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The Province of Auvergne is in France’s Massif Central. The Massif Central is a mountainous area of southern France and contains the regions of Auvergne, the Midi-Pyrénées and Limousin.
The area is largely rural, it is this that attracts visitors with it′′s stunning scenery and major rivers most notably the Cère, Dordogne, Lot, Tarn, and Truyère rivers.
The Auvergne Mountains are the start of the Dordogne River, just south of Monts Dore.
Places to visit in the Auvergne
Bourbon-l′′Archambault was a ritzy spa during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Weathered buildings and the ruined 14th-century Château, once the quarters of noblemen, are still appealing.
Moulins was once the capital of the dukes of Bourbon and has a medieval centre, dominated by the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, whose stained-glass windows tell the story of the crusades of Louis IX.
Vichy is the most elegant city in the Auvergne. Its mineral waters attracted the Romans and much later, the Paris haute society. The trend was started in the 17th century by nobles such as the Marquise de Sevigné and the Duchess of Angoulême.
It is the countryside, the scenery and the villages that are of most interest in the region.
The countryside is best renowned for the volcanic landscape, especially around the centre of the Auvergne for scenery - the Natural Park of the Volcanoes of the Auvergne.
Much of the Auvergne is difficult to get to during the winter - it snows a lot, but this can add ot its appeal. The region has in recent years started to become more popular as a year round destination, tourism based on river and mountain activities, and helped by improved transport links has flourished.
The Allier river crosses much of the Auvergne, and a particular highlight is to follow the Allier gorges, as the river passes through some magnificent scenery.
Cantal (south-west)
Towns at Aurillac and at Saint-Flour, a cathedral town in the Cantal
42 km north of Aurillac is the most beautiful village at Salers, while another is found at Tournemire, 15 km to the north of Aurillac
Puy de Dome (central)
Clermont-Ferrand is in the Puy-de-Dome.
Highlights of the natural park of Auvergne volcanoes include the Monts-Dome, Monts-Dore and Cantal mountains. See also Chaine des Puys and the central volcano of the range (and very popular visitor attraction) at Puy-de-Dome. To the east of the volcanoes is the Natural Regional Park Livradois-Forez.
Visit also the town of Ambert, and the workaday town of Issoire, and to the north-west of the town, the Chateau de Murol and Saint Nectaire.
A little way from Clermont-Ferrand is Riom (and the neighbouring spa town at Volvic and the abbey at Mozac)
Also in Puy-de-Dome are Montpeyroux, Saint-Saturnin, Saint-Floret and Usson, each classified as most beautiful villages in France. The village of Chateldon is also a very attractive destination, and Thiers (famous for Thiers knives and cutlery) has an attractive historical centre.
The towns at La Bourboule and Mont-Dore have long been popular ski centres and spa centres, east of Orcival and its reputed church.
Haute Loire (south-east)
One particular non-natural highlight of the region is Le Puy en Velay - a lovely town in the heart of the Auvergne region.
Visit also the town at Brioude.
Several classified villages are found in Haute-Loire including Lavaudieu, Blesle, Arlempdes and Pradelles
Allier (north)
Vichy (home of the Vichy Government during the Second World War) is to the north of the Auvergne region, as are Souvigny and Moulins.
Auvergne′s greatest attraction is of course the volcanoes and a theme park has recently been opened, explaining how they were formed about 20 million years ago (long before the Alps) and giving a guided tour around one extinct volcano′s crater. The highest peak is Mont Dore (1,885m) in this, the largest group of volcanoes in Europe. There are two large environmentally protected parks in the area: the Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d′′Auvergne and the Parc Naturel Régional du Livradois-Forez. The volcanic cones are called puys (pronounced pwee), the most famous and impressive of which is the Puy de Dôme on the west of Clermont-Ferrand.
With so many footpaths throughout the area, it is not surprising that walking is a very popular activity in the Auvergne, and mountain biking is also popular on some of the paths. The region has several ski resorts, and cross-country skiing is particularly popular. The puys are used as take-off platforms for hang-gliding and paragliding with excellent thermals between the hills making this ideal territory for these activities. Fishing is also popular in the Auvergne with all the rivers supporting keen anglers.
The Auvergne is blessed with more than five hundred Romanesque churches, some of which are considered to be the best in France, ten spa towns and around fifty châteaux. It also has some very beautiful villages, particularly in Haute-Loire. Well-known cheeses such as Cantal are made in Auvergne, and wine is made at the ancient Saint-Pourçain vineyard on the banks of the Allier.
