The best things to do in Poitiers are the carved west front of Notre-Dame-la-Grande, the Baptistère Saint-Jean (the oldest Christian building in France), the Plantagenet Gothic cathedral with its 1791 Clicquot organ, and a day at Futuroscope 10 km north. Two days covers the old town on foot. Add a third for Futuroscope or the Romanesque frescoes at Saint-Savin, and come in May, June or September for mild weather and thin crowds.
Poitiers stacks seventeen centuries of building onto one hill above the Clain, and almost all of it is walkable in an afternoon. Below are the ten things worth your time (each mapped), plus the food, the festivals and the day trips that justify a second night. One caveat up front: Notre-Dame-la-Grande is shut inside until May 2027, and its facade, the part most people come for, stands outdoors.
Church· 17 Place Charles de Gaulle, 86000 Poitiers
The 12th-century west front is why Poitiers appears on art-history syllabuses: a wall of carved stone laid out like a page, prophets along the base, Christ in glory in the gable, its restored colours picked back out. The interior is closed for a 6.5 million euro restoration of the nave, aisles, choir and axial chapel until May 2027, so plan this as a facade visit and come when the sun is low enough to throw shadow into the carving.
The oldest Christian building in France, and the least showy thing on this list. The core went up around 360 on Roman substructures, in the century of Saint Hilary, the first bishop here. Inside are the octagonal pool used for baptism by immersion until the 8th century, Romanesque and Gothic wall paintings, and a room of Merovingian sarcophagi. Twenty minutes and two euros.
Theme park· Avenue René Monory, 86360 Chasseneuil-du-Poitou
France's immersive-cinema park, open since 31 May 1987 and still doing things no other park does: 3D and 4D screens, simulators, coasters and night shows across more than 40 attractions. Aquascope, the indoor water park at the entrance, opened in July 2024. It has its own TGV station 10 km north of Poitiers, so you can arrive without a car.
Hear the Clicquot organ at Cathédrale Saint-Pierre
Cathedral· Rue Sainte-Croix, 86000 Poitiers
Begun in 1162 and not consecrated until 1369, the cathedral is Plantagenet Gothic at full size, with an immense flat chevet instead of the usual apse. The instrument is the draw: François-Henri Clicquot's largest organ, finished by his son Claude-François in 1791, after the cathedral spent more than a century without one following the 1681 fire.
Find the Camille Claudel room at the Musée Sainte-Croix
Museum· 15 bis Rue Jean Jaurès, 86000 Poitiers
The city's main museum holds the third-largest public collection of Camille Claudel in France: seven sculptures, acquired from the Paris collector André Brisson in 1953 and shown here long before the wider rehabilitation. In 1984 the museum staged the first retrospective devoted to her, with the Musée Rodin. Archaeology and fine art fill the rest.
Walk the pilgrim route into Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand
Church· 24 Rue Saint-Hilaire, 86000 Poitiers
A stop for Santiago pilgrims since the 12th century and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. The interior is the reason to come: a forest of columns carrying a run of small domes, an engineering answer to a nave that was widened after the roof burned.
Climb the Tour Maubergeon at the Palais des ducs d'Aquitaine
Palace· 10 Place Alphonse Lepetit, 86000 Poitiers
The seat of the counts of Poitou and dukes of Aquitaine, with a great hall raised around 1200 under Eleanor of Aquitaine and a keep begun by William IX the Troubadour in 1104, rebuilt in flamboyant Gothic for Jean de Berry. It served as the law courts for two centuries and only opened to the public in 2019, tower included.
The largest park in Poitiers, laid out in the 18th century by Paul Esprit Marie de La Bourdonnaye, count of Blossac, on the line of the old ramparts. Formal avenues on top, an English garden dropping away below, and a view over the Clain valley that explains the site better than any map of the old town does.
Radegund, a Thuringian princess who became a Frankish queen and then a nun, founded the abbey of Sainte-Croix here in the 6th century, the oldest women's monastic community in France. She was buried in this church in 587 and her tomb is still in the crypt below the choir. The building around it is late 11th century, with a 13th-century Gothic nave.
Book a planetarium session at Espace Mendès France
Science centre· 1 Place de la Cathédrale, 86000 Poitiers
The regional science centre, with exhibitions, workshops and a planetarium projecting a sky of more than 4,000 stars. Sessions run 90 minutes, mostly at weekends and daily in French school holidays, and the programme is pitched from about age four upward. It is the one indoor stop here that works in bad weather with children in tow.
Two. The first covers Notre-Dame-la-Grande, the Baptistère Saint-Jean and the cathedral quarter on foot; the second the Musée Sainte-Croix, the Palais des ducs d'Aquitaine and Parc de Blossac. Add a third day for Futuroscope, and a fourth if you want the frescoes at Saint-Savin and the medieval town of Chauvigny.
Is Notre-Dame-la-Grande open to visitors?+
Not inside. The church closed at the end of September 2024 for a 6.5 million euro restoration of the nave, aisles, choir and axial chapel, and is due to reopen in May 2027. The carved west front, which is what most people come to see, is outdoors and visible at any hour.
When is the best time to visit Poitiers?+
May, June and September. The festivals cluster either side of summer (Bruisme in late June, Les Expressifs in early October), and the Musée Sainte-Croix drops its €10 entry entirely from 21 June to 20 September 2026, which makes early summer the best value of the year.
Is Futuroscope worth the trip from Poitiers?+
Yes with children, and yes if immersive cinema interests you at all. The park is about 10 km north at Chasseneuil-du-Poitou and has its own TGV station, so no car is needed. Dated one-day tickets start at €47 for an adult against €59 bought on the gate, so book the date.
How do you get to Poitiers from Paris?+
By train from Paris Montparnasse. Around 18 services run daily over the 292 km, the fastest taking about 1 hr 21 min, operated by TGV INOUI and OUIGO. Poitiers-Biard airport handles a short list of routes including London, Lyon and Edinburgh in summer.
Stone and light
Best churches in Poitiers
Poitiers is still called the ville aux cent clochers. These five are the ones to walk between.
International documentary festival on work, screenings and debates at the TAP. The 17th edition runs 20 February to 1 March 2026.
Late March
Festival À Corps
Contemporary dance and the body, staged by the TAP. The 31st edition runs 25 March to 2 April 2026.
Late June
Bruisme
Three days of free improvised music from Jazz à Poitiers, across the Confort Moderne, the Lieu Multiple and the Palais.
July to August
Poitiers l'été
Two months of open-air programming put on by the city, spread across squares and parks.
Early August
Saxophone en Mouvement
A week of concerts built entirely around the saxophone. The 26th edition runs 3 to 11 August.
Early October
Les Expressifs
Free street arts since 1996: more than 65 shows of theatre, circus, dance, puppetry and digital art in the centre.
Late November
Poitiers Film Festival
Film-school cinema from around the world at the TAP, 27 November to 4 December 2026.
Late November to early January
Marché de Noël
Chalets on Place du Maréchal-Leclerc, plus a big wheel, rides and brass bands through the centre.
Getting around
Poitiers transport & airports
How to arrive and move around the city.
PIS
Poitiers-Biard
The city's own airport, west of the centre. A short schedule: London three times a week, Edinburgh twice a week in summer, Lyon twice a week. A Vitalis bus runs into town in about 20 to 25 minutes for roughly €1.70.
Around 18 trains a day to Paris Montparnasse over 292 km, the fastest in about 1 hr 21 min, on TGV INOUI and OUIGO. The station sits at the foot of the hill the old town stands on.
The old town is compact and genuinely steep. Notre-Dame-la-Grande, the cathedral quarter and Parc de Blossac all sit on the same plateau, with the station and the Clain below it.
A wide, dry butter shortbread topped with flaked almonds. You break it by punching the middle, then everyone takes a piece.
Tourteau fromagé
A goat-cheese cake under a deliberately blackened dome. The burnt crust is the recipe, not an accident.
Chabichou du Poitou
The region's AOP goat cheese, a small truncated cone with a firm, nutty paste. The default end to a Poitevin meal.
Farci poitevin
Greens (sorrel, chard or spinach) and pork wrapped in a cabbage leaf and poached. Cold as a starter, hot as a main.
Macarons de Montmorillon
Soft almond macarons from the town east of Poitiers, made to a recipe families have kept to themselves for generations.
Mogettes
Flat white beans, the regional side, slow-cooked until they collapse into their own liquor.
Beurre Charentes-Poitou
The AOP butter of the region, and the reason so much local baking tastes the way it does.
Pineau des Charentes
Grape must fortified with cognac, served chilled before dinner. Order it where you would order a kir.
Poitiers fact sheet
Poitiers at a glance
The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
France
Region
Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Vienne)
Population
About 90,500
Founded
Celtic oppidum Lemonum
Nickname
Ville aux cent clochers
Language
French
Currency
Euro (€)
Time zone
CET · UTC+1
Calling code
+33 5
Airports
PIS
Power
230V · Type E
Emergency
112
Interesting facts
The Baptistère Saint-Jean is reckoned the oldest Christian building in France. Its core went up around 360 on Roman substructures, and the pool inside was used for baptism by immersion until the 8th century.
Before Rome, the hill was the Pictones' oppidum Lemonum, from a Celtic word for elm. The scale of the surviving Roman works, three aqueducts among them, suggests a town of first importance and possibly the capital of Gallia Aquitania in the 2nd century.
The University of Poitiers was founded in 1431 by Pope Eugene IV and confirmed by letters patent from Charles VII, with five colleges: theology, canon law, civil law, medicine and arts.
Radegund, the Thuringian princess who became a Frankish queen, founded the abbey of Sainte-Croix here in the 6th century. It is the oldest women's monastic community in France, and she is buried in the crypt of the church that carries her name.
Futuroscope opened on 31 May 1987 about 10 km north of the city and added Aquascope, an indoor water park, in July 2024.
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