Auvergne with the family

🌳Parks and gardens

Arpajon-sur-Cère

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A 7-hectare nature area on the edge of Aurillac: themed gardens, apple orchard, maze. Free entry and nature activities all year round.

🏞️Swimming spots

Lacapelle-Viescamp

• Outdoors
• With the family

A peninsula on 570 hectares of lake, among the hills of the Châtaigneraie: the beach where the Aurillac area spends its summer days.

🏞️Swimming spots

Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais

• Outdoors
• With the family

The beach at the Étang de Saint-Bonnet is supervised in July and August, in the very heart of the Forêt de Tronçais. Swimming, pedalos, mini-golf and fitted-out banks at the water's edge.

🚴Cycling and mountain biking

Abrest

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

A 27 km greenway along the Allier, from Billy to Saint-Yorre via Vichy: alluvial forests, the Lac d'Allier, no cars.

🖼️Museums

Saint-Bonnet-de-Salers

• 1 h to 2 h
• €
• Under cover

The Salers cow and its cheese, told in a 17th-century barn: films, 3D, tasting included and a shop of local products.

🏞️Gorges

Thiézac

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A walk under the trees to the waterfall and cliffs of the Pas de Cère, at Thiézac.

🌲Nature reserves

Picherande

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

High-altitude peat bog in the Sancy at 1,200 m: boardwalks, sundews, cotton grass, and almost nobody around.

🎳Games and leisure

Vichy

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• €
• Outdoors

A mini-golf with a bar attached, on the Route Thermale in Vichy, open late: a round with the family in the afternoon, a drink with friends in the evening.

✨Unusual experiences

Ambert

• With the family

The Livradois-Forez tourist train: from Ambert, heading for La Chaise-Dieu along 42 km of viaducts, tunnels and Livradois panoramas. Run by an association of volunteers.

⛪Castles and heritage

Montluçon

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• With the family

The fortress of the Dukes of Bourbon overlooks Montluçon. Now a local history museum, with an open view over the rooftops and the Cher.

💧Lakes

Aydat

• Outdoors
• With the family

Auvergne's biggest natural lake, 25 minutes from Clermont. Supervised beach in summer, sailing, fishing and a walk round the lake in 1 hour 30.

💦Waterfalls

Saint-Nectaire

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

A 7 m waterfall where the Couze Chambon crosses a lava flow, in Saint-Nectaire, a few minutes from the car park. Free access, strong flow until spring.

🎳Games and leisure

Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule

• 1 h to 2 h
• €€
• Under cover

Next-generation bowling, laser tag, axe throwing, billiards and a big children's area under one roof, right in Saint-Pourçain.

🖼️Museums

Clermont-Ferrand

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

Clermont's natural history museum, in Henri Lecoq's former town house: mounted animals, plants, rocks and fossils, a stone's throw from the Jardin Lecoq.

🌄Viewpoints

Le Mont-Dore

• 15 min to 45 min
• €€
• Outdoors

The restaurant at the top of the Sancy cable car, at 1,780 m: truffade, tartiflette and a terrace facing the massif, no reservations.

🖼️Museums

Riom

• 1 h 30
• Under cover
• With the family

Fine arts and goldsmiths' work in two 17th-century town houses, in the centre of Riom.

🪂Outdoor adventure

Le Mont-Dore

• Outdoors
• With the family

The Capucin rock via its cliff face: 222 m of height gain above Le Mont-Dore, with the Sancy opposite.

🎳Games and leisure

Aubière

• 1 h to 2 h
• €
• Under cover

The trampoline park in Aubière, on the edge of Clermont-Ferrand: jump, play basketball or volleyball mid-bounce and let off steam, especially on a rainy day.

⛪Castles and heritage

Volvic

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

An underground quarry turned into a visitor route: six centuries of extracting the stone that built Clermont cathedral.

♨️Spas and thermal baths

Royat

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

Spa centre in Royat: two large pools, indoor and outdoor, above 30°C, hammam, sauna, jacuzzis.

💦Waterfalls

Saint-Priest-des-Champs

• 1 h to 1 h 30
• Free
• Outdoors

A 10 m fall deep in the woods of Saint-Priest-des-Champs, at the end of a waymarked path (about 3 km of walking in all). We take you through the route step by step.

✨Unusual experiences

Lapalisse

• With the family

A family-run oil mill in Lapalisse since 1898: virgin walnut, hazelnut or pumpkin seed oils, a shop in town and visits on request.

🖼️Museums

Aubière

• 1 h
• Free
• Under cover

The museum in Aubière, where you realise Clermont was ringed with vineyards: presses, large casks, winemakers' tools. Open to all, a one-hour visit.

🥾Hikes

Murat

• 20 min
• Free
• Outdoors

Hiking trail in Murat. Short, waymarked climb, with a view over the lauze (stone slab) roofs and the Alagnon valley.

📸Photo spots

Saint-Diéry

• Outdoors
• With the family

A clay cone capped with a block of basalt, standing in the Couze Pavin valley. 800 m of path from the hamlet of Cotteuge.

🪂Outdoor adventure

Vichy

• Outdoors
• With the family

Paintball, rafting and canoe-kayak on the Allier, at the Pont de l'Europe in Vichy.

⛪Castles and heritage

Chouvigny

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• With the family

The 13th-century fortress perched above the Sioule gorges.

🌲Nature reserves

Pérignat-sur-Allier

• 1 h to 3 h
• Free
• Outdoors

Former gravel pits turned bird refuge on the edge of Clermont: ponds, hides and 227 recorded species along the Allier.

🚴Cycling and mountain biking

Le Mayet-d'École

• Outdoors
• With the family

Pedal along the rails of the old line that crosses the Sioule twice: 16 km return by rail bike, viaducts and river, starting from Le Mayet-d'École.

🚣Paddle, kayak and water sports

Lacapelle-Viescamp

• Outdoors
• With the family

Sailing school on the Lac de Saint-Étienne-Cantalès, at Lacapelle-Viescamp. Children's courses, private lessons, catamaran and windsurfer hire from May to September.

🌳Parks and gardens

Royat

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

A 41-hectare forest arboretum at the gates of Clermont: more than 40 tree species, waymarked paths, free access all year.

🖼️Museums

Murol

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

The painters of the École de Murol(s), who came to paint the snow and the landscapes of the Sancy from the 1910s onwards, brought together in the centre of Murol.

🖼️Museums

Vichy

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

African masks and Asian Buddhas, brought together since 1923 in a pocket-sized museum in Vichy.

🎳Games and leisure

Saint-Paulien

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• €€
• Outdoors

An outdoor karting circuit at Saint-Paulien, north of Le Puy-en-Velay: sessions of 10 to 30 minutes, solo or in a group with a final.

🌄Viewpoints

La Bourboule

• 2 h to 4 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A forest plateau above La Bourboule: a view over the valley, forest walks, a Nordic area in winter, and the memory of a water-counterweight funicular.

💦Waterfalls

Charbonnières-les-Varennes

• 45 min to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A low-key waterfall at the end of a shady forest path, in the Sans Souci valley near Châtel-Guyon and Volvic.

✨Unusual experiences

Brioude

• 45 min to 1 h 30
• €
• Under cover

The wild Allier salmon aquarium, right in the centre of Brioude: nearly 800 fish and roughly an hour's visit.

🎳Games and leisure

Quinssaines

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• €€
• Outdoors

An outdoor karting circuit near Montluçon, open to drivers from age 7 and going up to endurance races with friends.

🖼️Museums

Vichy

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

The museum of an Auvergne Surrealist painter: François Boucheix shows his canvases and bronzes in Vichy, in the former Alhambra music hall.

✨Unusual experiences

Saint-Maurice

• 30 min to 1 h 30
• Free
• Under cover

A real geyser beside the Allier: about every 20 minutes, the Brissac spring shoots up in the middle of a former spa park.

🏞️Swimming spots

Aydat

• Outdoors
• With the family

A 65-hectare lake born of a lava flow, at 850 m altitude and 25 minutes from Clermont-Ferrand, with a walk around the lake. The beach is undergoing works until summer 2028.

🎳Games and leisure

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise

• 1 h to 2 h
• €€
• Under cover

Bowling, indoor adventure park, aquatic centre and bar all in one complex at Super-Besse: the all-purpose plan for when the mountain clouds over.

🎳Games and leisure

Aurillac

• 1 h 30 to 2 h
• €€
• Under cover

An escape game in the heart of Aurillac where you have to use your senses to get out: rooms for 2 to 8 players, one hour of play, with friends or family from age 8.

🏞️Swimming spots

Fridefont

• Free
• Outdoors
• With the family

On the Grandval reservoir, the only beach where swimming is allowed on the whole lake: supervised in July and August, pedalos and paddleboards, in the Truyère gorges.

🎳Games and leisure

Le Mont-Dore

• 45 min to 2 h
• €
• Under cover

Six lanes, a bar and the interactive quiz I-Quiz, in the heart of Le Mont-Dore: the obvious plan for an evening after skiing or hiking.

💧Lakes

Monlet

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Outdoors

A 22-hectare lake at 1,025 m altitude, designated a regional nature reserve. A walk round the lake in 1 hour 30 among otters, dragonflies and migrating birds.

♨️Spas and thermal baths

Vichy

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

Under its great dome of flambé-glazed stoneware, Vichy's Belle Époque spa: cures for rheumatology and digestive disorders.

🏘️Villages

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise

• 1 h to 2 h
• Free
• Under cover

A medieval town in dark lava stone, more than 1,000 metres up, granted its charter of freedoms in 1270: belfry, cobbled lanes, four listed monuments. And Lac Pavin 10 minutes away.

🏘️Villages

Blesle

• Free
• With the family

A former abbesses' fiefdom in Haute-Loire, with its Romanesque church and half-timbered houses.

🏘️Villages

Charroux

• Free
• With the family

A former fortified town in the Bourbonnais, known for its mustard and its medieval lanes.

🏘️Villages

Lavaudieu

• Free
• With the family

A Plus Beau Village de France on the banks of the Senouire: winegrowers' houses in golden stone, an old bridge, a bell tower truncated during the Revolution, and an abbey in the middle.

🏘️Villages

Montpeyroux

• Free
• With the family

A village of craftspeople in blond arkose, with its keep and a view over the Limagne and the Sancy.

🏘️Villages

Pradelles

• Free
• With the family

Fortified village perched at 1,150 m, a stage on the Régordane Way facing the Margeride.

🏘️Villages

Saint-Saturnin

• Free
• With the family

Medieval arkose village south of Clermont, its castle and a major Romanesque church.

🏘️Villages

Salers

• Free
• With the family

A village built entirely of black volcanic stone, perched at 950 m, and the birthplace of Salers cheese.

🏘️Villages

Tournemire

• Free
• With the family

A small village in the Cantal tucked beneath the Château d'Anjony and its 16th-century frescoes.

🏘️Villages

Usson

• Free
• With the family

A hilltop village where Queen Margot was exiled, with a panorama over the Limagne and the Sancy.