Souillac-Rocamadour-Castelnau-Souillac 103 km

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Photo ofSouillac-Rocamadour-Castelnau-Souillac 103 km

Author

Tjaart Molenkamp

30,063 738 12838

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Trail stats

Distance: 64.11 mi
Elevation gain: 4,193 ft
Technical difficulty: Moderate
Elevation loss: 4,193 ft
Max elevation: 1,368 ft
TrailRank: 39
Min elevation: 325 ft
Trail type: Loop

Time: 6 hours 51 minutes
Coordinates: 1981
Uploaded: August 11, 2013
Recorded: July 2013

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near Souillac, Midi-Pyrénées (France)

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Itinerary description

Trip for the racing bike from Souillac to Rocamadour, and then on to the castle of Castelnau and then back to Souillac through the Dordogne valley. The trip starts in Souillac near the exit of the A20 motorway. It then follows the Dordogne until Lacave, and then climbs to Calès and approaches Rocamadour from the Couzou side. Here you have beautiful views of the Unesco World Heritage Site and pilgrimage village of Rocamadour (see waypoint). You descend to the Alzou river and then climb through the village to l'Hospitalet. Do not forget to look back to Rocamadour for great views of the village clinging to the rocks. From l'Hospitalet you slowly ascend to the highest point of the route near Padirac, and then steeply descend through the beautiful valley of the cirque d'Autoire (see waypoint). You then continue to the beautiful castle of Castelnau de Bretenoux (see waypoint). From there, it is largely flat along the Dordogne river via Carennac, Floirac, the Cirque de Montvalent, Creysse to St. Sozy. Here you have to do a last small climb to get back to Souillac.
Beautiful trip with castles, quiet countryside, a world heritage site, the Dordogne river with numerous bridges and picturesque villages, steep, canyon-like rocks at the edge of the Autoire and Dordogne valleys, and much more. Route Souillac-Pinsac-Calès-Couzou-Rocamadour-l'Hospitalet-Alvignac-Padirac-Autoire-Château de Castelnau de Bretenoux-Prudhomat-Gintrac-Carennac-Mezels-Floirac-Creysse-Saint Sozy-Souillac.

Waypoints

Photo ofChâteau de Castelnau de Bretenoux

Château de Castelnau de Bretenoux

Beautiful castle. The route leaves the D43 to get to the entrance road of the castle, but you can also just follow the D43.

Cirque d'Autoire

When you descend this valley you almost directly see a sign to a viewpoint and a waterfall (not suited for racing bike shoes). You can see a large part of the view from the road: the valley looks a bit like a canyon with large rock formations. The village of Autoire is cute with an old castle and a backdrop of steep rock formations.

Rocamadour

Rocamadour is a world heritage site, and a pilgrimage site. When you approach from Couzou you have the best view of the village across the Alzou river valley. You descend to the river via the D32, and then turn sharply left to follow the Alzou beneath the village until you sharply turn right and up into the village from the west side. As you approach against (little) traffic and there are a lot of tourists, this route may not be the best if it is busy. However, I was quite early (8:20) and then it is a nice route along bars, restaurants and tourist shops right through the center of the village. If it is busy, take the D32 all the way to l'Hospitalet, the village on the top of the climb from Rocamadour.

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