Besançon boucle

A “boucle” is a loop or a round, and this is a 300km loop. We choose to start at Besançon because that was the point nearest our home, and Camping Besançon were happy for us to leave our car there for the week. The basic route combines a stretch of Eurovelo 6 with…

Day one, Besançon to Dole, 63km
Gently downhill along Eurovelo 6 besides the Doubs River and canal. In the centre of Besançon the cycle path followed the canal through a tunnel cut beneath the citadel. Further on we got to explore another canal tunnel but this time the cycle route went over the hill instead. The river was high and the weirs on the canal were thundering. We stopped at a lock for lunch on a bench, Julie played a couple of tunes on her tin whistle and some people came out of a house and joined in with a trumpet!

Day two, Dole to Heuilley-sur-Saône 60km
Rain was forecast for the afternoon so we made an fairly early start. Our route followed EV6 for about 15km and then we turned north-east along the Voie Bleu. We had a snack in Abergement-la-Ronce by a newly installed charging station for ebikes and mobile phones.

Day three, Heuilley-sur-Saône to Autet
The campsite of La Plage Autet was under construction but it was secluded enough to camp wild. There was a tap.

Day four, Autet to Vesoul
Camping l’Internationale du lac à Vesoul was pleasant enough.

Day five, Vesoul to Montbozon
The route followed a disused railway, and was relatively flat. Camping municipal in Montbozon was on an island in the river Ognon.

Day six, Montbozon to Besançon
The first part of this day was quite hilly, eventually arriving back in the Doubs valley at Laissey. Then we followed EV6 back to Besançon.