Vichy: The art of the promenade

Vichy, France · 12–13 September 2026

Some towns have a high street; Vichy has developed an entire civic culture around the proposition that taking a pleasant walk ought to be one of life's more important activities. With its graceful colonnades, splendid parks, ornamental fountains, elaborate thermal buildings and an opera house thrown in for good measure, this elegant little city in central France makes a rather convincing case.

Arriving from the Pyrenees as part of my journey through Europe's historic spa towns, Vichy offered a change of pace. Along the banks of the Allier, the magnificent Parc Napoléon III unfolds beneath enormous trees, its winding paths, lawns and riverside promenades creating an almost improbably civilised landscape. There were people reading, strolling, sitting in the shade and generally enjoying themselves, with the occasional cyclist approaching at a velocity seemingly at odds with the surrounding tranquillity.

A short walk brings you into the city's celebrated thermal quarter, where the Parc des Sources forms the centrepiece of an extraordinary architectural and landscape ensemble. Here, the Hall des Sources, covered galleries, little kiosks, casino, opera house, grand hotels and cafés gather around a beautifully composed public garden. Sitting outside the Hall des Sources with a coffee, surrounded by all this architectural theatre, it was difficult to imagine a more enjoyable setting for the entirely respectable activity of doing very little.

The architecture of taking a walk

Vichy's reputation as a fashionable spa destination flourished during the nineteenth century, encouraged by the enthusiasm of Napoleon III, whose visits helped transform the town into one of Europe's great centres of fashionable society. The imperial imagination was evidently rather well suited to spa culture, with its appetite for grand gestures, ornamental gardens, architectural extravagance and carefully cultivated leisure.

The Parc des Sources began taking shape under Napoleon I, but the remarkable ensemble visible today developed through successive waves of investment. By the beginning of the twentieth century, elaborate covered promenades had appeared around the park, their delicate ironwork and graceful arches providing shelter from the weather and an elegant setting for the daily rituals of the cure.

The promenade was never simply a convenient route between buildings. It was an essential part of the social machinery of the spa town, where taking the waters, gentle exercise, conversation, music, shopping and the occasional romantic encounter could all be accommodated within a respectable medical itinerary.

At the height of Vichy's fashionable spa culture, the central avenue was even nicknamed La Potinière, a reference to the gossip exchanged along its length. The more discreet side avenues offered opportunities for quieter conversation, while afternoons brought reading, cards and concerts before the evening's entertainment at the casino. It was an extraordinarily sophisticated arrangement for encouraging people to spend time together, with the added benefit of being prescribed for their health.

Much of that spirit survives in the landscape today. The restored colonnades frame the gardens, small commercial pavilions animate their edges, and the monumental Hall des Sources provides a wonderful architectural focus. At the opposite end stands the magnificent Palais des Congrès-Opéra, an exuberant reminder of the cultural ambitions that accompanied the development of the waters.

There is a remarkable feeling of continuity as you move between these places. Each building, garden and promenade seems to lead naturally towards the next, creating an environment in which the town itself becomes part of the experience.

A new chapter for an old spa

Vichy has recently undertaken an ambitious programme of renewal, restoring the Parc des Sources and its surrounding public spaces through a project costing more than €30 million. Completed in 2026, the work has revived the great covered galleries, historic kiosks, gardens, avenues and fountains, bringing fresh life to one of the most important surviving spa landscapes in Europe.

The transformation is especially impressive in its attention to the spaces between the buildings. New planting, improved pedestrian routes, carefully restored structures, seating, lighting and water features have been brought together as part of a comprehensive landscape. Eleven fountains celebrate the historic spa towns inscribed together on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2021, a rather lovely expression of Vichy's place within a much wider European culture.

Behind this physical renewal lies a significant institutional decision. In 2021, the city acquired its historic thermal estate from the French state, taking greater responsibility for the future of the springs, buildings and landscapes that define its identity. The restoration of the park forms part of a wider programme to revive the city's thermal heart, encompassing its bathing establishments, cultural buildings, commercial spaces and public realm.

The results are visible far beyond the freshly painted ironwork. Vichy has invested in the conditions that allow a spa culture to flourish: attractive public spaces, places to gather, reasons to linger, and a coherent environment that people can enjoy without needing to purchase a ticket or book a treatment.

Even its contemporary cultural identity is finding interesting new expressions. Maison Vichy, a design-led collection of objects, prints, textiles and locally inspired products, draws on the city's extraordinarily rich visual history. Its graphics, patterns and collaborations bring the character of the spa town into contemporary everyday life, extending Vichy's identity well beyond the familiar bottles of mineral water and tins of pastilles.

It is an appealing example of how a historic place can continue to generate new ideas, objects and creative enterprises from its own distinctive culture.

The city as a spa

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Vichy is the apparent simplicity of its arrangement. The essential ingredients are relatively concentrated: a hall for the waters, an opera house and casino, thermal buildings, covered promenades, kiosks, hotels and a sequence of magnificent parks. In themselves, these are familiar features of the great European spa towns. Their extraordinary collective effect comes from the way they have been assembled, connected and cared for.

Harrogate possesses an even more extensive inheritance of mineral springs, spa buildings, gardens, woodlands and public spaces, spread across a remarkable landscape. Walking through Vichy, it was fascinating to consider the possibilities of bringing these elements into a similarly coherent experience, revealing the connections between places that have gradually become separated in the everyday life of the town.

This is part of the thinking behind our developing Spa Commons programme, exploring how Harrogate's historic spa landscape might become a more connected, active and enjoyable part of contemporary life.

Vichy offers a particularly compelling example of what happens when a town recognises the value of the entire ensemble. Its historic buildings have renewed purpose, its gardens and promenades are inviting, and its public spaces create the setting for a cultural life that extends well beyond the traditional cure.

There is something rather wonderful about the idea that the future of a town might depend, at least in part, on making it an exceptionally pleasant place to walk, meet friends, drink coffee, listen to music and enjoy the occasional architectural extravagance.

The Victorians and their European contemporaries understood this with considerable sophistication. Vichy is showing how much life there is in the idea yet.

Next stop: Baden bei Wien (the baths by Vienna)!