Paléopolis

Paléopolis is Auvergne's dinosaur park, on the Chazoux site in Gannat. It has four main buildings spread over 5 hectares, and you should allow 2 to 4 hours for life-size dinosaurs, real fossils and workshops. The place is not here by chance: in 1993, a quarry in Gannat yielded the most complete skeleton known to date of a Diaceratherium lemanense, a hornless rhinoceros that looked like a hippopotamus. It lived around 23 million years ago, when a large lake covered the Limagne under a tropical climate.

What you will see

Outside, a walk among full-size dinosaurs. In 2026, two animated T-Rexes joined the trail: they move, they roar. Inside, the Espace des Sciences unrolls 4 billion years of the history of life, with more than 300 pieces including 200 original fossils. The Gannat rhinoceros has its own pavilion, the Lac de Limagne pavilion.

Add a 3D documentary film about the T-Rex, a reconstruction of a base camp in the style of Jurassic Park, and T-Rex Aventure, with a virtual reality headset or on a panoramic screen.

The workshops

The digs run continuously all day, without booking, for ages 3 to 15. Two dig sites under tents are open access, with mammoth and Gannat rhinoceros fossils hidden inside. Moulding and cave art, for ages 5 to 15, are booked at reception on arrival, subject to availability: €2 per workshop in 2026. For ages 2 to 5, there is the Famille Rex workshop, with an adult, and an open-access area devoted to under-5s.

Our take

The right compromise between a park and a museum: the children dig, the adults learn. If it rains, don't worry, most of the spaces are indoors: exhibitions, films, workshops. Le Bivouac serves homemade regional dishes all day, and the Paléo-boutique shop is waiting for you before you leave. Our advice: aim for a late-opening Wednesday, from 15 July to 26 August in 2026, when the park stays open until 23:00.