Two-day itinerary through the Somme’s fortified castles around the Amiens Christmas Market 2026 (20 November – 30 December)
Amiens Christmas Market: Two days among the Somme fortresses, from Picquigny to Ham
From 20 November to 30 December 2026, Amiens hosts over a hundred chalets. Spend two days linking the market to the Somme’s fortresses: Picquigny and its 1475 Peace Treaty, Eaucourt, the colossal ruins of Ham, and the Folleville tower.
Editorial journal · Carte des Châteaux ·
Somme, deux jours
On Friday, 20 November 2026, the red chalets of the Amiens Christmas Market return to their place between Place René-Goblet and the town hall, remaining until 30 December. Visitors come for mulled wine and the cathedral’s illuminations; they can stay an extra day to explore what the Somme has long been: a borderland. Between the Kingdom of France, the Dukes of Burgundy, and the English, each crossing of the river had its fortress. Today, powerful ruins—often freely accessible—are best explored in winter, when leafless trees reveal the full extent of the ramparts. This guide offers two loops from Amiens: the Somme Valley westwards on the first day, Ham and Folleville to the south-east on the second, with an evening return to the chalets each time.
Those who shaped these fortresses
Madame de Sévigné
1626 - 1696
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné, is the most celebrated letter-writer of the Grand Siècle. Her letters to her daughter, settled in Grignan, chronicle court and provincial life. In April 1689, she spent four days at Picquigny, where a pavilion still bears her name.
Vincent de Paul
1581 - 1660
A priest born in the Landes, later tutor to the Gondi family—lords of Folleville—he delivered the sermon on 25 January 1617 that sparked the Mission. He later founded the Congregation of the Mission and, with Louise de Marillac, the Daughters of Charity. He was canonised in 1737.
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte
1808 - 1873
Napoleon I’s nephew, he spent his youth in exile and made repeated attempts to restore the Empire, in Strasbourg in 1836 and Boulogne in 1840. Imprisoned at Ham for nearly six years, he was elected President of the Republic in December 1848, became Emperor Napoleon III after the 1851 coup d’état, and died in exile in England.
Raoul de Lannoy
Chamberlain to Louis XI, he rebuilt Folleville’s fortress around 1478, a spot frequented by the royal court. His tomb and that of his wife Jeanne de Poix, carved in marble, occupy the choir of Saint-Jacques church, vaulted with ribbed ceilings and adorned with stained glass bearing the Lannoy arms.
Preparing the weekend
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The route on the map
Two loops from Amiens
Picquigny and Eaucourt to the west, along the Somme; Ham and Folleville to the south-east. Rambures, closed in winter, is best saved for a spring visit.
Markers follow the suggested visiting order. Select a castle to open its page.
Sources
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Day by day
The itinerary
Day 1: the Somme Valley westwards
Depart Amiens in the morning for a walk around Picquigny’s enclosure (about 15 km), then on to Eaucourt-sur-Somme via the valley and its ponds (about 35 km). Return to Amiens in the late afternoon for the market’s evening opening.
Day 2: Ham and Folleville
Drive east to Ham (about 70 km), then Folleville on the return route (about 60 km), before heading back to Amiens, roughly 30 km north.