Visit Auvergne

03/01/2024

Passionate about sustainability, the environment, and local know-how, Poécile founder Léa Chonier draws special inspiration from Auvergne, which she has described as a "volcanic Eden".

Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Origine Auvergne : le salon du Made in Auvergne

Founded by Léa Chonier, Poécile is a perfumery that's largely inspired by the unique fragrances of Auvergne's Edenic landscapes.

02/01/2024

"Cantal is just a beautiful region to work in."

We speak to mead "alchemist" Fabien Kaczmarek, the founder and master brewer behind Hydromel "Apis Terrae" - French Meadery.

OT Châtaigneraie Cantal cantal auvergne

In 2017, Fabien Kacmarek set up Hydromel Apis Terrae, a meadery based in a village in Cantal that has an alchemical history of its own.

15/12/2023

A new bookshop has opened up in Ville de Saint-Amant-Tallende.

It's definitely worth a visit!

À Saint-Amant-Tallende, près de Clermont-Ferrand, les habitants accueillent un nouveau commerce. Ouverte début décembre, la librairie de la Monne est un projet mené par Anne-Laure et Johann Guillaut-Bachet, un couple originaire...

15/12/2023

Originally constructed in 1855, the Grand Hotel Mont-Dore is a châteauesque work of art that would not look out of place in a Wes Anderson film.

https://visitauvergne.org/where-to-stay-the-grand-hotel-mont-dore/

Massif du Sancy
Le Mont-Dore
Sancy Snow Jazz

If you're looking for

11/12/2023

What is Christmas without its ghost stories?

In this Christmas ghost story from Auvergne, a vampire-like creature rises from the grave to prey on a spiritually unprepared adolescent.

In this Christmas ghost story from Auvergne, a vampire-like creature rises from the grave to prey on a spiritually unprepared adolescent.

08/12/2023

For years, Lake Guéry -- the highest lake in Auvergne -- was also France's premier spot for ice fishing. Will the tradition ever come back?

https://visitauvergne.org/will-ice-fishing-ever-come-back-to-lake-guery/

Fédération de Pêche du Puy de Dôme

For years, Lake Guéry -- the highest lake in Auvergne -- was also France's premier spot for ice fishing. Will the tradition every come back?

03/12/2023

29/11/2023

Dog-sledding in Auvergne is an incomparable experience -- the best way to travel through a winter wonderland.

https://visitauvergne.org/winter-in-auvergne-dog-sledding-adventures/

Dog-sledding in Auvergne is an incomparable experience -- the best way to travel through a winter wonderland.

22/11/2023

"No fees, no bills, no bookings and yet — a date night like no other. You are in Auvergne."

Here's why you absolutely must visit Montrognon:

If you have an eye for the wayward and the gothic, here's why you should visit the oft-overlooked ruins of Montrognon.

20/11/2023

Gods, demons and sorcery on Olympus : the Puy de Dôme and its legends

Le 2 décembre à 14h30, une conférence originale à double titre est proposée à l'Escapad'. D'une part, le Puy de Dôme sera présenté sous l'angle inhabituel des contes et légendes qui l'entourent. D'autre part, la conférence sera en langue anglaise. Néanmoins les supports seront projetés en français pour les non-anglophones.

Cette conférence est proposée par Andrew Mann, historien et fondateur de visitauvergne.org, site Internet anglophone de présentation de notre région.

"The puy de Dôme is one of the most iconic mountains in France, a UNESCO World
Heritage volcano that attracts thousands of visitors per year. Yet few are aware of this
mountain's strange cultural history. For thousands of years, down to the days of Julius Caesar and Vercingétorix, the puy was a focus of both reverence and fear. Locals told strange stories about the mysterious persons and creatures that haunted its cliffs, and many of these beliefs persisted until the 19th century"

Tarif : 5€
Réservation sur [email protected] avant le 30 novembre

09/11/2023

Gods, Demons, and Sorcery on Olympus: The Puy de Dôme and its Legends

A talk by Dr Andrew Manns in the former seigneurial castle of Saint-Genès-Champanelle.

This talk is not appropriate for children under the age of 12.

2 December - 2:30- 4:15 pm at 1 chemin du Château Le Bourg 63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle.

For thousands of years, down to the days of Julius Caesar and Vercingétorix, the puy was a focus of both reverence and fear. Locals told strange stories about the mysterious persons and creatures that haunted its cliffs — and many of these beliefs persisted until the 19th century.

This lecture will explore the dark aspects of the puy de Dôme's history, charting both its rise as a Gallo-Roman "wonder of the world" and its transformation into a place of demonism and witchery.

PRICE: €5 per person. This talk is not appropriate for children under the age of 12.

BOOK YOUR PLACE: [email protected]

03/11/2023

Ghost tales in a secret location - what's not to love?

Book your place now!

Bar-Bar

29/10/2023

"Dining is particularly enchanting on summer or autumn evenings, when shadows — dancing like imps across the Gothic reliefs — play games with the imagination, transporting one back to the dim and distant days of Templars, donjons, and grand halls."

Admirers of Renaissance architecture should pay a visit to Maison Savaron, a well-preserved 16th-century mansion in Clermont-Ferrand.

19/10/2023

Check out my article in The Good Life France!

The Strange Story of Lake Pavin:

Discover the strange history and mysterious properties of Lake Avin in Auvergne. No ordinary lake, it is a place of legends...

11/10/2023

It's a little-known fact that Auvergne - like the American West - has its own deposits of "black gold".

Read more about the oil pit of Poix - a natural wonder hidden on the outskirts of Clermont-Ferrand.

The Oil Pit of Poix is natural wonder of Hidden Clermont-Ferrand, a marshy pond composed of bitumen, salt water, and other hydrocarbons.

10/10/2023

🏔️ Découverte du majestueux Plateau de Charlannes à La Bourboule !

Ce lieu enchanteur regorge d'histoire et de beauté naturelle 🌿🌲 Il offre une multitude de sentiers de randonnée pour les amoureux de la nature 🥾

Le charme de ses prairies verdoyantes et de ses panoramas à couper le souffle vous transportera dans le passé 🕰️
Laissez-vous emporter par le calme apaisant de ce joyau au cœur du Massif du Sancy ❤️

Pour en savoir + sur ce lieu, c'est ici : https://www.sancy.com/fr/fiche/patrimoine-naturel/plateau-de-charlannes-la-bourboule_TFO4638630/

06/10/2023

Visit Auvergne's "Hidden Clermond-Ferrand" tours begin this weekend - I can't wait!🤠

Sign-up for the newsletter to join me next time!

29/09/2023

Now introducing...

Hidden Clermont-Ferrand Walking Tours🕵️👻

Limited free spots are available next week, come join me!

27/09/2023

What are the best things to see and do in the land of the Beast of Gévaudan?

Here are some ideas: https://visitauvergne.org/what-to-see-in-beast-of-gevaudan-territory/

My Haute-Loire
Les Pays de Saint-Flour

Auvergne was once part of Beast of Gévaudan territory. Here's a look at some of the most interesting places to see in this legendary land.

27/09/2023

Vous n'êtes pas dans un décor de la 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐞
Mais bien sur les Chemins de Saint-Jacques entre Velay et Margeride 😍
📸 Rémi Flament Photographie

08/08/2023

"At every vantage point on our drive through the Puy de Dôme some new beauty was unfolded; now a long stretch of fields bordered by flaming poppies, with the blue of the mountain
beyond; then a quaint little village perched on a hillside under the shadow of a ruined castle."

-from "Scenes on an Auto Trip in France" (1910) by Walter Hale

Art: Manufacture française des pneumatiques Michelin

07/08/2023

"I know of no entrance to a cathedral that can rival this in solemnity and mystery...It sets you to thinking of the secret offices of the Inquisition, of Oriental rock temples, of monasteries in the heart of the mountains, of all strange and holy houses of god where no profane foot is allowed to pass."

Find out why this 19th-century American writer called Le Puy "the most picturesque place in the world".

Here's why American writer Elizabeth Robins Pennell called Auvergne's Le Puy the "most picturesque place" in the world.

05/08/2023

"Auvergne, Auvergne, O wild and woful land,
⁠O glorious land and gracious, white as gleam
The stairs of heaven, black as a flameless brand,
⁠Strange even as life, and stranger than a dream."

-Algernon Charles Swinburne

Art by Theodore Rousseau

28/07/2023

If you have an eye for the wayward, the romantic, and the gothic, why not visit the the ruins of Montrognon?

If you have an eye for the wayward and the gothic, here's why you should visit the oft-overlooked ruins of Montrognon.

26/07/2023

Hogwarts in Auvergne?

Here's where to find it:

Did you know that Hogwarts has a doppelgänger in Auvergne? Here's how you can book a night in the fifteenth-century The Chateau de Val.

21/07/2023

"Underwater wine is fast-becoming somewhat of an Auvergne tradition."

Underwater wine is becoming an Auvergne tradition. Winemakers have been submerging bottles of wine in the region's lakes since at least 2012.

20/07/2023

The Temple of Mercury on the puy de Dôme in 1876😍

20/07/2023

"Located thirty minutes south of Clermont-Ferrand, Montpeyroux is a fortified village that has the look and feel of a Tuscan citadel."

Here's why you should visit this "little Tuscany" in Auvergne.

Looking for Tuscany in Auvergne? Here's why you should stay at La Charmeraie in the hilltop village of Montpeyroux.

19/07/2023

Welcome to Visit Auvergne!

Our first post examines the mysterious puy de Dôme volcano: the "Olympus" of France:

France has it's own Olympus - the Puy de Dôme. Learn more about its strange history and what you can find on the summit.