Through the valley of the Rhône & Saône with Bike & Boat on board of the STELLA
In the course of this trip you will pass through rugged, white limestone gorges as well as Burgundy, lined with vineyards, with its gold-colored villages. You reach the Ardèche with its aromatic lavender and gorse scents and cycle on peaceful paths through Provence along olive groves to ornate Romanesque churches.
Let the story of our ancestors tell you in the Grotte de la Madeleine and in the light and gourmet city of Lyon the stories of the circle of the “Voraces” - the voracious - after which one of the most beautiful courtyards in the old town is named today.
In Provence, the much-sung bridge of Avignon, the city of the anti-popes, awaits you. You can visit the most important Roman remains in Arles with its amphitheater. Van Gogh spent a few years in Arles. He was inspired by the Provencal flair and the picturesque landscape - like many of the impressionists - to create famous motifs.
It is wonderful to return to the comfortable cabin on board your ship after an eventful day of cycling with the e-bike. In the evening, it is not far to the on-board restaurant, where you can relax and enjoy dinner while the southern French landscape slowly passes by in front of the windows.
Highlights
- Lyon with old town (world cultural heritage)
- spectacular cycling routes in Burgundy, Provence and Ardèche
- Arles, Avignon and Châteauneuf, epitome of the south of France
- Cluny Abbey - cradle of the Romanesque
- Accommodations on the Stella, state of the art cruise ship
- Stress-free battery-assisted cycling with a support vehicle
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Itinerary
- Day 1: Lyon
- Day 2: Châlon sûr Saône - Cormatin | 26 mi. (42 km)
- Day 3: Mâcon - Cluny - Trévoux | 34 mi. (54 km)
- Day 4: Lyon City Tour, 1,8 mi. (3 km Walking distance)
- Day 5: Avignon - Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 22 mi. (35 km)
- Day 6: Avignon - St. Remy - Arles, 27 mi. (43 km)
- Day 7: The Ardèche Gorge, 16 mi. (27 km)
- Day 8: Departure or extension in Lyon
*All distances are approximate. The itinerary is subject to change, at times without prior notice. Some waterways may be subject to occasional closures due to drought, storms, floods, canal or lock repairs, or other unforeseen circumstances that make navigation unsafe or impossible. The captain reserves the right to make any changes deemed necessary.
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DAY 1: LYON
At 4:00 p.m., your guides will be waiting for you in Lyon, where you will be welcomed on board. After you have moved into your cabin in peace, your guide will introduce the tour - if the weather is fine, on the sun deck. Then enjoy the first rich dinner on board while the ship slowly glides north on the waters of the Saône. Departure at 6:00 p.m. from Lyon towards Burgundy. Evening panoramic drive through Lyon's old town.
DAY 2: THE WATER CASTLES OF SOUTHERN BURGUNDY | Approx. 26 miles / 42 km
At noon the ship reaches the northernmost point of this voyage, Châlon sûr Saône. Our first stage with the e-bike leads through an area that lies in the triangle between Châlon, Cormatin and Tournus and forms a unit both culturally and geographically. In delightful alternation, we encounter castles, Romanesque churches and enchanting villages. The villages used to be linked by a railroad. After the closure, the railway line was converted into a “voie verte”, a green cycle path. With the exception of small sections, you will continue on this magnificent route until lunch. After the rest you will reach a rare gem, the pleasure palace of Cormatin. Built in the 17th century, the castle is surrounded by a moat, in the middle of a small park with wide lawns and geometrically shaped beds, modeled on the English garden style. The afternoon route takes you through the gently undulating hill country. After an ascent with a view of the Brancion fortress, you will be rewarded with wonderful views over the valley (you can optionally take our escort bus up part of the stage). The last stage, as far as the Saône Valley, takes you back down in an exhilarating descent. From a distance you can already make out the striking outlines of the priory church of St. Philibert in Tournus. We will show you this jewel of Romanesque architecture during a tour. The church was founded in the early 9th century by monks who fled the Vikings inland. Soon after the year 1000, which some had suspected would bring the end of the world, “the whole country was covered with a white coat of churches”. This is how vividly a contemporary Burgundian monk reports the feverish building activity of the early Romanesque period. At St. Philibert you will see the fundamentals of French architecture: the birth of the two-tower facade and the first self-supporting vault of post-antiquity! A short transfer will bring you back to Châlon sûr Saône in the evening.
DAY 3: THE CRADLE OF ROMANICS AND THE CLUNY ABBEY | Approx. 33 miles / 54 km
During your night's sleep, the ship sailed south again and is now in the heart of southern Burgundy on the quay walls of the city of Mâcon. Every year in May an important wine fair takes place here. The best wines will be awarded the coveted Médailles d´Or award. Your e-bikes are ready and waiting not far from the jetty. From the village of Macon you will negotiate a hill. Afterwards you cycle on a scenic route with a distant view of the rock of Solutré. The impressive natural monument even adorned a French special postage stamp in 1985 and the former President Francois Mitterand climbed the rock on several hikes. A few kilometers further, the mighty Berzé-le-Châtel castle appears in front of you. The fortress served to secure the Cluisois and the Grosne valley to the south. After the rest, you will cross a bicycle tunnel. After around an hour you will reach Cluny, the most important center of Benedictine monasticism in the 11th century. in Europe. Cluny had amassed an immeasurable fortune through gifts and endowments. The ruin still looks imposing, although it is only a small part of the once gigantic ensemble. During a detailed tour, our local, knowledgeable guide will show you the imposing monastery complex and its excavations. A transfer will take you to Trévoux in the late afternoon, where your ship will dock to pick up the day trippers. After dinner, the STELLA will return to Lyon. The ship stays overnight in Lyon so that you can stroll through the narrow streets of the city after dinner.
DAY 4: LYON CITY TOUR TO SILKWEAVERS AND SECRET TRABOULES - 3 km Walk
After breakfast, go on a sightseeing tour of Lyon. Lyon is the gateway to the south and the secret capital of gourmets. The Saône flows into the Rhône here and divides the city center into a busy part with splendid facades from the 19th century and the picturesque old town part of St. Jean. Here are the Renaissance houses of the rich cloth merchants and bankers. From the outside rather inconspicuous, the true splendor of the inner courtyards is revealed with the help of narrow passages that connect the streets with one another. They are called "Traboules" (transambulare = to walk through). They were often used as escape routes when citizens and bishops feuded or Catholics and Protestants stabbed their sabers in the chests. The trading city, which has been important since Roman times, has never boasted of its wealth, but those in the know know that Gauguin and Cézanne paintings hang in some of the bourgeois apartments, which are inconspicuous from the outside, like wall calendars from the department store. The unmistakable atmosphere of Lyon is taken into account with the award as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You'll be back on board for lunch. Your ship will then leave Lyon to head south. Enjoy the view of the leisurely passing cityscape of Lyon with coffee and cake and later with an aperitif or let yourself be pampered in the SPA on board.
DAY 5: WINE FROM CHÂTEAUNEUF & BRIDGE FROM AVIGNON | Approx. 22 miles / 35 km
In the morning you can enjoy watching the landscape go by on the sun deck. In the late morning, the STELLA stops not far from the vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The bikes are already ready at the jetty. You cycle to the small town center of Châteauneuf du Pape and learn about the elaborate production of the fine, red wines during a wine tasting. After the lunch break you leave the world-famous vineyard and cycle through a fertile fruit and vegetable growing area. You have just passed one of the largest islands in the Rhône. The route runs on comfortable paths to the much-celebrated bridge to Avignon. See the famous “Pont d’Avignon” bridge, under which the population celebrated happy parties in the Middle Ages. Did you know that the famous song “Sur le pont d’Avignon” should actually be called “Sous le pont d’Avignon”? It is then not far to the ship. The ship stays overnight in Avignon so that you can stroll through the narrow streets of the city before dinner and take a look at the many small boutiques.
DAY 6: AVIGNON AND ROMAN AMPHITHEATER | Approx. 27 miles / 43 km
In the morning you will experience Avignon on a city tour. For almost 70 years the popes did not reside in Rome, but here. In the midst of the secluded gardens of Cathedral Hill, you will learn how the anti-popes fell into “Babylonian captivity”. After the city tour, get on the e-bikes at the gates of Avignon and drive to St. Remy de Provence. Van Gogh stayed here for a while in a privately run clinic, in a former convent. After lunch in St. Rémy, we continue to the monumental art center Carrières de Lumières, located in the middle of the Alpilles. Every year a big show of a special kind is offered in which the big names in art history are presented. After the visit, you drive on small branch routes out of the Alpilles down into the alluvial land of the Rhône. You cross Provencal villages, drive along meadows and fields with wheat and sunflowers to Arles. The Roman residence city houses a magnificent amphitheater in the city center, which is one of the best preserved in France. Today bloodless bullfights still take place here. In the meantime, your ship has sailed on to Arles and lies directly in front of the mighty city gate that opens onto the riverbank. So you still have the option of visiting the ornate Romanesque portal of the Saint Trophime cathedral or enjoying an espresso in the square of the famous Café de la Nuit by van Gogh.
DAY 7: THE WILD GORGE OF THE ARDÈCHE | Approx. 16 miles / 27 km
In the morning light you can see the vineyards of the Côtes du Rhône and the vineyards of the famous “Crozes Hermitages”. This morning a bus will take you to the deep gorge of the Ardèche so that you can take you to one of the most attractive cycling routes on our tours. During the journey, your guide will explain to you the very interesting history of the origins of the UNESCO World Heritage cave systems and their Stone Age settlement. In the morning you take the bus to a high plateau, where the bikes are ready. On the e-bike we discover a garrigue landscape and cycle down along lavender fields and holm oaks until you suddenly come to the enormous gorge of the Ardèche river. The river has dug its way into the rock up to 300 m deep. A winding panoramic road runs along its edge and again and again allows fantastic views of the cliffs and caves. Impressive evidence and rock paintings of our ancestors have been found here. You visit a cave system that extends deep into the rock. At noon you will be back on board and can spend the afternoon calmly on the spacious sun deck or indulge yourself in the SPA area. In the evening, an excellent final dinner awaits you on board the A-ROSA STELLA in the wine bar. In the meantime, your ship will sail back to Lyon overnight.
DAY 8: LYON AND DEPARTURE OR EXTENSION
During your night's sleep, the ship docked in Lyon again. After breakfast you will leave your ship at around 9 a.m. If you have arrived by plane, a transfer will take you to the airport (at a fixed time, at an additional cost). If you have come by car, your tour guide will coordinate the drive to the parking garage.
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We reserve the right to make changes to the timetable and program!
Due to high and low tide, maintenance work and waiting times at locks and bridges, there may be changes to the timetable at short notice. In rare cases of high or low tide or force majeure, parts of the route may have to be covered by bus or train and, in individual cases, hotel accommodation may be necessary.
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E-BIKE-TRIP ROUTE ASSESSMENT: The total distance by e-bike and on foot is approx. 125 miles (200 km). Most of the cycle routes run on car-free cycle paths and side streets with little traffic. The paths are easy to master for everyone. 2 bike stages lead through hilly Burgundy. Alternatively, part of the route can also be taken in the accompanying bus.
