Lormes punches above its size for a town of 1,200 people. It received the "Cité de Caractère de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté" designation in 2024, recognising a coherent small-town character that's increasingly rare in rural France. The surrounding countryside — deep gorges, glacial lakes, granite hillsides thick with oak and beech — is the main reason to come, but the town itself rewards a slow wander.