Tergnier / Noyon

From La Fère to Noyon, you ride along what Robert Louis Stevenson called ‘the Golden Valley’ in his travel book, An Inland Voyage. This Scandibérique stage crosses the middle section of the Oise Valley, lined with broad stretches of hay meadows prone to flooding and where over 200 species of birds nest. Herds are often left to graze happily on the lush grasses here. After crossing Chauny, with its beautiful Art Deco homes and many shops, the route continues alongside the Canal Latéral à l’Oise through verdant lands to Noyon, a little city boasting the oldest Gothic cathedral in this northern part of France, rising above a well-preserved medieval quarter.

The route

Beside the Canal Latéral à l’Oise, along a towpath exclusively for non-motorized traffic. There is a stretch along a road around Chauny. On this stage, the Scandibérique doubles as the Véloroute Stevenson® as it follows the way taken by the adventurous Scottish author in 1876. Signposted EV3.
Surfacing smooth: asphalt.

Links

Link to Véloroute Nationale 30 via the Trans’Oise from Noyon to Frétoy-le-Château (Canal du Nord), then take the cycle route signalled towards Péronne to reach the Véloroute de la Somme (heading towards the Bay of the Somme).

Trains

• Tergnier train station
• Chauny train station
• Appilly railway stop (without any station building)
• Noyon train station

Don't miss

Ribemont: castral site and home of Condorcet, former abbey Saint-Nicolas des Prés
Sissy: Chapel of the Sleeping
Mills: Sissy, Sénercy, Berthenicourt, Brissay-Choigny, Travecy and La Fère
Oise Valley and the Oise river strip in Alaincourt
Alaincourt: Marie-Jeanne's House
La Fère: city of the artillerymen (arsenal, place of arms, statue of the artillerymen, castle), Jeanne d'Aboville Museum in La Fère
Tergnier: La Frette water sports centre
Fargniers: Place Carnegie, Museum of the Resistance and Deportation, railway town (listed station).