Auvergne

Cathédrale Notre Dame

Clermont-Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand’s skyline broods with volcanic stone, but its most impressive edifice is Cathédrale Notre-Dame, whose 108m twin spires pierce the sky…

Lac Pavin

Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne

This midnight-blue crater lake, enclosed by a fuzz of pine trees, lies 6km southwest of Besse. Blasted out of the earth by a volcanic explosion nearly…

Chapelle St-Michel d'Aiguilhe

Auvergne

Le Puy's oldest chapel, first established in the 10th century, and rebuilt several times since, teeters atop an 85m-high volcanic plug, reached by…

Église Abbatiale de St-Robert

Auvergne

For Pope Clement VI, a humble tomb simply wouldn't do. The pope commissioned a palatial church to shelter his final resting place and the resulting Église…

Musée de la Coutellerie

Auvergne

Split across two buildings, this museum gives an entertaining account of cutlery-making history. In number 23, a kid-friendly sound-and-light show evokes…

Volcan de Lemptégy

Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne

Feel the Auvergne's smouldering terrain beneath your feet at this mined volcanic site, across the main road from amusement park Vulcania. In summer, at…

Château de Murol

Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne

Roosting on a basalt knoll above Murol village, the 12th-century Château de Murol offers peerless views along with insights into a brutish medieval past…

Musée d'Art Roger Quilliot

Clermont-Ferrand

Housed in an Ursuline convent 3km northeast of central Clermont, the city’s premier gallery takes design cues from NYC’s Guggenheim, its white spiral…