Peyrat-la-Nonière: Cycling, Hiking and Architecture

Peyrat-la-Nonière offers several specific highlights for a stay: a local cycling loop starts in the village, bikes are available to rent at Étang de Chaux, and buildings add their own cultural and historical interest. You can therefore make cycling, walking and architecture different focuses of your trip. The route type and length are particularly useful when choosing: a circular hike, a stage between two places, and a route with named start and finish points each offer a different kind of orientation.

Cycling around Peyrat-la-Nonière

Local cycling loop No. 31 starts in Peyrat-la-Nonière. It combines physical effort with culinary discovery, bringing exercise and gastronomic experiences together on one tour. The starting point in the village provides a specific reference for planning.

At Étang de Chaux, the association lends bikes free of charge, which you can use to ride around the pond. Three marked hikes also start there. So at Étang de Chaux, you can either cycle around the pond or choose from several walking routes. The bike rental at the pond is a separate offer from local loop No. 31, which starts in Peyrat-la-Nonière.

Choose hiking routes by route type

The Chemin des écoliers is an easy 9.9-kilometre circular hike. Its stated length is accompanied by an easy rating. By contrast, the second stage of the GRP® – Boucle coeur de Creuse covers 17 kilometres from Peyrat-la-Nonière to Saint-Domet. It is a stage between two named places. This means you can choose between a circular route and a longer connection with fixed endpoints.

The Chemin du Chiroux also has clearly named start and finish points: it begins and ends at the Stade in Peyrat-la-Nonière. When choosing a route, you can therefore decide whether you prefer an easy circular hike of a known length, a 17-kilometre stage between two places, or a route that starts and finishes at the Stade. The Eglise Saint-Vincent is listed as a sight or monument along the second GRP® stage.

Buildings and architectural details

The first two bays of the nave of the Ancienne abbaye de Bonlieu remain; the apse is in ruins. A bay is a section of the nave. The surviving parts and the ruins therefore offer different impressions of the abbey’s remaining structure.

The Eglise Saint-Vincent brings together several periods of construction: the portal and choir date from the 12th century, and the chapel from the 16th century. There is also an old granite holy-water stoup with twisted ornamentation. The building therefore showcases both elements from different periods and a striking detail of its furnishings.

The Château du Chiroux stands out for its dovecote, which has 1,166 nesting niches. This exact figure makes the niches themselves an important feature of the building: it draws attention not only to the dovecote as a whole, but also to its architectural structure.

The Château de Mazeau has a stair tower with a covered gallery. Decorative terracotta motifs can be seen above it. The tower, gallery and motifs above form an easy-to-follow sequence of architectural details. Along with the surviving parts of the Ancienne abbaye de Bonlieu and the different construction phases of the Eglise Saint-Vincent, this focus on individual building elements broadens the range of cultural and historical highlights to explore during your stay.

Discover more destinations: Saint-Étienne-De-Fursac, Châtelard, Lourdoueix-Saint-Pierre, Saint-Agnant-de-Versillat, Saint-Sébastien, Châtel-Guyon, Saint-Georges-La-Pouge, Crocq.

For the broader travel overview: Creuse.