A circular starting from Avize.

Pleasant hike on the Champagne hillsides of Avize and Cramant Champagne de la Côte des Blancs - Magnificent view of the villages and vineyards. Pass through the forest in the Avize mountains. Walk around Saran Castle with a view of the park below.

Details

73304
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.15 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 30 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 197 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 196 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 241 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 122 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ District: Avize (51190)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 48.971221° / E 4.009018°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2713E
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

Park on Place Léon Bourgeois in Avize.

(S/E) Head north on Rue Léon Bourgeois. Turn left onto Rue Pasteur. At the end of Rue Pasteur, turn right onto the D19-Rue de la Montagne (steep climb).
Pass the bottle that is still dripping and, in the middle of the bend, turn right onto theGRP® de la Côte des Blancs, marked in red and yellow (magnificent view).

(1) Continue through the forest until you reach a crossroads at Bois de Mardu.

(2) Ignore the path on the left, then pass the next two paths on the left and take the one on the right, which is still theGRP®, to reach the Pätis neighbourhood.
Reach the crossroads at Rue des Acacias and leave the GRP® here.

(3) Continue and turn right at the crossroads onto Rue de la Grande Cote before arriving at the village of Cramant.
Begin a short descent, then turn left at thefirst street. A few metres further on, you will come to a trail junction.

(4) Take it on the right, enter the woods and stay on this path. You will reach the Fontaine de la Grifaine fountain. Here, do not go down to the right, but go up the path opposite, leaving the path on the left.
Go around the Château de Saran, passing through the lower park (left). You will reach the tarmac road that leads to the château.

5 - Following the renovation of Saran Castle, it is no longer possible to pass under the castle in the park. You must descend further down, following the fence, to return to the tarmac road.

(6) Turn right for 100 metres and then immediately left onto the tarmac road. Continue straight downhill until you reach a crossroads with four perpendicular roads separating the hamlets of Les Gros Yeux and Les Chantraines (see IGN map).

(7) Turn right and very quickly take the first path on the left, which leads to a calvary. Take the middle path on the right to reach Avize.

(8) At the end of the road, turn right and then left almost opposite Rue d'Epernay. At the end of Rue d'Epernay, turn right onto Rue Pasteur.
Take thethird street on the left (Place Charles de Gaulle), pass to the left of the town hall and at the end of Rue Sainte Dorothée, turn right onto Rue Ernest Vallée until you reach Place Léon Bourgeois, the starting point car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 139 m - Place Léon Bourgeois
  2. 1 : km 0.82 - alt. 209 m - GRP crossroads
  3. 2 : km 1.79 - alt. 241 m - Mardu Woods
  4. 3 : km 2.9 - alt. 232 m - Les Pâtis
  5. 4 : km 4.03 - alt. 193 m - Crossroads of the woodland trail
  6. 5 : km 6.12 - alt. 132 m
  7. 6 : km 7.29 - alt. 147 m - Road junction
  8. 7 : km 8.66 - alt. 122 m - Carrefour les Gros Yeux
  9. 8 : km 9.59 - alt. 134 m - Entrance to Avize
  10. S/E : km 10.15 - alt. 139 m - Place Léon Bourgeois

Notes

Hike requiring only the equipment and supplies necessary for a half-day hike.

Worth a visit

Visit the VIX park, which is fun and musical.
Admire the champagne bottle that never stops flowing.
Admire the Champagne hillside before entering the woods and returning to Saran Castle.
Admire Saran Castle.
Nearby: the Haute-Borne menhir.
Visit the Church of Saint-Nicolas in Avize.
Champagne tasting in moderation.

Reviews and comments

3.8 / 5
Based on 14 reviews

Reliability of the description
3.4 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.7 / 5
Route interest
4.4 / 5
User 26910656
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

hello

I read the comments before choosing this destination and they were right!
It was my first time using Visorando and luckily I had the app, otherwise I would have turned back quickly
There are few signposts and then in the woods, the paths indicated by the app didn't exist
But I loved the scenery

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christia51
christia51

Beautiful hike
A good climb starting from Avize
Then a walk through the woods from Avize to Cramant
Don't miss the viewpoint on the way out of Cramant, which is very well documented with lots of photos and a map of the surrounding villages
The rest of the hike is along the vineyards
You can see the Château de Saran, owned by Moët & Chandon
Return to Avize through the vineyards

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MARTDomi
MARTDomi

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 15, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice circular without any difficulties

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virgule
virgule

Hello,

As I said in 2017,

Yesterday, I tested the route that goes through woods and vineyards, from Vix Park (1) to the village of Cramant. Well, I would advise against it, because the path ends in a dead end on private property.

The path that runs alongside the woods is not a good option. You should follow the suggested route.

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christia51
christia51

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 12, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

You must take the path that goes through the woods. I took the path at the edge of the woods. It is not very passable and not recommended.

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Goretex
Goretex

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 24, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The markings did not allow us to follow the trail completely, which led us astray and increased the distance we had to walk to return to our starting point.

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CloGlo
CloGlo

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 25, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Pleasant hike. We managed to follow the route thanks to the GPS tracking via the app.

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philipaisne
philipaisne

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 17, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Nice route; well described with points of interest; in short, a nice little hike.

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virgule
virgule

Hello,

The path described in point 5, which passed under the castle and offered some beautiful photo opportunities, has completely disappeared. You now have to go further down to the new entrance to the castle, turn left and go around the park.
One wonders how a path that was public could have been privatised and simply disappeared.

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virgule
virgule
• Edited:

Hello,

This isn't my hike, but I know the area very well.

Starting at number 3, did you not find the calvary? It's quite imposing. It's a lovely viewpoint with benches, an orientation table and information panels about the vineyard.

Then you cross the village of Cramant and walk along the woods to the château. As I recall, you can see the path from the village.

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marcheursduvendredi
marcheursduvendredi

Overall rating : 2.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 29, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

It was very difficult to find our way from number 3 in the description. We couldn't find the famous path.

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CANTALOU63
CANTALOU63

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 17, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A lovely stroll through the vast vineyards of Champagne.

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virgule
virgule

A lovely walk in the snow today. Thank you to the organiser.

The water supply to the cemetery is indeed cut off in winter. Saran Castle is still undergoing renovation work. The path that runs alongside the woods from Vix Park (suggested by Pavois51) still leads to private property, but I'm told that the owner is very friendly.

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virgule
virgule

Hello,

Where exactly?

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henpalo
henpalo

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 16, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

It's difficult to follow the route.

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