(Published January 2013, last updated August 2024) Founded by monks in 785 CE around a priory gifted by King Charlemagne to the Abbey in nearby Charroux, the breathtakingly beautiful village of Collonges-la-Rouge has grown and prospered throughout the centuries. Although its fortunes have sometimes fluctuated—a thriving wine industry was decimated in the nineteenth century by […]

(Published July 2024) Founded in the eleventh century, Martel was once the capital and commercial hub of the Turenne region. All that remains of the walls that once protected the town are seven towers—earning Martel the nickname la ville aux sept tours. In 1994, Martel acquired a new classification—Site Remarquable du Goût (goût meaning taste […]

(Published November 2015, last updated March 2024) Each time I visit Le Puy-en-Velay, I find something else about it to love and it is now one of my favourite places to visit in France. Although the town sprawls over quite a large area, the historical heart is a charming mixture of quaint alleys, colourful houses […]

(Published May 2013, last updated April 2024)   Located eighteen kilometres (11.3 miles) past Martel on the GR 46—GR 480 path, Turenne is the perfect place to stop after your first day of walking. It’s also the second of nine ‘most beautiful villages’ you’ll visit on this long-distance walk which winds 127 kilometres (80 miles) from […]

(Published July 2023, last updated March 2024) A little over 60 kilometres (almost 40 miles) beyond Le Puy-en-Velay, the Chemin de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle reaches the gîte at Le Sauvage, considered by many as a ‘must-do’ overnight stop. Historical records show that as long ago as the twelfth century, the road traversing the Margeride region […]

(Published March 2021, last updated March 2024) In August 1878, Robert Louis Stevenson left Paris and travelled south to the town of Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille. He described the country as “beautiful, rather too like the Highlands (of Scotland), but not so grand. The valley of the Gazeille below the village is my favourite spot; a winding […]

(Published August 2013, last updated March 2024) The view of the church tower surrounded by ancient stone houses in the tiny village of Aubrac never fails to set my heart aflutter! It’s the same view that has greeted pilgrims and long-distance walkers for the last 900 years. But there is more to Aubrac than historic […]

(Published July 2013, last updated March 2024) Long ago in the fifteenth century, before France was united under one king, this corner of France was ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, who were based here in Dijon. It wasn’t until 1477, after the death of the Duke Charles the Bold, that the area came under […]

(Published April 2013, last updated March 2024) A church, a school, a café, several small hotels or chambres d’hôtes—Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac is the quintessential rural French village, a place where the locals carry on with daily life, unperturbed by the steady stream of long-distance walkers passing though (although they do a fine job of looking after them!). […]

(Published January 2016, last updated March 2024) Between Le Puy-en-Velay and Figeac, the Chemin de Saint-Jacques passes though three of France’s ‘most beautiful villages’. The first of these is Saint-Côme-d’Olt which, if you are following my suggested itinerary, you’ll reach at the end of the ninth day of walking.  Many of the highlights are located […]

(Published March 2013, last updated April 2024)  Known as la Ville Rose for the beautiful red brick buildings lining the streets, Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France and the starting point of a long-distance walk—or a boating holiday—along the Midi Canal.  Everything you’d expect to find in a city of almost half a […]

(Published February 2016, last updated March 2024) So far the walk along the Chemin de Saint-Jacques du-Puy has passed through many delightful villages. Most have been quite small and wandering around without getting lost has not been a problem. By comparison, Espalion is a large, busy town, with several grocery stores, pharmacies, banks and restaurants to […]

(Published April 2013, last updated April 2024) Clinging precariously to the side of a cliff high above the Alzou gorge, the sacred city of Rocamadour is a breath-taking sight. Considered the second most important religious site in France (after Mont-Saint-Michel), the town attracts a steady stream of visitors. Let’s join them and explore this historic […]

(Published October 2016, last updated March 2024) A recent addition to the ranks of France’s most beautiful villages, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is a delightful note on which to end a long-distance walk along the Chemin de Saint-Jacques du-Puy. I’ve enjoyed many unforgettable moments here. Before you scroll to the bottom for practical tips on where to stay […]

(Published September 2013, last updated April 2024)  Founded in 1118 by Saint Bernard, Abbaye de Fontenay is the oldest and one of the most beautifully preserved Cistercian abbeys in Europe. Occupying over 1,200 hectares of land in a wooded valley, it enjoyed a peaceful existence for most of its first seven hundred years—interrupted only by […]

(Published May 2013, last updated March 2024) One hundred and sixty-eight kilometres (105 miles) after leaving Le Puy-en-Velay, the Chemin de Saint-Jacques reaches the ‘most beautiful village’ of Estaing. Sitting on a bend of the River Lot and dominated by an imposing eleventh-century château, the village presents a breath-taking view—almost daring you to keep walking […]

(Published November 2020, last updated March 2024) The picturesque village of Pradelles is classified one of France’s ‘most beautiful villages’—in fact, it is the only ‘most beautiful village’ along the GR 70 Chemin de Stevenson. Named for the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson who made this journey on foot with his donkey Modestine in 1878, this […]

(Published December 2015, last updated March 2024) Consisting of barely more than a church, a hotel and a few dozen houses, the village of Espeyrac packs a lot of charm into the narrow streets and is a delightful place to stop for the night on a long-distance walk along the Chemin de Saint-Jacques du-Puy. A […]

(Published January 2016, last updated April 2024)  Until the middle of the fifteenth century, village life in this part of France was centred in nearby la Combe. But, by the time the Hundred Years War had ended in 1453, the village had been destroyed. All that remains today is the tiny chapel dedicated to Saint-Hilaire. […]

(Published February 2013, last updated March 2024)  Most villages in France lure you in with enticing glimpses of a church steeple, visible from afar across green rolling hills. Not Conques! It is only as you descend into the village that the towers of the magnificent Abbaye de Sainte-Foy rise up to greet you.  Conques is […]

(Published October 2013, last updated March 2024) Classified as a ville d’art et d’histoire, and home to a magnificent replica of the Rosetta Stone, Figeac is the perfect place to break for a day or two from walking along the Chemin de Saint-Jacques. There is much to do here in town and within an hour […]

(Published June 2013, last updated April 2024) Nestled on the banks of the Céré River and blessed with rich alluvial soil, Bretenoux is an ideal farming area and busy market town, first settled in the ninth century. Four hundred years later, Baron Guérin de Castelnau, who ruled the region from the nearby Château de Castelnau-Bretenoux, […]

(Published August 2013, last updated March 2024) Long ago, in the tenth century, Benedictine monks arrived in this corner of southern France. They built an abbey in a clearing in the forest beside the Célé River and lived here in peace for four hundred years. In 1368, during the Hundred Years War, the abbey—dedicated to […]

(Published November 2013, last updated April 2024) One of the loveliest of France’s most beautiful villages, Flavigny-sur-Ozerain is perhaps best known as the setting for the film Chocolat starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. Long before then though, in the first century BC, Julius Caesar set up camp on the hill here, while at war […]

(Published March 2013, last updated March 2024) When André Breton, co-founder of the Surrealist movement, arrived in the village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in the 1950s, he declared that he never wanted to be anywhere else. He bought a house and spent each summer here until his death in 1966. It’s not hard to see why he […]

(Published January 2016, last updated April 2024)   Nestled at the bottom of a wide gorge surrounded by high limestone cliffs lies the medieval village of Autoire. First settled in Roman times, Autoire was devastated during the Hundred Years War with the English during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. All that remains from those earliest days […]

(Published May 2013, last updated March 2024)  Two thousand years ago, long before France was France, the Roman invasion was spreading throughout the known world. In the first century BC, a small settlement on a corner of land bordered on three sides by the River Lot, was conquered and the town of Cahors was established.  […]

(Published January 2016, last updated April 2024)  Life is about the journey, not just the destination—or so they say—and the sight of Châteauneuf-en-Auxois perched high on a hill overlooking the Burgundy Canal demonstrates beautifully that the anticipation is often just as delightful as arriving. Visible for several kilometres as you walk along the canal, the […]

(Published November 2013, last updated March 2024) Towards the end of the twelfth century, two noblemen approached Raymond V, Count of Toulouse, with a proposal to build a château and 200 houses on a hill in the Quercy region, known now as the village of Lauzerte. It was perhaps, the start of the very first […]

(Published November 2013, last updated April 2024)  Five days of easy walking along the Midi Canal from Toulouse brings you to Carcassonne—a large, busy town divided into two distinct sections. The lower town (Ville Basse) surrounds the canal and accommodates the train station and all the modern commercial activities. On the edge of town, and […]

(Published December 2013, last updated March 2024) Legend has it that, following his victory over the Visigoths at the Battle of Vouillé in the sixth century, the Catholic King Clovis I had a vision—to build a monastery for a thousand monks, on the land where the Tarn and Garonne Rivers meet in southern France. Although […]

(Published April 2021, last updated April 2024) A charming village of tiny lanes, pale medieval stone buildings covered in lush vines and surrounded by flower-filled gardens, Loubressac offers stunning views over the surrounding farmland from its vantage point on a hill high in the Dordogne region of France. Loubressac was one of the earliest ‘most […]

(Published December 2020, last updated March 2024) Perched high on a ridge above the northern bank of the Garonne River stands the ‘most beautiful village’ of Auvillar. Ideally located 21 kilometres (13 miles), or one day’s walk, past Moissac, the village is the perfect choice for an overnight stay when walking along the Chemin de […]

(Published May 2021, last updated March 2024) Protected on both sides by steep ridges, Le Pont-de-Montvert straddles the banks of the River Tarn as it meanders along the valley floor. The village is one of the prettiest towns along the GR70 Chemin de Stevenson, and is the perfect spot to spend a lazy afternoon relaxing […]

(Published February 2021, last updated March 2024) Almost one thousand years ago, in the eleventh century, two monks returning from a pilgrimage to Rome founded a small priory and built a church—dedicated to Notre-Dame—here, where the Hôtel de Ville now stands, in La Romieu. Over the next 300 years, the village grew in prominence. In […]

(Published January 2016, last updated April 2024) Nine hundred years ago, in the eleventh century, Cluny monks built a monastery in a small clearing near the Dordogne River. A village soon developed around the abbey, a château was built next door and high walls protected the occupants.  Today, this slice of medieval history, known as […]

(Published October 2018, last updated March 2024) On the 750-odd-kilometre walk along the Chemin de Saint-Jacques you’ll pass dozens, perhaps hundreds, of churches, chapels and cathedrals. But if you call in to only one on your way from Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, make it Chapelle Saint-Nicolas in Harambeltz.   Chapelle Saint-Nicolas Most walkers pass through […]

(Published June 2013, last updated April 2024) One of the highlights of a walk along the Burgundy Canal will be a visit to Château d’Ancy-le-Franc. Built in the 1540s, the château is one of the earliest, and still one of the best, examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in France. The interior has been painstakingly restored […]

(Published February 2016, last updated March 2024) One of the highlights of a walk along the Chemin de Saint-Jacques du-Puy is a visit to the church of Saint-Pierre, located in the hamlet of Bessuéjouls, three kilometres past Espalion. The bell tower of this ancient church dates from the twelfth century and was left intact when […]