Discover Charly: Culture and Nature

Charly offers a range of options for planning your trip, from historic buildings and heritage to walking routes and landscapes. If you’re looking for a hotel in Charly, you can first consider whether local history, walks or nature will be the focus of your trip. Information about route lengths and durations can help you assess the different options; Domaine Melchior Philibert, Église de Charly and the Plateau des Étangs each offer something different.

Choose walking routes by duration and character

The Parcours des Hauts de Charly is a five-kilometre circular route with a stated duration of one hour and 40 minutes. It follows roads and paths through orchards. The route also offers views of Château de Charly. Its route, orchards and views combine landscape and heritage in a longer walk.

Two shorter routes each have a stated duration of one hour: the Parcours de l’Étang de Virieux is a 3.2-kilometre circular route through green spaces. Its defining features include waterside relaxation and pollarded trees. The Parcours du Plateau is 3.3 kilometres long and combines roads and paths. The similar time estimates therefore describe routes with different characteristics: green spaces and water at Étang de Virieux, and a mix of roads and paths on the Parcours du Plateau.

For planning your time, the difference between these one-hour walks and the Parcours des Hauts, which takes one hour and 40 minutes, is a useful guide. The information describes the duration and route, not the difficulty level. If you want to combine a walk with a particular point of interest, the Parcours des Hauts offers views of Château de Charly, while water and green spaces are the focus at Étang de Virieux.

Charly also has three signposted nature trails with information panels. They are designed to help visitors learn about the natural heritage of the municipality. These are distinct from three family-friendly heritage trails, which explore notable public and private buildings as well as rural and lesser-known heritage. Alongside the specific walking routes, there are therefore also options focused on nature or on the history of buildings and the area.

Historic buildings and cultural season

Domaine Melchior Philibert dates back to the 14th century. The entire estate has been listed in the Monuments Historiques register since 2003. Its landscaped grounds include a park and viewpoint, remnants of French gardens, orchards, a kitchen garden, a pond and a small wood. These varied features make the estate a destination in its own right for exploring Charly’s heritage and landscape.

The Domaine is also home to Théâtre municipal Melchior. Each year, it hosts a municipal cultural season featuring performances, conferences, concerts and film screenings. If you’d like to include an event in your travel plans, check the dates in advance.

Another historic building is Église de Charly: the Romanesque church dates from 1225 and was extended with a Gothic choir around 1555. Its features include 19th-century murals by Jean-Baptiste Frenet and 20th-century stained-glass windows by Raphaël Lardeur and Robert. The church’s architectural history and artworks offer different ways to explore its place in time.

The natural environment of the Plateau des Étangs

The Plateau des Étangs is another of Charly’s natural attractions. Charly works with Irigny, Vernaison, Saint-Genis-Laval and the Métropole de Lyon to maintain and enhance it. The plateau is designated an Espace Naturel Sensible (sensitive natural area) because of its landscape, ecological, wildlife, botanical and agricultural richness. This designation adds context to the local route descriptions by highlighting the importance of the natural area, without shifting the focus away from individual walking routes.

First decide which of these places you’d like to explore during your stay.

Discover more destinations: Messimy, Saint-Pierre-La-Palud, Jonage, Dardilly, Saint-Genis-Les-Ollières, Sarcey, Amplepuis, Civrieux-d'Azergues

For the wider travel overview: Rhône.