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Travel guide
Angoulême
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June, and September
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Welcome
Angoulême, in a few days
Angoulême is the French capital of comics, with a museum of original artwork, around thirty painted murals and an international festival every January. It is also a walled hilltop town with a Romanesque cathedral front crowded with sculpture, a papermaking past, and Cognac 45 km away.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Comics Museum · about 1 h 30Housed since 2009 in former merchants' warehouses on the Charente, the comics museum holds a major collection of original comic art.
- Afternoon · Paper Museum · about 1 hAngoulême was a French capital of paper, cigarette paper above all; the museum fills a former paper mill built over the Charente.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel du Palais€95 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Saint-Pierre Cathedral free · about 30 minA domed Romanesque cathedral consecrated in 1128, whose west front carries dozens of carved figures around the Ascension and the Last Judgement.
- Afternoon · Angoulême ramparts free · about 1 hWalls that almost ring the hilltop town above a bend of the Charente, following the line of the late Roman enclosure.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Mercure Angoulême Hôtel de France€140 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Town hall and the upper town free · about 1 hPaul Abadie's 19th-century town hall keeps two towers of the counts' castle; around it lie Place du Minage, the iron market hall and cobbled lanes.
- Afternoon · The painted walls trail free · 2 to 3 hAround thirty comic-strip murals by artists such as Dupuy and Berberian, Boucq and Schuiten, featuring Lucky Luke, Titeuf and Blake and Mortimer.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel du Palais€95 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Château de La Rochefoucauld · about 1 h 30Still owned by the family of the author of the Maxims, with an 11th-century keep, a Renaissance courtyard and a monumental spiral staircase.
- Afternoon · Old Cognac and the Charente quays free · about 1 h 30Cobbled lanes of merchants' houses lead down to the river, their walls blackened by a fungus that feeds on the evaporating spirit, the angels' share.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Mercure Angoulême Hôtel de France€140 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Baguette: the daily bread, bought fresh from the boulangerie. Ask for a "tradition", made with nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat: breakfast pastries, best in the morning while still warm.
- The cheese course: served after the main dish and before dessert, from Comté to Camembert.
- Steak frites: the bistro standard. Order it "saignant" for rare or "à point" for medium.
- Galettes and crêpes: savoury buckwheat pancakes from Brittany filled with ham, egg and cheese, then sweet ones for pudding.
- House wine: ordered by the carafe or the "pichet" at lunch, and often better value than a bottle.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Say "bonjour" when you walk into a shop, a bakery or a café, and "au revoir" as you leave. Skipping it comes across as rude.
- Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm and dinner starts around 7.30pm. In between, most restaurant kitchens are closed.
- Most shops close on Sunday, and many small towns shut on Monday too. Bakeries and markets open on Sunday morning.
- Do not pay for bottled water at the table: ask for "une carafe d'eau", tap water that is served free with a meal.
- Around the big Paris sights, walk past anyone with a petition or a friendship bracelet. They are there to distract you while someone else takes your wallet.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €90 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June, and September
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingService is included by law, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/angouleme
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.