Auvergne by motorhome and campervan

Auvergne lends itself well to travelling by motorhome or van. Not too far from Paris (4 hours on the motorway), few traffic jams in season, secondary roads in good condition, scenery that changes with every valley, and a real culture of welcome in the villages.

Here's a practical guide: where you can sleep legally, where it's tolerated, where it's prohibited, which passes you can drive with a 6 m long vehicle, and the 5-day itinerary that works best.

First of all, two or three basics that plenty of would-be van-lifers find out a little late.

01Why Auvergne by motorhome

A decent density of service areas. The Puy-de-Dôme has around 95 motorhome aires (dedicated motorhome areas, a mix of Camping-Car Park, municipal aires and campsites open to motorhomes). The Cantal and the Haute-Loire are less dense but well covered along the tourist routes (Sancy, Salers, Saint-Flour, Puy-en-Velay).

Villages and motorhomes get along rather well. Many Auvergne villages happily welcome motorhomes on their square or on a dedicated car park. You buy your bread and charcuterie in the village, that's the spirit of local travel. As long as you respect three rules, which we go through below.

Suitable roads. The D922, the D996 and the A75 (toll-free between Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Flour) are wide, in good condition and quiet outside July and August. Pass roads are narrower but drivable for most standard motorhomes (up to 7 m, 3 m high, no trailer).

The catch. Altitude. You climb high fast (Pas de Peyrol at 1,589 m, Mont Mézenc at 1,753 m), with cool temperatures even in summer (10°C at night) and, at the Pas de Peyrol, roads closed every winter, from the first snow until it melts in spring. We come back to this in detail below.

02Official aires by département

The prices below are those displayed in September 2026.

Puy-de-Dôme (63). The best-equipped département.

• Clermont-Ferrand: aire at the parc-relais des Pistes (park-and-ride), rue de la Fontaine de la Ratte, north of the city. Only 8 spaces, €8 for 24 hours with water, waste disposal and toilets. The service point is only open Monday to Saturday, from 6:30 to 20:30, and not on public holidays. You leave the vehicle and take public transport into the centre.
• Volvic: aire at the Onlycamp Pierre et Sources campsite, rue de Chancelas. €15 for 24 hours including electricity, €2 for a water fill-up, and the Château de Tournoël on the skyline.
• Orcines: service area at 60 route de Limoges, 51 spaces. €7 a night from October to March, €9 from April to September, services from €2. Careful: on the car park of the Puy de Dôme site itself, overnight stays are prohibited.
• Le Mont-Dore: aire municipale des Crouzets, 4 avenue des Crouzets, 500 m from the centre and 50 m from the station. €15 for 24 hours, 6A electricity included, waste disposal and water point. Bank-card terminal, accessible day and night, no booking.
• Super-Besse: aire de la Biche, Madalet car park, at the entrance to the resort. €15 for 24 hours all in (space, electricity, waste disposal), open all year, card payment only.
• La Bourboule: municipal service point on chemin de la Suchère, €5 per service. The car park next to it is free for 48 hours, but regulated, and you'll be fined beyond that. To stay longer, use the campsite aires.
• Murol: Camping-Car Park aire at 571 route de Besse, 18 spaces with electricity. Around €16.50 for 24 hours. The village centre is 600 m away, Lac Chambon and its beaches less than 3 km.
• Ambert: municipal aire along the esplanade Robert-Lacroix, near the station, a few hundred metres from the shops in the centre. Free 24/7, with a water point, a waste emptying point and public toilets. Service point in front of the Les 3 Chênes campsite, €2 per service.

Cantal (15). More spread out, but well covered in the tourist towns and villages.

• Aurillac: Camping-Car Park aire, rue de la Moissetie, 20 spaces. Around €17 for 24 hours, tourist tax included. In high demand during the festival.
• Murat: municipal aire on place du 19 mars, with a water, electricity and waste disposal terminal. Parking there is only free from 1 October to 30 April: the rest of the year, it's prohibited from 22:00 to 7:00, and you sleep at the Le Stalapos campsite, around €14 for 24 hours.
• Salers: at night, head for the municipal campsite at Mouriol-Bas, route du Puy Mary, a good quarter of an hour's walk from the village. €14 a night with sanitary facilities, €6 more for electricity, service token €4. Open from Easter to Toussaint (early November) only. During the day, around fifteen spaces at €4 for 24 hours at the start of the rocade Charles Maigne. Motorhomes can't get through the narrow lanes of the village.
• Saint-Flour: Camping-Car Park Les Orgues aire, 19 avenue du Docteur Louis Mallet, in the lower town, 74 spaces. Allow around €17 for 24 hours, sanitary facilities open from June to September.
• Vic-sur-Cère: motorhome waste disposal point at the Vic'Nature municipal campsite, 15 allées des Tilleuls.
• Le Lioran: parking area at the resort's P6 car park, free, but with no services at all. Shops and slopes 500 m away, winter equipment compulsory.
• Chaudes-Aigues: waste disposal point on the Beauredon car park, near the thermal baths, open from April to October.

Haute-Loire (43).

• Le Puy-en-Velay: Camping-Car Park aire, place du Maréchal Leclerc, 27 spaces, around €16 for 24 hours. You leave the vehicle there and walk up into the old town.
• Brioude: aire on the car park of the historic centre, route de Lamothe, 2 minutes from the old town via a panoramic lift. Free parking for 24 hours, paid services with tokens sold at the tourist office. Open all year.
• Saugues: service area on place du Breuil, in the centre, in the middle of the fairground, free.
• La Chaise-Dieu: service point on the esplanade de la Gare, at the entrance to the village on the D906. Free space, service token €2.50, sold in the shops and at the tourist information office. Service point running from 1 April to 31 October 2026.
• Yssingeaux: aire de Choumouroux, impasse les Épicéas, in a campsite close to the town centre. 15 spaces, 24/7 access through a machine with card payment, waste disposal, water and electric hook-up points.
• Les Estables (Mézenc plateau): free parking on place du Foirail or at the Maison forestière car park, at the foot of Mont Mézenc. Waste disposal point in the village centre, two €1 coins. Open all year.

Allier (03). Less busy with motorhomes, but well equipped around Vichy and Saint-Pourçain.

• Vichy: the aire is just opposite, in Bellerive-sur-Allier, at 60 rue Claude Decloître. €13.50 for 24 hours with waste disposal, water, electricity and wifi. Automatic terminal day and night, no booking, no toilet block.
• Moulins: aire on the banks of the Allier, chemin de Halage, 130 grassy spaces 10 minutes' walk from the centre. €6.40 for the first 24 hours plus tourist tax, service token €2.
• Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule: aire on rue de la Moutte, on the banks of the Sioule, near the stadium, open all year in 2026. 73 shaded spaces on grass, free parking, €4 for water and electricity, card payment.
• Lapalisse: aire on place Jean Moulin, near the Besbre, open all year. Free parking, overnight stays allowed, €2 per token in 2026 (100 litres of water or one hour of electricity).

03Tolerated overnight parking spots

Outside dedicated aires, you can generally park for the night on:

• Public car parks that don't ban motorhomes. If there's no prohibition sign, you can park like a car, without putting out an awning, table or chairs (otherwise it counts as camping, which is legally different).
• Trailheads outside protected areas. Very common in Auvergne, generally tolerated.
• Some lakeshores and stretches of water. As long as there's no municipal order saying otherwise, and away from the beaches.
• Outside people's homes (with their permission), through platforms like France Passion (membership required, 2,200 farmers, winegrowers, livestock farmers, brewers and craftspeople all over France) or simply by asking.

Three rules to respect everywhere. No awning or furniture outside, no emptying of waste water (never, anywhere, except at a dedicated aire), no fires. You just want to sleep: you arrive at the end of the day, you leave early in the morning. And you don't leave the slightest trace.

04Where it's prohibited, and where to steer clear

Vallée de Chaudefour nature reserve (Puy-de-Dôme). Motor vehicles don't drive in the reserve, and camping is prohibited there, in a tent as much as in a vehicle. Breaking the rules can get you a fine.

Parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne. Wild camping is prohibited there. Bivouacking in a tent is still tolerated for one night, on multi-day hikes only, pitched after 20:00 and taken down before 8:00 in summer, at the edge of the forest and never on summits, slopes or craters. So never in a vehicle. For motorhomes, the through roads are fine by day, but overnight stays outside official aires are prohibited in several communes: read the signs at the entrance to villages.

Pas de Peyrol (pass). Caravanning (staying several days in the same place) is prohibited across the whole listed site. In high season, motorhomes can't even park at the pass during the day: take the shuttle, or come in spring and autumn. Parking, which you pay for, is only allowed in the designated car park: a vehicle on the verge holds up the emergency services and gets you a fine.

Swimming lakes. Lac Chambon, Lac d'Aydat, Lac d'Aubusson: for the night, go for the dedicated aire rather than the beach car park. There's one every time: a Camping-Car Park aire at Chambon-sur-Lac, a motorhome aire in the village of Aydat, rue du Stade, and a service and parking area by the lake at Aubusson-d'Auvergne.

Historic centres. In Salers, the layout of the streets, with their narrow, vaulted passages, means motorhomes can't drive through the historic village. In the commune of Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise, overnight motorhome parking is prohibited outside the designated aires. Park on the outskirts and finish on foot.

Along the A75 and motorway service areas. Overnight parking is technically legal but not recommended (noise, safety, a bad night guaranteed). Go for the village aires 5 minutes from the exit instead.

05Mountain passes and restrictions

Pas de Peyrol (1,589 m) · Cantal. The highest road pass in the Massif Central. The access roads close every winter, from the first snowfall until it melts in spring. In 2026, the Salers-Murat route (RD 680) reopened on Wednesday 29 April at 16:30; that day, on the Mandailles side, the RD 17 was still limited to Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, for the duration of roadworks at La Roche Noire. Up there, the roads are too narrow for two motorhomes to pass each other: they have to follow set directions for going up and coming down, depending on the time of day and the time of year.

Col de Légal and Col de Néronne (Cantal). Drivable in a motorhome, narrow in places, take care when passing oncoming vehicles.

Col de la Croix Morand (1,401 m) · Puy-de-Dôme. On the D996, between Le Mont-Dore and Chambon-sur-Lac. Open all year except during occasional snowfalls. Wide, no difficulty for a motorhome.

Col de Guéry (1,264 m) · Puy-de-Dôme. Same again, open almost all year.

Mézenc plateau (Mont Mézenc at 1,753 m) · Haute-Loire. At Les Estables, the aire welcomes motorhomes all year. In winter, the burle, a strong, cold wind, whips up the snow and can form drifts. A plateau exposed to the wind, careful driving advised for high-sided motorhomes.

Small secondary passes. Many pass roads in Auvergne are old mule tracks that have been widened. 4 m wide in places, tight bends, tricky passing. Avoid them in a long motorhome (>6.5 m) or with a trailer, or drive at off-peak times (before 9:00, after 18:00).

065-day motorhome itinerary

This itinerary differs a little from a classic road trip by car: we avoid the narrowest roads, we mostly sleep at official aires, and we go easy on the batteries.

Day 1. Arrive in Clermont-Ferrand. Aire at the parc-relais des Pistes, rue de la Fontaine de la Ratte. Visit the city in the afternoon (by public transport, simpler than taking the motorhome into the centre). Evening: drive up to the Orcines aire, route de Limoges. Night in Orcines, because overnight stays are prohibited on the car park of the Puy de Dôme site.

Day 2. Morning: up the Puy de Dôme on foot or on the Panoramique des Dômes train. Afternoon: Lac Pavin and Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise. In this commune, overnight parking is prohibited outside the designated aires, Super-Besse included. Evening: Murol aire, 571 route de Besse, 600 m from the village. Night in Murol.

Day 3. Morning: Le Mont-Dore, a stroll in the spa park or up the Puy de Sancy, by cable car except during its closure for maintenance work (from 31 August to 18 December 2026), or on foot by the waymarked route, open from 1 May to 31 October weather permitting. Drive on to the Cantal. Lunch stop in Salers (daytime parking at the start of the rocade Charles Maigne). Afternoon: Pas de Peyrol and Puy Mary (about thirty minutes' climb on foot), except in high season, when motorhomes can't park at the pass during the day: take the shuttle then. Evening: down to Murat. From 1 October to 30 April, the municipal aire on place du 19 mars does the job. The rest of the year, it's off-limits at night: you sleep at the Le Stalapos campsite. Night in Murat.

Day 4. Morning: Saint-Flour upper town (aire in the lower town, 10-minute walk). Afternoon: Chaudes-Aigues (the hottest spring in Europe, with the option of a thermal bath at Caleden). Drive to the Haute-Loire on the A75. Evening: Brioude municipal aire. Night in Brioude.

Day 5. Morning: Basilique Saint-Julien in Brioude, and a taste of pompe aux pommes (the local apple pastry). Drive along the Allier to Le Puy-en-Velay (1 hour 15, a sublime valley of gorges). Visit Le Puy in the afternoon (motorhome aire on place du Maréchal Leclerc, walk to the centre). Back to Clermont on the A75 (1 hour 45) or an extra night in Le Puy.

Fuel. The loop is a little over 500 km by road, not counting detours. Fill-ups recommended in Clermont, Saint-Flour, Brioude and Le Puy.

Budget for the nights. On this route, allow €9 in Orcines from April to September (€7 from October to March), around €16.50 in Murol, around €14 at the Le Stalapos campsite in Murat, and nothing for parking in Brioude, free for 24 hours. The rest, groceries, restaurants and visits, depends on the way you travel.

07Technical services (black water, grey water, charging)

The Camping-Car Park aires in the area (Murol, Saint-Nectaire, Murat, Saint-Flour, Le Puy, Aurillac) offer: chemical toilet emptying, grey water disposal, drinking water fill-up, 6A hook-up. The price is included in the overnight fee.

On municipal aires, services are generally at the terminal (€2-4 per service). Token-based service card to buy at the town hall or the newsagent.

Petrol stations. For fuel, yes. For water and waste disposal, don't count on them: use a service area, that's what it's for.

Launderettes. A few Camping-Car Park aires have one, but it's not the rule. Otherwise, campsites open to the public and the self-service launderettes in the towns along your route do the job.

08Altitude and weather tips

Check your leisure batteries. If you have a converted van with no mains hook-up at night, cold mountain nights (10°C in July, 5°C in September) put a heavy load on the battery. Avoid Mont-Dore and Sancy early in the season without a good heating system.

Changeable weather. In the Sancy and on the Mézenc, high-altitude storms break quickly in summer afternoons. Go for morning walks, and keep village visits for the stormy afternoon.

Wind on the Mézenc. The plateau is very exposed to the wind. High-sided motorhomes: take care when parking (face into the prevailing wind), and when driving in gusts.

09Winter shutdowns and seasons

Best season. May-June and September-October. Passes open, few people, often settled weather, decent temperatures (10-22°C). Aires much less packed than in July-August.

Summer. Popular aires (Murol, Le Mont-Dore, Salers, Aurillac during the festival): aim to arrive early, or book the Camping-Car Park ones. Online booking is possible right up to the last minute with the Pack Privilèges subscription.

Winter and shoulder season. Several service points are out of action over the winter: Ambert's is winterised from November to April, Chaudes-Aigues' only opens from April to October, and La Chaise-Dieu's runs from 1 April to 31 October 2026. The Salers municipal campsite only opens from Easter to Toussaint. On the other hand, Orcines, Super-Besse and Les Estables welcome you all year.

10Renting a motorhome or van

For rentals: Yescapa and Wikicampers for peer-to-peer rental, Indie Campers and Van-It, which rent out their own vehicles. Van-It notably has a branch in Lyon, 2 hours from Clermont on the A89 (165 km).

11To wrap up

Auvergne by motorhome or van is probably the best way to discover the region: you go at your own pace, you change your mind with the weather, you sleep facing a view that changes every evening. As long as you respect the local rules and go easy on the communes (which can withdraw their tolerance overnight if it's abused), the trip is a pleasure.

To go further, the Auvergne road trip guide details a 5-day itinerary by car that can be adapted to a motorhome with a few tweaks. The Auvergne on a budget guide keeps costs down for long stays, and Wild swimming in Auvergne gives you swimming spots that work with a motorhome stop. For local festivals along your route, the full calendar is in Festivals and events, summer 2026.