Frequent asking questions

Here is a summary of the answers to the most frequently asked questions and for the others we are, of course, at your disposal to answer them.

WHEN SHOULD YOU BOOK YOUR HIKE OR CYCLE TRIP?

It’s true we would always like to know what the weather will be like… Wait before deciding… And yet, the hiking or cycling season is relatively short and the stages on the routes, especially if they are renowned, are not unlimited… By anticipating your reservation you ensure you can leave for the hike or cycling trip of your dreams. To guarantee you a quality preparation of your stay, we ask for a minimum of 20 days (or even a little more on certain routes) between the date of your reservation and that of your departure. This time allows us to organize your stages, to prepare your travel diary, your itinerary and to have time to send it to you (especially for hikes since we send you the guidebook by post). So if you want to go on a traveling trip, don’t wait to plan your departure, the preparation of your stay will be easier.

IF I BOOK, AM I SURE I’LL HAVE A SPACE?

That’s it, you’ve chosen your cycling trip or hiking trip… To book, go to the website and click on the departure day of your choice. Your reservation request is validated, however, this process cannot guarantee the availability of the accommodations for your stay. Why? It’s simple, our agency offers self-guided stays without a predefined date (availability on request), which allows you to leave on the day you want. However, we do not have blocked rooms with our accommodation partners. In fact, as soon as you have validated your trip, we immediately trigger availability requests to allow you to welcome you. Generally, we always find possibilities, sometimes we have to adapt the itinerary and in cases where occupancy is high, we unfortunately cannot confirm your stay (of course, we offer you other dates or refund your deposit). To avoid this type of disappointment, the simplest thing is to book your stay in advance, but we know it’s not always easy!

WHAT IS A SELF-GUIDED TRAVEL?

A self-guided trip is a trip where you’re not accompanied. When L’Autre Chemin offers a self-guided trip, you choose your departure date; you can go solo, with family, or with friends—the choice is yours!

We take care of everything to organize your trip: booking your accommodation, transporting your luggage, your return shuttle if necessary… Then, you receive your travel book and all you have to do is enjoy 😉

How is my luggage transported?

L’Autre Chemin offers luggage transport solutions for these stays

• The luggage transportation is carried out at a rate of 1 bag / person. The carried luggage have to :

• Weighed  13kg maximum (Any excess baggage allowance and weight will incur additional charges)

• Be a single piece and of a reasonable size, maximum 120cm (h + w + L)

• Be visibly labeled with the label provided by the agency
• Be available every morning from 8am in the reception area of ​​the accommodation (delivery to the next accommodation at 5pm)

IMPORTANT: We thank you for using non-fragile, soft and limited value luggage – We accept no responsibility for damage to hard luggage/suitcases.

HOW DO I MANAGE MY PICNICS WHILE TRAVELING?

Our stays are generally offered on a half-board basis unless otherwise indicated in the stay description.

Along your route, you will find grocery stores, but it is best to organize yourself a little and not wait until the last minute to think about your lunch.

• The accommodations you’ll be staying in can usually prepare a packed lunch for you. To make things easier, consider ordering upon arrival (ideally the day before). Tip: Bring a lunch box, cutlery, and a cup to make your picnic easier.

• Additionally, in your travel diary we will show you the villages where you can find supplies or even lunch.

HOW DO I PAY FOR MY TRIP?

You can pay for your reservation with the following payment methods:

• By check made payable to L’Autre Chemin addressed to L’Autre Chemin – 5 rue Grangevieille – 43000 Le Puy-en-Velay
• By bank transfer to the account details provided to you when your contract is sent
• By credit card when booking on our website using the booking module and then via a secure payment link which will be sent to you upon request.

• By holiday vouchers (to be deposited at the agency or sent by registered mail or Connect vouchers) up to 50% of the cost of your stay. Holiday vouchers must be in your name or used by the entire family, i.e., the direct beneficiaries.

• By species according to the limits defined by the French legislation

When booking your stay, a 30% deposit will be required to confirm your reservation.

Bad weather and thunderstorms are serious!

When the weather turns bad, your gear will make all the difference. However, it’s important to keep in mind that severe weather, such as thunderstorms or Cévennes storms, can pose significant dangers for both hikers and cyclists.

Before you set off, it’s important to know the day’s weather forecast. If your route involves steep terrain or river crossings (rain-swollen rivers can become impassable), consider adjusting your route by choosing the shortest and least exposed route. We can advise you.

Once on the road, if you see that the weather conditions are becoming very unfavorable or even too dangerous, do not hesitate to stop in a village to wait for a clearing or contact a taxi to reach your stage.

In the event of severe weather or thunderstorms, it’s better to call a taxi to reach your destination safely than to take unnecessary risks. It’s important to plan ahead: Thunderstorms often occur in the late afternoon, so if the forecast predicts thunderstorms later in the day, leave early! Weather apps provide good hour-by-hour updates, allowing you to make informed decisions.

CAN I CHANGE ELEMENTS OF MY STAY?

Once the booking has been accepted and confirmed, the client may, if they wish, request modifications to their stay (except in the specific cases described below). Such modifications, if possible in agreement with the various service providers involved in the stay, will incur a minimum fee of €50 per modified service. (The €50 fee may be increased, particularly in the event of a service cancellation, depending on the provider’s conditions at the date of the request – the amount will be specified prior to the modification). If the requested modification proves impossible, the initial booking shall remain in effect.

Deadlines: Modifications to one or more elements of the trip are possible up to 15 days before the start date of the stay, in accordance with the conditions specified above. Beyond this deadline, any request or non-performance of scheduled services will not entitle the client to any refund or compensation.

Special cases of contract modification

• A reduction in the number of participants is subject to the cancellation conditions applicable to the person cancelling their trip (see cancellation fee schedule) and may result in additional costs for the remaining participants (see section on partial cancellation).
• La modification de date de départ est soumise à la règle décrite ci-après :
  En raison de sa complexité, la modification de la date de départ entrainera des frais de modification fixés à 10% du montant total du séjour (avec un minimum forfaitaire de 50€)
  La modification de la date de départ pourra être envisagée qu’une seule fois* en réunissant les 3 conditions suivantes (*au-delà, la modification sera considérée comme une annulation et les frais d’annulation s’appliqueraient) :
  • 1. Que la demande de modification soit clairement formulée par mail avec une date de report définie et postérieure à la date initiale de voyage et qu’elle soit fixée dans la saison en cours
  • 2. Qu’elle intervienne plus de 60 jours avant la date de départ initialement prévue
  • 3. Que les prestations nécessaires à la bonne réalisation du séjour soient disponibles pour la nouvelle date choisie (A noter : le maintien des hébergements initialement prévus dans le contrat initial ne peut être garanti pour la nouvelle date de départ et ces éventuelles modifications résultant du changement de la date de départ ne peuvent constituer une modification substantielle du contrat de voyage).

Note: If these conditions are not met, changing the departure date will become impossible and the terms of the initial contract will remain in effect and will be governed by Article 7 of L’Autre Chemin’s general terms and conditions of sale, and more specifically the cancellation fee schedule.

WHAT’S A CREDANCIAL OR A STEP BOOKLET ?

Are you going on the Camino de Santiago?

The pilgrim’s passport must be stamped at each stop. We offer the Friends of the Way of St. James Credential as an option. No need to travel; it’s sent with your travel diary before your departure. However, if you plan to attend the Pilgrims’ Mass at 7 a.m. at Le Puy Cathedral, you can find credential cards on site.

Price: €7 / credit when booking your stay

You plan to hike on the Stevenson trail

There’s no credential on the Stevenson Trail, but we offer an optional milestone booklet to be stamped at each stage of your journey. A nice souvenir to keep from the Stevenson Trail.

Price: €7 / stage book when booking your stay

ACCOMMODATION AND SINGLE ROOM OPTION

Accommodations selected for your trip

We pay great importance to the choice of your stages, but in our selection, we are dependent on the possibilities offered by the stages and the availability of the moment. You will be accommodated in guest rooms, hotels, cottages or unusual accommodation in a private room. In most cases, the bathroom is integrated into the room but it is possible that in certain and rare accommodations the toilets are on the landing or even shared.

The single room option

Our tours wind through most of the small villages with limited accommodation capacity. If you plan to travel alone, you will be accommodated in a single room (a supplement will apply to the stay). This option is intended for people traveling alone. It is very difficult for us to offer comfortable single rooms for 2 or even 3 people.

• For those planning their hike alone, we will offer you a single room at each stage

• For people traveling together but preferring a single room, this option should be used sparingly, especially during busy periods (May, June, September) – We will do our best to find single accommodation solutions, but please bear in mind that some stages may not be able to offer this type of accommodation and, if necessary, you will have to consider a twin room, for example. Of course, we will adjust the price of the single supplement depending on the accommodation.
  
  

WHAT ARE THE CANCELLATION CONDITIONS?

Any cancellation or modification request must be addressed to L’Autre Chemin by email or by post. You will find below the scale of cancellation fees. If you have opted for the Europ Assistance multi-risk travel cancellation insurance offered by L’Autre Chemin, you must inform the insurance company (whose contact details appear on your contract) by registered letter. The latter, depending on the cancellation circumstances listed in these clauses and the documents you provide, the date and circumstances giving rise to your cancellation, will decide whether or not to reimburse the cancellation fees and any excess amounts to be claimed.

Cancellation fee schedule:

• Up to 30 days before departure: 30% of the price of the stay (deposit)
• From 29 to 15 days before departure: 50% of the price of the stay
• From 14 days before departure: 100% of the price of the stay
• Note:
  • Multi-risk cancellation insurance is deemed to have been used upon reservation and cannot be refunded.
  • In all cases, the administration fees will remain with L’Autre Chemin
  • Reimbursement by transfer to a foreign account may result in additional bank charges which will be charged to the customer.

WHAT IF I WANT TO SHORTEN MY STAY?

If you wish to interrupt your trip prematurely, for whatever reason (weather, weariness, etc.), the entire stay remains with the agency.

Note: Optional multi-risk cancellation insurance may, in certain cases, allow for the reimbursement of certain costs (attack at your holiday destination, natural disaster, death of a loved one, home disaster, etc.). Find out more about Multi-risk Insurance – Cancellation

DOES THE AUTRE CHEMIN AGENCY OFFER INSURANCE?

To ensure peace of mind, L’Autre Chemin offers a comprehensive and cancellation insurance solution for all its trips through its partner Chapka. Our insurance partner allows you to plan your trip with greater peace of mind and minimize the financial consequences of canceling or interrupting your trip, provided the reasons fall within the scope of the guarantee.

Everything you need to know about the guarantee offered by Chapka:

• Presentation of DIPA insurance solutions

• General insurance conditions
• Table of guarantees

Important: Cancellation insurance – multi-risk must be taken out at the time of booking, remember to select the option when making your reservation.

CAN I TRAVEL WITH A DOG?

It’s true that it’s nice to go hiking with your dog! But unfortunately, we cannot offer stays with your companion. Indeed, not all accommodations welcome our 4-legged friends and this considerably limits the possibilities of reception, it is also difficult to be able to commit to the hosts on the behavior of the dog without knowing it! In addition, a dog sleeps a good part of the day and repeated effort can be detrimental to its health.

WHICH BIKE SHOULD I TRAVEL WITH?

Our bikes (Discover our available bikes) are modern and offer you the best comfort for your trip. You can of course ride your own bikes, but in this case, we invite you to check certain points:

• If it is an electrically assisted bicycle, the battery must have a minimum power of 400 watts (500 watts for certain routes). Please note: the battery must be removable; if this is not the case, please contact us to check the reception possibilities.
• It is imperative that it is in perfect working order before departure. Remember to have it serviced before leaving and to get all the repair equipment (inner tube, pump, chain tool and quick link, etc.) as well as a lock and a smartphone holder for the guidance application.
• Our routes combine small roads and trails. Your bike must be a hybrid, mountain bike, or gravel bike with suitable tires. Road or city bikes are not suitable for our routes.

• Our trips are more or less athletic. Equipment such as a basket on the handlebars is not recommended. You’ll be traveling on trails, and this type of equipment risks disrupting the bike’s balance and making it difficult to transfer bikes (similarly, front mudguards can hinder bike loading onto trailers, so avoid them for a trip requiring a return shuttle). If in doubt, give us a call!

HOW TO KNOW THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY OF CYCLE TOURS?

It’s perfectly normal to wonder about the difficulty of the route before embarking on a cycling trip in the great outdoors. Rest assured, our trips are designed to allow you to see the scenery and enjoy nature by bike. Cycling remains, in our eyes, a means of discovery. We don’t develop trips aimed at performance cycling. Our cycling trips are therefore open to as many cyclists as possible or to those wanting to discover cycling.

Duration of the cycle route

To calculate the duration of a cycling stage proposed by L’Autre Chemin, count on an average of between 10km and 15km / hour (the average will be much higher on routes with few difficulties and elevation changes: Vendée, Via Rhôna, Green Trilogy, etc.). This also depends on the frequency of your stops, the difficulty of the possible paths, and the elevation change. You can of course ride faster, but with this average, you will never be surprised…

HOW TO KNOW THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY OF CYCLE TOURS?

To help you make your choice based on the difficulty of the routes, we have set up a system for rating the technical difficulty of the routes offered:

• Difficulty 1/5: Course open to most people without technical difficulty
• Difficulty 2 / 5: Route remaining open to the greatest number but with a little difference in altitude and passages on passable paths or without great difficulty
• Difficulty 3 / 5: Intermediate route between country roads and passable paths with occasional slightly stony sections. The gradients are starting to become noticeable.
• Difficulty 4 / 5: Route evolving between country roads, passable paths with potentially stony passages (sand, roots, slight steps, etc.) and non-passable paths requiring knowing how to ride your bike “standing on the pedals”. The gradients may be marked.
  
  
• Difficulty 5/5: Route on all types of surfaces, sometimes at the limit of the possibilities of a mountain bike (paths can be stony). Stages combining length and elevation (Conversation with Stevenson).

And now it’s up to you to choose the trip that suits you best and if you need additional information, we are here to help you choose the cycling trip that will suit you best and that will give you the maximum pleasure of riding 😉

ARE THE BIKES OFFERED BY THE OTHER WAY INSURED?

That’s a good question! When you use a bicycle from L’Autre Chemin’s fleet for trips departing from Le Puy, you benefit from the “Peace of Mind” guarantee, which covers damage to the bicycle made available to you as well as theft (under certain conditions – See all details on our damage & theft insurance, deductible, and general terms & conditions).

Please note: This guarantee does not apply when you travel with your own bike or with a bike offered by one of our partners for stays that do not depart from the agency (Canal du Midi, Corsica, Réunion, Vendée, Conques, Canal du Midi, Antilles, etc.) or for specific stays using a partner rental company such as the Conversation with Stevenson stay, etc.

WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF A TECHNICAL PROBLEM DURING YOUR STAY?

L’Autre Chemin’s bikes are all checked and in perfect working order before departure, however, this precaution does not remove the risk of possible problems. You therefore leave with a light repair kit including the material to change an inner tube. Our hotline: 09 83 64 00 86 is available every day of your trip from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to help you repair a small technical problem or to give you advice.

Technical problems occurring on the bicycles made available by the L’Autre Chemin agency:

• In the event of an incident inherent to the agency’s bicycle without any particular cause linked to the use of the bicycle, a fall, damage such as for example: a motor fault, battery fault, connection fault, brake system fault, etc., L’Autre Chemin will intervene or send a technician free of charge to repair or replace the defective bicycle.

• Dans le cas d’un incident sur les vélos de l’agence lié à l’utilisation, détérioration, chute . 

  1. For minor issues such as a broken chain, puncture, or broken chain, you should be able to repair it yourself. However, we are still available to help you by calling

  2. If the problem is more serious (burst tire, broken wheel, damaged fork, broken derailleur, damaged electronic mode selector, broken brakes, etc.) we will look for repair options on your route or L’Autre Chemin will come to you and this intervention will then be billed at €1/km from the agency (on passable roads – with a minimum flat rate of €50).

  3. In case of a completely discharged battery, no travel is planned.

Technical problems occurring on your personal bike: All our trips can be carried out with a personal bike. However, the bikes used must be serviced before departure (brakes, chains, derailleur, steering, fork) to ensure optimal reliability during the trip. The bikes must be adapted to the routes offered by L’Autre Chemin (400w mini battery, suitable tires, city bikes not authorized). In the event of a breakdown, you must be able to repair it. You obviously have telephone assistance available (hotline: 09 83 64 00 86), we will do everything possible to help you with the process, guide you to a repairer or find a possible logistical solution (taxi, etc.). In the event that L’Autre Chemin is obliged to intervene, the trip will be billed on the same basis as those indicated above.

IS WEARING A HELMET COMPULSORY FOR CYCLING TRIPS?

To ensure your safety, wearing a helmet is strongly recommended for adults and mandatory for children. L’Autre Chemin offers you new generation Specialized helmets combining safety and comfort. Our helmets are cleaned and disinfected after use. If you have your own helmet, please feel free to bring it.

BED BUGS

We have all heard about them… They had disappeared in the 1950s in France, but now they are back, particularly due to the development of international travel and their resistance to insecticides. These small insects that live away from light, in dark spaces, sow terror and yet we can all be affected by this scourge without compromising the hygiene of people and places.

We pay special attention to the accommodations selected for your stay, but bedbugs are parasites that are often carried by travelers and their luggage. To combat these bugs, when you arrive, your hosts may ask you to follow certain recommendations, including leaving your luggage in designated areas and not in your room.

Some good reflexes:

• You can get a repellent spray (some are natural) to spray in and on your bag and shoes.
• Do not place your bags on the bed or under the bed
• Check your room
• If you discover bedbugs, notify your host so that they can take appropriate treatment measures.

WHY DON’T WE RENT BIKES OUTSIDE OF OUR STAYS?

L’Autre Chemin has a fleet of electric and non-electric bicycles that we reserve only for our organized stays for several reasons:

1. Because we offer organized cycling trips and we need our park to take you to discover beautiful things
2. Because we need a safe and well-maintained bike fleet to take you far!
3. To ensure our bikes always remain comfortable and enjoyable to offer you the best cycling travel experience.
4. Because we are a specialized travel agency

WHY NOT SHARE OR PUBLISH OUR TRACKS ON INTERNET PLATFORMS?

L’Autre Chemin is a travel agency and therefore the sole owner of the intellectual property rights or holds the usage rights for all documents, photos, routes and GPX tracks that may be entrusted to users. These elements require research and design work and are for single use only. You will understand that they cannot be transferred, reproduced, sold or distributed by any means to a third party.