This journey was much more difficult than I ever imagined. I think it’s mostly due to the heat. I had some other issues on the way, which could happen at any time, for instance, I was ill for a few days. Right now though, I’d just like to summarize the journey from a cycling point of view. I hope the following is of interest:
Click HERE for my day by day diary. Click HERE (yet to be published) for my summary of the trip.
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Date: 9th to 29th July 2026. Including travel to and from Spain/France
Route: Bilbao in Spain to St Malo in France. See map below.
Stats
Number of Cycling days: 15 + 3 days due to illness and cycle repairs + 3 days for ferry travel.
Distance cycled = 650 miles (over 1000 km) over 3 time the distance from London to Manchester
Total Ascent = 26,000 ft (nearly 8,000 m) 6 times the height of Ben Nevis
Gettering there and back: Ferry Portsmouth to Bilbao and ferry St Malo to Portsmouth
Conditions: Very hot for most of the journey. 35 C or 38 C in the shade. Dry and dusty. Cooler for the last 3 days. It turned out to be the hottest month ever recorded in France since measurements began in 1900.
Bike: Giant Explorer E +1 touring bike with 2 x 10 manual gears and 5e e-bike settings. Rather heavy at 27 kg but very sturdy
Maps/guides:
Spain:
I try to find maps and routes guides (books and electronic) which would keep me off main roads and minimize the amount of ascent. In the end I just gave up and just devised my own route. However by accident I did cycle along part of the Camino del Norte | Northern Way Coastal). Which was great. I met some very interesting pellegrinos (pilgrims).
France:
I bought a special guide for the EuroVelo 1 route which was a page by page description and maps but this proved to be too cumbersome to use and didn’t give you the overall route picture. I also purchased The French Top Tourism IGN Map 100, (2 cm = 1 km, 1:100,000) proved to be very helpful when the route physical markings disappeared occassionally
I followed the EuroVelo 1 (La Vélodyssée) , the Atlantic Coast Route from Spain to La Rochelle. After that I planned my own routes partly using the excellent tow paths of the river L’Erdre and then the alongside the Le canal d’Ille-et-Rance to St Malo
On occasions, the routing of the EuroVelo Route 1 was not clear, and this is where I was grateful for my French version of the OS map, the IGN map app, Cartes IGN It was brilliant. You could look at that on your mobile phone, on your handlebars, and you could see exactly where you were going, and it was much better than the Garmin for finding routes and cycle paths.
Accommodation:
I fared well in Spain with hotel costs but I was only there a few nights. In France I tried to stay in small hotels with air conditioning but that proved a bit difficult because of the holiday season. I had tried to plan ahead and book hotels but because of the heat I had to shorten the distances on many occasions so hotel bookings were ad hoc. Nevertheless, hotel costs in France were still far less expensive than in the UK. Seaside places were more expensive but places slightly inland were very reasonably priced. For instance I stayed in a very good quality hotel in the centre of the city of Nantes for 80 euros. The most expensive hotel I stayed in was in St Malo which was about 180 euros. However, that was my choice. I could have stayed further out and almost half the cost.
Daily Stats
| Date | Title | Duration (total time) | Distance km | Distance Miles | Ascent metres | Ascent ft |
| Tue, 28/07/2026 | Day 18: Final ride into St Malo! | 3 hr 21 min | 27 | 17 | 260 | 853 |
| Mon, 27/07/2026 | Day 17: Super cycling alongside the Le canal d’Ille-et-Rance | 6 hr 29 min | 82 | 51 | 349 | 1,145 |
| Sun, 26/07/2026 | Day 16: A very pleasant day cycling to Rennes | 5 hr 26 min | 67 | 41 | 291 | 955 |
| Sat, 25/07/2026 | Day 15: 100 Cycling north from Nantes to Bain-de-Bretagne | 8 hr 0 min | 104 | 64 | 883 | 2,897 |
| Wed, 22/07/2026 | Day 12: Rochefort to La Rochelle | 4 hr 41 min | 53 | 33 | 263 | 863 |
| 0 | ||||||
| Mon, 20/07/2026 | Day 10: Beautiful coastline and marshes and wonderful 19th century engineering! | 8 hr 41 min | 81 | 50 | 709 | 2,326 |
| Sun, 19/07/2026 | Day 9: Pine clad cycle paths and across the wide River Gironde | 5 hr 38 min | 71 | 44 | 386 | 1,266 |
| Sat, 18/07/2026 | Day 8 Longest ride today! | 9 hr 30 min | 115 | 71 | 766 | 2,513 |
| Fri, 17/07/2026 | Day 7 Slower Cycling – through pine forests and by vast lakes | 4 hr 24 min | 54 | 33 | 274 | 899 |
| Thu, 16/07/2026 | Day 6 Cycling Misadventures and an Amazing Encounter | 8 hr 1 min | 77 | 48 | 382 | 1,253 |
| Wed, 15/07/2026 | Day 5 Saint-Jean-de-Luz via Biarritz onto the long EV1 Route | 8 hr 24 min | 82 | 51 | 745 | 2,444 |
| Tue, 14/07/2026 | Day 4: SaturDay 4 San Sebastián to Ciboure and Saint-Jean-de-Luz | 6 hr 7 min | 46 | 28 | 521 | 1,709 |
| Mon, 13/07/2026 | Day 3 Cycling though the Basque Country and Coast | 5 hr 40 min | 49 | 30 | 836 | 2,743 |
| Sun, 12/07/2026 | Day 2 Guernica to Basque Coast and to Deba | 5hr 10 min | 47 | 29 | 689 | 2,260 |
| Sat, 11/07/2026 | Day 1 Bilbao to Guernica | 5 hr 20min | 59 | 36 | 624 | 2,047 |
| Approximate mileage UK + Spain not on Garmin | 40 | 25 | ||||
| Totals | 1,051 | 653 | 7,978 | 26,175 |
Route (one section was completed by rail due to illness but the total mileage is ACTUAL distance by cycle.
