La Bastide-Puylaurent is near the sources of the Allier. For travelers who appreciate hiking and architectural history, there are several specific points of reference: hikes with stated walking times, a 27-kilometer stage of the GR®70, and a church whose construction phases span several centuries. If you are looking for accommodation in La Bastide-Puylaurent, your planned route and its starting point can help you organize your stay effectively.

Hiking: times and distances

The circular route to the Dolmen du Thort starts in La Bastide-Puylaurent. It is classified as a difficult circular hiking route, is 13.9784 kilometers long, and has an estimated duration of five hours. That is considerably longer than the other two routes, with walking times of two hours and one hour and 50 minutes. If you plan to visit the Dolmen du Thort, you should therefore treat the hike as a main focus of your day.

The Val d’Allier route starts in the hamlet of La Bastide, is 6.3 kilometers long, and has a stated walking time of two hours. The hiking route to the Barrage de Puylaurent starts in Puylaurent; its 5.8 kilometers are estimated to take one hour and 50 minutes. The Val d’Allier route is therefore slightly longer and has a stated walking time that is ten minutes longer—a useful comparison when choosing between the two shorter options.

The GR®70 Chemin de Stevenson includes a 27-kilometer stage from Cheylard-l’Évêque to La Bastide-Puylaurent. This makes it almost twice as long as the circular route to the Dolmen du Thort; its distance is on a very different scale from the shorter hikes.

For a shorter day of hiking, the two stated walking times of around two hours offer the more manageable time frame; the five-hour circular hike to the dolmen takes considerably longer. The GR®70, with its stage length, requires a different kind of planning. This makes it possible to compare the routes by time and distance, rather than choosing them by name alone.

Chemin de la Régordane and the church’s construction

The Chemin de la Régordane runs through La Bastide-Puylaurent on a north-south axis. Originally, the town was an inn and a place set up as a rest stop along the route. Its former role as a stopping point connects the town to the history of the route; the north-south axis describes its course through La Bastide-Puylaurent.

The church of Puylaurent was listed as a Monument historique by decree dated June 24, 1976. The walls of the nave of the parish church of Saint-Laurent in Puylaurent may date from the 12th century. A cross-ribbed barrel vault may be attributed to the 14th century; a side chapel was added on the south side in the 17th century.

The building’s history therefore spans several periods, though not all with the same degree of certainty: the dating of the walls and vault is explicitly tentative, while the side chapel is attributed to the 17th century. This distinction is more useful for understanding the church’s construction than the idea that it was built in a single year.

Discover more destinations: Chasseradès, Cheylard-l'Évêque, Mas-Saint-Chély, Barre-Des-Cévennes, Saint-Laurent-De-Trèves, Les Vignes, Le Rozier, Saint-Germain-De-Calberte.

For the main travel overview: Lozère.