Bourg en Bresse is a nice town in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region in France. You can easily get to Bourg en Bresse from Paris by train, but I know that many people also discover the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region by car. If you’re in the area, Bourg en Bresse is definitely worth a visit. There are all kinds of things to see and do. On this page I’m sharing the top sights and activities in Bourg en Bresse with you.
Monastere Brou
Monastere Brou is probably the top sight of Bourg en Bresse. This impressive monastery is definitely worth a visit! You can walk around the premises on your own or with a guided tour (in English). There are also audio tours available and leaflets with more information.
The royal monastery of Brou has three cloisters and one beautiful church. I recommend that you save the church for last as it’s absolutely stunning and for me the highlight of my visit to Monastere Brou.
In the cloisters you can find artwork from French, Belgian and Italian painters. And the 16th century sundial on the church square is also worth a quick stop. The total monastery consists over 4,000m2 of buildings for a community that only had about twelve or thirteen monks. You can easily spend a few hours wandering around the cloisters, the church and the green space behind the building.
Patrick Bouvard
Want to satisfy your sweet tooth? Then a visit to Patrick Bouvards bakery is a must! Bouvard makes the ‘Tarte Bressanne’, the famous regional pie. It’s a tart with cream. You make it with brioche dough, a layer of cream and sugar on top. It’s baked for 15 minutes before you can enjoy a slice of local heaven.
The Chocolaterie Douceur Sucrée from Patrick Bouvard next door is also worth a visit. Here they sell all kinds of chocolate creations. Although it’s made locally, they work with the best ingredients from around the world. Patrick Bouvard gets his hazelnuts from Italy and it almonds from Valencia.
Mets & Vins
Mets & Vins is a restaurant where you can enjoy a lovely dinner and you can have a cooking workshop. It’s a great activity to do with a group. At Mets & Vins they work with local products, all fruit and vegetables are from max 20km away. We had a vegetarian cooking workshop and enjoyed a lovely dinner afterwards with two of our own dishes.
As an amuse we had popcorn met wasabi, a seaweed cone with cream and corn and macarons with cottage cheese.
Our first course was a mousse of pumpkin with sesame seeds mousse.
After that we had radishes, fresh cheese, crème fraîche and local vegetables (carrot, radishes).
We made the dessert with sorbet ice cream, mille-feuille, cream and local strawberries ourselves.
La Ferme du Sougey
Ferme du Sougey is a farm that dates back to the year 1460. The last person who lived in the farm, Maria Favier, was a remarkable lady. She was full of stories that attracted crowds from all over the region and even some celebrities like Brigitte Bardot and Jacky Kennedy.
You can visit the farm where time has stood still. There are guided tours for 3.50€ per person (children under 12 are for free).
Every 4 years there’s a big event; a show in French. For 3 weeks in the summer they play it about 11 times. They prepare the show for 2 years. More than 1,000 people visit per night. There was a show last summer so the next one is 2023.
There are 11 different walking routes in the area, one of them starts at the farm. This short walking route will take you along some Bresse chicken farms. These typical red-white-blue chickens get 10 square meters of outdoor field per chicken and is a specialty of the region.
Summer parks
In the summer you can find some pop-up parks in Bourg en Bresse. The park pictured was located next to the theater. There were many big pots with plants, chairs, tables. And this street-art that I absolutely loved.
Griffon d’Or Hotel Bourg en Bresse
My favorite hotel to spend the night in Bourg en Bresse is Griffon d’Or. This brand new hotel is located in a 300 year old building, right in the city center of Bourg en Bresse. Each room is different and unique, which makes the hotel very special. It’s a nice surprise when you open up your hotel door to see which room you’re sleeping in.
The hotel has a sauna and a spa that are accessible for free for hotel guests. It opens up early at 7am and stays open until 10:45pm for after-dinner jacuzzi sessions. You can also book a massage at the hotel.
There’s also a fitness room available at the hotel.
Every morning you can enjoy a nice breakfast at Hotel Griffon d’Or. Most of the products are local, organic and/or homemade.
It’ll give you a great start of your day of exploring Auvergne Rhône-Alpes.
Click here to book your room at Griffon d’Or Hotel.
Click here to read more about the Auvergne Rhones-Alpes region.
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