Boucle cyclable F3 : les perles du Forez à vélo : Balbigny / La Bâtie d'Urfé

Situated on the banks of the Loire in a calm location, ideal for outdoor activities: walking, fishing in the Loire. Swimming and paddling pools. Convivial atmosphere. Snack bar, mobile home rental available.

Seasonal cuisine according to the market displays. The freshest products. A warm welcome in a contemporary setting.

From Balbigny to St Jodard by way of Pinay, where a dam was built when the Loire was wild, the river banks invite you to visit on foot, by bike, car or camper van. Many picnic spots and rest areas have been created. Follow the tourist route leaving Balbigny in the direction of Roanne.

Trio Pizz offers eat in, take away, and delivery to Balbigny and the surrounding villages. 50 pizzas, snacks, and salads are on the menu. Now available to order online.

The Church of Cleppé dedicated at first to St Martin then from the XVIIIth century in Notre-Dame, a date for its most former part of the year 1000. In the course of the centuries, it was plundered and modified many and many a time. Therefore, there is not any more much a small Romanic church. The only visible rest of this time is an impressive tank dug in a granite block. It was recognized by the experts as being the baptistry of this time. A magnificent altarpiece representing the baptème was more renewed recently. Between the nave and the choir was emphasized a beautiful Romanic bow in red and grey stretched out stones, and also in the wall the South a more modest bow but of the same polychromatic style. These constructions in color would go back up certainly in the Middle Ages. In XIX ème century, we widened windows, put stained glasses and eliminated the attractive bell tower wall, to transform it into bell tower squared to be able to settle a clock.

A friendly restaurant in a small and welcoming, flower-filled village. Catering service, banqueting, dishes to take away. New: all year round, enjoy our home made chocolates and cookery workshops

Refurbished tower since 1452, was nicknamed Versailles of the Counts of Forez. If you are brave, the ascent of 93 walking, offer at 22m of height, a panoramic sight on the Mountains of the Lyonnais, the Plain of Forez with the Loire and Evening mountains.

Jewel of the Loire heritage, the Bâtie d’Urfé Castle was built in the 16th century with Renaissance style, on the initiative of Claude d’Urfé.The Bâtie d’Urfé is full of unusual features: white walls, external arcade, the Salle des Rocailles with mythological scenes made from pebbles, shells and sand, and the chapel decorated with plaster mouldings, paintings and porcelain, furniture and tapestries. The parterre garden of box hedges and yew trees features a rotunda with a white marble fountain. The site also retraces the history of the d’Urfé family.