Bugey360The independent guide to the southern Bugey and Valromey
Search FR

About

Our method and sources: how Bugey360 checks its information

Information checked on 9 November 2026 Updated 9 November 2026

Key points

Every practical fact published on Bugey360 comes from a source cited at the bottom of the page, official sources first, and every page carries a verification date. Opening hours and seasons are always dated and point to their source. We never claim to have tried a place. Texts are prepared with the help of AI tools, then checked against the sources cited.

This page complements our presentation of Bugey360: it describes where our information comes from, how we date it and what we never do. It applies to all pages, directory listings, the events calendar and the news.

Hierarchy of sources

We only publish a verifiable fact (address, opening hours, date, rule, altitude, telephone number) if a source confirms it. Sources are ranked in order of priority:

  1. Primary official sources: websites of the municipalities and of the Bugey Sud community of communes (the grouping of local municipalities), the prefecture (the State’s representative office in the département), State services, managers of natural areas, the INAO (the French body that oversees wine and food appellations), and the official website of the business or organiser.
  2. Tourism bodies: the Bugey Sud Grand Colombier tourist office, Ain Tourisme, Montagnes du Jura. Their listings are kept up to date by the businesses or by the offices, and we cite them by name.
  3. Reference databases: INSEE (the national statistics institute) for population figures, geo.api.gouv.fr for municipality data, the service-public.fr directory for public services.
  4. Encyclopaedias and books: used only for general historical or geographical context, never for practical information.

Review aggregators and automatically generated directories are never used as evidence. A business that appears only on that type of site is not published until its activity is confirmed by a level 1 or level 2 source. When two sources contradict each other, we say so (for example a different number of rooms depending on the listing) rather than picking one at random.

The sources used are listed at the bottom of each page, with a link.

Verification dates

Every page shows a verification date: the day we last checked the practical information against the sources. Each directory listing and each event has its own date. An old date indicates information to reconfirm before you travel.

Volatile information

Opening hours, prices, seasons, road closures and event dates change often. For this data:

  • we always give the source and the date we consulted it;
  • we refer you to the official source, which alone is authoritative;
  • we would rather say that a piece of information has not been published than guess it;
  • we do not publish walking times, distances or travel times without an official source.

Bugey360 displays no real-time data. Updates are made by hand, following a new official publication or a report from a reader.

What we do not do

  • We never write “tried and tested”, “our favourite” or an account of a visit that did not take place.
  • We publish no ratings, no subjective rankings and no customer reviews.
  • We do not copy our sources’ texts: we rephrase them and cite them.

Pages about places you can visit sometimes include a “Field notes” box. It stays empty until a genuine, dated and signed observation has been made on site.

Maps and geographic data

Maps use OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, under the ODbL licence. The position of each listing shows its precision (address, place, or simply the centre of the municipality); a position at the centre of the municipality should not be used for finding your way.

Photos

Photos come mainly from Wikimedia Commons and are published under free licences (Creative Commons or public domain). The author, licence and original page of each image are shown on the photo credits page. We do not use an illustrative photo presented as taken on site if it was not.

Artificial intelligence

Bugey360’s texts are prepared with the help of artificial intelligence tools: searching the sources, first drafts, rephrasing. They are then checked against the sources cited at the bottom of the page, and facts that cannot be confirmed are removed or flagged as unverified. AI is never used to invent a review, a quotation, a testimonial or a visit.

This assistance does not rule out errors. If you spot one, you can tell us via the report an error page; our corrections page (page in French) explains how we handle it. The rules governing our content, including commercial content, are set out in our editorial policy (page in French).