Bike racing's biggest event. A rite of passage. Bucket list stuff. Every cycling fan should go see the Tour de France in person at least once. Is this your year?
This story is all about how to be a tourist at the 2025 Tour de France. I’m your concierge. My name is Caley Fretz and I've covered 14 Tours as a journalist, visited something like 200 French towns and cities, and lived for two years on the edge of the Alps. I have a deep love and also a healthy disdain for France and the French.
Just as I did last year, I'll break down when to go, how to get around, how to plan a day, what to bring, and generally how to make sure you have a good time. It's the Tour, and hotels around stage starts and finishes tend to book up very early so it's best to start planning and making reservations now if you want to go.
Most of these tips and tricks apply to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, except getting around will be a bit easier because of the slightly smaller crowds. Abby Mickey has a sister post to this one, but my early suggestion would be to pick the Grand Depart in Brest or the Alps and skip the bit in between.
Let's get to it.
When to go: Pick your week
If you're particularly into oysters, stripey shirts, and being damp, or if you're residing somewhere in the UK, then the first week may appeal to you. For most, though, it's the last two weeks that offer the most. I will include some Lille/Grand Depart tips below as well, as many in the comments have requested it.
Nothing against Lille – it does have French fries, beer, and knows how to party, as one local official reminded everyone at the Tour's route presentation – but for those not directly across the channel, the decision is between the Alps and the Pyrenees. The major climbs of this year's Tour are packed into 10 stages, nine of which come after the first rest day.
These two vastly different mountain ranges offer up starkly different Tour viewing experiences. The Pyrenees are more raw, rural, spectacular, and – this year – further out from the actual finish of the race. The Alps are more clean-cut, developed, and will be home to the final showdown between the GC favorites.
In between the two lies a summit finish on the moonscape of Mont Ventoux. This simply cannot be missed, so whether you pick the Pyrenees or the Alps, the itineraries below include this stage.
My two cents? I'd go Pyrenees this year. The race will still be tight after 10 days of flats and hills, Pogačar and Vingegaard will be itching to test each other, and the riding (if you're bringing a bike) is better. There are dozens of great ways to put a Tour trip together; consider the options below as a starting place.
Grand Depart Option:
Dates: Arrive Thursday, July 3
Into: Brussels, or train to Lille
Out of: Brussels or train to Lille
A Grand Depart is a festival, and Lille is quite a nice little city. The team presentation, which happens Friday night, is always an odd if excellent show, and generally includes a sort of parade of riders through the city.
The real reason to do this trip, though, is the start's proximity to some of the Spring Classics' holy spots. From Lille, you're a quick ride to the Arenberg Forest and Carrefour de l'Arbe, and only a slightly longer ride to the Koppenberg, Kwaremont, and Paterberg.
My suggestion would be to stay on the Belgian side of the border, perhaps in Oudenaarde, for a few days before the Grand Depart and get some rides in on the cobbles. Then transfer to Lille on Friday for the team presentation and the opening weekend of racing. Saturday's opening stage starts and finishes in Lille itself, and the next two stages all start or finish within a short-ish drive of the city. Stick around until Monday the 7th and then head on home.
Itinerary 1: Pyrenees to Ventoux
Dates: Arrive Tuesday, July 15, depart July 23
Fly into: Toulouse
Fly out of: Marseille, Montpellier, or Toulouse
There are three important stages in this Pyrenean option: the Hautacam, the Peyragudes time trial, and Ventoux. From a bike race perspective, these are the marquee moments of the week, but we're actually only recommending you visit two in person.
You have two options in terms of lodging. The first is to place yourself somewhere relatively central, like Pau or Tarbes – or a mountain town like Arreau or Loudenvielle – and drive to each stage. The second is to move each day with the race. If you're riding, I would place yourself in a single mountain town the whole time and do rides from there.
Arrive: Tuesday, July 15
Rest day! Get in, find your accommodation, and get the lay of the land. Toulouse is a big city and there's plenty to explore. If you're lucky, you'll come across a team stopped at a café on their rest day ride – these usually begin around 11 AM and go for a few hours. Team hotels will be spread across the city, mostly on the outskirts.
Wednesday, July 16
This stage starts and finishes in Toulouse, making logistics easy. Grab a hotel in town. Timetables haven't been released but most stages these days start around noon or 1 PM with the intention of finishing a bit after 5 PM. Do not try to drive (this is a good general rule anywhere near a Tour start or finish). Public transport is your friend, or better yet hop on a bike.
The best time to see riders and get autographs is at the start, when they're slightly less haggard and more likely to stop for a chat or a photo. There is always a team bus paddock somewhere in the vicinity of the start denoted with big yellow Equipe signs (on all Tour organization signs yellow is the color of teams; blue/green is press; gold is VIPs). Sometimes that paddock is fenced off with access restricted to those with Tour credentials, sometimes it's not and is open to all. Nobody ever knows why.
Riders have to sign on each morning, quite literally. They ride from their busses at an allotted time and hobble up onto the stage in their cleats to physically sign a big board with a Sharpie while announcers do short interviews in a mix of French and English, often against a backdrop of thumping techno. Organizers create a passageway of fencing from the team busses to the sign-on area each morning, and getting yourself onto that fence is a great way to see every rider cruise past.
This stage is a lumpy one, with a pile of Cat 4 climbs. If you have a bike, pedalling out to view one of these climbs is a great bet.
Thursday, July 17
Into the Pyrenees! You'll hop in the car today and drive south, but you'll skip the actual stage. Today is about setting yourself up for the following two days.
Check into accommodation in one of the small towns near Loudenvielle, which will host the time trial on Friday. Arreau is a great option, or Loudenvielle itself. The idea is to be centrally located for the TT and the following stage, from Pau to Luchon-Superbagnères.
Go for a ride, but plan to be home by 3 PM or so so you can flip on the TV and watch the end of the day's stage to Hautacam. It'll be brutal.
Friday, July 18
Time trial day! This stage is one of the primary arguments for hitting the Pyrenees instead of the Alps. Time trials may be terrible TV but they are great for in-person spectating.
Why? Because a normal Tour de France roadside viewing experience for a mass-start stage lasts anywhere from 15 seconds (flat stage) to perhaps 20 minutes, between the front group and the grupetto on a mountain stage. Time trial stages go on for hours. You'll have a new rider to cheer for every two minutes for most of the afternoon.
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