Verdun-sur-le-Doubs / Chalon-sur-Saône
Verdun-sur-le-Doubs is where the Saône’s waters are joined by those of the Doubs. As the Saône widens, La Voie Bleue’s track takes you through picturesque riverside stretches. You turn towards Chalon-sur-Saône, a cultured town marked not just by the Saône but also by the Canal du Centre. The Musée Nicéphore Niépce is a must, dedicated to the Frenchman haled as the inventor of photography.
Gradients and elevation
Road types
Surface
The route
From the centre of Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, the signposted route takes you across the Saône to follow the towpath down the river’s west bank as far as Sassenay. To reach the centre of Chalon-sur-Saône, the track leads you away from the river, via Crissey. Crossing town, you reach Saint-Marcel, starting point of a section of greenway that also forms part of the Voie Bressane cycle route, up to Ouroux-sur-Saône. Chalon can also serve as a starting point for futher greenways, for example EuroVelo 6, if you head north along the Canal du Centre, or the Voie Verte Givry – Cluny, if you head south.
SNCF (French national railways network)
TER line Dijon <> Chalon-sur-Saône <> Lyon
Don't miss
- Verdun-sur-le-Doubs: the shady square by the port, old Verdun, the Quai du Petit-Doubs. The Ile du Château, which can be reached via a footbridge on the right bank of the Doubs.
To visit: the St-Jean church and the chapel of the Thirteen built by 13 families of the city who escaped the Great Plague of 1348. The House of Wheat and Bread, a museum which presents the origin of wheat cultivation in the world, the history of the milling and mills, all the baking trades... - Chalon-sur-Saône: a pleasant pedestrian centre, walking circuit "le chemin de l'Orbandale", the old town with its beautiful medieval residences and its Saint-Vincent cathedral, the Saint Lawrence Island with its street famous for its restaurants that reveal the excellence of Burgundian cuisine.
To visit: the Nicéphore-Niépce museum, one of the most beautiful museums in France dedicated to photography. The Viant-Denon museum for lovers of Roman archaeology.
