The cute city of Troyes (pronounced in French like “trois”) has been on my bucket list for a while. Since it looked small enough to explore in a few hours, I decided on taking a day trip there from Paris and it was a lovely small city. We had a lovely day and Troyes was, indeed, a good choice of location to spend a leisurely few hours.

A Brief History of Troyes

The history of Troyes goes back millennia and it was first a Roman city. Of course a glance at it today would easily tell you that it was a medieval town, where it’s stood in history for centuries. It was an important trading city with fairs in the high middle ages. It caught fire in 1524 and the city burned down, which was not uncommon in the medieval era. However they chose to build everything back to the way it was. What you see now is, amazingly, from the mid-16th century, built to emulate what had been there for even more centuries before. So Troyes is pretty much as medieval a town as you can get in the 21st century!

Visiting Troyes Today

A lot of the medieval architectural heritage of Troyes is preserved, but its heart beats more modernly. A visit is best spent walking around the beautiful streets, lined with shops and restaurants. Be sure to look up to see the colorful half-timber buildings that all seem to tilt this way or that – but never really straight.

Speaking of Troyes’ heart, there is actually a statue called the Heart of Troyes. It’s a new piece dating to 2013, and honestly it’s quite simple. But we visited during the day and apparently it’s a lot more remarkable at night when it lights up to emulate a heartbeat. It has become an icon of Troyes. ♥

The town has a bunch of churches to visit. My favorite was the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. It dates to the 13th century and the stained glass inside is absolutely beautiful. Another one is the Church of Saint Madeleine which has a beautifully carved altarpiece. Though the others were not as notable to me, there are several churches you can see within the old town.

To fill some time on a rainy day, like we did, Troyes has a few museums. The Modern Art Museum was one we opted to see, and don’t get me wrong – it had a great collection and lesser-known works by famous artists. It was just postmodern and that’s not really my cup of tea. A better choice for us may have been the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology.

There’s also the Museum de Vauluisant which is dedicated to the Renaissance era of Troyes. Lots of these museums are housed in beautiful Renaissance mansions that complement the medieval heritage of the town. However, the woes of not travelling solo are that I can’t just pop into all the museums I want to, so we visited only the one.

You may have noticed that Troyes is in the Champagne region of France, which means – as the name implies – this is where Champagne is from! If you don’t have the time to visit a winery, don’t worry – you can stop at Cellier Saint Pierre located right across from the Cathedral. Here you can have a champagne tasting. It’s best to get the French version if you can, but they do have an English booklet on champagne, its history, how it’s made, and what qualities to look for in a champagne. The tasting includes 3 different champagnes.

It’s also here you can ask for a free sample of Prunelle de Troyes, which is a liqueur made from sloe (also called blackthorn). I thought this sounded good but alas, I did not like it. But I’m not big on liqueur either way.

It is helpful to keep in mind that a lot of businesses are shut from 12-2:00 for lunch. It’s still very much a local town rather than one for tourists.

Ironically, the old town of Troyes is shaped like a champagne cork. I do advise taking the time to walk around all the different streets and not just the main ones, because there are super cute gems to see. Be sure to look at the woodwork of the half-timber houses because there are often carvings that add a touch of character to each building.

The main draw of Troyes is its medieval heritage. There are even some triangles with what looks like a crusader on it to guide you around the city. We spent a few hours wandering around the old town and that was enough to see what we wanted.

We found Troyes to be a cute, relaxed town. It’s been quite modernized and has a more limited selection for what to see and do for visitors, but we enjoyed our time there nonetheless. It should definitely be kept on your list of places to visit in France, and potential day trips from Paris.

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