Sillé-Le-Guillaume offers a range of discoveries: Sillé-Plage lies in the heart of the 3,500-hectare Sillé State Forest and is also known as Coco Plage. Nature trails, a lake activity and medieval buildings each offer a different focus. If you’re looking for a hotel for your stay, you can start by considering which of these aspects of the area best fits your plans.
Forest and nature at Lac de Sillé
The Sentier Découverte Nature starts at the Lac de Sillé car park. Along the way, information panels share insights into the local wildlife and plant life. Nature education is the focus of this trail: the panels give fauna and flora a concrete place in your visit. At Coco Plage, you can also circle the lake on a Rosalie pedal car along a four-kilometre route. This activity is seasonal, so check whether it is available before your trip.
The adventure park Les Perchés offers a different kind of activity. It has more than 160 stations across eleven courses, at heights of 1 to 15 metres, and is suitable for children aged two and up. The nature trail, lake circuit and courses therefore differ not only in theme, but also in how they work: information panels accompany the Sentier, the Rosalie circles the lake, and Les Perchés spreads its stations across several courses.
Medieval building history and heritage
The Church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption brings together two building phases. It includes a seigneurial chapel dating from the late 11th or early 12th century; construction of the collegiate church began in the 13th century. If you’re interested in how the building developed, you can distinguish the older chapel from the later church construction by period. The Sillé-le-Guillaume heritage trail is available in French and English. Check its current availability before your visit.
The two châteaux also represent different aspects of the area’s heritage. Château des Deffays is a 12th-century fortified structure on the bank of the Grand Étang des Deffays, in the Sillé Forest near Sillé-Plage. Check local conditions before visiting. Château de Sillé-le-Guillaume offers visits, workshops, medieval events and guided tours. Its programme is seasonal, so check dates and offerings before your trip.
The Galeries de la gare add another architectural theme to this history. Founded in 1912, they feature classical elements of department-store architecture, including a glass roof and a monumental staircase. In this way, the area’s heritage brings medieval religious and fortified buildings into contrast with the features of department-store architecture.
Getting there and planning
Sillé-le-Guillaume SNCF station is on Pays de la Loire TER line 22, between Le Mans, Laval, Vitré and Rennes. If you plan to travel by train, check the latest TER information before setting off. For the rest of your planning, you can think of the nature trail, seasonal Rosalie activity and château programme as separate options: the season is especially important for the Rosalie and château offerings, while the church, Galeries and the building history of Château des Deffays offer other ways to plan a visit.
Discover more destinations: Auvers-le-Hamon, Cherré, La Suze-Sur-Sarthe, Pontvallain, Thorigné-Sur-Dué, Flée, La Bazoge, Souvigné-Sur-Sarthe.
For the wider travel guide: Sarthe.
