Sancoins / Le Veurdre

The Via Allier cycle route now enters the département, or French county, of Allier. This stage recalls the centuries when trading thrived along the river of the same name. Given the difficulties of navigating along the wild Allier, a distinct mariners’ culture evolved in many of the towns the river crossed in the Auvergne Region. Le Veurdre offers fine testimony of this history, as revealed at its Musée de la Batellerie and brought back to life thanks to events proposed by the association La Chavannée. For this first stage through the Auvergne, you ride along quiet country roads leading you through the typical bocage bourbonnais, with its hedge-divided patchwork of fields.

The Via Allier cycle route from Sancoins to Le Veurdre

The Via Allier cycle route leaves Sancoins via Rue Jacques Rétif, in the direction of Château-sur-Allier and Le Veurdre. You enter the county of Allier by crossing the Arcueil River. Riding along small parish roads, cyclists pass beside the Parc de Saint-Augustin (the grounds of a château). To reach the town of Château-sur-Allier, you need to use the busier RD13 road. Next, the cycle route continues in the direction of Moulins via the RD978 road, leading you to Le Veurdre in just a few minutes. 

Links

Leaving Château-sur-Allier, at the place named La Rivière, on the left, a trail allows you to embark on a separate adventure towards the Bieudre River and its confluence with the Allier River. So, this section of the Via Allier route connects you with a local cycling tourism circuit called the Balade aux Marches du Bocage.

Dont's miss

• Château sur Allier : the Château de Saint-Augustin, built between the 15th and 18th centuries in multi-coloured bricks, makes an unmissable stop to discover about traditional architecture in the old province of the Bourbonnais. 
• Le Veurdre : the Maison de la Batellerie presents a significant collection of mariners’ images and objects in its three exhibition rooms. Every year, the association La Chavannée, which keeps up Bourbonnais popular traditions, organizes the Fête de la Rivière, based around mariners’ music and songs and demonstrations of boating on traditional vessels called fûtreaux and toues.

Railway stations

Stations located on the other bank of the Allier : Line TER Moulins <> Nevers

• Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier
• Chantenay-Saint-Imbert
• Villeneuve-sur-Allier
• Moulins sur Allier