Visit Oise

Not perhaps one of the most important departments for tourists visiting France, the Oise has some places of interest and highlights to divert you and attract your interest, from historical towns and castles to impressive scenery, represented by large forested areas - and a couple of very popular theme parks

Selected places to visit in Oise

The Oise department is located in north-east France, in the Picardy region with Paris to the south and the Somme department to the north. It the eastern half of the Oise that attracts the majority of tourists to the department, and the department's location, just north of Paris, makes the Oise popular with Parisians escaping the city for a while.

Places of interest in the Oise

The 'capital' of the Oise is the town of Beauvais, best known for its important cathedral. There is also an important cathedral in the town of Noyon and another at Senlis. The towns of Chantilly (well known for its horse associations and races) and Noyon have both been listed as 'towns of art and history', and three towns here have been awarded the maximum 4* as 'towns in bloom': Beauvais, Mureaumont and Remerangles.

Monuments

The Oise also has its fair share of impressive castles to visit, the most well known being the Chateau de Chantilly, the Chateau de Pierrefonds, the chateau de Troissereux and the Chateau de Compiegne.

Some of the abbeys in the region can be seen at Royaumont, Chaalis, Ourscamps and Moncel, while you will come across many other churches as you explore - the churches at Saint-Leu-d-Esserent and Morienval are among the highlights.

Oise Villages

You will discover lots of villages as you explore the Oise department, often with attractive churches, traditional village streets or half-timbered buildings. A couple of 'clusters' of villages are particularly noteworthy: Chaumont-en-Vexin, Reilly and Montjavoult in the south-west and Saint-Jean-aux-Bois, Saintines, Montepilloy and Ermenonville in the south-east. The pretty village of Gerberoy (classified among the 'most beautiful villages of France) is also situated in the Oise, to visit along with the neighbouring villages of Lachapelle and Songeons in the western Oise.

More Oise highlights

The Oise Regional Natural Park, covering a substantial part of the south of the department, provides many opportunities to enjoy the lakes and forests of the region, and is often the focus for visitors.

There are a a wide range of historical monuments, and numerous marked pathways, within the park, and also some attractive castles, such as those at Chantilly, Champlâtreux, Touteville, Lamorlaye, and Mont l'Eveque.

The Compiegne Forest is a popular leisure destination, and also the place where the armistice was signed at the end of the First World War - you can visit a replica of the rail carriage where the armistice was signed, east of Compiegne (the original was taken to Germany when France were defeated in 1940, and subsequently destroyed by bombing).

Remarkable gardens in Oise

There are several gardens in Oise officially listed as 'remarkable gardens', at Chantilly (both the Potager des Princes and the castle gardens), and the gardens of the castles at Compiegne, Senlis and Vez.

Theme parks: Oise, Picardy

The most popular attraction in the Oise gets about the same number of visitors as all the other popular tourist destinations put together - the theme park at Parc Asterix! Based around the much loved cartoon character called Asterix, the theme park has all the exciting rides etc that you would expect and is just 30 km north of Paris.

Another adventure park in the Oise is at Ermenonville and is called La Mer de Sable - the park is an adventure experience for children based largely around an extensive sand dune that enables 'wild-west adventures'. La Mer de Sable is the second most visited attraction in the Oise.

A third family-oriented parc with lots of attractions, spectacles, rest areas etc can be visited at Parc Saint Paul.

Oise Museums

Among the museums in the Oise, the 'Living Museum of the Horse', situated in grand stables near Chantilly and dedicated to everything related to horses, is very popular.

Other museums include the departmental museum at Beauvais, one dedicated to Mother of Pearl at Méru, and small museums at Compiegne (the Museum Antoine Vivenel, dedicated to art and archaeology, especially Greek ceramics, and the Museum of the Second Empire) and at Creil (the Museum Gallé Juliet, focus on decorative ceramics).

See a list of all Oise communes

Page in French? See Oise (Francais)