From Autreppes to Guise, continue on the Axe vert de la Thiérache. At Sorbais, the Axe diverges from the old railway line, which is joined after the village  by the D318.

From Guise, buses :

• ST-Quentin (several a day)
• Laon (several a day)
• Marly-Gomont (rares)

Markets :

• Marly-Gomont, tuesday morning
• Guise, saturday morning

Saint- Algis :

• scenic spot
• church (16th century) with a large square keep and two towers behind the bell tower

Marly-Gomont :

• fortified church with loopholes and corbelled watchtower
• ruin of a water mill

Englancourt :

• one of the most beautiful sites in the valley
• Saint-Nicolas church, a large 16th-century red brick keep with a sanctuary room
• Château de Plesnoye 17th century (not open to the public)

Malzy :

• church with fortified choir

Romery :

• lavoir, oppidum, pigeonnier

Monceau-sur-Oise :

• one of the first villages in France to be equipped with public electric lighting
• micro-power station
• fortified church (16th century)

 Faty : fortified church (17th c.)

Beaurain :

• church with keep (16th century)
• fortified mill

Guise :

• castle (12th-13th century feudal fortress)
• Familistère (19th century) by J.B Godin
• church (15th c.-16th c.) of the hall type with Renaissance porch

 

At Hirson, take the cycle path in front of the station, turn right after the business park. Pass a roundabout, turn left, go over the dual carriageway then right. Continue straight on the greenway to Autreppes. This greenway, also known as Axe vert de la Thiérache is built on the former Hirson-Guise-Busigny railway line.

Trains from Hirson

• Intercités Hirson – Charleville-Mézières
• TER Anor, Fourmies, Aulnoye-Aymeries, Valenciennes, Lille, Laon, Sedan (on certain days)
• buses: Autreppes–Hirson (infrequent)

Markets:

• Hirson, Monday and Thursday mornings
• Etréaupont, Thursday morning

Hirson :

• The Florentine Tower

Ohis :

• wonderful scenery
• fortified church with sanctuary

Wimy :

• church with keep (16th century)

Etréaupont :

• church (gateway to Foigny Abbey)
• Merovingian cemetery
• Remains of Coucy castle

Sorbais :

• church with small square keep

Autreppes :

• church with complete defensive system
• oratory
• houses from the late 18th c. and early 19th c.

Proximity :

• Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache :
  • abbey (12th c. – 18th c.)
  • musée de la Vie rurale et forestière
  • Savart mausoleum, the work of Charles Garnier

Leave Maubeuge via the Pont de Paris over the railway tracks. At the roundabout, take the Rue du Chemin Vert opposite (counter-flow cycle route), which leads to a footpath that has been converted into a greenway as far as Ferrière-la-Grande. Then follow the old Maubeuge-Fourmies railway line, which has been converted into a greenway as far as Liessies, then Trélon.

Markets

• Soire-le-Château, Tuesday

Trains

• from Maubeuge:
  • Intercités <=> Charleroi, Namur
  • TER <=> Jeumont, Aulnoye-Aymeries, Lille, Saint-Quentin, Compiègne, Paris

Ferrière-la-petite :

• earthenware and pottery museum
• château de Gossuin 17th century

Obrechies :

• church(1599)

Damousies :

• church, one of the oldest in the region

Wattignies-la-Victoire :

• Four memorials and dance kiosk

Dimechaux :

• dance bandstand

Dimont :

• Saint-Georges church (XV-XVIIth c.)

Sars-Pottery :

• Glass Museum
• Delmotte water mill

Lez-Fontaine :

• church (13th century), bandstand, open-air theatre

Soire-le-Château :

• church with bulbous bell tower (15th-17th century)
• Renaissance town hall
• bandstand and brick and bluestone houses

Felleries :

• picturesque village
• Woodworking Museum

Ramoussies :

• church (1674)

Liessies :

• church (12th century)
• Liessies Abbey Departmental Park
• château de la Motte (hotel)

Nearby :

• Val Joly (tourist resort), departmental park with lake (180 ha) and forest (1000 ha)