Saint-Galmier’s Badoit spring: the pump room and the factory
At Saint-Galmier, the water is free to taste at a wooden kiosk in a park, and the factory opens only by reservation. The two visits run at different paces and have different requirements. Opening times, prices and rules: the details you need to plan your outing.
A water known long before Badoit
The Romans already drank this water, which they called Fontfort. Thermal baths have been uncovered beneath the site of the present factory. In the 18th century, local doctors prescribed it to their patients.
The name comes from Auguste Saturnin Badoit. A silk broker, he became the lessee of the spring in 1837. Taking the waters was fashionable at the time, and he steered the business towards the distribution of bottled water. The venture took on a new dimension.
A new building was put up in 1868 to the plans of the architect Hugues Batillat (1816-1878). More modern installations took over, and the building was sold back to the town in 2012. Since the decree of 26 August 2015, the old factory and its forecourt have been listed as a monument historique. Listed, not classified.
Where the bubbles come from
Rainwater begins a long descent. The subsoil of Saint-Galmier is fractured by faults created by tectonic activity millions of years ago, and these fractures let carbon dioxide from the Earth’s mantle rise up. The water absorbs it on the way. It emerges with fine bubbles at 16°C, a temperature that does not change from one winter to the next.
The borehole drops to a depth of more than a hundred metres, cut through granite. There the water springs up naturally sparkling, under pressure. The town sits at the meeting point of the Monts du Lyonnais and the Forez plain, which partly explains the nature of the subsoil.
One clarification, because it often gets passed around the wrong way: the Badoit sold in bottles is a natural mineral water with added carbon dioxide or reinforced with gas from the spring. It says so on the label. At the kiosk, you taste the water as it comes out of the borehole, bubbles and all, with nothing added.
The Badoit kiosk, for tasting at the source
An octagonal wooden pavilion, a tiled roof, a leafy park in the middle of town. The Badoit pump kiosk is reached from avenue de la Coise or avenue Badoit. Entry is free and open to all.
Opening hours follow two seasons. From November to the end of March, it opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5.30pm, and on Saturday from 7.30am to 12 noon. From April to the end of October, weekdays extend to 6.30pm; Saturday stays the same. Closed on Sundays and public holidays.
You can fill one litre per person, no more. That is the rule for casual visitors. Locals, the Baldomériens, can draw water every day if they wish, with a pumping permit card or proof of address.
The tourist office advises bringing a glass for tasting and a one-litre bottle per person. The kiosk is accessible to wheelchair users independently. Animals are not allowed.
It sometimes closes, for maintenance or building work. The town council has announced two interruptions in autumn 2026, including one day in late October for electrical work, with notices sent via the illiwap app. Worth checking before making a special detour, especially if you are coming from far away.
The Badoit factory tour: what you see
It is organised by the Saint-Étienne Métropole tourist office, through its Saint-Galmier branch, Saint-Étienne Hors Cadre. You go in with a guide, never alone.
The route passes the portholes, through which you can see the bubbles, then follows the bottling line: making the bottles, filling, packaging, quality control, dispatch. The tasting comes at the end.
Let’s be clear from the start: the factory runs, or doesn’t, depending on which workshops are in operation. A technical shutdown can alter the route. This is a working industrial site, not a film set, and that is precisely what makes the visit interesting.
Booking the factory tour
Booking required, online on the Saint-Étienne Hors Cadre website. Places are limited, and tours only take place on weekdays, Monday to Friday. The factory does not produce at weekends, so there is nothing to see on Saturdays and Sundays.
As of 3 November 2026, two dates were scheduled: Wednesday 18 November and Wednesday 16 December, from 2pm to 4pm. During school holidays, slots multiply: five dates in late October 2026, for example. The tourist office calendar is the reference, and it changes from one season to the next.
Allow 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours on site. The price is €7 full rate, €5 reduced for children aged 8 to 17 and students with proof. The tour is included in the Saint-Étienne City Pass. Groups go during the week, by reservation, at a flat rate, through the tourist office.
Now the rules, because they are non-negotiable. Minimum age 8, minors accompanied by an adult. The tour is not accessible to people with reduced mobility or those walking with crutches. The route includes 150 steps in total, with long stretches on foot and walkways 3 to 4 metres above the ground, which is worth considering if you suffer from vertigo.
Flat, closed shoes are compulsory, otherwise you will be refused entry. Long sleeves and trousers too. All jewellery must be removed; only a wedding ring is allowed. A hairnet, beard cover and safety glasses are provided. Show a piece of ID to the guide. Bags, phones and cameras go in the cloakroom; photos and videos are forbidden. Part of the route is outdoors: check the weather and bring an umbrella.
On the way out, you can fill an empty bottle free of charge at the kiosk, if opening hours allow. The shop sells collector glass bottles bottled on site, drinking bottles, tableware and textiles. Free car parks are available right nearby.
The old 1868 building and the discovery centre
On the pediment of the old building, beneath the clock, you can still read: « Établissement de St Galmier, Source Badoit, déclarée d’intérêt public (12 août 1897) », the Badoit spring, declared of public interest on 12 August 1897. The brick facade is partly hidden beneath Virginia creeper. This is the heritage part of the outing, the one that requires neither booking nor closed shoes.
The Espace découverte covers the rest: display panels, a video, and a 19th-century bottling pit, telling the story of the brand, its composition, the industrial process and environmental protection. A shop area completes the visit.
It does not open all year. It opens for events such as the Journées du patrimoine (Heritage Days), with free entry in September 2025. There are no permanent opening hours, so ask at the tourist office before counting on it.
Getting to the spring and parking
Bus C1 on the STAS network and TIL coaches link Saint-Étienne, at La Terrasse, with Chazelles-sur-Lyon. The nearest stop is Les Sources. There is ground-level bike parking, free car parks right nearby and coach access. Saint-Galmier is about 25 km (15.5 miles) from Saint-Étienne.
Our house is in the town centre, and the spring can be reached on foot from the centre. You can leave the car and do both visits in the same day, the kiosk on one side, the factory on the other.
Combining with the rest of Saint-Galmier
The town holds the Plus Beaux Détours de France label, and there is enough to fill a day. The 14th-century ramparts circle the old centre. The church was built between 1420 and 1471, with stained glass by Alexandre Mauvernay. The rose garden covers 7,000 m² beside the Coise.
Nearby, Montrond-les-Bains is about 10 minutes away, with its château and thermal baths fed by a geyser tapped at 502 metres. The château de Bouthéon is about 15 minutes away. The Loire gorges and the Grangent lake are about 25 minutes away.
Our tip as hosts for the day
The factory tour fits into a weekday afternoon; that is the only option anyway. The kiosk is best visited in the morning or at the end of the day, before heading back.
Watch out at weekends: on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, the kiosk is closed. If you arrive on Saturday morning, stop by the kiosk before 12 noon and you will have water for the whole weekend.
After that, there is just the walk home and a hot bath, and the day winds down gently.