The 21 things to do in the Loire

Do you know the department of Ligeria? Discover the 21 essential things to visit in the Loire!

Located in the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, visit the Loire allows you to discover its natural and historical treasures. Located between the mountains of Lyon and the mountains of Forez, crossed from the north to the south by the Loire, it offers landscapes between mountains and plains, between forests and rivers.

Whether you’re a hiking enthusiast, a bike fan or a riding lover, or you just enjoy watching the time that passes in front of a superb viewpoint on the surrounding valleys, you won’t be disappointed with the trip!

The Loire is also a rich architectural heritage, where religious buildings and medieval castles combine beautiful Renaissance-style houses, in the heart of small villages of character. The Loire is finally the municipalities where it makes good living, such as Saint-Etienne or Roanne, modern cities that have not denied their past.

Want to visit the Loire? Here are the 21 things not to be missed!

1. Saint-Etienne

Saint-Etienne is not the city to which one thinks spontaneously to make tourism. However, it is nice to spend a few days there. Walk through the picturesque streets of the historic centre, go shopping in the Saint-Jacques Chavanelle district, pass through Place Neuve, visit Saint-Charles-Borromeo Cathedral, before lunch on the square Jean Jaurès .

Learn more about Stephanian know-how through ages by visiting the Art and Industry Museum, before discovering the secrets of the city’s mining past at Puits Couriot. Contemporary art lovers will turn to the Cité du Design and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Are you pretty sporty? Meet at the Musée des Verts, the famous stephanoise football team.

For the youngest as the greatest, visiting the Loire and Saint-Etienne, it is also attending a magic show at the Metamorphosis theatre or travelling in space at the planetarium!

2. The Church of Ambierle

Visit the Loire and its historical heritage will lead you to many medieval religious buildings. Located in the northwest of the department, this ancient abbey founded by the Benedictines was destroyed and rebuilt in the 15th century, on the remains of a parish church. You can admire the altarpieces of the Passion of Christ, as well as a statue of the Virgin.

3. The orientation course

What to do in the Loire? Run! You might not know it, but the department of the Loire is the must in terms of orientation race! No less than 300 cards cover more than 330 km2 of playground for the most experienced riders like the great novices.

These courses can even be made by skiing or cycling! The varied terrains of the department offer an ideal setting to take care of this activity, which you don’t necessarily think about when you leave on holiday. Let yourself be tempted!

4. The Benedictine Abbey of Charlieu and the Convent of the Cordeliers

Charlieu is a lovely character village, located on the way to Santiago de Compostela. If Charlieu is in himself a site full of history, between half-timbered houses and medieval streets, it also houses an exceptional heritage. You can’t visit the Loire without discovering the Benedictine abbey, admirable Romanesque art building.

5. The raids nature

What to do in the Loire when you are addicted to sport? Hold the Raid Nature 42! You only have to set up a team of three people and start your adventure! A true sporting challenge, the nature raid makes you discover the Ligérian landscapes through several sporting disciplines: mountain biking, skiing, climbing, run and bike, trailing, climbing, archery, basketball, FTT, Cimgo, Joëlette or laser shooting. There are four levels of difficulty and therefore four courses.

Only one is non-chronometre and without ranking. This is the family raid, which has four disciplines for a fifteen-kilometre journey. It is open to children over the age of 10. The sporting raid, the discovery raid and the handisport raid are timed, and offer courses from forty-five to seventy kilometers, twenty-five kilometers and fifteen kilometers respectively.

6. The culinary specialties of the Loire

Visiting the Loire is also taking the time to satisfy its taste buds! What if the culinary specialties were as tasty as their name is amazing? Enjoy a delicious lamb of the Adret, before you can try cheeses such as Montbrison’s oven, Condrieu’s rigotte or Charolais.

You will finish your meal with a bug, that is, a succulent donut. For another meal, start with Charlieu’s frog, before discovering the quenelles, the herbal dildos or the Barboton, accompanied by cardons.

For dessert, why not melt for a matefaim or a billion cherries? A Côte Roannaise, a Côte du Forez or a wine from the Pays d’Urfé can accompany your dishes. Enjoy!

7. The tourist train of the belvederes

Visiting the Loire can also be on track, taking its time. For the pleasure of the youngest – and the youngest! – the small Belveder train allows you to discover two views in a playful way. This three-and-a-half-kilometre walk from the viewpoint of Commelle, along Lake Villerest, before joining the Magneux viewpoint.

You will learn more about the history of the dam, the lake and the surrounding landscapes. The small train runs every day in the summer and every weekend from May to September. Count about an hour and a half walk. If the circuit has opened your appetite, lunch on the view of Commelle at the inn of the same name!

8. Montverdun

The two points of interest of this village, located 50 kilometers northwest of Saint-Etienne, are the fortified priory and the peak on which it lies. The building dominates the land of the Forez, since its basaltic piton. Founded in the 11th century by Augustines, it became a Benedictine monastery two centuries later.

You can visit the site freely or as part of a guided tour. The site also organizes exhibitions and concerts. It is finally possible to stay at the Priory, as many pilgrims did in the direction of Saint-Jaques de Compostela.

9. The Pilat massif

Visiting the Loire is a great opportunity to satisfy your soul as a hiker. Located a few kilometers from the city centre of Saint-Etienne, the Pilat Regional Natural Park offers you a thousand and a trail winding through beautiful landscapes and gives you access to magnificent views, such as the Gouffre dam of Hell, the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret or Pas-du-Riot.

If you have time, don't miss the visit of the Saint-Croix-en-Jarez charter. The Topo-Guides of the Loire can help you identify the hike that suits you, depending on the distance, the elevation, and the location.

10. The village of Pommiers and its priory

Located at the foot of a hill named Buissante hill, the village of Pommiers is interesting for the richness of its architectural heritage. Walk through the streets of Pommiers, looking for beautiful houses of masters or limestones.

The local jewel is of course the church of Saint-Barthélemy, dating from the 12th century. From the village you can also reach the chapel of Buissante, from which you will have a superb view of the region.

11. The Chalmazel station

Chalmazel is an average mountain resort, located about 1,300 m above sea level, which allows you to practice many sporting activities in both summer and winter. Between skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing or snowshoeing in snowy weather or mountain biking, hook-branche and freestyle during the summer, visiting the Loire is an exciting experience!

12. The castle of Couzan

With castles perched on rocky promontories, the department of the Loire is undoubtedly a territory full of history, which has nevertheless been able to integrate the landscape into these architectural designs. Couzan Castle is an 11th century building built by the Bourguignons.

Great testimony of the military past of the region, this fortress is also a great opportunity to admire the country of Forez from the foot of the fortified enclosures of the monument.

13. The bicycle

The Loire is also an ideal department for cyclists. With 150 kilometers of bikeroutes or green tracks, you should find the course adapted to your gambettes! For example, you can start on the twenty-five kilometers of the Véloire, from the marina of Roanne and explore the Roannais.

Pedal along the "quiet canal", admire the Castle of Cornillon, discover the Gravière with birds, continue to the port of Briennon and visit the péniche-musée. Then take an old railroad, pass on a metal bridge and then head to Saint-Nizier-sous-Charlieu or to Charlieu.

Visiting the Loire at another pace and from another angle, this is what Bicycleire offers!

14. Saint-Bonnet-le-Château

Come and stroll through the medieval streets of Saint-Bonnet-le-Château. Then leave the Middle Ages to admire the façades of Renaissance-style houses. It is under the protective and benevolent eye of the Gothic collegiate that the village dominates the Forez plain. The petanque enthusiasts will travel a few extra kilometers to visit the International Museum of Pétanque and Boule d’Usson!

15. The Rhône valley from Crêt de l’Oeillon

One of the department’s most beautiful views is probably the Crêt de L’Oeillon. From its 1 367 meters above sea level, you will dominate the Rhone valley and will be able to see the Mont Blanc chain in good weather. The Crêt is accessible by an average difficulty hike from the village of Saint-Sabin.

Count a little more than four hours on a ten-kilometre round trip. The positive elevation is 387 metres.

16. The castle of the Urfé Building

The Château de la Bâtie d’Urfé is a superb architectural testimony of the Renaissance, but also a setting that contains some treasures in its bosom. Discover an amazing and singular cave of rocks, a surprising sphinx or a chapel of the sixteenth century and its Italian paintings.

17. The circuit of the villages of character

The Loire is a department where each village hides an architectural jewel and where a proper identity has been established.

Discover the treasures of the region by making the circuit of character villages. From Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez to the Crozet, to Saint-Haon-le-Châtel and Champdieu to Malleval, you will thus be able to give you a more precise idea of the ligérian heritage beauties:

• The Charterreuse of the 13th century of Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez;
• The view of the roanna coast from the Crozet dungeon;
• The Benedictine Abbey of Ambierle;
• The manors of the Renaissance of Saint-Haon-le-Châtel;
• The alleys of Saint-Jean-Saint-Maurice;
• The Priory of Champdieu;
• The rivers of Marols

A brochure made by the department is available online and will guide you to visit the Loire and its villages without a miette.

18. Blacktable water plan

Visiting the Loire is also relaxing. You will surely enjoy refreshing yourself if you discover the department in summer. Between a castle visit and a sporting afternoon, come and swim in Blacktable, a pleasant plan of water located about thirty kilometers southwest of Roanne.

The site is equipped to offer you all the necessary comforts to allow you to install on the sandy beach before tasting the water temperature.

19. Gorges de la Loire en ULM

Would you like to visit the Loire by taking the height? Many different clubs and sites welcome you to discover several flight sports, including the ULM. You can fly over the gorges of the Loire all year, provided, of course, that the weather is key.

Dare the baptism of the air and offer an unforgettable memory! If you love strong sensations and become addicted to life in the air, you can also make a parachute jump or discover the surroundings in glider.

20. Roanne

Located an hour’s drive north of Saint-Etienne, Roanne is a city of water and history. Crossed by the Loire, the Renaison, the Oudan and the Rhins, Roanne is also the starting point of the canal that leads to Chavane. On the architectural level, take the time to discover the 12th century dungeon, the guesthouse or the Bourbonnaise House and its shaded facade.

Roanne is also a city of crafts and gastronomy. Craft shops like markets no longer count!

21. Essalois Castle

If the gorges of the Loire are an ideal playground for many water or air sports, they also keep traces of the past of the region. Between nature and History, Essalois Castle is a medieval vestige that keeps the places peacefully.

How to get to the Loire?

By train , you can surrender Paris in Saint-Etienne in about 3:30. It is often necessary to change in Lyon, then take a TER. However, there are direct routes that connect the capital to the departmental metropolis in less than 3 hours. You only have to rent a car from the station.

♪ car , count about 5h20 to reach the South of the Loire from Paris. 3 motorways are available to you: A71 , A6 or A77 . Roanne is the nearest city and you will actually win 40 minutes if you decide to stop there.

Since the department is narrow and long enough, you have to take this aspect into account in your internal displacements. It is indeed necessary to plan an hour of road between Saint-Etienne, which is located in the South, and Roanne, in the North.

Finally, for the aircraft the best solution is to land at Lyon-St Exupéry Airport. Stop the bus, train or train renting a car . It will take at least 1h30 per Saint-Etienne rallier.

Where to stay in the Loire?

A Saint-Etienne , it may be interesting sleep in the city centre, to have easy access to many sites and monuments. If you are looking for more calm, opt for Villeboeuf or Fauriel neighbourhoods.

Travelers looking for trendy and alternative neighborhoods will choose the Crêt-de-Roc. Do you prefer a smaller city? Stay in Roanne, in the historic centre. For more authenticity and tranquility, nothing prevents you from travelling itinerantly by spending a night in each of the department’s character villages!

So solutions are not missing! To find the offer that best matches, do not hesitate to use a hotel comparison .

What to do in the Loire? You've got a great program!