Ville-sous-la-Ferté, three kilometres downstream from Clairvaux, is the administrative commune the abbey actually sits in, and the village where the related Cistercian exhibition (Exposition Hostellerie des Dames) and the Renaissance de l'Abbaye association offices are based. The parish church of Saint-Pierre incorporates 18th-century elements salvaged from the abbey complex, including some woodwork from the suppressed monastery.
Tours of the prison-abbey start from the village rather than at the prison gates, so this is where you will park and meet your guide. The bakery on the main street is a good stop before or after; it has been there since well before the Saturday-afternoon tour groups arrived.