We're thinking of going there for 2 weeks in the summer solely based on seeing some lovely photos of the area and an urge to leave the UK for a summer holiday.
Apart from eating my body weight in cheese, has anyone got any recommendations for things to do, places to visit, campsites (small motorhome), restaurants etc ?
Also any must-do day rides (up to 60km on gravel/hybrid bikes)?
We can buy a walking guide book for planning walks whilst there
thanks
Not been to the Auvergne region yet, almost went this year but am stopping in the northern Ardeche and then heading down south a couple of hours north of Montpellier. If you ever head a bit further south I can highly recommend the Cevennes area specifically around the Tarn & Dourbie gorges as well as Mont Aigoual, very beautiful area and never really overun. Campsite below is run by a French/Scot couple and has plenty of roadies stay there, and one of my fav campsites ever.
We went in 2018 and 2020 for a fortnight and we are going again this year for a week. We really love it. The road riding is excellent most of the roads are empty, we found a load of rides on the web from a Dutch guy that were all about 60km. I have the gpx in google drive I could share them. I'll post a link to the mountain biking map a lot of it is farm tracks but even the blues can suddenly end up in a rock fest. Last time I had a rigid mountain bike and I managed the blues, red and black routes the grading is more around distance and ascent as difficulty but I was glad I wasn't on gravel bike. But there are miles and miles of farm tracks and the sign posting between towns and villages is amazing so its hard to get lost
We stay in Murol as it has a great campsite for the kids and its is a nice town but we spend a lot of time is Besse, it has better shops and restaurants. Mont Dore looks nice when I've biked through it too.
We hiked around Lac Pavin, Lac du Guéry and we did Puy de Sancy from Valle de Chaudefour but you can get to it from Mont Dore as well but it bit of a tourist trap at the summit (think Snowdon in summer).
The cheese is amazing !
Auvergne remains the best family holiday we've had.
We stayed in a small village above Issoire - great when the second week was a heatwave, so much cooler on the hill.
Endless villages, walks, hill top churches, castles, rivers and mountains to explore.
We took the canoes, and it's lovely floating down warm rivers in 30*c heat, looking forward to a lunchtime swim and an end of day ice-cream. We also visited a few lakes ( eg Chambon sur Lac) and just sunbathed/canoes/swam the day away in amongst French retirees...
We did some biking at SuperBesse, uplifted, but it's limited if you're used to the Alps. Other local rides were all of the XC-VTT, with a load of odd climbs and field edge descents.
Gravel and road touring would be ace.
There's not as much English spoken, it's a very much more local French holiday destination.
Thanks for the photos Matt
I just love how I’ll never run out of bits of France to explore
Thanks guys
I've seen photos over the years of the lovely volcanic peaks and always wanted to go. I also had an English colleague in Paris who often went there with his family and loved it. As I like Cantal cheese and I've often eaten Salers steak in Paris, it's only right we go and enjoy the place 😉.
We'll have the motorhome, boots and bikes with us. I think we've got 2 weeks booked off work in mid-late Sept so it shouldn't be too hot then
@matt_outandabout you must have got a quiet day on Puy de Sancy when we arrived there must have been a 1000 people there and there was a huge queue to get on and off the summit.
Cracking photos Matt thank you for sharing looks exactly like my kind of holiday, I know its not everyone's cup of tea but France is one of the place where I feel most at home (if that's even a thing). Ive travelled quite a bit back in my younger days but no place has ever had the same pull to keep me going back, although obviously never made it over it 2021. Soo looking forward to this summer.
Apologies for the ramble and side track, I have no recommendations 🤦♂️
We were planning on going in 2020, then 2021 but something kinda got in the way 🤦♂️
@stainypants - iirc it was the week that the French broke up, it may even have been last day of term we were up the hill...I think that helped.
So much more of France (and Europe) to explore - I'll certainly back to Auvergne with a canoe and touring bike.
This was the way each day ended, with cheese too...
https://flic.kr/p/vJ2TGd
As mentioned previously the stuff around Mont Dore is really nice.
The area around Pay du Mary is really good,just nice mountainous country. Think we stayed near Thiezac and did lots of walking etc for my dads 60th
@elshalimo I've created a folder with the road gpx files in and the mtb leaflet let me know if you can't open it
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zFhRE4fPvDBqGfSC3maHQblMUjB7WXXM?usp=sharing
^ useful
I live in Millau, just south of Auvergne and near the Cevene mentioned above. Lots to do in the summer, from river, lakes to via ferrata and parasailling. Biking is great too, road and mtb, even gravel. The gravel world cup is coming in june and we had EWS a few years ago.
St Nectaire is definitely another to add to the Auvergne cheese board, it's flipping delicious.
Furthermore to the comment higher up by @ifra there are some fantastic enduro trails that drop into the gorges de la Dourbie and la Jonte, although you're in the heart of ewe's milk cheese country down there. It's another culture you know.
@stainypants - what campsite do you use?
Looks like a fantastic area for a family holiday.
You coming to Nant on sunday ocrider ? There is a nice endurando.
Around millau. There is
Via ferrata le boffi, shut till 15 th of june because of birds nesting
Via ferrata lioucous
Via ferrata le tapoul a bit further near Mt Aigoual.
But if you like climbing, les Gorges de la jonte et du Tarn have lots of sites. I know nothing about it but can see signs from the road.
Via Ferrara as well!
@cchris2lou I would have been there but I've got parent duties, got to take my daughter to a club enduro training session out by Calvisson. I did the previous Nant randuro way back in 2019 and really enjoyed it. Sp3 stood out as one to definitely do again.
Just to +1 everything said really. One my favourite places I've been road cycling, would love to go back and do some hiking. I went slightly off season (early sept) and everything was really quiet. I camped at Domaine du Lac Chambon in Murol which was pretty decent from memory.
@tartanscarf We stay at Ribeye mainly as it has its own little private lake which has free SUP boarding and Kayaking which the kids love plus I use it for open water swimming practice.
We stay just outside of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Weather is mixed because of the height.
Love the area. Quiet but you do have to dig around for things to do but I've found something new every year.
Quite a bit of VTT, and several old railway tracks.
Isn't it Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes now? Making it a huge region.
Why do they seem to switch the regions about!
To reduce the cost of having so many administrations duplicated.
We did the GT2V, grande traversée du volcan on roadies, well Bromptons, last year as part of a tour. Nice route on mainly quiet roads apart from the road over Puy st Mary. A few years back we mountain biked over the volcanoes but some of that was cheeky. Many of the rivers you can rent kayaks on. The walking is pleasant. It's a big area, chose a base that allows you to do everything you want without hours in the car.
Thanks all
@Edukator - we usually stay in an area for 3-4 days (so we don't have to drive anywhere) and then move on to a next base and repeat. In most of the places we've been to in Austria and Germany this really works well as you can use the local buses to get about for walks, sightseeing etc. I don't mind moving even 45mins away as it give you new mountains to play on.
Does anyone have a good stopover point/aire on the way down? Somewhere to stretch the legs and eat out would be great. We won't be able to get there from West Yorkshire in 1 day
Clermont-Ferrand is worth a visit too if you are into historic city visits.
Also, avoid any of the routes that take you close to Paris. I'd head towards Rouen on the A28 then to Le Mans & Tours, then on to your chosen destination. The A28 is almost always empty even in the height of summer
I agree with the A28, Asbrooks, but then head south on the A71. Vierzon is a medium sized place on the route about half way.
Ah yes @Edukator correct. We go to Uzes to visit wife's family so go that route quite often (well pre pandemic once a year)
Uzes, nice place to have folks to visit.
I spent a week mountain biking in the area around Clairmonde-du-Feronde, along with a bunch of other bikers back in 1997, run by a small company called RoughTracks. It was great fun, stunning countryside, we stayed each night in a different gîte, and some of the trails were more hike-your-bike than ride, literally clambering up steep slopes using trees and bushes to haul yourself up, then dragging the bike up behind you! Lovely quiet country, the road sections were often tabletop smooth, even on the tiny country lanes, and there was one long climb up to quite an altitude, before a superb fast downhill into a town.
Don’t ask where that was, it was a quarter of a century ago! I do have memories of it being a great week away, though.
I went across on Eurostar, then TGV down to Lyon, where we got picked up and driven to our start point.
Just did a quick search, and they still seem to be going! 😳
http://roughtracks.com/
Salers is a nice town to while away a long lunch and the VTT tracks at Le Lioran have been added to since Covid, not ridden them yet but lots of vids on YT.
Argentat sur Dordogne is a popular holiday base for the French with good VTT trails, a small town with a lovely quayside and a great spot to set off paddling from. I think it's the highest navigable point on the Dordogne due to the barrages higher up.
Did anyone go there earlier in the summer?
Any more top tips ?
