What to do in Le Mont-Dore when it rains: thermal baths, funicular and good shelters

Rain is part of the deal in Le Mont-Dore: you're in the mountains, above 1,000 m, and the sky changes its mind several times a day. The good news is that the resort was built with that in mind. Three safe bets when it pours: the guided tour of the Neo-Byzantine thermal baths (45 minutes, €7), the ride up the Capucin funicular, the oldest electric funicular in France, and the trio of bowling, stone-cutting workshop and cinema. The waterfalls remain possible, as long as you know where you're putting your feet. And if the rain settles in for the day, La Bourboule is a quarter of an hour away. Here is our programme.

01Answer in 30 seconds

For the rest of the resort in fine weather, we have a complete guide to activities in Le Mont-Dore. And if you're ranging wider, the guide to rainy days in Auvergne covers the whole region.

The Thermes du Mont-Dore: the visit that gets skipped too often

It's our first pick on wet days, and yet it's the one visitors forget. The Le Mont-Dore thermal baths were built between 1817 and 1823, on the exact site of Roman baths. Outside, a big grey building. Inside, a Neo-Byzantine decor with polychrome mosaics, columns and galleries, unchanged for two centuries.

The guided tour lasts 45 minutes. It covers Gallo-Roman thermalism, the virtues of the local hot waters and treatment techniques still practised today, all in the very rooms the curistes (people taking the cure) pass through. You meet in the entrance vestibule of the baths; access is through the resting room. The building is accessible to people with reduced mobility.

In practice: €7 per adult, €6 for ages 6 to 15, free under 6. In 2026, tours run on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons until 30 October: departures at 14:00 and 15:00, plus a 15:30 departure until 2 October. No tours on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Booking is compulsory with the Sancy tourist office, online or on site.

And for a dip without a prescription?

Let's be frank: the Le Mont-Dore baths are first and foremost geared to curistes (respiratory tract and rheumatology). If the idea of a proper cure is on your mind, we've covered the subject in our guide to the thermal cure in Auvergne. For thermal water without a cure, the baths' spa takes bookings Monday to Saturday, from 07:30 to 12:30, until 4 November 2026: thermal pool, thermal steam bath, hydromassage bath, with packages of 3 or 4 treatments from €55 to €168. La Bourboule has its own too, more on that below.

03The Capucin funicular: 1898, and still on time

The Capucin funicular is the oldest electric funicular in France. Opened in 1898 and protected as a historic monument, it climbs to the Salon du Capucin, at 1,245 m, at an unhurried 1 metre per second. The cars, for their part, have kept all the charm of the Belle Époque.

In the rain, it's actually one of the best times to take it. You're dry, the forest drifts past the windows, and the shower drumming on the roof adds to the journey back in time. At the top, if the sky calms down, a few paths start from the Salon du Capucin. Otherwise, you come back down on the same machine and nobody will judge you: the round trip is the real show.

Allow €12 for an adult return, €9 for ages 5 to 15 (€8 and €7 one way, free under 5). As for the season: in 2026, it runs Wednesday to Sunday until 31 October, with a split day, from 10:00 to 12:10 in the morning, then from 14:00 to 17:40 in the afternoon until 24 October and from 14:00 to 16:30 from 25 to 31 October.

A word on the neighbour: the Sancy cable car is closed for works from 31 August to 18 December 2026. During the works, then, it's the old 1898 machine that lifts you above Le Mont-Dore, on the days it runs. Quite the irony, and a pleasure.

04Bowling, the Taillerie du Sancy, cinema: the classic shelters

The bowling alley, the end-of-day safe haven

The Le Mont-Dore bowling alley, on avenue de la Libération, ticks every box for a rainy afternoon: six lanes with automatic scoring, bumper rails for children from age 7, one lane accessible to people with reduced mobility, and a bar with table football, plus a quiz-style games room, to pass the time between games.

The only catch is the hours: from 7 September to 31 October 2026, it opens on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 17:00 to 23:00, on Wednesday from 14:00 to 20:00, and stays closed on Tuesday and Sunday.

La Taillerie du Sancy, our favourite shelter for the curious

Between Le Mont-Dore and La Bourboule, on the D 996, La Taillerie du Sancy puts craftsmanship to work for mineralogy. Its 100 m² shop displays cut objects, minerals, fossils and jewellery. Entry is open and free, every day until 5 November 2026, 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:30 to 19:00.

Guided tours of the workshop are only offered in the height of summer, by appointment. Outside that period, you come for the exhibition and shop: allow a good half-hour, more if someone in the car has a soft spot for amethysts. You rarely leave empty-handed.

Cinema and a scénomusée to end the day

L'Olympic cinema, in the town centre, shows recent films in its single auditorium, with screenings in the late afternoon and evening. It's the risk-free plan when night falls early and the rain won't let up.

Less than a quarter of an hour by road, at Murat-le-Quaire, the Toinette et Julien scénomusée (an immersive, staged museum) tells the life of an Auvergnat peasant family in the 19th century, with sound and light staging that works very well with children. Allow 45 minutes (La Toinette's house) to 1 hour 30 (Toinette et Julien) for the visit, between €6.50 and €10.90 per adult in 2026. Closed on Mondays in September 2026, on Mondays and Tuesdays in October 2026, then annual closure from 1 November to 18 December 2026.

05Waterfalls in the rain: yes, but with your eyes open

We won't lie to you: rain makes the waterfalls of Le Mont-Dore more impressive. The Grande Cascade, a drop of around thirty metres, swells noticeably after a good downpour, and the roar in the rocky cirque is worth the trip.

But it's also when the paths are least forgiving. Wet steps, slippery roots, a metal staircase and a footbridge gleaming with water: good shoes with grip are non-negotiable, and you keep children within arm's reach. In a storm or heavy continuous rain, don’t go. The waterfall will still be there tomorrow, often still swollen, with a path that has had time to dry out. And from 15 November 2026 to 1 April 2027, a municipal order bans access to the site, for safety reasons.

The right compromise for a rainy day: aim for the falls you can reach quickly from a car park, to limit your exposure. We've set out the access, walking times and our order of preference in the guide to the waterfalls of Le Mont-Dore.

06The fallback 15 minutes away: La Bourboule

When the rain settles in for good, you head down the valley. La Bourboule, a quarter of an hour from Le Mont-Dore, is a spa town made for grey days: casino, Belle Époque façades, and above all hot water.

In 2026 the Grands Thermes de La Bourboule sell two thermal-water packages through their thermal spa: the Expérience Vitalité (1 hour, €70), with showers, a thermal-water mist and a relaxation bath, and the Expérience Sérénité (1 hour 30, €90), with an infrared sauna, showers including a jet shower, a thermal-water mist and a bubbling bath. Honestly, listening to the rain outside from a thermal-water bath is a form of revenge.

For the rest of the town (and there's enough for a whole day), we have a complete guide to La Bourboule. And if you're staying on the Lac Chambon side, the same exercise exists for Murol when it rains.

A last tip from locals: in Le Mont-Dore, a rainy day ends well when the accommodation helps, with a proper sitting area or a covered balcony to watch the rain fall. Our picks are in the guide where to stay in Le Mont-Dore.