Signposting, guidebooks and GPS tracks
Choosing your route and the level of difficulty
If it is your very first cycling trip, especially as a family, opt for the shorter stages (30km per day) that will also allow you to enjoy more time discovering the landscapes, heritage and activities proposed along the route.
La Voie Bleue presents no particular difficulties as regards slopes, but it is advisable, especially if cycling with children, to choose sections without motorized traffic (so sections reserved for cyclists – ‘en site propre’ in French) and that are well signposted. Avoid sections undergoing works and/or with detours in place.
Finally, it is important to decide clearly the stages you wish to undertake and to reserve accommodation in advance, especially during the summer holiday period and French spring public holidays.
Tourist map for La Voie Bleue
The tourist map covering La Voie Bleue presents the route, its main unmissable sites, plus further recommendations.
Practical: you can download the tourist map here and print it out to get an overview of La Voie Bleue all along your route.
Cycling guidebooks on La Voie Bleue
At time of writing, just one guidebook deals with the cycle route in its entirety, La Voie Bleue published by Editions Chamina, a giving coverage, in French, of the whole journey, plus ideas for numerous excursions away from the route, for example to reach Dijon, the capital of Burgundy.
The Guide du Routard Bourgogne du Sud à vélo is a French guidebook that describes sections of La Voie Bleue between Auxonne and Mâcon.
Signposting along the cycle route as of 2020
The cycle route carries signposting all the way from Sierck-les-Bains to Lyon, but note that at time of writing the name indicated on the signs is not consistent the whole way along. While awaiting specific signposting for La Voie Bleue to be put up all along the route, you should follow the green and white signs in place for cyclists. Going from north to south, at present, you’ll find the following names used for successive parts of the route: V50, Moselle-Saône à Vélo, Charles le Téméraire, Échappée Bleue, EuroVelo 6 and La Voie Bleue.
GPS tracks and specific apps
With each stage description, you can download the relevant .GPX tracks. The track for the entire route is available here. To access the tracks on a smartphone, you first need to download a specific app to enable you to access the tracks in offline mode.
La Voie Bleue’s website is perfectly adapted to smartphones and you can use geotagging on the website maps during your trip.
Top tip: download the free app Voie Verte 71 to discover the natural and cultural heritage along La Voie Bleue between Chalon-sur-Saône and Mâcon.