Volcanoes of the Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand France
October 6, 2023 - by Muriel Dassen
Clermont-Ferrand is located in the in the middle of France, in the so-called Massif Central, in the Auvergne region. The whole of the Massif Central is a large, extensive volcanic mountain range that covers a large part of the Auvergne as well. The Auvergne region borders the Rhone-Alpes in the East, the Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrenees in the South and the Limousin in the West. The Auvergne consists of 4 departments and we are in the department that takes its name from the mountain of the same name, the Puy-de-Dôme. The mountain used to be a regular part of the Tour de France, so it might sound familiar.
There is a nice anecdote attached to the name of this department. Actually, the department should be called Mont-d'Or, freely translated as Gold Mountain. However, the representative of the city of Clermont-Ferrand has put a stop to this as he thought that this name would attract the attention of .... the tax authorities.
The combination of the beautiful landscape, the lovely climate and many beautiful places and the interesting sights the Puy-de-Dôme is a great destination for a Quazy Rides tour in the French Auvergne.
Of course you can download the GPX / ITN files and full e-books of the 2 rides we have in this tour via our roadtrip planner but you can already find the info in this blogpost.
Clermont-Ferrand is the capital of the Auvergne region, the most important town in the Puy-de-Dôme department and one of the largest cities in the region. And therefor a perfect central location for our Quazy Rides tour that we have called the Volcanoes of the Auvergne.
Thanks to various archaeological excavations, it has become clear that the area around the current city must have had a Celtic settlement as early as the fourth century BC. Near this place, in 52 BC, a legendary battle took place between the Romans and the Gauls, in which the Romans were defeated. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the place was known as Clairmont. Clairmont was plundered several times and in the year 1095 the then pope Urban II announced the first crusade from the town of Clairmont.
In 1120 another village called Montferrand, was built on a hill near the village of Clairmont. Throughout the centuries, both villages grew closer to each other. On the 15th of April 1630, the villages of Clairmont and Montferrand were united to form Clermont-Ferrand thanks to the Edict of Troyes.
Cathédrale Notre Dame de l'Assomption
Today the city is known as one of the most attractive cities in the Auvergne region. It has several interesting sights, such as the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption. As both the Cathédrale de l’Assomption and many houses in the old city centre are built of lava stones in this black colour Clermont-Ferrand has a special and unique city centre.
But also the smaller basilica Notre-Dame-du-Port, which has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1988, is a nice sight in Clermont-Ferrand.
The medieval city centre is also worth a visit. The numerous shops and terraces in combination with the beautiful old, medieval buildings make the centre of Clermont-Ferrand an attraction in itself.
The city is rich in beautiful squares and is a real student city and therefore has enough cosy cafes and trendy restaurants. The beautiful square Place de Jaude with various monuments, fountains and statues to admire is the heart of the city and a perfect start, stop or end when you are exploring the city.
Outside of the centre the part which is called Montferrand is also worth a visit. It is a historical part of the city where you can imagine yourself to be in the middle ages wandering through the beautiful streets with traditional mansions and squares.
Just outside the city centre you can visit the Michelin Adventure. In an old factory hall on a completely refurbished site, they tell the history of the successful multinational with the help of audio-visual aids. All to honour the Michelin man! We already visited this museum a couple of years back before we made this tour and really liked it.
Recommended hotels:
Rating on Booking.com: Good 7.9
With private parking garage – fee applicable
With bar and restaurant
10 to 15 minute walk to city centre of Clermont-Ferrand
Rating on Booking.com: Good 7.9
With free on site private parking
Relais des Motards
With bar and restaurant
7 km / 4.5 miles outside of Clermont-Ferrand with some restaurants close
Rating on booking.com: Very good 8.2
With private parking garage - fee applicable
With bar
Tea/coffeemaker in the rooms
15 to 20 minute walk to city centre Clermont-Ferrand
Rating on Booking.com: Good 7.5
With private on site - not covered - parking – reservation needed and fee applicable
10 to 15 minute walk to city centre Clermont-Ferrand
Rating on Booking.com Good 7.6
With free private - not covered - parking
With bar and restaurant
15 to 20 minute walk to city centre Clermont-Ferrand
Different accommodation for rent
With private parking at accommodation
With bar and restaurant
With swimming pool
6 km / 4 miles outside of city centre Clermont-Ferrand
Rating on booking.com: Very good 8.3
With private - not covered - parking
With bar
5 km / 2.5 miles outside of city centre Clermont-Ferrand with some restaurants close
Ride 1
With ride 1 of the Volcanoes of the Auvergne tour we are going South diving into the Parc Naturel Regional des Volcans d’Auvergne ending this ride near, at least for us, one of the most famous volcanoes in this area. But first we have almost 200 km / 125 miles of nice riding to do with some nice views. And of course we have
added some stops for coffee lunch and a little bit of sightseeing!
The Chateau de Murol is located close to the Puy de Sancy with a breathtaking view of its massif and said to be a must-see site in the Auvergne. You can visit this
impressive fortress that offers you a journey back in time thanks to its reconstructed living spaces and its guided tours in costume . They say you will be immersed in 1422 at the court of Lord Guillaume de Murol, the emblematic lord of the place. If you don’t want to visit the castle, it is also a nice place to stretch your legs for a
bit and at the parking there is a public toilet – as the castle does not have one. Also no coffee here, so if you really fancy a drink, you could consider going into the
town of Murol.
The picturesque mountain town has two names: Besse-et-St-Anastaise and Besse-en-Chandesse. Cheese and milk have been important local commodities for centuries, but today tourism is of greater importance. In winter it is a popular ski resort called Super-Besse. In summer, tourists are attracted by the authentic village
scenery, boutique markets and, of course, the surrounding mountain scenery. It is a nice place for lunch, so we added a parking close to the centre.
In the ride we passed the Puy de Montchal and circled around the massive Puy de Sancy and added a stop in Mont-Dore located on the Northern flank of Puy de
Sancy. The village is situated at 1,050 metres / 3.445 ft above sea level in the heart of the Auvergne. Its ski resort is connect to Super-Besse at the South side of the
Puy de Sancy where we had lunch before. Mont-Dore is also the place where the river Dordogne starts: in the mountains both the Dore and the Dogne rise and quickly meet to be the start of the Dordogne. We also have a Delicious Dordogne tour more downstream with the lovely Sarlat la Caneda as its central point and 2 rides with beautiful views on the there already quit big river. Find all the information here in our online roadtrip planner. But we thought Mont-Dore is a perfect stop in this for another stretch of the legs and maybe a drink or icecream.
As I promised we are ending this ride at probably one of the most famous Puy’s in this area, the Puy de Dome! The foot of the Puy de Dome is located about 10 km / a bit over 6 miles from Clermont-Ferrand. The department is named after this volcano and the site is listed as UNESCO World Heritage since July 2, 2018. It is a large lava dome and one of the youngest volcanoes in the Massif Central in Auvergne with an altitude of 1.464 metres / 4.803 ft. The last eruption of the Puy-de-Dôme took place around 5760 B.C. with which the volcano is considered to be extinct, but future eruptions in the area cannot be entirely excluded.
The summit can only be reached on foot or - luckily - by a cog railway, the Panoramique des Dômes. It takes you to the top of the Puy de Dôme in 15 minutes for a 360° view of the dormant volcanoes of the Chaîne des Puys and the Faille de Limagne. In July and August it should go every 20 minutes, otherwise every 40 minutes. If you are interested in going up and maybe even want to consider to spend an extra day here to explore the Puy de Dome, use this link of the Panaromique for more info!
Because of its 5 km climb with a very steady gradient between 10 and 13% the top of the Puy de Dôme was the finish of a stage of the Tour de France 13 times. The last time the Tour passed the Puy de Dôme was in 1988. Until 2010 amateur cyclists could climb the volcano twice a week but since March 2010 the volcano has been closed to traffic. Only once a year in June a tour is organised for a maximum of 300 cyclists. The natural parc of the Volcanoes is truly different than other mountain landscapes and we think perfect for a beautiful Quazy Ride.
Ride 2
This ride 2 of the Volcanoes of the Auvergne tour is around 180 km / a bite over 110 miles and we’re going North of Clermont-Ferrand with this ride. Officially we are leaving the Parc Naturel Regional des Volcans d’Auvergne, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be doing some nice riding with some nice stops in this ride.
Charbonnières-les-Vieilles takes its name from its old business of making charcoal. It is located in the extreme north of the Chaîne des Puys. As evidenced by many
prehistoric remains and Gallo-Roman finds the town has been occupied for many centuries already. But we are just here to have a stop and maybe some coffee at
Cafe des Sports.
The ride will follow the river La Sioule in the region called Les Gorges de la Sioule for quite some time. The river flows through the department of Puy-de-Dôme for 90 km /55 miles and has formed breath-taking landscapes, such as the Gorge de Chouvigny. For lunch we have added Café Restaurant Rendez Vous des Touristes to the ride as this has been recommended to us by the people of Camping Moto Route 99. The camping is really nice, but not really ideally located for doing our tour here and they don’t serve lunch. But they were kind enough to give us this very good recommendation!
The Barrage des Fades, also known as the Besserve dam, is the largest dam in the Sioule valley. It is a hydroelectric dam built from 1966 until 1968. The dam is 68
metres high, 235 metres long – 223 ft high and 770 ft long. From the dam you have a beautiful view on the Faces Viaduct, the highest railway viaduct in France. The viaduct was designed from 1893 to 1896 and built from 1901 to September 11th 1909 and ceremonially opened for train traffic a month later. Train traffic has been going over that viaduct for almost a century until December 9th 2007 when train traffic was definitively discontinued. Since then it has had no further importance for traffic, but been protected as a historical monument since 1984. Its total length is 470,25 m / 1.543 ft and the two pillars are 92 m 302 ft made of
granite stones. A very impressive sight!
Our last stop is just 15 km / 10 miles from Clermont-Ferrand at the Volcan de Lemptégy. You can immerse yourself in the heart of a REAL volcano here. You can
visit the volcano on foot or by train, following a passionate guide through the meanders of the volcano. It is a 2,5 hours journey though, so this might be a bit too
much after your ride 2 of this tour. But maybe you’d want to spend some extra time here and add a day to your stay if you do want to get to know more on
volcanoes. Or you can just have a drink here at the restaurant. For more info visit this link (although only in French). If you like themed amusements parcs, there is Vulcania just opposite of the road, but from the website we gather that it has a focus on children. Have a look at its website and decide for yourself!
Go on your own QUAZY RIDE
You can download the GPX / ITN files of the rides and the full e-books via our roadtrip planner and then we hope you will enjoy the rides you will be doing in this Quazy Rides Volcanoes of the Auvergne tour and your stay in Clermont-Ferrand.
If you are posting on social media, don't forget to tag Quazy Rides or use the #QuazyRides, because we LOVE to see you having fun with our rides.
