Via Sancti Martini, de Pont-de-Beauvoisin à Val-de-Virieu par le Lac de Paladru

The Via Sancti Martini is a path labeled “Council of Europe Cultural Route”. She follows in the footsteps of Saint-Martin, 4th century bishop of Tours, great traveler and universal figure, known for sharing his cape in favor of a disadvantaged person.

Linking Szombathély, Martin's birthplace in Hungary, to Tours, the French city where his tomb is located, it thus travels across Europe from east to west for 2500km.

The Pays Voironnais and the Vals du Dauphiné offer you a roaming route from station to station between Pont-de-Beauvoisin and Val-de-Virieu (Virieu-sur-Bourbre station):
– Day 1: 22,9 km / + 600 m and - 310 m (overnight stay in Montferrat)
– Day 2: 21,4 km / +400 m and -560 m

The route, based on values ​​of sharing and exchange, offers the opportunity to discover the heritage, local products, and know-how of the region, while promoting rich and friendly encounters.

To discover on your way:
– landscapes with mountains and valleys, covered with woods and meadows, offering numerous panoramas of the pre-Alps and Mont Blanc, notably from the chapel of the Three Crosses and the Sacré-Cœur Tower;
– small hamlets, fortified houses and castles with the characteristic rammed earth architecture of the Lower Dauphiné;
– the green nature, the rolling meadows where cows graze, or the blue lagoon waters of Lake Paladru;
– the Archaeological Museum of Lake Paladru which exhibits the remains of the first men living on its shores for a journey back to the Neolithic period and the year 1000;
– the memory of Saint-Martin represented locally by the fresco illustrating the scene of the sharing in the church of Saint-Martin de Vaulserre and Mont Saint-Martin which the path bypasses.


Waymarking: At each intersection of several hiking trails, a post indicates the next direction. Therefore, you should follow the following signposts:

Beauvoisin Bridge Station > Les Sables > Le Grabier > Le Menou > Les Forêts > L'Antiquaire > Sacré-Coeur > La Sauge > Petit Velanne > Vicharière > Le Buisson > L'Ourcière > Les Rajans > Côtes Galloya > Verchère > Vernatet > St-Pierre de Paladru > Les Trois Croix > Bois de la Grande Rivoire > Croix Charpenne > Le Gréhaut > Chemin du Lavoir > Le Brocard > Croix du Jubilé > Les Sources > Chassignieu > Garamponière > La Mollat ​​> Tancin > Hill 568 > Les Hauts d'Envelump > Beauregard > Virieu-sur-Bourbre Station

Variant by Lake Paladru:
Day 1: 28 km / +640 m and -430 m
Day 2: 20.1 km / +410 m and -500 m
From the Verchère post, follow Chemin du Favier > Tripier > Le Chemin des Marais > Bas Paladru > Musée Archéologique > Bas Paladru > Paladru > Sous-Sonnière > Sonnière then rejoin the route at the Les Trois Croix post.