Tour du Lot: The Department of the Lot sits at the northern end of the Midi-Pyrénées region of France. The Tour du Lot is a circuit of over 500 km around the Department's periphery using a mixture of GR routes

GR footpath

The Grande Randonnée , Grote Routepaden or Lange-afstand-wandelpaden , Grande Rota or Gran Recorrido is a network of long-distance footpaths in Europe, mostly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. In France alone, the trails cover approximately 60,000 km...

, footpaths, bridleways, and quiet country roads, which can be completed on foot, by off-road bike or on horseback. The official route was devised by the Comité Départmental de la Randonée Pédestre (CODERANDO 46), the Association Départmentale de Tourisme Equestre (ATE), and the Comité Départmental de Cyclotourisme VTT (CODEP 46 FFCT), supported financially and technically by the Counseil Général du Lot, the Départmentale de la Jeunesse et des Sports, and the Comité Départmental du Tourisme.

For walkers embarking on the Tour du Lot the circuit is broken down into 14 stages, starting and ending at Laval de Cère in the north east of the Department. With two exceptions, each stage is walked over two days, covering on average 19 km a day, with the possibility of an overnight stop at a chambre d'hote, hotel or campsite, depending on the walker's preference or availability of accommodation. The other two stages are one-day walks. The route is poorly signed but the official Tour du Lot symbol is shown below.
The 14 stages are as follows:

Stage	From	To	Distance km
Stage 01	Laval de Cère	Sousceyrac	44.1
Stage 02	Sousceyrac	Latronquière	45.1
Stage 03	Latronquière	Bagnac sur Célé	36.0
Stage 04	Bagnac sur Célé	Faycelles	36.2
Stage 05	Faycelles	Limogne en Quercy	39.9
Stage 06	Limogne en Quercy	St Paul de Loubressac	44.3
Stage 07	St Paul de Loubressac	Montcuq Montcuq Montcuq is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France.Lying 25 km outside of Cahors, its residents are known as Montcuqois.The town remains vibrant and a popular tourist destination...	35.0
Stage 08	Montcuq	Puy l’Evêque Puy-l'Évêque Puy-l'Évêque is a commune of France situated in the Lot department, within the Midi-Pyrénées region.-Geography:Picturesquely situated at the neck of a long loop of the Lot in Quercy on the RN 111 between Fumel and Cahors, Puy-l'Évêque lies in the wine growing district known by the appellation...	24.7
Stage 09	Puy l’Evêque	Frayssinet le Gélat Frayssinet-le-Gélat Frayssinet-le-Gélat is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France.-History:In Frayssinet-le-Gélat, members of the French underground shot and killed a German officer. For this crime, fifteen hostages were taken and assassinated. Most of the hostages were young males from one-child...	39.7
Stage 10	Frayssinet le Gélat	Gourdon Gourdon, Lot Gourdon is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France.The small town, Gourdon, close to Rocamadour, is situated in the south west region of France. Gourdon has a rich prehistoric past, and a high concentration of prehistoric sites...	36.9
Stage 11	Gourdon	Rocamadour Rocamadour Rocamadour is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. It lies in the former province of Quercy.Rocamadour has attracted visitors for its setting in a gorge above a tributary of the River Dordogne, and especially for its historical monuments and its sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin...	30.0
Stage 12	Rocamadour	Martel Martel, Lot Martel is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France.The town has a distinctive sky-line with medieval towers. There is a museum containing items from Puy d'Issolud, a local Gallic archaeological site which has been identified as Uxellodunum, besieged by Julius Caesar in 51 BC.Henry...	34.9
Stage 13	Martel	Tauriac	33.0
Stage 14	Tauriac	Laval de Cère	27.4
TOTAL			507.2

External links and References

• Tour du Lot Equestre, Pedestre & VTT, (1992), FranceQuercy Cahors
• Photographs and gps traces for the Tour du Lot
• CazalRando walking club in French and English
• Department du Lot Office web site
• Rocamadour Tourist Office web site