Your Essential Travel Guide To Amiens
Discover Things To Do In Amiens
Amiens is the capital of the Somme region of Picardy. It is a very popular destination for weekend breaks. Many are attracted by the very high number of historic monuments in Amiens, as well as to use the city as a base for visiting numerous Battle of the Somme memorials.
City also hosts many events each year which attract visitors from all over Europe and the world. For example every August there is the Montgolfiade which commemorates the first ever balloon flight taken by the famous Amiens resident Jules Verne in 1873. Every December the centre of Amiens is overtaken by one of the biggest Christmas markets in Northern France.
Amiens also boasts gastronomic delicacies to enjoy including macarons d’Amiens, almond paste biscuits called tuiles amienoises and a pastry tart with leeks and cream called flamiche aux poireaux.
What to see in Amiens?
The city's most famous landmark is the Notre-Dame Cathedral which is the largest in the world by interior volume. It's in Gothic style and its oldest parts date back to the 13th century.
The magnificent Cirque Jules Verne is a building built in a 16-sided polygonal shape and which houses many circus and theatrical events all round the year. Verne's links with the city can also be seen at the house that he lived in and wrote "Around the World in 80 Days" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
Amiens was at the heart of the Battle of the Somme in the First World War and now there are many tours available of the battlefields. In the village of Albert, around 30 kms from Amiens, there is the Musée Somme 1916.
Les Hortillonnages are spectacular gardens which can only be visited by boat. Take a guided tour aboard one of them and explore unusual plants and wildlife.
