Euro 2016 host cities: Guide to St Etienne

The Independent's concise guide to the host city

The Cité du Design

Get your bearings

Located in the Massif Central in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alps, around 60km south-west of Lyon, St Etienne was built on industry (arms, coal mining, textiles, bicycles) but has more recently made design its calling card, hosting a design biennial (9 March-9 April 2017; biennale-design.com) at the permanent conference and exhibition space, the Cité du Design (citedudesign.com) in a former arms factory.

With a roughly oval city centre sliced into quarters by the Rue de la République and Rue Balay, its most central landmark is the gothic cathedral on Place Jean Jaures. St-Etienne Châteaucreux train station (uk.voyages-sncf.com) sits on the north-eastern shoulder and continuing north is the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, also known as the “Chaudron” stadium, which can be reached by rail (alight at La Terrasse) or tram (line T1, alight at G Guichard). A day tram ticket costs €5, a single journey €1.40 and single bus tickets €2 whatever the distance covered. A fan park (daily, 10am-7pm) has been set up on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville in the city centre.

The tourist office (00 33 4 77 49 39 00; saint-etiennetourisme.com) is located at 16 Avenue de la Libération in the city centre and opens daily from 10am-6pm during the Euros; at other times, Monday to Saturday 10am-12.30pm and 2-6.30pm.

Touch down

Lyon is around 40 minutes away by train, with frequent TER departures (sncf.com/en/trains/ter) from Part-Dieu station where the Eurostar arrives (eurostar.com), to St-Etienne Châteaucreux.

From Lyon airport, take the Rhônexpress tramway (rhonexpress.fr; 30 minutes) to Part-Dieu station for connections to St-Etienne. There are also four daily TGV services from Paris to St-Etienne (uk.voyages-sncf.com; two hours 40 minutes).

Take a hike

Start in the Place Jean Jaurès and admire the neo-gothic Cathedral of Saint Charles Borromeo set amid fountains, lawns and avenues of trees. Head north from the square, passing its immaculate neo-classical architecture up Rue Balay and passing under the railway arches of the Gare du Carnot into the green space of Place Sadi Carnot. Keeping the lawns and trees to your left, continue north until you arrive at the Cité du Design (00 33 4 77 49 74 70; citedudesign.com; €4) on Rue Javelin Pagnon, incorporating the old arms factory buildings and a new addition, the glass and steel events hall and a 32m observation tower.

Lunch on the run

The Cité du Design is also home to La Platine (00 33 4 77 93 39 91; la-platine.fr), a café and restaurant overlooking a tropical greenhouse, which serves a dish of the day for €12.20 or a two-course lunch for €15.20. For example, pâté de campagne with pumpkin coulis and lightly battered seabass with roasted parsley root and tartare sauce.

Window shopping

High-street chains (Levi’s, Monoprix, Adidas, Esprit) and home-grown brands abound around the Place du Peuple, Rue Alsace-Lorraine, Rue Michelet and Rue Général Foy. Pick up smartly-packaged chocolates at Weiss, 8 Rue Général Foy (00 33 4 77 49 41 49; chocolat-weiss.fr).

Cultural afternoon

St Etienne is home to France’s second-largest contemporary art gallery after Paris’s Centre Pompidou. The Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain (Rue Fernand Léger; 00 33 4 77 79 52 52; mam-st-etienne.fr; open 10am-6pm daily except Tuesday; admission €5.50) displays artwork from 1833 to the current day, including permanent pieces by Monet, Picasso, and Léger.

An apertif

The pedestrianised Rue des Martyrs de Vingré buzzes with busy bars, pubs and restaurants at night. Just north, L’Elixir (09 62 15 96 68) at 12 Rue François Gillet serves a selection of tapas alongside wines by the glass and draught beers, as does Les Contrebandiers at 2 Rue des Fossées (00 33 4 77 38 23 85).

Dine with the locals

Chic bistro Insens (00 33 4 77 32 34 34; insens-restaurant.fr) at 10 Rue de Lodi offers a three-course “discovery” menu for €27 that might include tomato gazpacho with smoked herring and cream, veal shank canneloni with parmesan cream and a selection of regional cheeses.

Restaurant Le Regency (00 33 4 77 74 27 06; leregencyrestaurant.fr), 17 Boulevard Jules Janin, does gourmet take-away dishes (monkfish fricassée with lobster and crayfish for €12.50) as well as a sit-down menu that might include roast cod, cuttlefish and monkfish risotto or osso bucco with pasta.

Icing on the cake

The mountainous Pilat Regional Natural Park (pilat-tourisme.fr/en) and Loire gorges are both within easy reach of the city. Go walking, cycling, water-skiing or wakeboarding in the former, or take a leisurely cruise past chateaux and hilltop villages on the Loire (saint-etiennetourisme.com).

Also easily accessible is Le Corbusier’s last work, St-Pierre in his model village of Firminy Vert. The huge concrete building was designed to be a church but construction wasn’t started until six years after his death. Today it is used as a cultural space with guided tours on Saturdays at 2.30pm (€8.50). Tours of his other buildings, including a sports stadium and unité d’habitation take place throughout the week, or you can visit independently (sitelecorbusier.com; open daily 10am-12.30pm and 1.30-6pm, closed Tuesdays September to June).