From Nantes into Muscadet vineyards Nantes by bike

The route

Starting point: Nantes Tourisme, opposite the Château de Nantes. Making use of the unbroken cycle tracks created across Nantes’s wider area, Nantes Métropole, the route leads you along the north-south metropolitan axis and the Sèvre-side towpath. This makes a perfect family cycling outing. Between Vertou and Clisson, the track becomes more demanding, taking you along small roads and tracks through vineyards. You ride beside the Sèvre River between Le Pé de Sèvre and Le Pallet before crossing it twice, at Gorges and Clisson. 

Connection

The route finishes at Cugand in the French county of Vendée, at the intersection with the circuit De La Bruffière à La Bernardière (taking you around Cugand), part of Vendée vélo.

Alternative for tandems and bikes with trailers

direction Nantes > Vertou, between Pirmil and La Morinière Bridge, stick to the south bank of the Sèvre River.
Link towards Vertou station.

Tourist Office

• Nantes Tourisme: 0892 464 044

SNCF train services

• Train stations at Nantes, Vertou and Clisson: regional TER Clisson-Nantes services accept bikes on board, perfect for returning easily to Nantes.

Markets

• Beside the Sèvre: mini-market on Beautour causeway, Thursdays 8am to 1pm
• Vertou: Place du Marché, Saturdays and Sundays, 8am to 1pm
• Clisson: Quartier Notre-Dame, Tuesday and Friday mornings; Quartier de la Trinité, Tuesday, 4,30pm to 7pm 

Top Tips 

Make the most of a culinary pause at Homard à la Frémoire from May to September, enjoying discovering Muscadet wines beside the Sèvre River. To appreciate Clisson to the full, stay overnight: 
- La Cascade
- Villa Saint-Antoine

Don't miss

• Nantes: Vaches Nantaises (a special race of cows) at Les Roches Vertes (beside the Sèvre)
• Vertou: La Chaussée des Moines river port
• Clisson: the beautiful Italianate house-cum-museum and gardens of la Garenne Lemot