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Troyes

In polls of France's most romantic towns, Troyes invariably makes the grade – and with good reason. Its astonishingly intact, ludicrously pretty historic centre wings you back to the Middle Ages, with its warren of cobbled streets, fine ensemble of half-timbered houses in pastel hues, once home to wealthy textile merchants, and uplifting Gothic churches. Often overlooked, it’s one of the best places to get a sense of what Europe looked like back when Molière was penning his finest plays and the Three Musketeers were swashbuckling.

Troyes punches well above its weight culturally, too, with a raft of galleries and museums that are both fascinating and unique, homing in on everything from apothecaries to tools, hosiery and modern art.

Explore Troyes

16th-Century Troyes
Half-timbered houses – some with lurching walls and floors that aren’t quite level – line many streets in the old city, rebuilt after a devastating fire…
M
Musée d’Art Moderne
Housed in a 16th- to 18th-century bishop’s palace, this place owes its existence to all those crocodile-logo shirts, whose global success allowed Lacoste…
C
Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul
All at once imposing and delicate with its filigree stonework, Troyes' cathedral is a stellar example of champenoise Gothic architecture. The flamboyant…
M
Maison de l’Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière
Worn to a sensuous lustre by generations of skilled hands, the 11,000 hand tools on display here – each designed to perform a single, specialised task…
H
Hôtel de Vauluisant
This haunted-looking, Renaissance-style mansion shelters a twinset of unique museums. The Musée de l’Art Champenois is a repository for the evocative…
R
Ruelle des Chats
Off rue Champeaux (between Nos 30 and 32), a stroll along tiny ruelle des Chats (Alley of the Cats), as dark and narrow as it was four centuries ago – the…
É
Église Ste-Madeleine
Troyes’ oldest and most interesting neighbourhood church has an early Gothic nave and transept and a Renaissance-style choir and tower. The highlights…
B
Basilique St-Urbain
Begun in 1262 by the Troyes-born Pope Urban IV, whose father’s shoemaker shop once stood on this spot, this church is exuberantly Gothic both inside and…
L
La Cité du Vitrail
Housed in the barn of the 18th-century Hôtel-Dieu-le-Comte, this free museum dazzles with 25 works of stained glass reaching from the 12th to the 21st…

16th-Century Troyes
Half-timbered houses – some with lurching walls and floors that aren’t quite level – line many streets in the old city, rebuilt after a devastating fire…
M
Musée d’Art Moderne
Housed in a 16th- to 18th-century bishop’s palace, this place owes its existence to all those crocodile-logo shirts, whose global success allowed Lacoste…
C
Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul
All at once imposing and delicate with its filigree stonework, Troyes' cathedral is a stellar example of champenoise Gothic architecture. The flamboyant…
M
Maison de l’Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière
Worn to a sensuous lustre by generations of skilled hands, the 11,000 hand tools on display here – each designed to perform a single, specialised task…
H
Hôtel de Vauluisant
This haunted-looking, Renaissance-style mansion shelters a twinset of unique museums. The Musée de l’Art Champenois is a repository for the evocative…
R
Ruelle des Chats
Off rue Champeaux (between Nos 30 and 32), a stroll along tiny ruelle des Chats (Alley of the Cats), as dark and narrow as it was four centuries ago – the…
É
Église Ste-Madeleine
Troyes’ oldest and most interesting neighbourhood church has an early Gothic nave and transept and a Renaissance-style choir and tower. The highlights…
B
Basilique St-Urbain
Begun in 1262 by the Troyes-born Pope Urban IV, whose father’s shoemaker shop once stood on this spot, this church is exuberantly Gothic both inside and…
L
La Cité du Vitrail
Housed in the barn of the 18th-century Hôtel-Dieu-le-Comte, this free museum dazzles with 25 works of stained glass reaching from the 12th to the 21st…

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Troyes.

See
16th-Century Troyes
Half-timbered houses – some with lurching walls and floors that aren’t quite level – line many streets in the old city, rebuilt after a devastating fire…
See
Musée d’Art Moderne
Housed in a 16th- to 18th-century bishop’s palace, this place owes its existence to all those crocodile-logo shirts, whose global success allowed Lacoste…
See
Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul
All at once imposing and delicate with its filigree stonework, Troyes' cathedral is a stellar example of champenoise Gothic architecture. The flamboyant…
See
Maison de l’Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière
Worn to a sensuous lustre by generations of skilled hands, the 11,000 hand tools on display here – each designed to perform a single, specialised task…
See
Hôtel de Vauluisant
This haunted-looking, Renaissance-style mansion shelters a twinset of unique museums. The Musée de l’Art Champenois is a repository for the evocative…
See
Ruelle des Chats
Off rue Champeaux (between Nos 30 and 32), a stroll along tiny ruelle des Chats (Alley of the Cats), as dark and narrow as it was four centuries ago – the…
See
Église Ste-Madeleine
Troyes’ oldest and most interesting neighbourhood church has an early Gothic nave and transept and a Renaissance-style choir and tower. The highlights…
See
Basilique St-Urbain
Begun in 1262 by the Troyes-born Pope Urban IV, whose father’s shoemaker shop once stood on this spot, this church is exuberantly Gothic both inside and…
See
La Cité du Vitrail
Housed in the barn of the 18th-century Hôtel-Dieu-le-Comte, this free museum dazzles with 25 works of stained glass reaching from the 12th to the 21st…

Guidebooks

Learn more about Troyes

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