Amies en balade en VAE sur la Voie Verte Gisors Gasny H© ADT de l'Eure, J.F. LangeIf you don’t feel like cycling the entire route to Paris, start your trip from Gisors in Normandy to get an immediate taste of the pleasures of Normandy’s small countryside routes.
The Avenue Verte London – Paris offers several choices to explore both the French and Norman Vexin with major highlights: castles, landscape of impressionist painters such as Pissarro, Van Gogh. Giverny is also close to the end of the Valley of Epte Greenroute.
image6For a first stopover from Gisors, before starting your journey, drop off your bikes and luggage at the tourist office for a relaxing stopover to discover the town and its heritage. You’ll also find useful documentation for your cycling trip. You’ll be able to stock up on gourmet en cas for your route or a lunch or breakfast stop in town.
The tourist office, which has the Accueil Vélo label, is located at the foot of the château fort, 100 m from the exceptional Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais church, in the heart of the town center and its restaurants and boutiques.
You can travel by train with your bike from Paris Saint-Lazare (Transilien line J) to Gisors station during off-peak periods:
Monday to Friday, before 6:30 am, between 9:30 am and 4:30 pm and after 7:30 pm,
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays with no schedule restrictions.
Bicycle parking spaces are provided on the trains.
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Over 6 days and 270 km
The Oise and Vexin loop is a veritable cycling journey dotted with heritage wonders, from Gisors to Maisons-Laffitte via Beauvais, Senlis, Chantilly and Auvers-sur-Oise. If Gisors is an intermediate stop on your itinerary, allow half a day to visit the town and its heritage treasures. A discovery itinerary is available from the tourist office. For an overnight stay nearby, you’ll have a choice of hotels, charming B&Bs or camping in season.
Bike ride in the Lévrière valley © JF Lange ADT de l_EureYou can design your own day or weekend itinerary from these routes, with several stations allowing you to reach Paris if you wish to do only part of it. Whether you choose one or other of these options, the scenery and many heritage nuggets line all the route and bike trip options from Gisors.
Château d_Heudicourt - bicycle © JF Lange ADT de l_EureIn one day, Gisors / Beauvais is an easy and pleasant route: at Saint-Germer de Fly (where the two oise and normande variants of the Avenue Verte London Paris converge), leave the direction of London to follow that of Beauvais on the greenway built on an old railroad line. On your way to Beauvais, be sure to stop off in season to visit the splendid garden of painter André Van Beek at Saint-Paul.
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290622033_2206590566174299_6419755663289251731_nOr opt for the Oise part of the 3-day itinerary, from Gisors to Chantilly. This route includes some fine stretches on the Trans’Oise greenways. On the pleasant little undulating road that follows the meanders of the Epte beyond Gisors, soak up the colors and landscapes that were a source of inspiration for many Impressionist painters, particularly Pissarro.
The Trans’Oise is an ideal way to explore the region.
