Auf der Schwäb'sche Eisenbahne

Divine dream ride on the rail-trail above the Côte

The trip first takes us to the wonderful beach in the bay of Cabasson. From there we continue through the rolling hills to hectic Le Lavandou —some obligatory coastal bustle is inevitable, after all ;) As soon as possible we join the mostly well-signed bike route V65 ('Littoral'), which on a former railway alignment gently climbs and leads through a few tunnels, bringing us close to the unique beauties of this stretch of coast —of course from the exalted and largely traffic-free box seats of the Lummerland pedal gods ;) Freed from the constraints of space and time and almost intoxicated, we eventually arrive in lively Cavalaire-sur-Mer, a larger tourist center. The seafront promenade invites a generous celebratory rest. Halfway there! After that we get to enjoy the whole revelation again in the opposite direction. We allow ourselves a small bold variation after Le Lavandou: there we keep in close contact with the Route Nationale and follow the parallel bike path westward to La-Londe-les-Maures.

Disclaimer: the tour is, in principle, also suitable for road/racing bikes — except for the short gravel and still unpaved, rough sections of the 'Littoral', roughly from Cap Nègre. If you want to avoid those, you must merge into car traffic on the coastal road.