France · Centro-Valle della Loira · Historic villages
Sancerre
the village on top of the hill above the Loire, with the Tour des Fiefs, the Sauvignon vineyards all around, crottin de Chavignol, the Saint-Satur viaduct and the campsite on the river
Sancerre is a village in the Cher on top of an isolated hill, at 310 metres, looking down on the Loire and, across the river, Burgundy. All around, on the hills, are the vineyards of Sancerre, the white wine made from Sauvignon that bears its name, and three and a half kilometres away, in a hollow among the vines, the village of Chavignol, the one with the goat's cheese. In the village you climb the Tour des Fiefs, the last tower of the castle, wander between the Nouvelle Place, the église Notre-Dame with its beffroi and the Maison des Sancerre, and look out over the vineyards from the ramparts. The motorhome sleeps down below, at the campsite on the Loire in Saint-Satur, the village at the foot of the hill, with its viaduct, its abbey and the port of Saint-Thibault.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
With facilities, in Sancerre, there is only one place: the Les Portes de Sancerre campsite, down in Saint-Satur, on the bank of the Loire next to the Saint-Thibault bridge, open from late March to early October. In the village, on top of the hill, the Cher tourism board gives two spaces for motorhomes on the Rempart des Dames, free and with no water or emptying. The nearest free service area is the one at Boulleret, about ten kilometres to the north.
Camping Les Portes de Sancerre, Saint-Satur
Quai de Loire, 18300 Saint-Satur
the three-star campsite of Saint-Satur, run by the public company Les 1000 Lieux du Berry, on the riverside of the Saint-Thibault quarter. The pitches are eighty square metres, in the shade. Inside there is a service area for motorhomes, with water filling and emptying of grey water and the chemical toilet, free for those staying at the campsite; those not staying use it for a fee, from 8:00 to 20:00. There are wifi, bread to order, a small grocery, the launderette and a shared fridge, and next door the municipal swimming pool, which is paid. The centre of Saint-Satur is a few minutes away on foot, the Loire à Vélo passes in front, and from 1 May there is also a tourist office information point at reception. Sancerre stands on the hill opposite, a little over two kilometres away as the crow flies and about a hundred and sixty metres higher up
ElectricityWaterGrey waterToiletsLaundry
The pitch for the motorhome and a car, which takes from two to six people, from 15 euros a night in 2026; electricity is paid separately. On top come 3 euros of booking fees for each stay and the tourist tax. This is the operator's 2026 price list; the Cher tourism board gives from 15 to 20 euros for two people, without electricity · +33 2 48 72 18 50 · camping-portes-de-sancerre.fr
the car park on the west rampart of the village, next to the Maison des Sancerre, which the Cher tourism board gives as a stopover for motorhomes: a quiet place, close to the public toilets, the play area and the terrace on the rampart with the view over the vineyards. There is no water or emptying: those are done at the Saint-Satur campsite. The phone number is the town hall's
the stopover of the village of Boulleret, north of Sancerre towards Léré, with the water bollard, the electricity sockets, grey water emptying and toilets; there is also a charging point for cars. The shops are close by and the Loire à Vélo passes through the village. In the Cher tourism board's list of stopovers it is the stopover with facilities closest to Sancerre
Sancerre stands on top of its hill, at 310 metres, and the Loire flows below, at Saint-Thibault, at about 150: the motorhome stays down below, and you go up to the village by bus, by taxi, by bicycle or on foot.
The motorhome in the village: the centre is a ring of narrow streets inside the old ramparts. The commune publishes no rules for motorhomes, and motorhomes are not marked on its map of the car parks; the only two declared spaces are those on the Rempart des Dames. Those staying at the Saint-Satur campsite go up without the motorhome
By bus: line Rémi 110, Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, Sancerre, Bourges, stops in Saint-Satur in place de la République and at the Fontenay stop, and in Sancerre in avenue de Verdun: from Saint-Satur to Sancerre it takes eight minutes. It runs from Monday to Saturday, except public holidays; on Sundays and public holidays only from June to September. The times are those of January 2025, and before setting off you check them on the Rémi website. There is also Rémi+ on demand, to be booked on 0 806 70 33 33
By taxi: the tourist office lists three in Sancerre and three in Saint-Satur, among them Allo Sancerre Taxi, +33 6 08 65 77 81, and Allo taxi des vignobles, +33 6 79 37 60 82
On foot: from the esplanade de la Porte César the road that runs along the wall of the rampart, known as the Casse-Cou, goes down to Saint-Romble, towards Saint-Satur; it is the climb on which the Trail de Sancerre reaches its finish line. The waymarked path of the commune of Saint-Satur, Entre Loire et Vignoble, makes the loop of the three viaducts in nine kilometres and two and a half hours, starting from the esplanade and returning to it
By bicycle: the Loire à Vélo passes below, through Saint-Satur and Saint-Thibault, with the eleven-kilometre stage from Pouilly-sur-Loire; you go up to the village by a steep climb, from Saint-Satur by way of the viaduct, or by a waymarked greenway from the canal north of Saint-Satur. At the tourist office you can hire electric bikes, 25 euros for half a day and 40 for a full day, with helmet and lock, and in Saint-Satur there is Cycles Sancerrois, +33 2 48 78 27 14; these are the prices of May 2025
By train: the nearest station is Tracy-Sancerre, across the Loire, an unstaffed halt two kilometres from Saint-Satur over the Saint-Thibault bridge, on the TER line between Nevers, Cosne and Paris Bercy
Getting here by motorhome: from the A77 motorway you leave at exit 24, Sancerre-Aire des Vignobles, and take the D4. The mandatory low emission zones in France, the Ministry wrote in August 2025, are only in Paris and Lyon, and Blois and Bourges do not have one
Seeing
Sights
The walk around the village starts from the esplanade de la Porte César, passes the Nouvelle Place, Notre-Dame with the beffroi, the Maison des Sancerre and the Tour des Fiefs, and comes back through the streets and along the ramparts. Below the hill lie Chavignol, among the vineyards to the west, and to the east Saint-Satur with its viaduct and abbey, Saint-Thibault on the Loire and the islands of Ménétréol. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
The esplanade de la Porte César and the tourist office
Viewpoint · free entry · 47.33284, 2.84095
Esplanade Porte César, 18300 Sancerre
the open space on the east side of the village, which bears the name of the Porte César, with the tourist office of the Grand Sancerrois, the garden and the café. From here you look down on the Saint-Satur viaduct, the Loire valley and the vineyards that drop steeply from the ramparts. At the tourist office you can hire electric bikes, and on Saturday mornings, from Easter to September, the visite gourmande, the tasting tour of the village, sets off from here. The winegrowers' path, Entre vignes et vallons, starts and ends here: twelve kilometres and three hours among the vines, waymarked in yellow and with five panels about the wine.
Opening hours the tourist office, in 2026 from 5 April to 5 July, Monday 14:00-18:00, Tuesday to Saturday 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-18:00, Sundays and public holidays 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-16:00 · +33 2 48 54 08 21
the village square, with the cafés, the restaurants and the wine shops. Until 1975 it was the place de la Halle: that year the houses on the west side and the covered market of 1883, by Charles Guillard, were demolished, and the square took the name it has today. In summer, with Sancerre sous la Toile, there are music, theatre and open-air cinema, and at Pentecost the stalls of the Foire aux vins.
the village church, begun in 1658 by Abbé Gourru, halted at his death in 1662 and resumed in 1754. Inside is a Christ in the Garden of Olives of 1841 by Thomas Degeorge, a pupil of David. Its bell tower is the beffroi, the belfry known as the tour Saint-Jean, the civic tower of the village: after the surrender of 1573 the beffroi was stripped of its clock and its bell, which were the sign of the town's liberties.
the house of the Sancerre winegrowers, in a late fifteenth-century mansion, with the stair tower raised in 1860, which the winegrowers bought in 1996 and fitted out anew in 2015-2016. The route has eight stages, with the animated relief model of the vineyard, the geology of the three soils, the work in the vineyard and in the cellar and a 4D cinema on the harvest, then the garden of aromas and the panoramic terrace, where you taste the wines chosen each week. The visit, on your own, takes from forty minutes to an hour; the texts are also in English, and there is a lift.
Opening hours in 2026 from 28 March to 11 November every day 11:00-18:30, with last entry at 17:15; closed in winter · 7 euros, 12 euros with a tasting of three wines; reduced 5 and 10 euros for students and the unemployed; free under 16 years · +33 2 48 54 11 35
the round keep of the castle of the counts of Sancerre, built at the end of the fourteenth century by Jean III de Sancerre, with the architect Guy de Dammartin. It witnessed the siege of 1573 and is the only tower left from when the castle was dismantled, in 1621; it has been a historic monument since 1927. It stands in the park of the nineteenth-century château, which is now a hotel. You climb 193 steps to the terrace, with a view all around for up to thirty-five kilometres: legend has it that you can see the bell tower of Bourges cathedral. It is not accessible by wheelchair. At its foot is the Café de la Tour, and on booking there is the visit with a tasting in the tower's cellar, 30 euros.
Opening hours in May 2026 Friday to Sunday 10:30-18:00, with last climb at 17:30; the tower's website gives it open from April to November from 10:00 to 18:00, public holidays included: ask for the 2027 hours · 7 euros from 15 years, 4 euros from 6 to 14, free under 6 · tourdesfiefs.fr · info@tourdesfiefs.fr
you explore the streets of the old village by following the fil d'Ariane, the line traced on the ground by the tourist office, with twenty-eight stops and a panel at each one. You pass the rue Saint-Jean, the rue Porte Serrure, with the view over the vineyards of Amigny, the ruelle de Chavignol, the Maison Clément, a sixteenth-century Gothic house with a spiral staircase, and the Protestant temple of 1700. From the ramparts, from the Rempart des Dames to the Rempart des Augustins, you look down on the vineyards and the valley: the hill and the ramparts have been a protected site since 1946.
the cheese village, a hamlet of Sancerre three and a half kilometres to the west, on the D183, in a hollow at 220 metres below the vine-covered slopes of the Monts Damnés, which are so called because of how hard they are to work. The church of Saint-André dates from 1859, with a bell tower of 1874. In the village there are two crottin affineurs with a shop, Dubois-Boulay, in Chavignol since 1896, and Romain Dubois in place de l'Orme. From the viewpoint above the village you see Sancerre on top of its hill. The GR 31, waymarked in white and red, passes through Sancerre and Chavignol.
the viaduct of the old Bourges-Cosne railway, built between 1891 and 1893, which curves above Saint-Satur on twenty-six arches of thirteen metres, 428 metres long and about twenty-nine metres high above the valley floor. The stone came from five different quarries, carried along the canal. The line closed to passengers in 1966, and the commune bought the viaduct to make it a road: today you cross it by car and on foot, and you see it from the esplanade de la Porte César. The Les Trois Viaducs path, eight kilometres from Saint-Satur, crosses three viaducts: this one, the one at Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre and the iron viaduct of l'Étang.
the church of the Augustinian abbey, today the parish church of Saint-Pierre, which the tourist office also calls Saint-Guinefort. Damaged by the English in 1361, its Gothic choir was rebuilt from 1367, and it was never finished: the English sacked it again in 1420, and in 1567 the Protestants of Sancerre burned it. The high vaults recall Bourges cathedral. It was among the first buildings in the Cher chosen as a historic monument, at the proposal of Prosper Mérimée.
Saint-Thibault, the port and the chapelle des Mariniers
Village · 47.33806, 2.86548
rue des Ponts, 18300 Saint-Satur
the quarter of Saint-Satur on the Loire, where the Roman town of Gordona stood and later the port of the boatmen and fishermen, with the marina on the canal latéral à la Loire. The chapelle des Mariniers, dedicated to Saint Thibaud, dates from the early fifteenth century, with its wooden ceiling shaped like the hull of an upturned ship and the plaques to those who died in the river; in summer it hosts exhibitions. Here the Loire is not channelled: it has side channels, islands and sandbanks, and it is Unesco World Heritage with the Loire Valley. The bridge, almost four hundred metres long, leads across to Tracy-sur-Loire and the station. From the riverside the traditional boat Raboliot sets off, +33 2 48 54 38 56, and canoes can be hired.
the islands and sandbanks of the Loire at Ménétréol, a protected natural area looked after by the Conservatoire d'espaces naturels Centre-Val de Loire, with a nature trail where you leave the bicycles of the Loire à Vélo. Beavers, herons and terns live here, and the terns nest on the sand: while they are brooding, you do not go onto the islands.
The festivals of the Sancerrois belong to wine: the Foire aux vins at Pentecost, founded in 1922, the village festivals in summer and the winegrowers' Saint-Vincent in January. For early May, in October 2026 the programme of the Cher tourism board had nothing scheduled.
Next: Corrida Sancerroise · 5 Dec
5Dec
Corrida Sancerroise
in early December
the race for the Téléthon on the Nouvelle Place, with the children's races at 15:00 and the corrida at 16:00, one or two laps of 3.5 kilometres, which can also be run in pairs
21Feb
Bourges-Sancerre
in February
the fifty-six kilometre night walk from Bourges to Sancerre, starting at midnight and finishing at the Rempart des Dames, with shorter routes from Morogues and from Sancerre: about five thousand walkers. In 2027 registration costs from 5 to 22 euros depending on the route, and 2 euros under 12 years
15-16May
Foire aux vins de Sancerre
the Pentecost weekend
the festival of the winegrowers of the fourteen villages, founded in 1922: some sixty Sancerres to taste in the heart of the village, with the workshops, the competition and the stalls on the Nouvelle Place. Entry is free and you buy the glass: in 2026 it cost 6 euros. That weekend the village fills up, and in 2026 parking was at the Caves de la Mignonne, with free shuttles to the centre
to be confirmed
12Jun
Trail de Sancerre
in mid-June
the winegrowers' races among the vines, from three to thirty-five kilometres, finishing at the Champ Loiseau and the Rempart des Dames
25Jul
Fête des Grappes Nouvelles
the last Sunday of July
the festival of Verdigny, from 19:00, with local produce and dinner, one of the three big summer festivals of the Sancerrois
7Aug
Nuit des Sorciers
in early August
the witches' night in Bué, from 19:00, with the carts racing downhill, the show, the procession, dinner in the open air and the dance. 2027 is the eightieth edition
This year's dates are not out yet
Christmas in Sancerre
in mid-December
the Saturday of lights, with the horse-drawn carriage ride, the children on the trail of Father Christmas among the shops, the procession with music and the fireworks; on Saturday and Sunday Noël aux Chais, with mulled wine and crêpes at the Château de Sancerre wine cellar and workshops in some wine cellars. On 24 October the 2026 dates had not yet been published: in 2025 it was on 13 and 14 December
Saint-Vincent
in January, over several weekends
Saint Vincent, on 22 January, is the patron saint of winegrowers, and each of the fourteen villages of the appellation has its own festival, with the mass, the procession of the saint's staff and the festivities; the restaurants offer special menus
Chavidamnée
in May
the obstacle race in fancy dress among the vineyards of Chavignol
Course de côte de Sancerre
in May
the hill-climb motor race on the hill, with the roads closed; in 2026 entry cost 7 euros
Sancerre sous la Toile
in summer
two months of music, theatre, books and open-air cinema on the Nouvelle Place
Les Vindredis
on Fridays in July and August
the tasting with a winegrower at the Maison des Sancerre
Foire aux Vins de France
at the end of October
the fair of winegrowers from all over France at the socio-cultural centre of Saint-Satur, with the wines of more than fifty appellations and oysters, foie gras and crottin; entry is free, and in 2026 the glass cost 5 euros
Remember
Useful tips
Thursday 6 May 2027 is Ascension Day, a public holiday in France, and the long weekend runs until Sunday 9. That day the Rémi bus from Saint-Satur to Sancerre does not run, and if 2027 follows 2026 the Maison des Sancerre opens as on every other day and the tourist office keeps its public holiday hours. In May 2026 the Tour des Fiefs was open from Friday to Sunday: for the Thursday, ask beforehand. Aux trésors de Bacchus and Dubois-Boulay are open; the cooperative, which does not open on Sundays, should be phoned about the Thursday holiday. Whether the Saint-Satur market is held on Ascension Day is not stated
At weekends with public holidays or festivals the Saint-Satur campsite may refuse those asking for one night only: book beforehand, saying that it is one night, and ask whether they accept it. The operator publishes the 2027 opening dates and price list at the beginning of the year
The Foire aux vins is at Pentecost, and in 2027 it should fall on 15 and 16 May, a week after the Ascension long weekend: the dates have not been published yet. Those who arrive that weekend find the festival and the village full
The guided visits with wine are almost all in summer: the It's Wine Time walks with tasting and the Vindredis of the Maison des Sancerre only in July and August. The tourist office's visite gourmande, on Saturday mornings at 10:30, starts instead at Easter and runs until September
To walk down from the village towards Saint-Satur, or to walk up, the Casse-Cou starts from the esplanade de la Porte César; with an electric bike, which Cycles Sancerrois hires out in Saint-Satur, the climb takes no effort
The omelette with crottin can be made in a motorhome with one burner and a frying pan, and for the watercress a stick blender is enough
Sancerre · part two
and then?
What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Taste
Sancerre is the name of a wine and Chavignol that of a cheese. Sancerre comes from fourteen communes around the village, from three thousand hectares of vineyards: the white from Sauvignon, and the red and the rosé from Pinot Noir. The winegrowers talk about the three soils, the terres blanches of marl, the caillottes of limestone and the silex along the Loire, which give different wines. Crottin de Chavignol is a small cheese made from the raw milk of Alpine goats, weighing from 60 to 90 grams and aged for at least ten days: the tourist office counts five stages of it, from fresh to dry; and the repassé, a crottin already blue that is aged again in a closed space, becomes soft and dark. The name is said to come from crot, which in the Berry dialect means hole: the holes in the banks where the washing was done, whose clay was used to make the moulds. Then there are jambon de Sancerre, the ham smoked over vine shoots, created in 1968 at the Charcuterie du Beffroi, the croquet, the dry almond biscuit to dip in wine, and the green lentils of the Berry. You taste on the Nouvelle Place, at number 25, at Aux trésors de Bacchus, the shop of the Villebois and Fournier wines with its cheese bar, open every day of the year from 10:00 to 18:30, in 2027 too, with free tasting; at the Château de Sancerre wine cellar, 6 rue Porte César, in 2026 every day from April to September, 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-19:00, with the visit and tasting at 15 euros; at the Cave de Sancerre, the cooperative cellar of 1963, with seventy-one winegrowers, 682 avenue de Verdun, Monday to Saturday 9:00-12:30 and 13:30-18:00, with free tasting. The crottin is tasted in Chavignol, with a glass of Sancerre, at the Fromagerie Dubois-Boulay, 47 rue de Veaux, the affineur since 1896, every day from 9:30, and at Romain Dubois's shop in place de l'Orme, every day 9:30-12:00 and 14:00-18:30. On public holidays Aux trésors de Bacchus and Dubois-Boulay are certain to be open. The Saint-Satur market is on Thursday morning, from 7:00 to 13:30, in place de la République.
blanch the watercress for 5 minutes in boiling salted water and drain it
cut the asparagus into 1 cm pieces and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water
beat the eggs with the salt and pepper
blend the milk with the watercress and add them to the eggs
heat a frying pan with a drizzle of oil and cook the omelette over a medium heat; three quarters of the way through the cooking add the crottin cut into thin slices
roll up the omelette and serve it at once, with the hot asparagus on top
Sancerre on top of its hill, seen from the south above freshly pruned vines, in AprilPhoto: Moreau.henri, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the hill of Sancerre seen from the vineyards of Chavignol, in OctoberPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the village of Chavignol in its hollow, below steep slopes covered with vines, in OctoberPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the houses of Sancerre packed onto the hill, above a row of vines, in AugustPhoto: Wladyslaw, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the first shoots of a vine on the stony soil of the Sancerre AOC, in MayPhoto: Frederick Wildman and Sons, Ltd, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the vineyards around Sancerre with a field of poppies, in JunePhoto: Pline, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the tourist office on the Esplanade de la Porte César, in NovemberPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Saint-Satur viaduct seen from the Rempart des Augustins, with the vines and the Loire valley, in AprilPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Tour des Fiefs, the last tower of the medieval castle, in JulyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0from the Tour des Fiefs looking east: the viaduct of l'Étang, the Loire and the countryside, in JulyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Église Notre-Dame and the belfry seen from the Tour des Fiefs, with vineyards on the hills behind, in JulyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the facade of the Église Notre-Dame, in JulyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the belfry, known as the Tour Saint-Jean, which now serves as the church's bell tower, in JulyPhoto: Daniel Villafruela, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the Maison des Sancerre in the 15th-century house with its stair tower, in OctoberPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Ruelle de Chavignol, with the tower of the Maison des Sancerre at the end, in NovemberPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Rue Porte Serrure, running down towards the vineyards, in JulyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Nouvelle Place with its flower beds and steps, in AugustPhoto: Wouter Hagens, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the town hall of Saint-Satur and, behind it, the Abbatiale Saint-Pierre, in JulyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Gothic nave of the Abbatiale Saint-Pierre in Saint-Satur, in JulyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the arches of the Saint-Satur viaduct, which once carried the railway, in JulyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a boat on the Canal latéral à la Loire at Saint-Satur, with the hill of Sancerre in the distance, in OctoberPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the facade of the Chapelle des Mariniers in Saint-Thibault-sur-Loire, in JulyPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Loire at Saint-Thibault, where the Vauvise flows into it, with the bridge in the background, in MayPhoto: Cjp24, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the nave of the Église Notre-Dame looking towards the choir, in JulyPhoto: Lomita, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
