Servières Chapel

Wooded ridges, fast-flowing streams rushing down from the plateau, terraced vineyards blending with the red soil, rocks, houses and the ancient town of Villecomtal: a hike full of contrasts.

Details

52816
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.53 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 35 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: No
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 313 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 319 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 540 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 299 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park at the town hall square in Villecomtal (S/E). Turn left towards Servières, at the end of the street, before the small bridge, and continue to a crossroads.

(1) Turn right between two houses onto a gravel path. Climb up the hillside through the woods to reach the Chapel of Servières.

(2) Take a sharp right turn and climb 150 metres to a track. Take another sharp left turn for 400 metres to reach Le Coudol and come out onto a small road. Follow it to the left for 100 metres (beautiful views of the Polissal waterfall to the west).

(3) Turn left onto a level "forest path" (path through the woods) and reach the Broussans stream. Ford the stream and climb up to La Borie. Go around the farm and come out onto the small service road. Continue for 1 km to Pabotiès (beautifully restored).

(4) Continue on the D46 to the left. Cross the bridge. At the junction with the D904, turn left to reach Polissal (viewpoint with a view of the waterfall and the Chapelle de Servières). 200m after the bridge, turn right towards Les Bordes onto a wide gravel path, then a dirt track (recent vineyards). Go up to the left for 100 metres. Turn right onto a stone path to Mas Bas.

(5) At the road, go up to the left for 100m. At a house with a square tower, turn right onto a narrow, grassy and often muddy path. Continue level through the woods to the Servan stream. Turn right and follow the valley along a farm track. You will come to a small bridge. Cross it and return to the town hall square (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S : km 0 - alt. 305 m - Town hall car park. Near the - Dourdou de Conques (rivière)
  2. 1 : km 0.12 - alt. 300 m - Crossroads before the bridge
  3. 2 : km 2.05 - alt. 469 m - Servières Chapel
  4. 3 : km 2.61 - alt. 532 m - Carrefou forest path
  5. 4 : km 4.21 - alt. 525 m - Pabotiés
  6. 5 : km 7.46 - alt. 406 m - Le Mas Bas
  7. E : km 9.53 - alt. 299 m - Town hall car park

Notes

Good walking shoes recommended.
Markings: Yellow.

Worth a visit

Servières Chapel: A village clinging to the hillside; its 13th-century church, remodelled at the end of the 16th century, has a flat chevet and a triumphal arch.

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 19 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.5 / 5
Route interest
4.4 / 5
BDRANDO
BDRANDO

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 12, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful hike, 80% of which is in the shade.
Magnificent view from the top of the hike. View of the waterfall and chapel.

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Coco12
Coco12

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 27, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with superb views of Polissal Waterfall and Servieres Chapel.
Easy to follow signposting.
Very varied route walking along the edge of a stream and through woods, paths and roads.

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Christian Gilard
Christian Gilard

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 14, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant and varied loop. A long hill to start with, but not too steep. Lots of undergrowth. You pass by the Polissal waterfall.

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Antonio Pires
Antonio Pires

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 07, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A lovely route with beautiful scenery, but unfortunately there's quite a distance to cover.
You need strong legs at the start, but after that it's easy.

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Gérard Briffon
Gérard Briffon

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Clean, shaded footpaths. Beautiful views. The village of Villecomtal is magnificent and well worth a visit. For those arriving by motorhome, there is a free service area where you can park in a shaded, well-equipped area (no charge)

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Augusto vincent
Augusto vincent
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 31, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike with stunning views along the route, particularly of the waterfall from the chapel and vice versa. The path is well marked, easy to follow and lined with flowers at this time of year. It passes through the forest and along a stream. There is a steep climb up to the chapel, but after that it is easier. However, I think there is more elevation gain than indicated in the description. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Completed in 2½ hours

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Serge V
Serge V

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 19, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful loop (it took us 2 hours and 20 minutes) starting from Villecomtal, with sufficient yellow markings. The first 2.5 km on a forest path are a good warm-up (!), then the route is easy, basically from the chapel onwards. The Polissal waterfall is flowing at this time of year and offers beautiful scenery, with traditional houses, forest, vineyards and rare meadows. The route also seems suitable for mountain biking without too much difficulty.
Additional tourist information: we had lunch at the Café Restaurant du Dourdou in Villecomtal, €15.50 for the daily special, which was good.

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beauvillage
beauvillage

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 22, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

i really enjoyed this winter hike: beautiful views: waterfall and Auberge de la Cascade, forest, vineyards, tranquillity, stream, wilderness. The yellow markings are very reliable. We also follow some of the trail markings. A tree that had recently fallen blocked the path to Les Bordes. The village of Villecomtal has a few shops.

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randonannie
randonannie

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 04, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant, varied route through forest and open countryside, with interesting sections: Servières Chapel after a steady climb. Unfortunately, it is not open to visitors... View of the Palissol waterfall. In the hamlet of Coudol: a few beautiful houses; in Pabotiès: a house in a bucolic setting (river, greenery, small mill); in Palissol: the waterfall (view of the chapel at the start of the route). Then descend via grassy or red earth paths. Beautiful views of Villecomtal.

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Absimon
Absimon

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 16, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely walk, the distance is ideal for winter, autumn and spring walks.
One downside is parking the car in the town hall car park.
Wooden posts frame flower beds between the parking spaces...danger...we dented the wing of our car when leaving the car park.
So... bear this in mind when you return from your hike.

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babeth007chat
babeth007chat

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 17, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We don't have a satnav, so we followed the directions and the yellow markings; it was perfect
A very pleasant hike with beautiful views, varied paths and no tarmac roads.
It took us exactly the time indicated.

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yannboyer
yannboyer

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 26, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Lovely walk!
there is just one tiny section of the route that doesn't quite match up, but it's nothing major: at the end of the climb after the chapel, you come to a straight road without going around a field. Just turn left onto the road after the long barn (cats).
There are beautiful views of the entire valley throughout the walk: of the waterfall from the chapel, of the chapel from the waterfall, etc.

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labo
labo

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 02, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

i don't have an app, but I followed the yellow markings perfectly.
the first part is about half an hour of a nice climb. Then there's a very pleasant circuit with beautiful views on the plateau.
the return descent is magnificent through the vineyards with a bird's eye view of the pretty village of Villecomtal.

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valentin-c
valentin-c

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 04, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A very pleasant hike with beautiful views of the valley. A good climb at the start of the route (easily accessible), well-maintained and well-marked trails. However, the duration of the hike is significantly shorter.

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La Mouline
La Mouline

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 29, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Pleasant hike, long climb at the start but accessible to all.

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