Discover Montrevel-En-Bresse

In Montrevel-En-Bresse, you’ll find a range of starting points for planning your trip: Bresse farm architecture, local history, walking trails, water activities and a pilgrimage site. When choosing a hotel stay, you can first consider which of these themes you’d like to shape your visit. The offerings vary in content, trail lengths and seasonal dates.

Ferme du Sougey: architecture, landscape and Bresse poultry

Ferme du Sougey is one of the oldest surviving farmsteads in Bresse and is classified as a French historic monument. The Domaine du Sougey includes around 50 hectares of meadows surrounding the listed buildings, as well as a historic network of hedgerows. Both the farm architecture and the surrounding Bresse landscape are central to the site.

The Les plumes dans le bocage discovery trail is located on the grounds. This 550-metre educational trail has nine stops covering the bocage landscape, built heritage and Bresse poultry. The topics combine natural and cultural history; the trail is also clearly distinct from longer circular routes. Les Amis du Sougey organise guided tours and events on the grounds. Aloïs Gury offers visits to his Bresse poultry farm there.

In summer, culinary walks present the architecture and history of Ferme du Sougey on Thursdays from 2 to 6 pm. This is a seasonal offering, so check the current dates before your trip. The focus is on the farm and its history, while the educational trail also covers the bocage, heritage and poultry.

Local history, trails and water activities

In the town centre, the freely accessible Parcours historique is a self-guided circular tour passing ten numbered stops. A paper map and explanatory panels accompany the tour. It’s a way to discover local history on foot, without having to allow for a set walking time.

Another walking option is Le Tour du grand lac: this easy circular route is 6.5 kilometres long and starts in Montrevel-En-Bresse. By comparison, the Sougey educational trail is much shorter at 550 metres, so the two routes differ clearly in length. Which one better suits your plans depends on whether you’d prefer to focus on the farm’s themed stops or take a longer circular walk.

Grand Lake covers 90 hectares and has a 500-metre-long developed beach. The lake offers fishing and water sports such as canoeing, pedal boating, electric boating and catamaran sailing. Seasonal availability of these activities may vary and should be taken into account when planning. The section with Île aux oiseaux is part of a ZNIEFF; protected bird species breed there in spring.

Sanctuaire de Cuet also has a pilgrimage connection: it welcomes pilgrims following in the footsteps of Pierre Chanel. Together with the historic tour and the trails at Sougey, it offers another thematic perspective for planning your trip, this time focused on spirituality.

Weekly markets and poultry traditions

Montrevel-En-Bresse has two weekly markets, on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. As market times may change, it’s worth checking the current schedule before your trip. The Glorieuses de Bresse is another highlight of the local poultry tradition: the event is also held in Montrevel-En-Bresse every year. Around 30 breeders present nearly 800 poultry specimens there.

Bresse chickens and Bresse capons with A.O.P. status are sold at the Glorieuses de Bresse. The poultry is presented in a traditional rolled Bresse-style form. If you’d like to include this event in your trip, check the dates for the relevant year. This lets you plan for the seasonal offerings and regular markets separately.

Discover more destinations: Péron, Chavannes-Sur-Suran, Chazey-sur-Ain, Oyonnax, Thil, Pirajoux, Ambronay, Hotonnes.

For the broader travel overview: Ain.