Home to the highest choir in the world, Beauvais boasts some outstanding medieval buildings and landmark churches. It’s a picturesque city to wander, with ancient Roman rampart ruins and a rich history of tapestry weaving.
Things to do in Beauvais
The city’s most important architectural landmark is the grand Beauvais Cathedral, with construction beginning in 1247 and still unfinished to this day. It’s renowned for its late-Gothic façades, elaborate 19th-century astronomical clock and a tower that soars to 153 metres, once making it the tallest building in the world.
Take a walk through the surrounding streets where homes dating from the 12th to 16th centuries still stand and admire the Romanesque architecture of Église Saint-Étienne and the elegant Beauvais Town Hall. It dates to the mid-18th century and features a charming, classical facade, with valuable tapestries, paintings and cabinetry adorning the interior.
To learn more about Beauvais and the surrounding department of Oise, visit the Musée de l’Oise which is set within the former bishop’s palace. Local artefacts are exhibited alongside ceramics by Jules-Claude Ziegler and artwork by prominent French artists Camille Corot, Paul Huet and Orientalist painter Prosper Marilhat.
If you’re travelling with kids, then don’t miss a visit to Parc Marcel-Dassault on the northern edge of the city that backs onto a farm where sheep, horses and donkeys come to say “hello”. Green thumbs will also find inspiration in the beautifully landscaped areas, including a Japanese garden, rose garden and fruit orchard.
Getting around Beauvais
The Aéroport Paris Beauvais Tillélies 10 minutes’ drive north of the city centre and is a hub for European low-cost carriers. Beauvais is connected to Paris by regular trains from the Gare de Beauvais, while commuter buses travel throughout the city and surrounding suburbs.