Chemin de Fer de Charente-Limousine

Chemin de Fer de Charente-Limousine

Chemin de Fer de Charente-Limousine
4.5
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Duration: 2-3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles106 reviews
Excellent
65
Very good
32
Average
5
Poor
1
Terrible
3

Latha H
Manchester, UK2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Family
This is our second velorail trip in Charente. The first one was a decade ago in Chauvigny. We booked a wagon on line that would take 5 people (2 to pedal and 3 seats) for 35 euros for three adults and a golden retriever dog. We paid on arrival and it was all organised well. Within a minute of starting the journey the dog was so alarmed by the normal rattling sound of the wagon, one of us had to get off the washing with the dog and the two of us pedalled the 9 kms up to Manot, it took us 50 mts. It was mostly uphill, hard work but great fun. It was warm with a gentle breeze, noisy etc but all of this made it more exciting. We had a rest of 45 mts in Manot that had toilettes and a shop selling welcome cold drinks and ice cream. On the downward journey it was mostly downhill and faster. We will do it again but not bring the anxious dog and would recommend this trip for a fun, half day. Thank you to the very friendly and helpful staff.
Written August 8, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rachel Martin
Woking, UK8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022 • Family
We had such a fun afternoon on the vélo rail from Confolens to Manot! We were staying at my mum's house which is relatively local and booked on the day for an afternoon session. The booking process was simple and we paid €35 for one vélo for the return trip to Manot.

On arrival we paid for our tickets and had a safety briefing (in English which was helpful, although my limited French may have coped as it's very simple!) The vélos are easy to operate and have 2 cycles and 3 passenger seats. My husband and I were with our 5 year old son, so we had a relatively light load!

The journey is approximately 9km each way which with the stop at Manot for refreshments, toilets and turning the vélos round takes about 2.5 hours in total. The cycling was quite easy, you don't need to be super fit to do it (I'm not!) The outward journey is on a slow incline therefore the return is quicker. Lots of lovely scenery on the way.

It's a great way to spend a few hours and we really enjoyed it. Would definitely recommend!
Written May 27, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MummyRobinson
Canterbury28 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2013 • Family
Our family loved this Velo-Rail! You pedal on a five seater 'train' along the old railway line. Very pretty and good fun. My little ones found it a highlight of the holiday. Glad we booked ahead and that someone had suggested doing the Confolens to Manot section, as this means you are downhill on the way home. Which they had one of these in the UK
Written August 27, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

pamandpeter
Dorchester, UK2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2018 • Friends
What a relaxing day. Not to start with as the four of us were waiting at the old train station in Chasseneuill - with another French man and his family. When no train arrived he established by phone we should be at the Tourist Station! (Our fault) We were convinced by then we had missed the 11.00am train. No way, the volunteers were unconcernedly waiting for us as we had previously booked and we left at 11.30am. Amazing patience.We then sat back and relaxed as the train trundled through Charente countryside. There still seemed to be time to enjoy a cup of coffee at St-Claud before going on to Confolens. By then it was lunch time so we relaxed even more with a menu de jour at the nearby Cafe de Gare and enjoyed an excellent meal: generous buffet, tasty steak, amazing choice of home made puddings, coffee and a carafe of wine. After a short walk around and a look at the station museum it was time to board the train home. We have nothing but praise for the friendliness and patience of the volunteers that run this railway. Thank you for an really enjoyable day and apologies for being late. We feel sorry for the person that said it was boring. What did he expect - 'the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon'?
Written September 20, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Heverzwijn
Muizen, Belgium9 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
As we needed to drive for about 50k, we booked our trip a day in advance via email and got a confirmation of our booking. Once arrived we were told everything was sold out and that there was nothing they could do. This was a huge dissappointment. Never again!
Written August 7, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bonjour, Comme vous le savez, tout au long de l'année, notre équipe de bénévole fait un maximum pour satisfaire nos voyageurs. Malgré tout, nous ne sommes pas à l'abris d'une erreur et nous vous présentons nos excuses pour celle-ci. Si vous nous rappelez les références de votre réservation, nous vous accueillerons quand vous le souhaitez et gratuitement. Vous pouvez me contacter directement. Cordialement, Mathieu, pour le CFCL.
Written August 9, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Nick B
Coventry, UK118 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2014 • Couples
We were staying a few miles from Confolens, but visited the town each day and just happened to see the Velorail on a tourist leaflet.
Booking is easy - by phone: just call the number or in person: visit the station near the primary school just off the Poitiers road out of town.
You get a list of dos and don'ts. One of which explains how to overtake on a single track railway. (Easy!) and in typical French way, says that everyone is there to have fun, so make it so! Why can't Brits be more like that??
The little square bogeys are pedal-powered from two of the seats, while three further seats can carry passengers. The gearing is quite low, so the top speed is a nice safe 10 to 15 mph. Pedalling is easy and of course, being a railway, there are no steep hills to climb. The Route from Confolens to Manot is about 9km and there are toilets, coffee and icecreams at the Manot end. The nice young lady who seems to run the entire system meets you at Manot and once all the Confolens departures have arrived, you can continue (if booked) another 9km or so. We just booked the 9km route (+9km back of course) which was a really fantastic way to spend 3 hours or so in the morning or afternoon.
Ah yes - you're still wondering about overtaking... We met a party of party-goers (celebrating a birthday) who had parked up by the edge of a wood - parking involves wedging a log behind a wheel or two. We parked and then absconded with the front bogey in their train. Like I said - easy!
There are some 40 ish velorails around France, and witha tag of only 28 euros (this was for the 18km Confolens round trip), these will be top of our must-do activities every time we visit, from now on. :)
Hope you have a fun time too!
Written May 30, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

hannahbrockstar
Basingstoke, UK20 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2016 • Couples
Lots of fun, nice easy cycle and lovely scenery. Be careful of lizards in the line, they do not move!
Written September 15, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

lesley s
Aulnay, France45 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2016 • Family
We booked two "carts" on the velorail and the staff were very nice and friendly - the young man spoke good English which we didn't expect. Everything was explained including the road crossings and we got to Manot in about 50 minutes. A nice covered picnic area with a small selection of icecreams and drinks and after twenty minutes we set off back to Confolens. The return trip is much quicker as most of it is slightly downhill.A good half day outing.
Written September 2, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

AdrianWilson
Crawley, England, United Kingdom24 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2015 • Family
What a great way to see the beautiful countryside around Confolens using pedal-power. Its was good fun and well organised (telephone booking required). We did an 18km trek (9km there and 9km return) and took lunch with us. Was good fun and helped us burn off the holiday calories. Wish they did this in the UK.
Written September 14, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sledge
Stourbridge, UK12 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2015 • Couples
The velorail in Confolens is a great way to spend a few hours in this beautiful region. The staff on site are very friendly and able to speak English. After a short safety briefing you are off along an old railway line on a five seat carriage. This carriage has 2 seats for peddling and 3 seats for relaxing, so would be perfect for a family or a few couples. The outward journey is enjoyable and slightly uphill a good portion of the way, however this is easily accomplished on the bikes. In my opinion the journey may be slightly too long for families with children as they may get bored towards the end. At Manot there are some seats in the shade, a small shop with beer, soft drinks and snacks along with a very basic toilet; it would be worth taking a picnic to make the most of your stop. The return journey is the same route back however this is completed much quicker as you are now going down hill and a lot less effort is required. All in all it was a good few hours and we'll worth the €28 for the carriage.
Written June 24, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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