 Driving through Picardy can feel like visiting one large heritage site
with its numerous churches, abbeys, castles and monuments commemorating
great events of the past. The cradle of gothic architecture, Picardy boasts
six magnificent cathedrals, towering landmarks dominating the low, gently
rolling countryside.
The region suits anyone looking for tranquillity, perhaps a leisurely
drive or cycle through the neat villages before stopping to explore on foot.
For livelier souls, the sandy coastline in the north is a haven for water
sports.
Aisne
- Ignored by Brits heading south,
St Quentin has an imposing gothic
basilica
- Thiérache has fortified churches and there is off-the-beaten track
champagne
- Take a cable car to the upper town in
Laon or see the superb stained
glass in
Soissons cathedral
Oise
- No royals visit the forest and palace at
Compiègne but its students keep
the place busy
- Royal stables and horseracing flourish in
Chantilly
-
Beauvais’s cathedral was never finished - despite plans to make it the
largest in the world
Somme
- Gothic splendour and market gardens in
Amiens
- Neat rows of white crosses – poignant memorials to the ravages of WWI
- Vast sand dunes on the coast for golfing, sand yachting and kite flying
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