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Holiday in Auvergne


EeBeeGeeBee
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My husband & I will be spending two weeks (the first two weeks of July) in the Auvergne this summer.  We will be staying in a gite near Varennes sur Allier.  Does anybody have any advice or suggestions for places to visit in the area please?  We have seen Vulcania advertised - is it worth a visit?  We also have some information about Puy de Dome and the Train Touristique de Gorges de l'Allier.  Are there any "must sees" that we might not have heard about? 

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The Auvergne is a really nice area - we spent a week touring/camping there last autumn.

Vulcania is well worth a visit.  Views from Puy de Dome across the volcanos are spectacular.  Le Mont Dore is also worth a visit, as is La Bourbale a little further up the valley.

Finally, at the southern end, Le Puy en Velay is a nice town (with statues mounted on tall rocky outcrops).

 

 

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We holidayed there a few years ago after seeing a Volvic advert on TV, for no other reason than I liked the shape of the volcanoes.  We enjoyed it very much.

I recommend the regional Michelin Green Guides for planning holidays in any region of France.

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Interestingly, the Volvic adverts on UK TV showed a "typical" French village, with lovely little golden stone houses.  It was a big shock to the system to find that Volvic and much of the surrounding area is built of black, volcanic stone [:)]  I suppose that is not photogenic enough for TV.

The Parc Naturel de Vulcans is full of spectacular scenery - there is a very good tourist route along the crests.

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We've had 2 family holidays in Auvergne. First was around Lac Chambon - great drives around mountains passes and lovely quiet villages - hardly any UK reg cars to be seen!

Second was at small hamlet of St Julien des Chazes on the Allier just south of Langeac. Again great scenery and interesting places. Fairly quiet even in August - again hardly any UK reg cars to be seen! We had trip on the Train Touristique de Gorges de l'Allierwhich was great fun. We were staying with family friends and one of their ami's was the Chef du train so we got croissants in the cab and a driver's eye view of the track !

I'd recommend it for a  quiet getaway holiday.

regards

Andy

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