The Camino de Santiago by bike, from Puy en Velay to Conques

Arrival in Puy en Velay

Take advantage of this day to buy the traditional credencial or pilgrim's notebook at Puy-en-Velay Cathedral. This document, stamped by our partners will attest to your passage on the way to Compostela and will provide you with a beautiful travel souvenir!

Dinner and night in Puy-en-Velay.

Distance : 24 km, ascent : +540 m

For your first day of cycling, you leave Le Puy-en-Velay and enjoy the panorama on the entire basin. You cross Velay area, a region famous for its lentils and black sheep. Take a break by bike and enjoy the volcanic landscapes of the Velay mountains. Arrival in Saint Privat d'Allier for this first day of cycling, settling into your accommodation before visiting the priory overlooking the village.

Dinner and night in Saint Privat d’Allier

Distance : 59 km, ascent : + 1310 m

Today, first warm-up of the day with a climb on the Margeride plateau. Once on the top, a new landscape and a new architecture emerges with the arrival of granite and green and wild domes. It is in this region that the legend of Gévaudan was born, a ferocious beast resembling a wolf which is said to have terrorized the inhabitants for more than 100 years. You cycle to Saint-Alban into the territory of La Margeride with its massive granite farms and its acidic soils where you may find red fruits (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries...).

Dinner and night in Saint Alban or Les Faux

Distance : 39 km, ascent: + 670 m

You are cycling this morning through the Truyère Valley. Along the way, you will see the small church of Les Estrets with its two-arched bell tower. Arrival at Aumont-Aubrac, gateway to the region of the same name. Take the time to visit the Saint-Etienne church, the town hall and the fountain topped with a sculpture of the Beast of Gévaudan. You now reach the Aubrac plateau by bike with at the horizon green pastures surrounded by trees and burons made of straw or slate which are the shelters of shepherds. At the end of the day you arrive in Nasbinals where you can visit its magnificent Romanesque church.

Dinner and night in Nasbinals.

Distance : 16 km, ascent +180 m

Today you are cycling through the land of Aubrac: it's the opportunity for to taste and travel though the local gastronomy and its typical dishes such as aligot or omelette with porcini mushrooms. Land of transhumance, with some chance you can see the herds leaving the valley and going up the drailles, these paths lined with low walls, and thus reach the large pastures.

Option: to take a longer route (loop via Bois de Laguiole, 46 km, elevation gain +790 m)

Dinner and night in Saint-Chély d’Aubrac.

Distance : 38 km, ascent : + 350 m

This morning, you cycle next to the rivers descending from the Aubrac towards the Lot in landscapes as green as ever. You arrive for lunch in Saint-Côme d'Olt, classified "most beautiful villages in France". Lose yourself in the streets and old buildings with a medieval character. After this well-deserved break, you travel inland to arrive at the medieval village of Estaing, which has been celebrating the Saint Fleuret festival since the 14th century on the first Sunday in July. During this festival you will find a huge procession of 150 extras costumed as characters who have marked the history of the village.

Dinner and night in Estaing.

Distance : 36 km, ascent : + 750 m

During this last stage by bike, you continue your journey in the Olt region, across medieval villages in Romanesque style and deep gorges dug by the Lot river. After a break in the pretty village of Golinhac, you wander the steep valley of the Ouche to arrive at another river, the Dourdou, and thus discover Conques, the village with pointed roofs from where the three abbey towers of the Foy abbey undoubtedly stands out. The latter being classified as a UNESCO world heritage site for its medieval architecture, it is advisable to go through its "Pilgrims' Bridge" to cross the Dourdou and be able to visit it.

Dinner and night in Conques.

Departure

End of service after your breakfast.