Hell-Bourg

Hell-Bourg grew in the nineteenth century around thermal springs in the middle of the Cirque de Salazie, and although a landslide destroyed the baths in 1948 and ended the spa trade, the village kept its creole architecture: wooden houses with lambrequins, the fretwork valances that edge the roofs, painted in strong colours and set in gardens. It is listed among the most beautiful villages in France, the only one on the island.

What you actually see

• The creole houses - wooden villas with carved lambrequins and painted facades.
• Maison Folio - a nineteenth-century house and garden open to visitors.
• The old thermal baths - the ruins of the spa destroyed by landslide in 1948.
• The cirque walls - the remparts rising around the village on all sides.

When to go

May to November is the drier season. Mornings are clearest before the cloud fills the cirque. Weekends bring visitors from the coast.

Honest expectations

Cloud and rain close in most afternoons and the village is often in mist. Parking in the village is very limited. It is small and a few hours covers it.

Nearby

Voile de la Mariee is on the road in, and Trou de Fer is above.