Auvergne and the Massif Central

Burgundy : The Rhone Valley : French Alps : Auvergne and the Massif Central

Car Hire (main collection points only) : Lyon Airport : Lyon Railway

The Massif Central is the remote core of France, a huge rugged plateau of granite and rock. It embraces the Auvergne, whose volcanic landscape is dramatic yet serenely peaceful.

Auvergne is rich in chateaux and churches, especially in the Allier and Loire gorges and is noted for its colourful, rich and mysterious nature.

The National Park here offers magnificent walking country – a land of water, mountains, plains and extinct volcanoes (the Cantal crater may once have been 20 miles (30km) wide).

At nearby Saint-Ours-les-Roches, the European Volcano Centre opened in 2001, provides a specially designed exhibition and entertainment centre full of information about the area’s geological history.

There are ten spa resorts within the Massif Centrals boundaries, as well as many lakes, rivers and forests. Two of the most famous spa towns are Vichy and Volvic who produce some of France’s finest water.

The high plateaux of Combrailles, Forez and Bourbonnais are very beautiful.

Clermont-Ferrand, which is the political and economic nucleus for the whole of the Massif Central, is a lively and sprawling town and the birthplace of the Michelin tyre empire.

Much of the town’s architecture (especially in the older parts of the Clermont area) is black, because of the local black volcanic rock.

There is a 13th-century Gothic cathedral and a 14th-century Romanesque basilica, as well as several museums. The town makes a very good base for exploring the beautiful areas around it.

In this area you can obtain your hire car from Clermont Ferrand Aulnat Airport.