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Travel guide
Haut-Bugey
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to September
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Welcome
Haut-Bugey, in a few days
Between Bourg-en-Bresse and Geneva, the Haut-Bugey is a country of glacial lakes, fir forests and limestone gorges. Nantua has its abbey church and the Ain Resistance museum, Oyonnax tells the story of combs and plastics, the Charabotte falls more than 115 metres and Lac Genin freezes in winter.
- 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 · Lac de Nantua free · 2 to 3 hA glacial lake 2.7 km long at the bottom of the Nantua gorge, up to 43 metres deep, between steep wooded slopes.
- Afternoon · Ain Museum of Resistance and Deportation · about 1 h 30In Nantua's old prison, one of France's richest Second World War collections, on the maquis, the 1943 round-up and deportation.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Nouvel Hôtel€120 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Saint-Michel Abbey Church, Nantua free · about 30 minThe last trace of a Benedictine abbey linked to Cluny: a late 11th-century Romanesque church given early Gothic vaults a century later.
- Afternoon · The Sylans ice houses free · about 45 minRuins of one of the largest ice works in France, where lake ice was cut from 1864 and sent by train as far as Algiers.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel l'Embarcadère€110 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Lac Genin free · about 45 minA small lake in a clearing of firs and spruce above 800 metres, nicknamed the little Canada of the Haut-Bugey, protected since 1935.
- Afternoon · Comb and Plastics Museum · about 1 hOver 16,000 objects tracing how Oyonnax went from carving boxwood, horn and celluloid combs to the heart of Plastics Vallée.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Nouvel Hôtel€120 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Gallo-Roman temple of Izernore free · about 30 minThree corner pillars of a temple from the late 1st or 2nd century, in ancient Isarnodurum, where Roman roads from Geneva and Lyon met.
- Afternoon · Charabotte waterfall free · about 30 minThe Albarine drops more than 115 metres off the Hauteville plateau, one of the highest falls in France, at the head of the Albarine gorges.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel l'Embarcadère€110 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 €80 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to 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/haut-bugey
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.