From Nantes into Muscadet vineyards
Leading you southeast from Nantes via the Coulée Verte de la Sèvre Nantaise, here’s a classic family cycling outing. The track is being redone, encouraging you all the more to ride to Vertou or La Chaussée des Moines. You can extend your trip as far as Clisson, also exploring the charming wine villages of Le Pé de Sèvre and Port Domino, learning the secrets behind Melon de Bourgogne (in fact a grape variety now called just Melon or Melon B) and sampling Muscadet, the area’s emblematic wine. Arriving at Clisson, nestled in its corner of the French county of Loire-Atlantique, the look turns distinctly Tuscan! Learn about the reasons behind this welcoming Italianate town by visiting the elegant museum and gardens of the Domaine de la Garenne Lemot.
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.
Gradients and elevation
Road types
Surface
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
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
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
In places not the easiest to navigate
I did this section after cycling from St Malo to Nantes. Cycling into Nantes was very easy and exceptionally well signposted, however cycling out of Nantes the signs were a lot fewer and along the river just before Vertou the path was closed for work.