Charlannes plateau

A forest plateau just above the rooftops of La Bourboule. You drive up on the D129, seven kilometres from the town, or walk up from the centre on the Bonsière path: three kilometres, 275 metres of ascent, allow 1 hour 15. Once up there, the reward: a view of La Bourboule and the Dordogne valley, almost flat paths that run off under the trees, and a picnic room (salle hors-sac) where you can eat under cover, open at the same hours as the La Bourboule tourist office.

The place has a past as a resort within the resort. As early as 1902, a water-counterweight funicular hauled the spa guests (curistes) up from the town: each car took on its own water reserve, calculated according to the number of passengers. It stopped in the 1950s. In 1975, a gondola lift running up from the Parc Fenestre took over, before closing in its turn in 2012. A high-altitude golf course even drew the bourgeoisie up to the plateau. Today, you go up by road or on the strength of your calves, and that is just fine.

In summer, the plateau lends itself to family walks, with a woodland circuit that can be done with an all-terrain pushchair, and to mountain biking. In winter, it becomes a Nordic area: cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and sledging, with runs from green to black, including an 8.5-kilometre loop for regulars. There is a charge for the cross-country ski runs when the snow is there; when snow cover is not enough, the runs stay waymarked and may be accessible free of charge.