Albi - Gorges du Tarn - Albi cycling tour Tarn valley.

Roquefort cheese caves in this mountain

Cycling Adventure to St. Affrique and Millau

On your way to St. Affrique and Millau, you’ll bike past 2 railway bridges and through 4 railway tunnels. If you prefer to avoid tunnels, you can bypass the longer ones (over 800 meters).

With its famous architecture, alike the architecture of Toulouse, which is only 75 kmaway, its cathedral, of the times of the Cathar and its Museum Toulouse Lautrec, Albi - a beautiful, Southern Italian alike town along the Tarn river - is a perfect start and end for a moderate cycling holiday and also a perfect family trip.

Albi Market

Albi: Your Perfect Start and Finish

Your journey begins in Albi, a charming town along the Tarn River that evokes the warmth of Southern Italy. With its famous red-brick architecture, reminiscent of nearby Toulouse (just 75 km away), Albi is home to a stunning Cathar-era cathedral and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. This UNESCO World Heritage site is the ideal starting and ending point for a moderate cycling holiday.

You’ll cycle an average of 60 to 88 km per day through the scenic Tarn Valley and the dramatic Gorges du Tarn. Along the way, you’ll have plenty of opportunities for adventure, including canoe trips at various spots. In Albi, you’ll stay in a 4-star hotel (dinner not included, so you’re free to explore the local cuisine at your leisure).

A Medieval Masterpiece

Albi’s old city is a treasure of medieval architecture. The Old Bridge (Pont-Vieux) and the Saint-Salvi quarter, with its historic church, reflect the town’s early development in the 10th and 11th centuries. After the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in the 13th century, Albi flourished as a powerful episcopal city. The fortified cathedral, built in a unique southern French Gothic style from local red and orange brick, dominates the skyline, symbolizing the renewed power of the Roman Catholic Church. Adjacent to the cathedral, the Palais de la Berbie—the bishop’s grand palace—overlooks the river, surrounded by medieval residential quarters. Together, these monuments form a remarkably preserved ensemble, offering a journey through time.

On your way from Millau, you will pass under the Viaduc de Millau and also see this beautiful architectural creation from above on your way  back.

You will be cycling daily 50 km average through the friendly Valley of the Tarn.
Near Broquiès you can make a canoe trip.

You can also book a superior*** version of this tour. Click here for all details.

Exploring the Tarn Basin

Your route will take you through three distinct areas of the Tarn Basin:

• The lush Tarn Valley
• The Pays de Roquefort, famous for its cheese
• The breathtaking Gorges and Causses, a rugged landscape of limestone canyons in the Southern Aveyron region

As you travel from Millau, you’ll pass under the Viaduc de Millau, one of the world’s most stunning architectural marvels, and admire it from above on your way back.

Click here for a virtual visit of Aveyron .

Pictures of Canyons, Gorges and Causses

Pictures of Pays de Roquefort.

Pictures of Tarn Valley.

The scenery in the Gorges is rather spectacular.

Corniche du Causse Méjean, Gorges de la Jonte

Planning a tour with us