The Old Ardeche Steam Train - Independent Cycling

Your journey begins with a ride on an old steam train which chugs up a wild valley alongside the river Doux. Then, after going from one valley to the next, you follow the turbulent River Eyrieux, another of the torrential water courses of the Ardèche. The route follows the former railway. It ceased to operate in 1968, when most of the rails were lifted, leaving simple tracks in their place. However, numerous traces of the engineers’ work remain in evidence, and the countryside you go through is simply superb. It’s a really different way to see the mountains of the Ardèche, the Boutières, and those typical Ardèche valley villages, whilst giving new purpose to this extraordinary piece of human history left abandoned in the age of computers