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A former Clunaic abbey overlooks St Leu d’Esserent (classic route, Stage 9)

Hotels, guest houses and B&B

Hotels vary from expensive five-star properties to modest local establishments and usually offer a full meal service. Guest houses and bed and breakfast accommodation, known as chambres d’hôte in French, generally offer only breakfast. Tourist information offices (see Appendix B) will often telephone for you and make local reservations. Booking ahead is seldom necessary, except in high season (mid-July to mid-August in France). Most properties are cycle friendly and will find you a secure overnight place for your pride and joy. Accueil Vélo is a French national quality mark displayed by establishments within 5km of the route that welcome cyclists and provide facilities including overnight cycle storage.

An accueil vélos (cyclists welcome) sign shows an establishment that provides facilities for cyclists

Youth hostels and gîtes d’étape

While there are several youth hostels in both London and Paris, there are only three hostels en route (Calais, Montreuil and Amiens; all on the classic route in France) and three just off-route (Medway, Eastbourne and Southease in England). These are listed in Appendix C. English hostels managed by the YHA and FUAJ hostels in France are affiliated to Hostelling International. Other French hostels are managed by BVJ. Unlike British hostels, most European hostels do not have self-catering facilities but do provide good value hot meals. Hostels get very busy, particularly during school holidays, and booking is advised through www.hihostels.com.