Out and About

Leisure

Velorail

The Velorail, allows you to get in touch with nature, and let yourself fall in love with the Charente-Limousin! Nature lovers or rail, athletic or not, with family or friends, the vélorail is for everyone! So come on, treat yourself!  With several routes available and bookable by phone or online, this is an experience you cannot miss.

If you want to see more of what the Charente has to offer the town of Confolens also offers electric mountain bike or VTC rental, for an hour or for the day, set off on the most beautiful trails or visit the medieval city. Reservations at 0545711664.

Le Lacs de Haute Charente

Here, the sky is reflected in the Haute Charente lakes. Spread your towel on a sandy beach in the sun for a nap or a swim in the vast lake,or to stroll on the footpaths along the shores of the lakes. Alternatively enjoy a picnic on one of the areas on specially designed banks. Everything is there to facilitate your stay! 

Walk and Ramble - With hundreds of kilometers of hiking the Haute Charente offeres hikers a wide range of ways to explore and discover.Horseback riding can be enjoyed for short excursions to day long treks. As well as fishing all year round A panel of thirteen guidebooks on various towns in the Haute Charente awaits you at the Tourist Office ... Woodland, water, stone ... happiness to discover! and share!

Le Lacs de Peyras

The huge quarries for clay and sand extraction have left excavations that have shaped the topography and some have been reorganized into bodies of water in this region rich in springs and streams.

The Prés de Peyras leisure center consists of a lake for fishing and pedal boat rides, and a pool open to free swimming during the months of July and August.  The leisure center also has a picnic area, and a volleyball court.

A snack bar allows you to eat between swims, it is open from 10 am to 10 pm.

Confolens - Canoe/Kayak

Rent a Canoe, Kayak, Stand Up Paddle or Pedalo on the Vienne in Confolens.  You will be welcomed to the Roches Bleues area in the town of Confolens on the banks of Vienne in Charente.

Discover Vienne, its dams, bridges and monuments from new angles !!! Choose your route from half an hour to the day and come and taste the joys of water with family or friends !!! 

Book online and discover the rental and hiking opportunities .

Heritage

Chateau La Rochefoucauld

Towering above the town of La Rochefoucauld by the River Tardoire in the Charente, the Château de la Rochefoucauld is an impressive castle, with its original 11th century square keep flanked by Renaissance towers.  It is still the residence of the La Rochefoucauld family, one of the oldest noble families in France, and has been in almost continuous ownership since it was first built. Parts of the château are open to the public - there is no garden - and highlights include the beautiful 16th century staircase, highly ornate Renaissance detailing in the ceiling and windows, and the courtyard with its Italianate archways. 

Chateau de Saint Germain

Saint-Germain is built at the confluence of the Vienne and the Issoire. As for the fortified castle , from the top of its promontory, it occupies a strategic position and dominates the territory with its towers. The original fortress was built in the 12th century and modified in the 13th, 15th and 17th centuries.  Although affected by the ravages of time, this fortress retains its towers which delimit the inner courtyard and in the basement of the archers, gunboats and vaulted rooms. 

Guided tours of the castle are offered under the Confolentais Country of Art and History Label. 

Chateau Rochechouart

The Chateau de Rochechouart is a 13th Century Chateau, located at the top of the confluence of the Grene and Vayres rivers in the commune of the beautiful picturesque Rochechouart.It is still possible to visit the 'Hunting Room' where multicoloured frescoes from the early 16th Century are displayed, and the 'Hercules Room' decorated with murals in grisaille from the mid-16th Century.

For those more interested in contemporary art, the chateau also houses the Museum of Contemporary Art where one can admire the works of dadaist artist Raoul Haissman and works of international artists from the 1960's to present day.

Oradour-Sur-Glane

The village of Oradour-sur-Glane, 22 kilometers from Limoges, is known around the world for bearing the traces of the massacre of its population by a unit of the Waffen SS on June 10, 1944.

Since its opening in 1999, the memorial center has been the new access to the ruins of the martyr village. It offers visitors a documented route to explain and understand, through the analysis of history, the unfolding of the massacre of June 10, 1944, to understand the context and the rise of the implacable logic of annihilation having leads to its implementation.

Memorial de la Resistance

The Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure Resistance Memorial was built from 1945 on a hill facing the wooded region where the barracks of the Bir-Hacheim maquis were located. It was Colonel Chabanne, head of this maquis, who was behind its construction on land donated by Edouard Pascaud, mayor of Chasseneuil and by his son Guy Pascaud, future senator from Charente. It was imagined and produced by the Charente architect, Fernand Poncelet (1910- 1980).