In 1685, 200,000 Huguenots fled France. The Huguenot Trail, linking Poët-Laval to Bad Karlshafen via Avenches, honours their exodus.
In 1685, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV led to the exodus of almost 200,000 Huguenots. Fleeing to Protestant Germany via Switzerland, their route joined that of the Vaudois in Piedmont. The Sentier des Huguenots honours this history with a route from Poët-Laval to Bad Karlshafen, passing through Geneva and various Swiss itineraries.
Avenches is a key stop on this official trail, linking Lausanne to Murten via the Broye. Huguenots settled here, bringing their know-how and contributing to local prosperity. Since 2014, sections of the trail have been waymarked in Switzerland by the Association vaudoise des amis du Sentier des Huguenots et des Vaudois du Piémont, in cooperation with the VIA association.
