, take in a bit of culture and beer in Bruges or Ghent. or head further south and do the more challenging climbs of the Ardennes. Again, super quiet roads and motorists will give way to you :-0