Esstonishing
Essonne

“The Essonne, secret garden in the Ile-de-France ”

The Essonne lies just a few kilometres south of Paris in a region with a host of attractions for visitors.
Clévacances accommodation enables you to make the most of your stay in a department which is a pioneer in the field of scientific research and yet is still, to the delight of its visitors, largely rural and wooded.
A network of major roads makes it easy to travel between the capital and the principal tourist attractions in the south of the Paris region.

By car or on foot, on horseback or on your bike, come and discover the many and varied attractions of the Essonne!:

Walking, cycling, riding and the delights of local produce :

With over 1000 kilometres of maintained and waymarked trails you will find yourself spoilt for choice.
The Essonne is a department much sought-after for its natural setting just a few minutes away from Paris . The valleys of the Bièvre, the Juine, the Essonne, the Orge and others offer a host of opportunities for walkers, cyclists and riders, and on or just off the trails you will find examples of our local produce: watercress, fruit, vegetables, chocolate, honey, aromatic and medicinal plants and much more...

©Xavier LEFÈVRE

visitez nos nombreux châteaux, les parcs et les jardins

Châteaux, parks and gardens : Numerous châteaux surrounded by sumptuous parks and gardens are scattered throughout the Essonne department: the Courson and Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard estates famous for their Plant Days in spring and autumn, the châteaux of Courances, Le Marais, Le Saussay, Villeconin, the departmentally owned Chamarande estate and many more...

Golf:
The choice is yours! The Essonne has 14 golf courses, most of them open to the public.

Outdoor leisure parks :
In Draveil and Etampes hundreds of hectares of greenery and lakes offer opportunities for a wide range of activities.

The Gâtinais Français Regional Nature Park :
France ’s 37 th Regional Nature Park , with its visitor centre at Milly-la-Forêt, was officially inaugurated on the 4 th of May 1999 and covers 63,700 hectares and 57 communes, 28 of them in the Essonne and 29 in Seine-et-Marne.

The towns of the Essonne :
Urban Essonne is equally rich in remarkable attractions: Evry with its circular cathedral crowned with trees and designed by the architect Mario Botta, the Russian cemetery and Orthodox church in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, the timber market halls dating from the XVth and XVIth centuries in Milly-la-Forêt, Arpajon and Méréville, Philippe Auguste’s castle in Dourdan, the medieval churches in Etampes...

Scientific and technological tourism :
The Essonne is celebrated for its scientific and technological potential ( CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Université d'Orsay, Génopole, ... ) and an astonishing variety of different companies and other venues are open to visitors, including the Atomic Energy Authority in Saclay, the museum of propeller-driven aircraft at Cerny, the photography museum at Bièvres, the glassworks at Soisy-sur-Ecole and the watercress beds in the south of the department…

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