France and Switzerland along the Rhône.
We decided to do this ride while we were riding in Switzerland along the upper Rhône which begins in the Swiss Alps. We have ridden from the crest of the Swiss Alps at the headwaters of the Rhône river and followed the course of the river to lake Geneva (lac Léman). This is Swiss Route 1 which can be found here on SwitzerlandMobility. After riding the upper half of the Rhône we like the route so much that we wanted to return and ride the lower half from Geneva to the Mediterranean. The entire route of the lower Rhône can be found on its own Internet site called the ViaRhôna sponsored by the France Velo Tourisme.
The ViaRhôna is a long established bike route, mostly in France that is very popular with European riders. 
We encountered a few Americans on the route but mostly you will see Europeans on holiday, some camping along the way and others riding all sorts of wheeled non-motorized vehicles both one and two wheeled on the route. The route is actively being improved and maintained with new bridges being built and the route adjusted as better options are found. If you ride this route, the route location found on the ViaRhôna site is almost always the best way to go but we did find a small number of sections that had not been updated on the Internet site. The 2023 Cicerone guidebook is also very up to date, sometimes more so than the website.
This route is also called EuroVelo 17. The EuroVelo site describes the route: "Following the course of the River Rhone, the route ends over a 1,250 km later on the beautiful Mediterranean coast of France. Connecting the Alps, Lake Geneva, the lavender fields of Provence and the wild white horses of the Camargue, the shortest EuroVelo route packs in a surprising amount of different cultures, landscapes and experiences."
ViaRhôna This route has its own Internet site that is mostly up to date, about 95%, and shows the best way to travel. Descriptions of the stages are accurate.
France Velo Tourisme use the dropdown list under "Find My Cycle Route" to get a list of all the potential stages. Has a helpful rating system.
Another crossing over the Rhône.
Guides, Maps and Other Information
Bikeline Has several guidebooks for the Rhône. We have used Bikeline guides and have several in our home library.
Freewheeling France Has a guide to train travel in France with bike. French trains can be on strike at any time, see the travel tips section below.
British Air deserves a mention here because of their generous policy on traveling with bicycles. As long as your box is under 50lbs. you can ship your bike as your checked luggage without any additional charge, no oversize fee, however there is a maximum size limit. BA did not send our bikes with us when we departed Seattle. We picked them up a day late at Geneva airport.
Passerelle Virignin La Balme near Virignin. This is a very new bridge crossing over the Rhône that bypasses some very hazardous tunnels. The description for this stage still includes the hazardous tunnels as part of the route. The tunnels are not necessary, just take the new bridge over the Rhône.
See the Maps and Guides page for more mapping information.
The Rhône has its own Internet site with descriptions of the stages and elevation profiles.
Click here for a KML file and here for a KMZ file of the entire route. A KMZ file will open directly in Google Earth.
There are many cycling apps with maps available for iphone/android. Here are a couple of the better off line apps.
Can be used to follow this route (and other routes)
If you have a KML file of a route, place the file in the maps.me bookmarks folder (MapsWithMe/bookmarks on your phone or tablet) or alternately, email/text it to your device and open the file with maps.me. Total Commander works great for managing and opening files.
Guru Maps can show map types other than OpenStreetMap, in particular it will display OpenCycleMap. KML files can be imported by "opening" the file with Guru. Place the file in a folder or email/text it to your device, press and hold and open with the app. The route will appear in "collections." A user manual is available.
What the ride is like
Following the path of the Rhône presents a highly variable route that is sometimes road, canal path, dedicated bike path, dirt trails and many bridge crossings. Along the way you will pass many historical points of interest going back to Roman times. The route travels through Provence, a trip worthy as its own destination, and visits many medieval sights and fortresses. The Rhône was a major transportation corridor going back to pre-Roman time. From the ViaRhona site, "This 815 km cycle route, still in progress, leads the cyclist from Alpine panoramas to Camargue beaches across emblematic landscapes of the Cotes du Rhône vineyards and those of the southern Provence: hilltop villages, lavender or olive tree fields, gastronomic discoveries. ViaRhôna cycle route spreads more than 2000 years of history and heritage treasures alternating secure greenways and shared paths."
We found that the published route on the ViaRhôna site is generally the best route to follow. With few exceptions, there is no better way to follow the course of the Rhône to the Mediterranean Sea.
Much of the route looks like this, car free bike paths with vineyards on the hillsides. Don't leave without trying some Cotes du Rhône wine.
- Travel Tips
Hotels and apartments are numerous along the way however to find the best locations, book your stays two days in advance.
The French Train System. There is not many more comments I could add about SNCF that have not been said. Just be aware that sometimes the trains are running and sometimes not and can be on strike at any time. Beware the route between Lyon and Geneva. We were not able to board the train because it was too crowded and had great difficulty getting off the train because of overcrowding. This was mid-week in late September.
If you ship your bike. We usually take our bikes with us when traveling overseas and before Covid never had a problem with late luggage. Its not just us because we have bicycles. Many people arrive at their destination without their luggage. The requirement for airlines to transport luggage is not very strong. If a person buys a ticket the airline is required to transport the person but the requirement to transport luggage is loosely defined and therefore your luggage may or may not travel with you. Over the past 3 years our bicycles have only arrived with us about 50 percent of the time. This is not just our experience; we have talked with many other travelers who have had the same problem and not just with bicycles. We traveled with British Airways on this trip and arrived in Geneva without our bikes. We were able to pick them up the next day.
To compensate for delayed bicycles we have been staying near the airport and have allowed extra time for the bicycles to arrive. From our experience we have learned that airlines do a very poor job of tracking the location of baggage. Baggage handling is contracted to the businesses providing baggage handling at the departure and arrival airports. Do not leave the airport without a lost baggage report if your bikes are delayed
If your bikes are delayed, check back often with the airport baggage handling service to see if the bikes have arrived. An in person visit is best, or at least telephone and email the baggage service. Do not rely on WorldTracerWeb, the online baggage tracing system used by many airlines. Our experience is that the system is not up to date. Yes, you may see your claim there, but the system will not tell you if your baggage has arrived at the airport. The same is true for any airline baggage tracing system. The best way to find you bikes is to keep checking for the bikes at the airport. Try to anticipate which flight they might be on.
In Geneva, even after we picked up our bikes at the airport WorldTracerWeb and British Air reported a week later they were still looking for our bikes. Do not wait for the bikes to be delivered to your hotel. They may sit in the airport for several days before being delivered.
It's not often we get to see our bikes being loaded on the plane. At least we know they were transported on this leg of our travels.
- Elevation Change
The Rhône route is level and of course downhill if you follow the river to the Med. If you start in Geneva and ride to the Med it will feel like making the most progress with the least amount of effort. This route is about 800 kilometers and took us about 3 weeks with lots of stops for sight seeing along the way.
- Best Season
Spring and late fall. Summers in Europe are increasingly hot and as climate change has become more severe, southern France is becoming increasingly hot and dry. Even wine production is being impacted (See the NYT article on Provence Wines)
The route is well signed along the way.