Auvergne with the family

⛪Castles and heritage

La Roche-Blanche

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Outdoors
• With the family

The plateau where Vercingetorix beat Caesar in 52 BC. Oppidum remains, a museum of the battle and 360° views of the Chaîne des Puys.

⛪Castles and heritage

Thiers

• 2 h to 3 h
• Free
• With the family

A hundred knife-making workshops along the Durolle, from the 13th to the 20th century. Two waymarked trails, about 3 km, open access all year round.

🎳Games and leisure

Prémilhat

• 1 h 30 to 3 h
• €€
• Under cover

12 lanes, laser tag, karaoke and a bar on the edge of Montluçon: an all-in-one outing for an evening with friends or a rainy afternoon.

🎳Games and leisure

Vichy

• With the family

Escape game in Vichy. Three themed rooms, 60 minutes on the clock per mission, to play with family or friends from age 10.

⛪Castles and heritage

Volvic

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• With the family

Medieval fortress on its volcanic spur, partly restored, above Volvic. Guided visits in July and August, and on certain autumn and winter weekends.

🎳Games and leisure

Yzeure

• 1 h to 2 h
• €€
• Outdoors

Laser tag and paintball in the middle of the forest, in Yzeure: you run between the trees, and laser tag is open from age 7.

🎳Games and leisure

Le Puy-en-Velay

• 1 h to 2 h
• €€
• Under cover

An indoor leisure park in Le Puy-en-Velay: trampolines and a ninja course, a climbing wall, virtual reality and a bar to catch your breath between sessions.

⛪Castles and heritage

Chavaniac-Lafayette

• 1 h 15 to 1 h 30
• €
• With the family

Lafayette's birthplace, where he was born on 6 September 1757: his room, Madame de Lafayette's salon and a park with an arboretum, a pond and a 300-year-old oak.

🎳Games and leisure

Saint-Flour

• 1 h to 2 h
• €
• Under cover

Saint-Flour's bowling alley, with a bar attached: a game for €5, single price, no booking, Wednesday to Sunday evenings (annual closure in June and from late August to early September).

✨Unusual experiences

Chaudes-Aigues

• 15 min to 45 min
• Free
• Under cover

Water that gushes out at 82°C in the middle of the street: the hottest natural spring in France, the beating heart of Chaudes-Aigues.

🚴Cycling and mountain biking

Landeyrat

• Outdoors
• With the family

A pedal-powered rail bike on the old Cézallier line, between summer pastures and forests, starting from Landeyrat station.

⛷️Skiing and snowshoeing

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise

• Outdoors
• With the family

The big resort of the Sancy: 32 pistes, a link with Le Mont-Dore and a base area made for families.

🎳Games and leisure

Riom

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• €€
• Outdoors

A proper outdoor kart track in Riom, with a homologated 1,057 m circuit and karts for all ages, from children to experienced drivers.

💦Waterfalls

Égliseneuve-d'Entraigues

• 30 min to 1 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A wide fall spread over basalt lava, a few minutes' walk from the Entraigues lake.

🎳Games and leisure

Issoire

• 1 h to 2 h
• €€
• Under cover

8 lanes, billiards, burgers and a beer bar in Issoire's retail park: enough to fill an evening with friends or a rainy afternoon.

🚣Paddle, kayak and water sports

Aubusson-d'Auvergne

• Outdoors
• With the family

The biggest leisure centre in the Livradois-Forez: Blue Flag beach, supervised swimming in summer, canoeing, paddleboarding and a walk round the lake.

⛪Castles and heritage

Bourbon-l'Archambault

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• With the family

The cradle of the Bourbon dynasty, dismantled during the Revolution but still imposing.

⛪Castles and heritage

Parentignat

• 1 h
• With the family

A private 18th-century château, owned by the Lastic family since 1707. Guided visits only, at fixed times, from June to September in 2026.

🌲Nature reserves

Ségur-les-Villas

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

A 155-hectare regional reserve in the Cézallier: peat bogs, the Lac du Jolan and summer pastures at 1,130 m.

🚣Paddle, kayak and water sports

Trémouille

• Outdoors
• With the family

The only Pavillon Bleu (Blue Flag) beach in the Cantal in 2026, 125 hectares of water on the Artense plateau, with Optimist dinghy courses and hire in summer.

🎳Games and leisure

Vieille-Brioude

• 1 h to 2 h
• €
• Under cover

Laser tag and an indoor play park a stone's throw from Brioude: the plan that keeps young and old busy, especially when it rains.

🌲Nature reserves

Meaulne-Vitray

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

An oak forest of nearly 11,000 hectares, replanted under Colbert for the royal navy. Lakes, morning mist, the silence of a cathedral.

🖼️Museums

Clermont-Ferrand

• 1 h 30 to 2 h
• Under cover
• With the family

Clermont's fine arts museum in a former convent in Montferrand, from the Middle Ages to the present day.

🌳Parks and gardens

Royat

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Outdoors
• With the family

A tree-lined park along the Tiretaine, in the heart of Royat's thermal quarter. Bandstand, Eugénie pump room and Gallo-Roman remains: a 19th-century atmosphere, open to all.

⛪Castles and heritage

Saint-Rémy-de-Blot

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• With the family

The ruined fortress perched above the Sioule gorges.

🏞️Swimming spots

La Tour-d'Auvergne

• Outdoors
• With the family

A small lake with supervised swimming at La Tour-d'Auvergne, with a fitness trail and a picnic spot.

⛷️Skiing and snowshoeing

Le Mont-Dore

• Outdoors
• With the family

Ski and snowboard hire in the centre of Le Mont-Dore, right by the bus stop for the ride up to the slopes. Online booking.

🎳Games and leisure

Clermont-Ferrand

• 45 min to 2 h
• €€
• Under cover

100% electric indoor karting, on a 4,600 m² track with smooth concrete to try your hand at drifting: a safe bet in Clermont, rain or shine.

🎳Games and leisure

Bourg-Lastic

• 1 h to 2 h
• €€
• Outdoors

An outdoor kart track in Bourg-Lastic, with SODIKART karts open to drivers aged 7 and up: sprint or endurance, and it runs even in the rain.

🖼️Museums

Moulins

• 1 h to 1 h 30
• Under cover
• With the family

More than 1,200 pieces of art from the Visitation convents on display in Moulins, from holdings of nearly 19,000 objects: the only collection of its kind in France.

💦Waterfalls

Perpezat

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

Above Lac de Guéry, a drop of a dozen metres that tumbles down basalt columns, twenty minutes' walk away.

🪂Outdoor adventure

Le Mont-Dore

• Outdoors
• With the family

Treetop adventure in the Capucin forest at Le Mont-Dore: 8 courses from the gentlest to the most challenging, zip lines, from age 3.

🎳Games and leisure

Clermont-Ferrand

• 1 h to 2 h 30
• €
• Under cover

Auvergne's biggest bowling alley: 34 lanes under the neon lights, a bar that turns out pizzas, waffles and dry sausages, and the Boudou family at the helm since 1968.

⛪Castles and heritage

Vichy

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• With the family

Taste Vichy's 5 mineral springs for free under the great cast-iron hall of 1903. Each has its own taste and virtues: compare them.

🚣Paddle, kayak and water sports

Cournon-d'Auvergne

• Outdoors
• With the family

Supervised swimming on Clermont's doorstep: a 5,000 m² swimming area, water games, wakeboarding and an animal park, on the banks of the Allier.

✨Unusual experiences

Saint-Ours

• With the family

The volcano theme park, in the middle of the Chaîne des Puys. Immersive attractions, real geology, allow the whole day.

🚣Paddle, kayak and water sports

Aydat

• Outdoors
• With the family

Approved sailing school on Lac d'Aydat: group lessons, children's courses, and hourly hire of catamarans, windsurf boards, paddleboards and kayaks, in season.

🎭Culture and shows

Clermont-Ferrand

• Under cover
• With the family

Clermont-Ferrand's scène nationale: theatre, dance and circus from September to June, in a building by Souto de Moura.

⛷️Skiing and snowshoeing

Chastreix

• Outdoors
• With the family

The small family resort on the Sancy side, in the commune of Chastreix: pistes for all levels, Nordic skiing and snowshoeing, not a single apartment block.

🌄Viewpoints

Queuille

• 20 min to 1 h
• Free
• Outdoors

The Sioule makes an almost perfect loop around a peninsula, and the Paradis viewpoint puts it before your eyes all at once.

🎭Culture and shows

Cébazat

• Under cover
• With the family

Performance venue in Cébazat. Varied programme, online ticketing.

🖼️Museums

Murat

• 1 h to 1 h 30
• Under cover
• With the family

A wolf, nearly 800 taxidermy animals and more than 8,000 species of insects in a 16th-century town house in Murat. The perfect refuge on a rainy day.

🌳Parks and gardens

Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A park island on the Sioule in the heart of Saint-Pourçain: shade, play areas, canoeing in season. Open access; activities and campsite from April to early October.

🎳Games and leisure

Cusset

• 1 h to 1 h 30
• €€
• Under cover

An indoor trampoline park in Cusset: 400 m² of jumping, slamball, a foam pit and an area for 3 to 5-year-olds. The outing where kids let off steam on rainy days.

⛪Castles and heritage

Arlempdes

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• With the family

13th-century fortress perched on its basalt crag, just above the young Loire. The first château the river meets on its course.

💧Lakes

Vichy

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

Vichy's lake: rowing, sailing, paddleboarding and a 6 km loop round the lake on foot or by bike. Supervised swimming at the Célestins beach from 1 July to 31 August in 2026.

🎳Games and leisure

Mozac

• 1 h 30 to 3 h
• €
• Under cover

An 800 m² indoor play park in Mozac, near Riom: inflatables, air hockey and an early-years play area, to keep children up to age 12 busy.

💦Waterfalls

Montfermy

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A waterfall cut into the rock by Benedictine monks for their mill, in the middle of a loop of the Sioule.

🪂Outdoor adventure

Laveissière

• Outdoors
• With the family

Treetop adventure park at Le Lioran, in the commune of Laveissière. Nine courses for anyone from 1 m tall, equipment provided, open at weekends in June and during the summer holidays.

💧Lakes

Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais

• Outdoors
• With the family

A forest pond in the heart of Tronçais, at Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais. A circuit of the pond, angling, the history of the forges.

🎳Games and leisure

Ytrac

• 1 h to 3 h
• €€
• Under cover

8 lanes, a spray-painted laser game, karaoke booths and a restaurant, 5 minutes from Aurillac: the place for evenings with friends and rainy afternoons.

💦Waterfalls

Vèze

• 30 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A trickle of water slides down big basalt columns, between Pradiers and Vèze, at the end of a shady path in the Cézallier.

💦Waterfalls

Marcenat

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

In the Cézallier, the Bonjon falls more than 20 metres over basalt columns, and the fall is easy to reach from the hamlet of Le Saillant.

✨Unusual experiences

Boudes

• 30 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A red, salty and naturally sparkling spring in the woods above Boudes. The Romans were already leaving their coins there.

🚣Paddle, kayak and water sports

Lapte

• Outdoors
• With the family

Supervised swimming in summer and a full water sports base (paddleboards, sailing, kayaks, electric boats) on the Lavalette reservoir, at Lapte near Yssingeaux. The big lake of the Yssingelais.

🏞️Swimming spots

Vieure

• Outdoors
• With the family

Free swimming in the Bourbonnais, with the Blue Flag label: a floating pool supervised in summer, about twenty minutes from the Forêt de Tronçais.

💦Waterfalls

Saint-Alyre-ès-Montagne

• 20 min to 45 min
• Free
• Outdoors

Two falls on the Couze d'Ardes, in the heart of the Cézallier, ten minutes' walk there and back from the hamlet of Jassy. Cool in summer, generally frozen in winter.

🖼️Museums

Saint-Flour

• 1 h to 1 h 30
• €
• Under cover

Cabrette bagpipes, costumes and reconstructed peasant interiors: the rural Auvergne of times gone by, preserved in Saint-Flour.

🎳Games and leisure

Bort-l'Étang

• 1 h to 2 h
• €€
• Outdoors

An outdoor kart track in Bort-l'Étang, from the electric baby kart for children aged 3 and up to Rotax karts for adult drivers: something for every age.

♨️Spas and thermal baths

La Bourboule

• 2 h to 3 h
• Under cover
• With the family

The historic thermal baths of La Bourboule, specialising in treatments for children (asthma, allergies), with a thermal spa open to everyone without taking a cure.