Tour of the old village of Vernet-les-Bains

Start at the Hôtel Princess (or the post office car park).

(S/E) Turn left onto Rue des Lavadières, then right onto Rue du Cady. Cross Avenue du Docteur Piglowski towards Parc Charles Trenet (also known as Parc du Casino).
Take the gate on the left to stroll through the park and exit onto Rue Louis Codet to admire the Belle Époque Casino building.
Continue past the Hôtel du Portugal (Militaire) along Rue Louis Codet.
Cross Rue du Cady, then walk past the thermal spa (Les Sources), where osteoarthritis and respiratory conditions are treated.
Cross the street via the small roundabout towards the Jardin d'Hiver (between the roundabout and the pharmacy).

(1) Start climbing and walk along the winding path to the Belvédère/Vernet-les-Bains junction and follow the signs for Vernet-les-Bains.
Walk past the Résidence Le Solarium and then along Avenue de l'Alzina.
Head to the junction of Avenue de l'Alzina and Route de Fillols.
Turn left to reach Place de l’Entente Cordiale (or the town hall square) via Rue du Château, passing by Saint-Saturnin Church with its sundial and the castle.

(2) Magnificent view of the valley and the Canigou (Canigó) massif. Stroll through the narrow streets of Vernet-les-Bains, heading down Rue Mercader.
You’ll arrive at the bustling Place de la République, home to the Maison du Patrimoine and its exhibition space
From this square, to reach the Hôtel Restaurant Princess (or the post office), take the small staircase on Rue du Cady. (S/E)

At the exhibition space, visitors are invited to discover Vernet-les-Bains and the Conflent region by following the “lost notebook” of a journalist from the early^20th century.
Discover the village’s agricultural and mining past. It will also allow you to instantly relive the splendour of the Belle Époque.

Winter Garden: view
Castle & Church: view

In 1789, the French Revolution broke out and the province of Roussillon (along with some Languedoc communities in the Fenouillèdes) became, in 1790, the department of Pyrénées-Orientales.
In Vernet-les-Bains, the spa changed hands and a new spring was discovered, whilst conflicts intensified in Conflent, where the Spanish seized Villefranche-de-Conflent. General Dagobert bypassed the Spanish forces via the Aude Valley and recaptured Villefranche. In 1795, following Robespierre’s death, a peace treaty was signed between France and Spain, but the war had disastrous effects on the department, and when Bonaparte seized power in 1799, the Pyrénées-Orientales were overwhelmed by internal problems.
Between 1800 and 1808, the focus was on reconstruction, and although economic recovery was difficult, the metallurgy industry was revived in Conflent. From 1808 onwards, the war with Spain caused the department’s economy to collapse once again, and by this time (the first quarter of the 19th century), the inhabitants of the Pyrénées-Orientales seemed to have definitively adopted French nationality. The department was undergoing a period of change and, although the situation remained difficult, agriculture and viticulture were developing, tourism was beginning to take root, and spa treatments were proving highly popular among the ruling classes at the resorts of Vernet-les-Bains, Molitg and Amélie-les-Bains.
In 1940, the terrible floods known as the Aiguat, followed by the Second World War, dealt a devastating blow to the town’s economy.
From the 1950s onwards, social spa tourism took over, marking a new chapter for Vernet-les-Bains.

Note: (1) offers the chance to see a marker installed to preserve the memory of the floods (known as the ‘Aiguat’: a Catalan word that has now entered the vocabulary of French meteorologists)
A man-made marker indicating the level reached by the waters during a historic flood, serving as a testament, it helps to keep the memory of the floods alive and to inform newcomers and passers-by
Installed in spring 2013, this marker can be seen at 26 Avenue des Thermes.