Varennes-Vauzelles: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes
In Varennes-Vauzelles, the Cité Jardin was built between 1921 and 1930, with 350 houses designed by Georges Hennequin for the employees of the locomotive repair workshops. It is an important part of the history of working-class urban planning, is one of the largest workers’ housing estates in France and is one of the few that are still relatively well preserved.
Anyone planning a stay in Varennes-Vauzelles will want to rent a holiday apartment there.
Culture
The Musée de la Résistance de Varennes-Vauzelles covers the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, the resistance of railway workers and remembrance of the victims. Guided tours are offered that are adapted to the history curricula for lower and upper secondary schools.
Walking trails
The Sentier de Lépido is fully accessible to people with reduced mobility and is open all year round. The trail is 800 m long; 30 minutes are indicated for the visit.
Four increasingly longer discovery walks have been established in Varennes-Vauzelles for occasional walkers and more experienced hikers. They are marked according to the standards of the French hiking federation. Information boards are provided at the starting points, and there are signposts along the routes.
The 4 km-long, red-marked Boucle de la cité-jardin leads to the Cité de la Bonne Dame de l’Orme, an example of urban planning closely linked to the railway. The approximately 8 km-long, yellow-marked Boucle de Varennes runs around the municipality’s historic centre, continuing to Vernuche and to a viewpoint overlooking the Loire plain. As a major extension, the 16 km-long, green-marked Boucle des hameaux passes through the outlying hamlets and the areas around the Étang de Niffonds and the Beue, which are used for recreation and enjoying nature.
Nature
The Sentier de Lépido in the Domaine de la Beue leads over a boardwalk through alder woodland and reed beds. The Sentier de Robin runs through broom heathland and calcareous, orchid-rich dry grasslands.
The Sentier d’interprétation – Étang de Niffond features information boards and facilities that explain the habitats along the route using scientific, historical and cultural data. The trail begins at the Crapa car park and follows a 2 km-long loop to the Coulée verte.
The woodland around the Étang de Niffond offers a permanent orienteering course, a CRAPA fitness trail for adults and one for children, as well as a playground.
Cycling
Varennes-Vauzelles has three signposted mountain bike trails around the Étang de Niffonds: the yellow-marked Circuit de Varennes, approximately 14 km long; the blue-marked Circuit du bois de la Brosse, approximately 8.5 km long; and the red-marked Circuit de la Motte Châtaignier, approximately 7.5 km long.
To the higher-level travel overview: Nièvre.
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