Discover Le Petit-Bornand-Les-Glières

Le Petit-Bornand-Les-Glières offers a variety of ways to enjoy a stay: chapels, religious art, hiking trails, a mountain lake and mountain bike practice areas. If you want to plan your trip around a particular interest, you can choose between heritage, a circular hike and bike-handling skills.

Chapels and religious history

The Chapelle de la Ville was built by local residents in 1638. It is dedicated to Notre-Dame de la Pitié and Saint Claude; a Mass is held there every year in May. Another annual event takes place on 15 August at the Chapelle des Evaux: a Marian pilgrimage and a Mass are held there. The chapel lies on the boundary between the communes of Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny and Petit-Bornand.

The church of Petit-Bornand-les-Glières also has a long history: the first church dates back to the 13th century. The Eglise du Petit-Bornand-les-Glières also contains a fresco painted by George Herman in 1925 in honour of Saint Francis de Sales. The parish appears to have been founded in 1152 under the rule of the Savoyard Count Humbert III by monks from the nearby Abbey of Entremont.

Another work of sacred art is “La Mise au tombeau” in the Église de la Nativité de Marie in Le Petit-Bornand-les-Glières. The painting is a copy of a work by Dirck van Baburen and was listed as a protected object on 28 July 1904. The ovens of La Ville and Termine add a local tradition to the history of the area: volunteers put both back into operation between 1994 and 2004; they continue to provide a reason for celebrations.

Trails to hamlets and into the mountain landscape

The Sentier des hameaux is an easy 7.75-kilometre circular hike, estimated to take about two and a half hours. It passes through the hamlets of Petit-Bornand, including Beffay, Saxias, Le Villard, Chef-Lieu, Les Lignières and Morat, and runs close to a sulphur spring. The route therefore links several named hamlets with a specific natural feature. Conditions may vary seasonally; check them before your hike.

The Sentier des Patriotes has a different historical focus. It connects the village of Le Petit-Bornand in Glières-Val-de-Borne directly with the Plateau des Glières and honours the local residents who gave their lives for the Maquisards. Anyone looking for a trail with an explicitly commemorative purpose can distinguish this focus from the hamlet loop.

Lac de Lessy offers another natural highlight. The mountain lake lies at an altitude of 1,730 metres in the Aravis range and in the commune of Glières-Val-de-Borne (Petit-Bornand-les-Glières). It can only be reached on foot via a hike. Its flora and fauna are described as remarkable. Unlike the circular hike to the hamlets, reaching the lake requires a hike.

Mountain bike practice areas

The Trail Center – Espace VTT is located on Route de Puze in Le Petit-Bornand-les-Glières, 74130 Glières-Val-de-Borne. It includes several mountain bike practice areas with difficulty levels ranging from beginner to challenging. One specific practice area is the 50-metre-long pump track, which has no elevation change and is designed to teach balance and speed. This distinguishes the graded practice areas from the individual pump track, for which the length, elevation change and learning purpose are explicitly stated.

Discover more destinations: Publier, Nâves-Parmelan, Draillant, Saint-Félix, Chavanod, Le Reposoir, Évires, Annemasse

Back to the regional travel overview: Haute-Savoie.