Why this ride
A 249 km round trip from Amiens - roughly 4 h 12 in the saddle. On the way it passes La citadella d’Arras, Fosse Delloye and back through La citadella d’Arras. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Amiens Cathedral and Fosse Delloye
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 249 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 12
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Amiens Cathedral → La citadella d’Arras
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 73 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 60 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Amiens Cathedral
Amiens Cathedral is huge. Built mostly in the thirteenth century, Notre-Dame d'Amiens is the largest Gothic cathedral in France by interior volume, with a nave rising over forty metres, and its west front is covered with hundreds of carved figures, saints, prophets and kings, which were once brightly painted. In summer, a light show projects the original colours onto the facade at night, bringing back the medieval look. The cathedral is a World Heritage Site, and its interior, with its soaring columns and stained glass, is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture.
Read the complete Amiens Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Amiens Cathedral is where the day begins. Next is La citadella d’Arras.
2. La citadella d’Arras
The people of Arras call their citadel la belle inutile, the beautiful useless one, and they say it with affection. Vauban built it in the late seventeenth century, after Louis XIV took Artois from Spain, as part of the chain of fortresses meant to lock France's northern border. Its star-shaped ramparts, bastions and moats are textbook Vauban, but the border moved north before the fortress ever saw a serious siege, hence the nickname. It is one of the twelve sites grouped as the Fortifications of Vauban on the UNESCO list since 2008. Its later history is darker: during the Second World War, the Germans executed resistance fighters in the moat, and a memorial there lists their names.
Read the complete La citadella d’Arras write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La citadella d’Arras comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fosse Delloye.
3. Fosse Delloye
The name on the label belongs to the most famous pit in the whole northern coalfield. Fosse Delloye, at Lewarde a short ride west of here, closed in 1971 and became the Centre Historique Minier, France's largest mining museum, where former miners once guided visitors through reconstructed galleries and the old lamp rooms, showers and machine halls still stand as they were left. The point itself, though, sits beside Denain on the Escaut, and Denain deserves a story of its own.
Read the complete Fosse Delloye write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 123 km into the recorded legs you reach Fosse Delloye. Next is back through La citadella d’Arras.
4. back through La citadella d’Arras
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La citadella d’Arras write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through La citadella d’Arras, late in the day. Next is Amiens Cathedral.
5. Amiens Cathedral
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Amiens Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Amiens Cathedral. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Amiens Cathedral to La citadella d’Arras
Amiens Cathedral → La citadella d’Arras is 60 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
La citadella d’Arras to Fosse Delloye
La citadella d’Arras → Fosse Delloye is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fosse Delloye to back through La citadella d’Arras
Fosse Delloye → back through La citadella d’Arras is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La citadella d’Arras to Amiens Cathedral
back through La citadella d’Arras → Amiens Cathedral is 61 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Beffroi d’Amiens and Fosse Delloye · 249 km