Château de Pontus or Pontus Castle

de fr

A hill walk with no major challenges, in an unspoilt setting with villages overlooked by Mont Bouzu. Changing views all along the way, including a wide shot of Mont Saint-Vincent and a visit to the Château de Pontus-de-Thyard.

Technical sheet

n°2239521
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 12.26 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 4h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 279 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 270 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 445 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 280 m
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Photos

Chateau Pontus de Tyard
The Village of Saules
La Montagne du Tartre
The Village of Culles-les-Roches

Description of the walk

Start: Hiking car park.

(S/E) Go down the Grande Rue for 100m and turn left, heading West, onto Rue de l'Arceuil. Quickly leave this street, which bends to the left, and follow the path, keeping to the West. Soon turn right and follow this grassy path (heading North then North-West) until you reach a small road. Follow this road without changing direction until you reach a fork near the hamlet of Les Boulouses (2 houses).

(1) Turn left at the fork, ignoring a track on the right and then a road on the left, before continuing along the track. After passing a last brushy track on the right, reach the Chaume crossroads, where there is a clear view of Savianges village on the right.

(2) Turn left into the woods and continue South until you reach another track after a good kilometer. Bear left and you will soon reach a road when you come to a bend. Follow this road and you will reach the Château de Pontus de Thyard.

(3) Turn left after the château and right at the fork. Continue straight on for about 300m until you come to the D28 road. Turn left and quickly find a path on the right at the sign for Bissy-sur-Fley.

(4) Leave the D28 and take this path to the right, keeping to it until you reach a vineyard below Montagne du Tartre. Continue to the right above the vineyard and turn left very quickly on a wide passage through the vineyard to join a cross-country path at the bottom of the descent.
Turn left to reach the former gatekeeper's house at En Gondole.

(5) Turn right at the side of the house and immediately left again. Caution the start of this grassy path is not always clearly visible. Follow this path for about 500m to a crossroads.

(6) Turn left and immediately before the small bridge, turn right twice before reaching a small road. Turn left in front of a house until you reach a fork in the road.

(7) Ignore the track ahead and keep to the left. Follow this small road until you cross the D28 road and take the track opposite to reach a fork about 350m after the crossroads.

(8) Opposite the bench, take the right-hand path downhill for 300m. Turn left in front of the Hangar, then right to join the D153 road. Turn right into Rue de la Mairie.

(9) Turn left up this street to cross the village. Go past the town hall and rejoin the D153 after a hairpin bend. Turn left at 160° to reach the GR®.

(10) Turn left and follow the GR® above the village of Saules. After 1. 1 Km, reach the crossroads where a path leads from Saules on the right.

(11) Leave the GR® and turn slightly left onto a much steeper track. Keep to this path, which heads North-West. The slope becomes more less steep and then inverts, taking us back to the village of Fley. Turn left in front of the town hall and return to the car park. (S/E) .

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 337 m - Hiking car park
  2. 1 : km 1.06 - alt. 296 m - Left at the Boulouses fork
  3. 2 : km 2.07 - alt. 326 m - Left at the edge of the wood
  4. 3 : km 3.88 - alt. 360 m - Château de Pontus
  5. 4 : km 4.4 - alt. 350 m - Turn right out of Bissy-sur-Fley
  6. 5 : km 5.7 - alt. 316 m - Lieu-dit "En Gondole" :
  7. 6 : km 6.29 - alt. 338 m - Crossroads
  8. 7 : km 6.78 - alt. 364 m - Extension of the road to the fork
  9. 8 : km 7.57 - alt. 381 m - Viewpoint at Culles-les-Roches
  10. 9 : km 8.38 - alt. 348 m - Ascent to the village via Rue de la Mairie
  11. 10 : km 8.88 - alt. 319 m - GR76 junction
  12. 11 : km 9.96 - alt. 369 m - Sloping path on the left
  13. S/E : km 12.26 - alt. 337 m - Hiking car park

Practical information

Start & Parking: Hiking car park.

Driving to start: The start is easily found on the main road through the village. The car park is not very wide but long (enough for 6 or 8 cars). There are a few more spaces 50m further up in front of the town hall.

In the nearby area

Château de Pontus: An association is doing a remarkable job of preserving this heritage. The best thing to do is visit their website: www.pontus-de-tyard.com.

The hike takes you around Mont Bouzu, whose dome can be easily identified by its radio antenna.

 Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

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Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5
Based on 14 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.4 / 5
sandrine DTanguy
sandrine DTanguy

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 13, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Hello,
I did this walk today.
After leaving Bissy sur Fley, it was impossible to get to point 5 because fallen electric wires prevented passage along the path just before the village exit sign.
We still had to crawl on all fours to get there. Alas, the vineyard had been considerably reduced in size and replaced by a meadow where a superb horse told us that we had to turn back: there was no way to try and make up this descent to the gatekeeper's house at a place called En Gondole.
So we followed our horse friend's advice and turned back; we reached point 6 by taking the path that goes off to the right in the bend that runs alongside the cemetery, after the sign for the village of Bissy sur Fley (on the D28).
Then cross the small bridge and, immediately afterwards, turn left and take the path that climbs to the right (make left-right instead of right-right).
Otherwise, the rest of the route is really pleasant, with beautiful views.
Thanks for sharing.

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celine974r
celine974r
• Last modified:

A short walk for the locals, with a few pretty views in places but nothing more than that. I won't be doing it a second time.

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danleboss
danleboss
• Last modified:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 20, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Good walk with beautiful views along the way. Thanks for the track

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Hervé paris
Hervé paris

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 17, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

superb hike, made in october in fine weather, with beautiful views.
The view over the little village of Culles is superb. A picnic spot is recommended here.

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Babcia71
Babcia71

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 08, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Super hike with a wide variety of landscapes. No insurmountable difficulties. Sometimes there were discrepancies between the GPS and the real time, which could have been misleading. Once we'd completed the loop, we added a short diversions to Rimont, which added another 6 km, but the place was well worth the diversions!

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yves71
yves71

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of walk : Nov 02, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

It's not always easy to find the right path, so it's a good idea to use a GPS tracker.

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Olivier B19.
Olivier B19.

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 26, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Couldn't find the Chaume crossroads at point 2
We got lost between points 6 and 7 towards Champagne.
Didn't find the fork at a bend and crossed the road further south at Petite Vaivre.

Bright sunshine, stormy blue skies, lovely afternoon despite a few mishaps.

Thanks Visorando

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Hermione71
Hermione71

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 10, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Busy trail : No

Lovely walk, with no difficulties. Definitely avoid Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays and public holidays, as there are hunting drives in the forest and traditional hunting on other days. Take time to visit the pretty village of Jully les Buxy at the start and finish.

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amattheur
amattheur

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 11, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

I hiked in the sunshine, with very good visibility (without going as far as the Alps, though).
The description is very well done, but it sometimes conflicts with the signposting of other hiking routes (for example, from point 1, where you have to turn left as indicated in the topo, whereas there is immediately a yellow cross on the signposting encouraging you to continue on the right-hand branch of the fork...).
The highlight is obviously the Château de Bissy. The section between points 5 and 7 is undoubtedly the least interesting: no views, a path between hedges whose only interest is in providing a link.
This is an easy route, which we recommend to anyone who wants to combine a bit of walking with beautiful views over the Saône plain.

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CLAIRETTE5355
CLAIRETTE5355

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : May 09, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A very pleasant tour with a precise description that leaves no room for hesitation.

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droug
droug

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 23, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A beautiful, well-documented walk in glorious sunshine...
Fley, Bissy and Culles are beautiful, authentic little villages.

The "icing on the cake" for me was the discovery of the Château de Bissy and its 16th century owner Pontus de Thard - an illustrious encyclopaedic scholar.

I was also very interested in the sundial in the château garden.

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vince71390
vince71390

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 06, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Pleasant walk, varied landscape, nice villages to pass through, with a beautiful view of Mont Blanc.

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marclo
marclo

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 27, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Too good...village of fley, bissy sur fley, culles les roches, traverses
not too many roads...well maintained paths...it was great...and the weather was fine...and you could see Mont Blanc in clear weather...
bravo to the people who make the circuits. ...merci

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momo7573
momo7573
• Last modified:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 13, 2019
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

hello
very nice easy walk;
with beautiful views

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merlin patrick
merlin patrick

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 02, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Hello
The tour is perfect and the explanations are clear.
A bit too much tarmac road.
But I've looked into the possibility of changing it. It's possible, but we'll have to do it again for another km and see if it's not too long.
Thank you

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