Pays de Roquefort and Saint-Affricain tourist office

Experiment with itinerant hiking! Let’s go backpacking with a camera around the neck and set off for several days throughout the Pays de Roquefort. Autumn is the perfect time to discover a magnificent display of colours with landscapes full of brilliant reds, yellows and oranges.

Experience intense emotions in the realm of Roquefort! This five-day hiking circuit is located between causses and rougiers providing wide open spaces, unexpected paths and an exquisite medieval heritage appearing before your eyes.

According to your wish, you can intersperse your getaway with visits. Here are the main places of interest in the surroundings:

-Sylvanes abbey (jewel of Cistercian art)

-The Rougier with its beautiful red soils

-The small typical villages of Saint-Jean d'Alcas and Saint Félix de Sorgues

Full detailed hiking itinerary is to be found in the rando Grands Causses portal

Are you curious or simply wish to discover nature from a different perspective?

Hungry Birds Tour offers you several guided visits to meet birds in the natural and unspoilt setting that Southern Aveyron provides. These trips will allow you to improve your knowledge of fauna and flora, but above all to experience some moments of emotion, of sharing and well-being, in harmony with nature.                 

Equipped with binoculars and guided by an ornithologist, learn more about the current wild bird species and their ecology (optical material supplied). You will be offered several trips, you can choose the duration (morning or full day trip) and the site (the Rougier, the Larzac, the Gorges du Tarn and the Gorges de la Jonte, the Gorges de la Dourbie and the Causse Noir). These vast landscapes which change according to seasons host a rich and fragile biodiversity. If you are a nature lover and wish to experience a walk in the outdoors these guided visits will delight you!

If you're still not convinced, click here, this short video clip should trigger your desire to meet birds!

Please Note: Optical material available, tasting of local delicacies and optional visit to a local producer included.

For more information: Hungry Birds – Tel: 06 87 97 67 21 - http://www.hungrybirdtours.com

Explore our heritage in a playful and original way. The Grands Causses Natural Regional Park offers you a mobile App that enables the discovery of the region's history and landscape.

Francine, the cabanière in Roquefort

Francine, one of the ladies in charge of the packaging of the cheese will guide you throughout anecdotes, along the streets of Roquefort, an opportunity to learn more about the village and its renowned cheese      

Félix, a student in Saint-Affrique

Félix takes you on a tour of the town to discover its rich heritage. You are guided from fountain to fountain and as you stroll along the streets in the vilotte, you become an expert about the wealth of historic heritage dating from the Middle-Ages up to 21th century.

As you take a stroll in one of our villages with your family or friends, remember to bring your tablet computer or your smartphone, so that your outings will turn into exciting discovery tours!

Free App  "Balade des Grands Causses" available on IOS or Android

Duration: approximately 2h

Feel like meeting producers and experiencing a behind-the-scenes visit to the farm? Virginie, the Bousquet farm manager will show you around.

The Bousquet farm is a family run farm, using biodynamic methods and raising Lacaune ewes to supply milk for the production of Roquefort cheese. During the visit you will also find out different kinds of farm products.

The first step is the sheepfold where depending on the season you may have the chance to see lambs or to watch the sheep milking. Then, Virginie will guide you outside, towards the huge vegetable garden that will stir all your senses. Moreover, a gourmet veggie break made with the daily picking will delight your taste buds! The tour goes on with a visit to the manufacturing workshop where pasta, breads, Viennese pastries, Aveyronnais cakes and monthly pastries are baked. As you listen to the sound of machines, you watch the craft bakers performing their careful work and you let yourself be tempted by the smell of freshly baked bread.

This 2 hour visit can be customized according to your expectations and your longing for discovery. If you are a budding market gardener, the visit to the market garden can be extended or if your kids are passionate about animals you will be offered a longer tour to the sheepfold, as for pastry lovers, they will be free to spend more time during their visit to the workshop manufacturing pasta, bread, Viennese pastries and other delicacies.

Virginie also offers English and Spanish tours and as a young mother she has more than one trick up her sleeve when it comes to provide children with a recreational visit.

Practical information: Virginie offers you free visits on Wednesdays, all year round and by appointment only. Tel: 06 37 63 58 12

Photo Atelier de fabrication du pain - © Luce Dupont - Via tarra
 

Discover again the Great Sites in Occitania!

Occitania is packed with outstanding sites such as picturesque villages, natural amphitheatres and Cathar castles… To make them known and bolster their tourist attractiveness, the regional council has included 39 sites into the Occitania Great Sites plan among which is Millau-Roquefort. This recognition provides the municipality of Roquefort with another opportunity to enhance heritage and boost the tourist reputation of the area while reconciling these with economic development of the cheese manufacturing industry.

"Roquefort Demain" (Tomorrow Roquefort) is the name given to a large-scale project that should be indeed launched in the course of 2019: a redevelopment programme and an area dedicated to agropastoralism and to the Roquefort cheese production…

Meanwhile, we offer you to discover the TV commercial of the Occitania Great Sites promotional campaign. So if you too wish to experience the time of your life in Occitania, see you there! The Millau Roquefort Great Site invites you to embark upon a meaningful journey rich in shared experiences.

This year, a large number of sporting events are planned in Southern Aveyron. Let yourself be guided by the summer rhythm of these great events.

During the 15th stage linking Millau to Carcassonne, the Tour de France will cycle through Saint-Affrique. This stage which requires outstanding stamina is an ideal race for punchers with the cycling up to the Pic de Nore featuring a 12.3 km slope with a 6% gradient. The 15th stage also offers an amazing setting with the stunning Millau viaduct and its slender pillars providing the background for the beginning of this leg. There will be different cycling activities for spectators during this leg of the Tour de France through St-Affrique.

However, if you are specifically interested in rugby, then the Vaquerin challenge is tailored to your needs. The challenge is in its 25th year and has become an essential part of training for the upcoming season and as such it attracts all the national and international teams which put the finishing touches to the listing of friendly matches that allow them to work out their future combinations. Headliners have yet to be announced but undoubtedly some major teams will take part in the contest which is good news for rugby fans.

Car racing draws also a large audience with two major events: the 2nd Rallye Saint-Affricain which is taking place in August and the Cardabelles Rallye in October. Lastly, our territory has gained some serious reputation appealing to trail running addicts. If you want to warm yourself up right in the middle of December don’t hesitate anymore and enroll in the Hivernale des Templiers that will take you to places where majestic landscapes are waiting for you. During your race to the podium, don’t forget to take a break and enjoy the breathtaking panoramas of Larzac.

You may just support your favorite team, or be an experienced sportsman/sportswoman, in any case, keep yourself updated with our website!

During the bloggers exposition that was held in Millau, many bloggers have started to share their experiences of their trips to the Aveyron. So, if you are planning to visit Roquefort and its surroundings and would like to plan your trip, here are a few links to click on and take advantage of the experiences of some bloggers to discover the top deals and enjoy a wealth of information so that you spend an unforgettable day in Aveyron.

Fabienne et Benoît de Novo Monde - Blog Voyage have put together their programme of a perfect day for you. To discover a gourmet circuit combining hiking and savouring local delicacies click here.

Traversée d'un monde - Blog Voyage is rather amazing with its first experience of tasting Roquefort cheese. If your trip to Roquefort will be your first experience of tasting this World famous cheese click here.

Aveyron is also a land of abundant nature where the magnificent landscapes have been preserved. Les deux dames en Van - Blog Voyage have set out to explore the Raspes du Tarn Gorges and the Muse Valley. Lovers of breathtaking scenery click here.

We hope reading these blogs will make you want to live the experience… We are looking forward to meeting you soon in the Aveyron!

Do you long to be in the beauty of nature and also have the opportunity to step back in time to the Jurassic period!

The Tournemire amphitheatre situated between the Roquefort caves and the Templar and Hospitaller sites is an outstanding geological area. At its entrance, a 180 million-year-old complete skeleton of an exceptional marine dinosaur, the Occitanosaurus tournemirensis was discovered fossilized in the “grey clay soils.” A copy of the original skeleton is exhibited in the House of Plesiosaur located in the heart of the village.

The Vispens farm welcomes you to experience a day or a long stay in interaction with horses.

Although sheep breeding is the emblematic activity of the area, horse farms are also to be found within the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park. The Vispens equestrian farm is located in an outstanding setting close to St-Affrique and offers a whole range of equestrian activities.

From horse riding along the trails of the Vispens Causse to multi-day horseback trips with nights spent bivouacking or in a gite, several options are available depending on your experience and wishes.

These trips and riding experiences may stimulate the desire of apprentices to work in equestrian related activities.

More information: Ferme de Vispens - Tel: 0565493271

Come and tickle your taste buds and enjoy the great Roquefort experience!

This is the perfect time to come and visit the maturing caves whilst the new cheeses are ripening. It is the darkness of the caves that causes the Penicillium roqueforti fungus to develop successfully into its unique flavours. The whole maturation process involves a slow refinement from January to late June. After a 90-day period, including a minimum of 14 days of ripening in the caves, the Roquefort loafes reach a perfect state of maturation so that you can savor them at their optimum.

After your visit to the caves, come and enjoy the tasting session where you can explore the nuances of the different flavors of the whole range of Roquefort.

Seven Roquefort manufacturers welcome you to share their passion. You can find out all the information to plan your visit here.

Make your stay an unforgettable gourmet trip during which you can explore cheeses of the Aveyron. The internet blogger Itinera Magica shares her experience about two emblematic cheeses: Roquefort and Laguiole.

So if you are a gourmet enthusiast and love local food pay also a visit to the blog “déguster l’Aveyron” (savour Aveyron produce) and find out about the sharing of experience of Aveyron gastronomy. Enjoy reading this blog and we look forward to seeing you soon in Roquefort!