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Indre / Couëron Nantes by bike
16,27 Km
1 h 04 min
16,27 km cycling route from to
Leading you along an unspoilt, bucolic stretch of the Loire, this cycling circuit exploits the bacs, or little ferries, over the Indre and Couëron, and offers you a combination of wide open spaces and land art. Along this quirky circuit, you’ll be filled with wonder as you spot Couëron’s Tour à Plomb, the Maison dans La Loire and the Château du Pé with its history-packed rooms! At Le Pellerin, leaving the ferry, seasoned cyclists might like to add an extra loop to the Canal de la Martinière to go and admire Erwin Wurm’s very amusing and ironic ‘‘soft yacht’’, guaranteed to raise a smile!
Elevation of the stage
21 m 21 m
Waytypes of the stage
Cycle path: 4,84 km By road: 11,16 km
Surface of the stage
Smooth: 15,97 km Unknown: 0,03 km
The route
Starting point: either the bac d’Indre or leave Nantes on La Grande Boucle. You follow La Loire à Vélo cycle route along the north bank and the combined La Loire à Vélo and La Vélodyssée cycle routes along the south bank. The description follows an anti-clockwise direction. The route goes via: Indre > Couëron (bac / little ferry) > Le Pellerin > St-Jean-de-Boiseau > La Montagne > Indret (bac / little ferry).
La Grande Boucle (The Big Circuit): Nantes > Couëron > cross the Loire by bac / little ferry to reach the south bank > Le Pellerin > La Montagne > Nantes.
There are no particular difficulties on this route, except for the track to go down to St-Jean de Boiseau to reach the Indret bac / little ferry.
Tourist office
- Nantes Tourisme : 0892 464 044
SNCF train services
- Train stations at Nantes and Couëron: regional TER Nantes <> Le Croisic and Interloire services accept bikes on board.
Don't miss
- Indre: the Sunday morning organic market; Serpentine Rouge by Jimmie Durham (an Estuaire trail contemporary art installation)
- Couëron: Tour à Plomb (an impressive 19th-century industrial chimney); La Maison dans la Loire by Jean-Luc Courcoult (an Estuaire contemporary art installation)
- Le Pellerin: Canal de la Martinière; Misconceivable by Erwin Wurm (nicknamed ‘‘le bateau mou’’, or ‘‘soft yacht’’, an Estuaire contemporary art installation)
- Saint-Jean de Boiseau: Le Château du Pé and the contemporary art installation Did I miss something ? by Jeppe Hein (a work for Estuaire)
Travellers’ reviews