Caen to La Rochelle to Santander.

[Polite]

Or Santander to La Rochelle to Caen. In July. Thoughts on North to South vs South to North. Many thanks.

[biscaystorm]

Try to do this from Caen to LaRochelle and then to Santander.

There are prevailing South Easterly winds in Northern France which make north-bound cycling tough going
at times. Moreover, starting your journey in Santander means you are starting with the toughest climbs of the whole trip...
(relative to the flatness of the Western France).

After Bordeaux down to the Spanish border, the cycling is very boring and the coastal towns very touristy...

At Irun (just over the Spanish border)...west-bound traffic for the first 50kms or so can be very heavy with a lot of trucks. (However, there is a bike accepting train service (EuskoTren) from Hendaye or Irun which can help you avoid this. Apart from that, the Basque country is great to cycle in.

[bikepacker]

At Irun (just over the Spanish border)...west-bound traffic for the first 50kms or so can be very heavy with a lot of trucks. (However, there is a bike accepting train service (EuskoTren) from Hendaye or Irun which can help you avoid this. Apart from that, the Basque country is great to cycle in.

The are quieter alternatives without too much of a detour.

Having done it both ways starting at Santander seemed easier as the worst terrain was over first. Also with 3 ferries a day from Caen timing the end of the ride is not so critical.

There are many posts regarding this ride on the forum, do a search on Santander and they should come up.

[bikerwaser]

I agree with biscaystorm in one way that from North to South you get warmed up before the hills start in Spain. Doing it the other way would mean you hit the Basque hills from the off. It's beautiful there but you need to be bike fit ready. coming North to South is better i'd say.

here's my blog of North to South ( St Malo to Santander )

http://biker-waser.blogspot.co.uk/

[ChrisF]

There are prevailing South Easterly winds in Northern France which make north-bound cycling tough going
at times.

Did you mean NE winds? A SE wind would help north-bound riding, surely?
Otherwise I would agree that going North to South makes more sense, to get acclimatized to hills. Many have said (here and elsewhere) that the French coastal strip is boring, but you could go inland more (across some of the prettier parts of Dordogne and Lot valleys) as we did, if you have time. More hills though!

[CJV]

I just got back from riding London to Malaga. After the ride to Portsmouth I took the ferry to St Malo - not your planned start in Caen but near enough. Made my way down Western France, past La Rochelle and to Bayonne. I then diverged from your planned tour and crossed the Border between St Jean Pied de Port and Roncesvalles heading to Pamplona and onwards through the middle of Spain. This was early May and I was bothered most of the way through France by westerly and southwesterly crosswinds which were very annoying but manageable.