Leaving the Vosges thermal spa resort of Bains-les-Bains, continue on your picturesque adventure, riding along the Canal des Vosges and the Coney Valley. This stage of La Voie Bleue crosses the Vosges Forest, characterized by spruce, beech and maple. Once in the département (or French county) of Haute-Saône, cycling along the verdant ribbon of the canal, you come across the unusual manual swing bridge at Selles that makes it easy to let boats through.
Gradients and elevation
Slope breakdown
Road types
- Cycle path
- Routes reserved for cyclists and pedestrians (greenways, cycle tracks, towpaths), separated from cars for maximum safety.
- Shared road
- Quiet minor roads with little traffic (unless otherwise stated in the stage details). Shared with cars (stay alert).
- Not specified
- Data unavailable or being assessed. Please refer to the detailed stage description.
- Provisional
- Section on a road or cycle path awaiting better-quality facilities (see stage details).
Surface
- Smooth
- Asphalt, tarmac or smooth concrete. Optimal comfort.
- Rough
- Fine gravel, compacted stabilised surface or worn tarmac. Less comfortable, vibrations possible.
- Natural
- Dirt, grass, roots or stones. Under 5%: short sections with little impact. Higher percentage: route suited to mountain or gravel bikes only.
- Not specified
- Data unavailable or being assessed. Please refer to the detailed stage description.
The route
The way is well laid out and easy, following the towpath along the Canal des Vosges.
Link Bains-les-Bains - La Voie Bleue
You can reach La Voie Bleue from Bains-les-Bains via the D164 road, or via the D434 (and Le Grurupt Lock).
Link to La Rochère
Downstream from Selles, the greenway called the ‘Voie Verte des Tuileries’ allows you to reach Passavant-la-Rochère, where you can visit the crystal glass works at La Rochère and meet glassblowers who beat, blow and shape glass.
Link to the EuroVelo 6 cycle route
At the level of Selles, this link takes you on a road shared with motorized traffic between La Voie Bleue and the EV6 cycle route, joining the latter at Belfort. Going this way allows you to explore the thermal spa resort of Luxeuil-les-Bains and the Plateau des 1000 Etangs (with its very many lakes!).
SNCF (French national railways network)
TER line Epinal <> Bains-les-Bains <> Belfort
Don't miss
- La Forge de Thunimont: former spinning mill City of Fontenoy le Château: Marina, cobbled streets, castle, Lombard tower.
- Selles: Manual swing bridge
- Passavant-la-Rochère: La Rochère glassworks with its glassblowers - the oldest glassworks still in operation since 1475.
- Jonvelle: Gallo-Roman site.
- Corre: ancient floating centre located in the upstream basin of the Saône. Marina and small private port with restaurant.
