What to do in Besse and Super-Besse: the medieval village on one side, the resort on the other

What is there to do in Besse? It depends which Besse you mean. Down below, at just over 1,000 m, the medieval village of Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise (formerly Besse-en-Chandesse, and many people still call it that): cobbled lanes, black lava houses, a belfry, a market on Mondays. Up above, at 1,350 m, Super-Besse: the resort, its slopes, its lake, its summer toboggan and its bike park. Seven kilometres of road, about ten minutes, separate them, with Lac Pavin set between the two. The best plan is not to choose: a morning in the village, the walk round the Pavin at midday, the resort in the afternoon. We go through it all for you, season by season, with the official dates and prices for 2026.

01The answer in 30 seconds

For grey days, we've already written what to do in Super-Besse when it rains. This guide takes care of the rest.

02Two Besses, 7 km of road and a lake in between

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise is the commune. The medieval village is simply Besse. The resort, at 1,350 m on the south side of the Sancy, is Super-Besse. Without a car, it can be done. The summer shuttle between the village and the resort has not been offered since the 2026 summer holidays: it's line P74 that runs the route. It leaves from Clermont-Ferrand, stops at Besse, then climbs to the resort in 1 hour 15, for €3.40 a trip in 2026. It ran every day from 4 July to 31 August 2026, and it runs on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 17 October to 1 November 2026. In winter 2025-2026, a shuttle linked the village and the resort every day, for €2.50 a trip and €4 for an adult return. All our listings for the area are on our page for the commune of Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise.

03Besse, the medieval lava-stone village

The village fits into a short hour's walk, and everything in it is built from the same stone: a dark lava, known as Besse stone, with more contrast than the stone of Volvic. In the rain it turns almost black. The red shutters do the rest.

What to see

Start with the belfry, the 15th-century town gate topped by its tower, a reminder that Besse became a free town in 1270. Behind it, rue de la Boucherie has kept its old stone houses and its 15th-century shops; a little further on, the house known as Queen Margot's. Marguerite de Valois is said to have slept there one night; no document proves it, but the façade is still worth looking at.

Carry on to Place de la Poterne, the Château du Bailli and what remains of the 15th-century ramparts. The church of Saint-André, Romanesque from the 12th century with a 16th-century Gothic choir, closes the loop. It has been listed as a historic monument since 1886, and Besse holds the Petites Cités de Caractère label. A trail of 14 panels teaches you to read the façades; dramatised guided tours are scheduled during the school holidays.

Our page on the village of Besse details the route and the parking trap: the centre is a blue zone (time-limited parking), so park on the outskirts.

Monday, market day

Besse's market takes place every Monday. The centre is closed to traffic in the morning, and the village looks like what it is: a mountain village doing its shopping. You're right in Saint-Nectaire country, and a whole cheese travels very well in a boot. To choose between creamery-made and farmhouse, our guide to Saint-Nectaire AOP (protected designation of origin) sorts it out.

The Dévalade, the weekend when the village comes out into the street

If you were to remember only one date: Sunday 27 September 2026. On that day, the Black Virgin of Vassivière comes back down from her chapel on the summer pastures to the church of Besse. She went up on 2 July, with the herds, and she comes back with them: that's the Dévalade. The procession leaves Vassivière at 17:30, the town welcomes it at 20:30, the closing takes place at 21:00 at the church, followed by fireworks.

Around it, the patron saint's festival runs from Friday 25 to Monday 28 September 2026: the Saint-Matthieu fair and a draught-horse competition on Saturday morning, fairground rides for four days, a dance on Saturday evening. Half pilgrimage, half village festival, and nobody wonders which of the two they came to see.

04Lac Pavin, between the village and the resort

Lac Pavin is an almost perfect circle of water covering 44 hectares, set at 1,197 m in a crater born 6,900 years ago, the most recent volcano in Auvergne. Beneath the surface, 92 m of depth: the deepest of the lakes of Auvergne.

The walk round, 2.7 km through woodland, is completed in an hour without pushing yourself, with no difficulty. With toddlers, bring a baby carrier: the path isn't suitable for pushchairs. The car park is free, 100 m from the water, but it fills up quickly on summer afternoons: come in the morning, when the surface is like a mirror. Swimming is not allowed; trout fishing is practised there.

Our advice, always the same: first go up to the viewpoint on the crater rim, five minutes from the car park; it's from up there that the circle is revealed. With an extra hour, follow on with the Puy de Montchal, the cone just above: 30 to 40 minutes of climbing, 200 m of ascent, and a summit that suddenly opens onto the Pavin, the Sancy and the Cézallier. For a proper outing, the Lac Pavin from Pertuyzat loop is 9.7 km with 293 m of ascent, allow 3 hours 45.

05Super-Besse, the resort that isn't just about snow

Up there, at 1,350 m, the atmosphere changes: resort apartment blocks, the base of the slopes, an artificial lake. We're not going to sell you the charm of the old village, that's not the point. The point is that the Super-Besse resort runs for far longer than people think.

Autumn 2026: the Toussaint window

At the resort, autumn 2026 comes down to one window: from 17 October to 1 November, the Perdrix cable car, the bike park, the zipline and the summer toboggan all run together. The Perdrix is closed for maintenance from 6 September to 16 October 2026, and the bike park closed on 13 September 2026.

The best autumn tip is the Perdrix cable car. The Sancy cable car, on the Le Mont-Dore side, is closed for works from 31 August to 18 December 2026: during the Toussaint holidays, the Perdrix cable car is therefore the only cable car in service in the Sancy. From the arrival point, the summit of the Puy de Sancy can be reached on foot along the ridges in about 40 minutes; that climb is option 3 in our guide climbing the Puy de Sancy, alongside the Val de Courre. As for the summer toboggan, yes, it's called that even at Toussaint: almost 40 km/h at the bottom, and children asking for a second go before they've even arrived.

On foot, from the resort

You don't need a lift to walk. The return trip to the Puy de Chambourguet starts in front of the Terre de Haut residence: 3 km, 130 m of ascent, 1 hour 30 with a slightly steep climb at the end, and a view over the resort, the Pavin and the Monts du Cantal. The walk round the Lac des Hermines, 1.3 km, takes 30 minutes, all-terrain pushchair included.

A walk that few visitors do: the Vassivière chapel, home of the Black Virgin, 2 km round trip from the Madalet car park (the chapel itself is open from 2 July to 27 September 2026). And from mid-September to mid-October, listen out at the end of the day: it's the deer rut season. The best areas and the rules are in our guide to the deer rut in Auvergne.

When it rains

The Les Hermines leisure and sports centre (swimming pool, climbing, bowling, covered play park) is the resort's go-to on grey days, with the village of Besse as a fallback. Prices and times are in our rainy-day guide, mentioned above.

Winter: skiing from 1,350 to 1,850 m

The 2026-2027 season starts on Saturday 19 December 2026, with closing planned for Sunday 28 March 2027, subject to snow conditions. The ski area has 32 runs (6 green, 12 blue, 9 red, 5 black) and 19 lifts, including the Perdrix cable car. When the link is open, the pass also gives access to the Le Mont-Dore slopes, on the other side of the Sancy.

On passes, the 2026-2027 season lists €43.50 for an adult day (ages 26-64), €31 for a child day (ages 5-15) and €36.80 for 4 hours for adults. Night skiing is the selling point we like best: 9 floodlit runs from 17:00 to 20:00, on Saturdays outside the holidays and from Sunday to Thursday during the school holidays, from 20 December 2026 to 6 March 2027, with the night pass at €16.40 in 2026-2027.

For those who don't ski: the Snake Gliss, a train of linked sledges from age 12 (you laugh at the front, you hang on at the back), Yooner taster sessions on Sundays during the school holidays, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

06Nearby, within 30 minutes

Besse is a base camp, and that's even its best selling point. Our favourite outings from the village or the resort:

• The Chiloza waterfalls, on foot from the church of Besse: a yellow-waymarked loop of about 6 km, a good two hours, that follows the Couze Pavin from fall to fall. Walking shoes required; forget it in the rain.
• The Chaudefour valley nature reserve, around twenty minutes by road: a glacial cirque under the ridges of the Sancy, chamois in the early morning. Dogs not allowed, even on a lead.
• The Château de Murol, about 20 minutes: open every day until 3 January 2027, with entertainment included in the ticket during the school holidays, and a September when you'll have it almost to yourself.
• Saint-Nectaire and its cellars, just under half an hour away, to understand what you bought at the Monday market.

And if you're there on the weekend of 27 September 2026, forget all that and stay for the Dévalade.