Champlemy / La Charité-sur-Loire

The last Burgundian hills disappear into the distance behind you on this, the last stage before arriving at La Charité-sur-Loire, a major stopover on the cycle route, a place of great significance to pilgrims down the centuries. To head by bike to this medieval town, now designated a Ville d’Art et d’Histoire in recognition of its rich heritage, you once again follow county roads through forests. After crossing the Nièvre, a tributary of the Loire, the cycle route leads you through the heart of Bertranges Forest – this green lung in the county of Nièvre covers some 10,000 hectares. Reaching La Charité-sur-Loire, feel the place’s medieval spirit, as well as noting old graffiti on certain facades, plus the pretty stairways, including those down to France’s royal river, the Loire. Visitors quickly fall under the spell of this enchanting pilgrimage town surrounded by ramparts.

Cycle route from Champlemy to La Charité-sur-Loire

You continue cycling through the département of Nièvre, the county council’s signposting exemplary. The trail is easy to follow, but do take care at the fork in Bertranges Forest, after you’re crossed the small town of Murlin, heading in the direction of the Rond-point de la Réserve (a major intersection in the forest).
You enter La Charité-sur-Loire via a small road, avoiding the very busy N151 road. Inevitably, La Charité is a significant crossroads, given its bridge over the Loire. Be careful of motorized vehicles that may be more used to observing cyclists on the segregated Loire à Vélo cycle route nearby than encountering them so close up.

Link with EuroVelo 6 – La Loire à Vélo is covered in the next stage: La Charité-sur-Loire – Marseilles-lès-Aubigny

Don't miss

• Bertranges forest: including many centuries-old oaks, this forest encourages a very rich flora and fauna and makes a perfect place for hungry cyclists to stop for a picnic, in the shade, or at the level of the Rond-point de la Réserve intersection and clearing after Murlin.
• La Charité-sur-Loire: the priory, a gem of Romanesque art and architecture from the 11th and 12th centuries, was built as a Benedictine monastery in Cluny’s model, following the great Burgundian mother establishment in style, its priory church now listed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site dedicated to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage ways in France; La Cité du Mot, set around the priory, is a cultural display putting to the fore this Ville d’Art et d’Histoire, with its rich history, as well as highlighting the power of the word in all its forms; the ramparts, built from 1181 on to protect the heart of town, and rebuilt on several occasions, notably during the Hundred Years War and the French Wars of Religion, offer views over the historic town, the Loire and the great stone bridge across it.