Transport
Getting There
By Train | |||
---|---|---|---|
From | Via | Time | Time |
Calais | A16 | 1:45 hours | Direct: 2 hours |
Paris | A86, A115, N184, A16 | 2 hours | Direct: 1:15 hours |
Dieppe | D915, A28, A29, A16 | 1:30 hour | To Serqueux by bus, then train: 2 hours |
Le Havre | A29, A16 | 2 hours | via Rouen: 2:30 hour |
Cherbourg | N13, A13, A29, A16 | 3:45 hours | via Paris: 6 hours |
Marseilles | via Dijon: A7, A6, A31, A5, A26 | 8:45 hours | via Paris (TGV): 5:30 hours |
By Air
Although there’s a small airport, the biggest airport serving Amiens is Paris’s third airport: Beauvais.
Within Amiens
Amiens is quite large, but the interesting parts are all concentrated in the city centre. There is a bus service
The service is called AMETIS, and although not very widespread, you can get around using several buses. Cost for 1 hour is €1.30, 10 tickets cost €10.80 and a day ticket will set you back €3.50. Tickets are bought at the railway station or onboard the bus.
On a more interesting side note, the AMETIS operate an electric bus as well.
Click here to access the AMETIS web site (in French only).
Amiens also have a bicycle rental service called Velam:
Bicycle stations are spread around the city every 300 to 400 meters. Use your credit card to rent one; Cost for a day: €1 for registering (one-off), but you can also get a ticket for 7 days.
Click here to find out more at the Velam web site (which of course is in French only).
Restaurants
You can eat well in Amiens, and not have to worry too much about tourist traps (most of them are around the cathedral). There are some 250 restaurants in Amiens, which is not enormous, but you’ll find some decent and reasonably priced ones. There are no Michelin-starred restaurants in Amiens.
Hotels
Amiens is not very touristy, so you’ll not find a large offering; The hotels who are there, offer moderate prices and comfort.
Things To See/Things To Do
As said in the introduction of Amiens, they are not very tourist-oriented. The cathedral is about the maximum they have been able to do for tourists, the rest is up to you to discover. But there certainly are enough things to see to keep you busy for a while.
- Visit the cathedral of Amiens.
- Visit the Jules Verne house and museum
- Visit the floating gardens (Hortillonnages)
- Walk through the Saint-Leu area
- Have lunch alongside the canal of the St Leu area
- Bet on the horses at the Amiens horse race track (Hippodrome d’Amiens)
- There are several tours departing from Amiens to the World War I Battle of the Somme battlefields.