Two circular walks provide a practical framework for planning a visit to Villiers-sur-Suize: Les quatre saules PR N°81 is an 8 km circular route starting and ending in the village; Rochevilliers PR N°80 is 14 km long and also starts there. The village also has a wash house in the centre, a church with works by a local painter, and a chapel outside the village centre. This lets you combine exercise, architectural history and landscape according to your own interests.
Choose circular walks by distance and activity
Les quatre saules PR N°81 is an 8 km circular route that returns to Villiers-sur-Suize. It is rated easy for walking, mountain biking and horse riding. The estimated times vary by activity: two hours on foot, one hour by mountain bike and one hour on horseback. For planning, the distance is therefore not the only factor; it also matters how you want to travel along the route.
The route first follows the Suize and passes an old mill, a wash house and a fountain. It then enters wooded areas, where you may find traces of deer, roe deer or foxes.
Rochevilliers PR N°80 is a 14 km circular route starting in Villiers-sur-Suize. It offers views of Foulain and the Marne Valley. You can start by comparing the lengths of the two routes: 8 km for Les quatre saules and 14 km for Rochevilliers. Times for three types of activity are also provided for the shorter route; for Rochevilliers, the views of Foulain and the Marne Valley are the main highlights. This lets you choose according to distance and the features that interest you most along the way.
Take in the wash house, church and chapel
The centre of Villiers-sur-Suize is laid out around the wash house in the square. The wash house was built on the bank of the Suize, below the village hall. Three arches open onto the Place; a supporting pillar stands in the middle of the washing basin. Its location and design give the wash house a clear connection to both the village square and the watercourse. If you are interested in rural buildings, you can look out for these specific architectural features here.
The Église Saint-Rémy de Villiers-sur-Suize combines architectural history with local art. Its choir was built in the 15th century, and the church has a double transept on one side. It also houses two paintings by Henri Gerzaguet, an artist from the village. Architecture and art sit side by side here: the choir reflects the period in which the church was built, while the paintings connect it with a local artist.
Outside the village centre, between Leffonds and Villiers-sur-Suize, stands the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-la-Bonne-Garde. Built in 1921, it is topped by a metal statue of the Virgin Mary from Val d’Osne. The statue weighs 500 kg and is 2.20 m tall. These details make the scale of the building particularly easy to picture; its location outside the village centre is also important if you plan to include the chapel in your route.
The Suize landscape and regional cuisine
The landscape extends beyond the individual walking routes. The ZNIEFF type II site “Coteaux et vallée de la Suize entre Chaumont et Villiers-sur-Suize” covers 1,056.79 hectares between the municipalities of Chaumont and Villiers-sur-Suize in the Haute-Marne department. The habitats described include floodplains, mainly meadows, as well as occasional riverside woodland, marshes, sedge beds and tall-herb communities. There are also forests and dry grasslands, along with meadows and a few fields on the slopes above the valley floor. This is a regional-scale landscape, distinct from the specific route descriptions in the village.
For a meal break, the Auberge de la Fontaine offers simple, traditional family cooking made with local produce. If you plan to eat there, check the current opening hours in advance. This makes it possible to plan a circular walk, a look at the buildings and a meal as separate parts of your stay, without tying your route choice or sightseeing to a fixed itinerary.
Discover more destinations: Chamouilley, Droyes, Flagey, Ceffonds, Saint-Dizier, Verseilles-le-Bas, Wassy, Champigny-sous-Varennes
For the wider travel overview: Haute-Marne.
