I heard a lot about the medieval town of Pérouges already and recently have been shown adverts for the Venetian style carnival that would come up. Coincidentally it was our wedding day, so I thought that this would be a lovely day out. Though I was warned that little kids might find it a bit boring (and my brother was right) we were hoping that the lovely costumes would make up for it.
What is Pérouges?
I am not very good with history and these days a quick Google search or AI request can give you a better answer than I would be able to. So I'll keep it short. It's basically one of the most authentic medieval towns I have seen so far. Everything seems to have been kept in good condition. As soon as you enter the city walls it's like you have been transported into a different century. Quite impressive were the original stone walls and the stone pavements (I highly recommend good and comfortable shoes!). From what I gathered, it seems people still live there, so it's not the typical museum or historical dig & restauration projects that you will see in other places, where people dress up and pretend and go home after. If you are interested more in the history of this place, maybe check Wikipedia, their tourism page, which has a brilliant FAQ, by the way! And I don't mean that sarcastically (i.e.: there are no ATMs, but from our own experience, card payments work everywhere we went).
Parking
The town is about an hour away from where we are. So for us, it made sense to go to there by car. Luckily, Pérouges does have a local parking lot [P1], though we were worried, as it looked rather small and obviously with a special event going on, we weren't sure whether we were able to get another parking spot. My brother said that he parked once on a field that they opened, when it was really busy. Though I could not find any information on this, nor where this field would be, so I was a bit nervous and wanted to leave as early as possible. We arrived at around 10h30 and easily found parking.
But by the time we left at around 14h, it was very busy and people struggled finding a spot. Some cars were parked in the weirdest position in order to be able to still park there. In the end, it's a long strip with access to the left and the right with about 10-14 spots each side. But towards the end the parking strip gets smaller and smaller and in the end some people park alongside the (very small due to bushes) road. Whilst we were there, we didn't see an alternative parking area.
They use EasyPark there. For anyone who is already using the app: you don't need to limit your time. Their camera system works it out automatically. You drive in, you open the app, you say you start parking now and the timer runs until you leave (I'd say about 30sec after you left, the timer stops). For everyone who does not use the EasyPark app, you will - if I understood that properly - have to go to a payment machine which is right in front of the tourism office, you will not miss it as you walk past it when going back to P1.
Access
The parking lot is basically at the bottom of the hill and once you parked your car, you will have about 10min walk up. And whilst there are cars in the town, my assumption is, that only residents are able to go up there. Apart from that, even during our walk, some people parked their cars in such a way, that they are either brilliant in parking or will never ever move that car again. 😊
Generally if you struggle walking uphill, take enough breaks, there are a few benches on the way and a public toilet even, though if you can avoid them... do that. My husband and our daughter used them and my husband insisted on how "disgusting" the toilets were.
The local church had a little parking lot in the back, but again, I could not quite see whether that was for local residents and their visitors or just anyone. Either way I'd recommend to just walk the 10min from P1. Whilst I generally found everything being easily accessible, there was one set of stairs which proved not very wheelchair friendly. But I have to say, with all it's old (round) cobblestone roads and steep paths and streets, I am not sure that the town itself is very wheelchair access friendly.
The Town
After we walked up the path from P1 Parking, we were met with an impressive view across the road. It felt a bit like time-travel. Since our car ride and the walk up we basically crossed the last road and were transported into medieval times. The quality of the buildings is astonishing compared to other places we have been so far. Though partially that's because many medieval places are either being restored or turned into museums or medieval construction sites, whilst people actively live in Pérouges.
The roads are pleasantly wide enough to walk comfortably, though of course there are some cross-sections or paths between houses which are a bit on the small side, but generally it's spacious on the roads, which for me is always important. If there are too many tourists and you are rubbing shoulders in order to get past someone is always one of my main 'icks', especially during hot weather and on this day we were absolutely blessed with sunshine.
As we walked up the main path into town we first reached the church Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. On first look it looks rather weird as it seems rather plain on the outside compared to other churches I am used to (fancy walls and decoration), but you will notice that it's literally integrated into the town 'shape'. If you continue your way past the church you walk through massive town gates which are literally attached or rather constructed into the church walls. It is an impressive view. When you walk into the church it is rather impressive and doesn't look like a normal village church. My first impression was almost as if I had walked into a cathedral. Very spacious, very imposing. And I do love a good stained glass and that church has quite a few of them. Though to be honest, I failed to check whether they are still the originals. Either way, they were beautiful and I was quite lucky with some of the light as it shone perfectly through the right spots.
I mentioned it earlier, the town is obviously being lived in, you can find cars parked in front of some houses and I have no idea how they got their cars there in first place. Yes, the roads are big enough, but to a limit. Also some roads are rather steep and quite honestly, I did my driving lessons nearby and am well aware how to handle a car on a slope, but some roads in Pérouges are so steep, I wouldn't even know how to start the car there, never mind backwards... Then there are the amazing flower displays in front of doors, in mini-gardens or simply climbing up the wall. And it's clear that these flowers don't grow wild, most of them look carefully groomed and tidy.
I spent a lot of time admiring those beautiful flower displays. We were lucky that we just arrived during the wisteria season and the sheer amount of blue and pink blossoms hanging over walls and parks and backyards is astonishing. And when you walk down the roads or little alley you are being bombarded with wafts of sugary sweet galettes, a local speciality. You can't help but stop in one of the few places that sell them to have a bite of this delicious crunchy sweet. As we slowly made our way towards the centre plaza we passed a couple of vending windows and that obviously made us very hungry. So we decided to take an early coffee break and sit down and have a Pérouges style galette. Unfortunately they don't sell them gluten-free, so my husband could only watch us munching away, rather than join us. Though it has to be said... the galette you buy there is not cheap, but as a one-off experience it's a must. The full experience, so-to-speak. 😉
The Event
Originally we planned this trip to see the Venetian carnival costumes and as my brother pointed out that parking can be tough, we considered this a quick morning trip. Well, needless to say it wasn't. We didn't realise that they planned a proper procession at some point, but even the subtle presence of the actors (or impersonators?) really was rather impressive. You walk down an alley and there are a couple of actors presenting their pompous and impressively detailed costumes. I have to say, those guys have a patience that I would not have. The amount of people shouting at them "look here!", "photo here!", "come on, over here!", "look at me!!" is unbelievable. It took a me a bit by surprise, how rude so many people were. This is particularly annoying as some of the actors were so incredibly kind. They approached us admiring their costumes and asked if our daughter would like a photo with them, which was incredibly kind. Unfortunately our daughter is rather of the shy kind and hid behind us, so I could only apologise. But nevertheless, after all these rude people I admire that there's still someone under that mask with patience and seeking out people to invite them taking photos. Who-ever you were... thanks for that, much appreciated!
Some kids, I suppose they were with the actors, also dressed up Venetian style and it was quite impressive. I myself as a parent would have been a bit apprehensive as it clearly meant that they've been objected to some rudeness by all the tourists and photographers in some way. But also the kids did not wear a full mask or permanent half-mask like the adults. One kid had a hand-held mask on a stick that clearly was broken, so all photos were taken with the kids' faces and I as a parent would not like that. Once on the internet always on the internet and if that kid grows up and didn't want that, it cannot be undone. But that's just me...
Apparently they also planned a parade for the afternoon but we didn't plan on sticking around for that long. It was a hot day and the cobblestone streets of Pérouges took quite a toll. Never mind the steep roads...
But it was about lunch time and we thought we'd start looking around, when reality hit us: should have booked! Of course the huge restaurant on the plaza was completely booked and they didn't accept anyone else anymore and so we decided to go for a last stroll, see if anything else is there and then head home, trying to find something on the way. When we walked past a little restaurant and my husband decided to ask anyway. They said they didn't take anymore bookings but would accept walk-ins 10 to 12. As we had 15min we decided to give it a try. Not really because of the restaurant but simply out of desperation and because it was easier than finding something ad-hoc on the way back with a toddler that started to get tired and hungry. So we came back, queued and got a seat and that restaurant surprised us in every way. When we walked in and asked for a table it looked like a tiny restaurant, with a few tables squeezed into a tiny house. Oiiii were we mistaken. The name of the restaurant would have been a clue, but we didn't pay attention. We walked in, past all the tables and were suddenly standing on a terrace overseeing the backside of Pérouges with all the wisterias dangling about and the green trees and bushes and flowers reaching in places where one would wonder how they got there in first place. As we didn't reserve a table we were on the top level of the terrace, the view mostly blocked by parasols, but if you went further down the terrace the view was impressive. And the food was delicious, and plenty and for a non-touristy and realistic price! We were massively impressed and are definitely planning to go back!
Recap
I do think Pérouges is a lovely little medieval town and certainly quite a looker. Though it has to be said, that we were very lucky with the weather, we had sunshine, a little bit of a breeze and we clearly came before the tourist storm.
Whilst I did enjoy myself and took plenty of photos, you need to be interested in these things and also... there is nothing for little children to do. So if you are travelling with little kids, make sure you take some entertainment for them, because they'll let you know they're bored. Or wait for the events, based on the tourism website, they do have quite a few events and we were a bit unlucky, that our daughter was more scared of the costumes (despite liking carnival).
We also went in the morning and we had a lovely wonder around. Though there is a chance you will notice quite a few rude tourists. On multiple occasions I had people walking right in front of my lens whilst trying to take a photo, or as I mentioned earlier, people bossing the artists/actors around and not in a very nice way. I was very surprised about that behaviour, I hadn't experienced that here in France until now. However, staff in restaurants, boutiques or cafés are very friendly and also seem to speak English. The restaurant we went to said, they can adjust for gluten-intolerances, but generally it meant leaving stuff out and if the gluten was in a sauce then they basically dismissed the whole dish. But that seems to be a general French attitude, rather than a single restaurant's.
After lunch (I'd say 13h30) we went for another quick stroll down a road that we didn't go to and then headed towards the parking lot (about 14h) and I have to say, the amount of people that started walking into Pérouges definitely picked up and we probably were quite lucky to leave by then. Even when we got to the parking lot, it was quite full, people started getting desperate for shade and parked in places that didn't look like an actual parking spot and some tried to get every little space to the point that their car bent the bushes that separates the lanes. It's a one way parking, you literally just drive out.
We didn't consider it, as we planned from the start to only stay the morning, but if you want to turn it into a full day out, maybe consider going to Pérouges in the morning and going somewhere else in the afternoon. As much as I enjoyed it, but I think even I'd get bored staying there the full day.
Paying for Parking
As a little note: at the time of me writing this article (or rather our visit to Pérouges), the operator for the parking lot was EasyPark. They do have an app that I highly recommend downloading and setting up your account before going to Pérouges. It literally is a "start the app" and the camera recognising you going through the gates and 30secs after you leave, you get a notification that your parking has ended. If you do not have the app, you are required to go to the parking payment machines at the tourism office (assuming that they work) and then you still have to walk down the hill to get to the car (and I believe there is a timer how long you can take). There are no ATMs, so you can't draw any cash, I have not tried the machines, I am not sure whether you can pay cash anyway. But I thought I'd point it out anyway. Either way, loads of areas that we went to so far, actually use EasyPark, so it's generally a good idea to have it anyway. I know it sounds like advertising (believe me, it's not, I wished...) but what I particularly like about the app (having lived in London for 15 years) is the fact, that you can "prematurely" end parking (i.e. you didn't need the full hour) and you actually only pay what you used and in towns like Belley, they also often have slots where you park for free anyway and the app recognises that, or you get 30min for free for short stays. So have a look at it.